Highway and Railroad Floodwall and Gates

The WBV-9c Project for the Hero Canal to Oakville Highway 23 Crossing is part of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) implemented by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the New Orleans area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The HSDRRS includes the construction of many miles of floodwalls and levees for the West Bank and Vicinity of the Mississippi River.

Conti Federal constructed two 53-foot wide swing gates across Louisiana’s busy Highway 23, a 25-foot-wide swing gate across existing active railroad tracks and T-wall floodwalls that tie in to other HSDRRS projects. The project also included work around the active highway and under the railroad, utility relocations, drainage work, fertilizing, seeding, excavation, clearing and grubbing and asphalt paving. The success of this project required Conti Federal’s project team to execute complicated planning and coordination efforts over the course of two years on an aggressive schedule concurrently with other projects in the area to beat the flood season. The team accelerated the project schedule by using more accurate utility relocation methods and fabricating the large floodgates in its shop.

Conti Federal regularly coordinated with the USACE and key stakeholders, including the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railroad to maximize active rail service windows and with the Louisiana Department of Transportation to keep highway traffic lanes open during construction.

Key features of the project included:

• Constructed new levees and reinforced T-walls
• Installed highway and railroad swing gates
• Managed heavy traffic
• Droved H-puled and sheet piles
• Excavation
• Placed embankment
• Paved asphalt and concrete
• Installed drainage
• Utility work