The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started augmenting the underwater sill in the Mississippi River to slow progression of salt water upstream. The USACE New Orleans District contracted for a dredge, the J. S. Chatry, to build up the current sill from its initial depth of -55 feet to -30 feet, while leaving a 620-foot-wide navigation channel open for passage of deep-water vessels. The dredge pulls sediment from the bottom of the river and pumps it through a series of floating pipes for deposit on top of the already-existing sill. The sill, which was completed initially in July 2023, was constructed to an elevation of -55 feet, which means the top of the sill was 55 feet below the surface of the river. Sill augmentation began Sept. 24, 2023, and is expected to be completed within 24 days. USACE continues to closely monitor, survey and model conditions on the river with regards to potential impacts on both navigation and saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico.

The final inspection of the SELA 72.1 project on General De Gaulle Drive in Algiers took place recently. All punch list items are complete including cleaning out the canal. The next steps will be to plant trees along the canals under a separate contract. This project was completed 2 ½ years ahead of schedule.

Team members from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (MVN), pose for a photo after having been recognized Sept. 6, 2023, during the 2022 Lean Six Sigma Excellence Awards Program (LEAP) for their innovation in helping to improve the Defense Performance Management and Appraisal Program (DPMAP) process throughout the New Orleans District and Mississippi Valley Division of the Corps of Engineers. They were awarded for creating the MVN DPMAP Status Dashboard, an automated dashboard to enable leaders and supervisors to ensure each employee covered under DPMAP receives a performance plan, mid-year review, and appraisal on time. Pictured left to right are team leader David Ulm, team members John Eblen and Sabine Faltenbacher, as well as New Orleans District commander Col. Cullen Jones, and deputy district engineer Mark Wingate, who provided additional support and feedback for the project. Other team members and contributing support personnel not pictured include Paul Landry, Ozzy Orwick, Kevin Fuqua, Durund Elzey, Lt. Col. David Cox, Frank DeBoer, Lyan Hughes-Ingram, Joel Torres and Janet Yarnell.

Col. Cullen Jones, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District commander, speaks with media Sept. 15, 2023, on current steps the Corps plans to take to augment the existing underwater sill constructed by USACE in the Mississippi River to help slow progression of the saltwater wedge moving upriver from the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, along with other state and local officials, held a press conference that day at their headquarters in New Orleans, La., to discuss planned efforts to address continued low-water conditions on the Mississippi River.

The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project is located in southeast Louisiana on the east-bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James parishes in southeast Louisiana. The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Chief’s report was signed in June 2015 and the project was fully funded for design and construction in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. 100-year storm surge risk reduction will be achieved by a variety of structural and non-structural features including construction of over 18 miles of levees and floodwalls and two new 2,000 cfs pump stations. While these features will reduce risk from storm surge associated with tropical events, they do not specifically reduce risk of flooding from significant rainfall.