In line with USACE’s top priority, public safety, the Memphis District is part of a huge undertaking to design, procure, and construct hurricane and storm risk reduction features and ensure the Mississippi River remains viable from New Orleans to Venice, Louisiana.
The purpose of the New Orleans to Venice (NOV) project is much bigger than what Memphis is doing for this project. Overall, the NOV project will achieve storm risk reduction for Plaquemines Parish by repairing and restoring the original federal project levees, replacing, or modifying certain Non-Federal Levees (NFL), accelerating the completion of unconstructed portions of the authorized project and armoring critical elements of the authorized project along the Mississippi River, from Oakville to Venice on the West Bank, and Phoenix to Bohemia on the East Bank. While not inside Memphis District footprint, the project is a key component in showcasing the capability of the Memphis District.
“What we are doing is shouldering the lift to get these Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (DRSAA) Funded project features to construction,” said Andy Simmerman, Memphis District Program Manager. “This project is massive, and we are partnering with our colleagues in New Orleans to ensure all the various elements are coordinated with a singular process. The non-federal sponsors (NFS) Plaquemines Parish Government and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority are looking to both Memphis and New Orleans Districts to align and work together to construct these features expeditiously as possible. The NFS sees us as ‘one Corps’, not separate Districts so to speak.”
Memphis District will handle all pieces of survey, preconstruction engineering and design up to contract award, then we will hand over to New Orleans District for construction contract administration to oversee and administer all facets of construction. Memphis District will remain an integral part during construction and provide engineering during construction support.
The project will replace or modify the locally constructed back levees from Oakville to St. Jude, Louisiana. The proposed construction provides 50-year level of risk reduction measures for Plaquemines Parish and Highway 23, the only hurricane evacuation route for the Parish on the West Bank.
Also, the current project related work for NOV project includes approximately 20 miles of back levee and Mississippi River levee modifications, floodwalls, floodwall fronting protection at five pump stations, two sector gates on the West Bank, and backflow prevention at two pump stations on the east bank and two pump stations on the West Bank.
“This project provides Memphis the ability to expand our knowledge and expertise and learn in an external environment from our own District,” said Simmerman. “Ultimately we are doing what our mission says we will do.”