Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex
Meyer Engineers, Ltd. is providing Construction Management on the $870 M Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex Project. This massive project, which will include a 20,000 CFS drainage pump station, will span three parishes – Jefferson, Orleans, and Plaquemines. Also included in the project are two sector gates, 5700’ of concrete Tee-wall supported on concrete piling, 9000’ of Earthen Levee, a Safe House for the pump station operators, cofferdams, dredging, bulkheads, dolphins, fenders, guide walls, rock jetties, concrete roads, and asphalt roads.
The unprecedented 20,000 cubic feet per second storm water drainage pumping station, the largest of this type in the world, will include 11 vertical 11’ diameter pumps, powered by 12 cylinder, 5400 horse power Caterpillar diesel engines.
The largest feature that will cross the GIWW, a federally-maintained navigation channel, will be the closure complex. This complex will consist of a 225’ sector gate, a 110’ secondary gate, the pump station, and a combination wall which consists of 54” spiral weld piles and steel sheet piles.
The West Closure Complex Project will reduce the risk of storm surge from an event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year for a majority of the west bank area by preventing storm surge from entering the Harvey and Algiers canals. The streamlined Surge Protection consists of the closure complex and three miles of floodwalls and earthen levees. This surge barrier will remove 25 miles of existing parallel protection from the primary line of defense, making those levees a secondary line of defense. Four million cubic yards of material will be removed for the construction of this project.
In addition, the project is adjacent to an Environmental Protection Agency wetland area of national significance – The Bayou Aux Carpes wetlands, which has a 404c designation. Therefore, construction impacts on this area must be kept to a minimum. Meyer is working in coordination with the Corps, Environmental Protection Agency, federal and state resource agencies, non-federal partners, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority- West Bank, the National Park Service, US Coast Guard, as well as other interested stakeholders, to develop the best engineering alternative with the fewest unavoidable environmental impacts.
Meyer, the contractor, and the USACE are working 24 hours/ day, 7 days a week to complete the Surge Barrier to 100 year risk reduction levels by hurricane season, 2011. The completion of the remainder of the project is anticipated by February, 2013. Work began in April, 2009. To expedite the work the USACE is using Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), which allows members of the construction industry to participate in the early stages of the design and planning for this project. ECI also enables the Corps to incorporate innovative construction sequencing techniques into the proposed plan for the West Closure Complex project. Meyer has assisted in this work.
Meyer currently has one Construction Manager/ Team Leader, two Project Engineers, and ten Quality Assurance Representatives (Inspectors) working with the USACE on this project.
Substantial Completion Date: Ongoing
Construction Cost: $870,o00,000