The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, and Plaquemines Parish Government recently signed a Project Partnership Agreement for construction of the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Program.
The project will use sediment obtained from operation and maintenance of the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico project for wetland and marsh creation and restoration at West Bay in Plaquemines Parish, La.
This partnership under the LCA program will provide the additional costs required to place material obtained from the dredging of the Hopper Dredge Disposal Area into open waters in the West Bay Area.
The project will create an island 6,135 feet in length with a crown width of 300 feet to a minimum elevation of 4.5 feet. In addition to the 44 acres of marsh expected to be created as a result of construction, the project is expected to help support 430 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation and 250 acres of marsh in the West Bay area.
In accordance with the Water Resource Reform and Development Act of 2014, the project will be cost-shared at 75 percent Federal and 25 percent non-Federal. The estimated total project cost is $10 million.
Check out some amazing photos from the West Bay development program: