Bring on the wall

Hogan on crusade to get Sunset District floodwall

It’s been almost three years since 1,400 residents living in the Bayou Gauche area signed a petition asking for flood protection for their homes and businesses. All of the signatures came from property owners living in the Sunset Drainage District and residents of Des Allemands, located outside of the district.

Now, Councilman Paul Hogan wants the floodwall to be built to withstand flooding caused by potential storms, at an approximate elevation of eight feet in order to protect the residents of these three communities.

“Right after Katrina, I was amazed at the number of people that signed the petition trying to get flood protection for their homes and businesses,” he said. “The floodwall needs to be built to protect those residents living in this vulnerable area of our parish.

“If the water laps over the bank during any kind of storm, Bayou Gauche, Des Allemands and Paradis will be flooded.”

The resolution passed by the council requests that the parish administration construct the Phase I floodwall from the South Pacific Railroad to the Sunset Drainage District Levee. Hogan intends to introduce a second resolution for Phase II, which will extend north of the railroad.

Residents living on the Bayou Road didn’t want the floodwall in the 90’s, but Hogan is hoping they’ve changed their minds.

“They need the protection,” he said.

Hogan says residents had some issues about the floodwall.

“People were complaining that they wouldn’t have access to the bayou like they did before,” he said. “But there are ways to cut in openings where they can still have access to the bayous.”

Concrete floodwalls that were supposed to protect New Orleans were not overwhelmed by high waters during Hurricane Katrina as federal officials have claimed, but ruptured because they were structurally flawed, according to Louisiana scientists.

Hogan says the costs of building a floodwall is about $3 million.

The proposed floodwall is to be constructed of interlocking steel sheet pile with a concrete cap.

“The walls in New Orleans didn’t go down far enough with the sheet piling,” he said. “Ours won’t have that problem and will be structurally sound.”

 

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