Corps Awards $19.1 Million Contract For West Shore Pontchartrain Levee Work

The New Orleans Engineer District recently awarded a contract for constructing the ninth reach on the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain (WSLP) Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction project. This contract will construct approximately 1.1 miles of the 18.5-mile-long levee system that will provide 100-year level risk reduction in St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles parishes, La.

The contract for WSLP-103 was awarded to Onshore Material LLC of Thibodaux, La. The contract base award amount is $19.1 million with a total of $15.4 million in option work. Work will be performed in St. John the Baptist Parish, and the contract is scheduled to be completed in spring 2027.

“As the first contract to be awarded in the 2024 fiscal year and the ninth levee reach contract to be awarded since 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its partners at the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Pontchartrain Levee District remain committed to delivering this critical flood risk reduction project for the people living and working in the St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles Parish,” said Col. Cullen Jones, New Orleans District commander.

The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project will achieve 100-year storm surge risk reduction by a variety of structural and non-structural features to include levees, floodwalls, drainage structures and pumps. While these features will reduce risk from storm surge associated with tropical events, they do not specifically reduce risk of flooding from significant rainfall.

The project design team continues to work with the non-federal sponsor to acquire Rights of Entry (ROE) and coordinate with utilities and pipelines within the project footprint.

Contracts completed include test sections, clay stockpiles, sand stockpiles, sand placement and access road construction.