Drainage improvements continue throughout the parish

The completion of two additional 72-inch culverts, which will significantly increase drainage capacity, should be completed in Destrehan this month.

It’s one project on a long list of parish drainage priorities.

“The project was identified by parish engineers earlier in 2020, independent of the work being done for the parish-wide master drainage plans,” parish director of communications Samantha de Castro said. “On Plantation Road in Ormond there was only one culvert, which was causing a significant bottleneck when it rained. By adding two additional 72-inch culverts, we will significantly increase the drainage capacity to the conveyance in that area and eliminate the bottleneck.”

Walter Pilie, a Destrehan resident of Ormond Plantation Estates and member of the East Bank Citizens’ Drainage Committee, said the progress underway will benefit Destrehan residents in all neighborhoods from Ormond Plantation Estates to S. Destrehan Avenue.

“Given what I’ve seen in the last 30 something years in past administrations, it is phenomenal what they’re doing,” Pilie said of parish departments. “These culverts will more than double the existing capacity of this bottleneck.”

Parish Director of Public Works Miles Bingham said the project is slated for completion Jan. 18.

“The contractor has already installed one of the two pipes, and will start installation of the second pipe on January 4,” Bingham said.

De Castro noted that the project is only one of the significant drainage initiatives the Department of Public Works has taken on this year.

“The parish has dedicated hundreds of hours of maintenance work to re-establish drainage by clearing debris, vegetation, trees and silt from canals and ditches parish-wide,” she said. “Notable work includes the canals running parallel to Shell Norco near Airline, the canals following the CN and UP Railroads and the work done along the ditch in Hill Heights.”

Additional recent drainage work includes the collaboration with DOTD to address issues with the ditches on Paul Mallard, work to address vegetation along the canal on CC Road in Montz and a coordination with LDOTD to repair a major sinkhole on US 90 near Majoria’s Market in Boutte.

“This project involved replacing 80 feet of large diameter pipe parallel to US 90 and rebuilding two large catch basins,” Bingham said of the sinkhole. “All work was accomplished by parish forces.”

For more information about planned, in-progress and completed parish drainage projects, visit www.stcharlesparish-la.gov/departments/public-works-and-wastewater.