Posted on December 4, 2018
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has set aside $4 million for dredging the inland reaches of the Houma Navigation Canal in 2019.
The project is included in the corps’ Fiscal Year 2019 Work Plan for the Army Civil Works program, which was presented to Congress last week.
The project involves dredging the inland reaches of the canal to the authorized 15-foot depth, corps officials said in a news release.
About 500,000 cubic yards will dredged for the first time since 2006, officials said.
The canal was originally scheduled to receive only $100,000 for maintenance in 2019. But through the area’s federal and local legislative delegation, the parish was able to secure more money, Parish President Gordy Dove said.
Additional sand and silt has settled in the waterway this year due to Hurricane Harvey, causing the need for additional work, officials said.
The Houma Navigation Canal is roughly 36 miles long, stretching from Terrebonne Bay to the Intracoastal Waterway in Houma. Oilfield businesses, including platform fabricators, use the canal to move equipment and materials offshore.
The corps is expected to award a construction contract in late summer 2019, with a two- to three-month timeframe on completion.
If any money is leftover, the corps plans to allow for spot dredging in the Houma Navigation Canal Bay, an area that is already being dredged.
The corps budgeted $9.4 million for maintenance dredging this year to deepen the canal from about 13 feet to 15 feet. That project is ongoing and is expected to have $3 million to $4 million left over for spot dredging on the northern part of the canal near Houma, Dove said.
The new project brings total corps spending on the canal up to $13.4 million over two years.
“We’ve never in had history that kind of money,” Dove said. “This was a great job from federal delegation and a concerted effort from the locals all pushing to get those monies.”
Source: houmatoday.com
