PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
PDCA member Sealevel
Construction Inc. was selected
as general contractor for the
$35.4 million Falgout Canal
Flood Control Structure project,
which was completed nearly two
months ahead of schedule
By Lisa Kopochinski
ith more than 85 percent of Terrebonne and
Lafourche Parishes in Louisiana consisting
of water and wetlands, this makes the
state’s Gulf Coast region particularly vulnerable to flooding and
saltwater intrusion.
To help combat these issues, the United States Army Corps of
Engineers created the Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection
System Plan – a 98-mile alignment comprised of levees, locks and
floodgates. One floodgate recently added to this system was the
Falgout Canal Flood Control Structure in Dularge, La., which is
situated approximately 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
PDCA member Sealevel Construction Inc., a Thibodaux, La.-
based heavy civil construction company, was selected as general
contractor for the $35.4 million Falgout Canal Flood Control
Structure project. The project started in October 2017 and was
completed in May 2018 – more than six weeks ahead of schedule.
“As general contractor of the project, Sealevel Construction
worked on the project from the beginning of construction until the
very end of construction, which was one year and eight months,
or 570 calendar days,” said Sealevel Construction senior project
manager, Justin Lane.
“We self-performed about 95 percent of the project, including
the installation of the wick drains, earthen levees, rip rap placement,
sheet piles, pipe piles, timber piles, an underwater landing truss and
an automated barge gate,” said Lane. “The flood control structure
provides approximately 1,025 linear feet of flood protection.”
Situated in the middle of newly constructed earthen levees, the
floodgate is the last major piece of infrastructure to complete the
southern portion of the Morganza to the Gulf Alignment.
Although this floodgate is crucial to the surrounding communities,
funding the project proved difficult. After a decade of
struggling with permitting, planning and budgeting, the project
was finally fully funded with a collaboration of support from
Terrebonne Parish, Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District
and the State of Louisiana.
Photos: Sealevel Construction
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