U.S. Sen. John Kennedy has announced an $8.3 million Army grant to fund dredging on waterways in south Louisiana.
The work will be performed on the New Orleans Harbor Reach of the Mississippi River, bays along the Gulf Intracostal Waterway, Bayou Lafourche, Houma Navigation Canal and Barataria Bar Channel.
“ Historic rainfall throughout the country has resulted in massive loads of silt and soil being washed down the Mississippi River to south Louisiana ,” said Sen. Kennedy . “ This grant will fund dredging to help keep our waterways clear for commerce and transportation .”
The Army Corps’ New Orleans District has the largest annual channel Operations and Maintenance (O&M) program in the nation and dredges an average of 77 million cubic yards of material annually during maintenance dredging of federal navigation channels.
The New Orleans District operates dredges throughout the waterways of south Louisiana. The majority of the Corps dredging operations take place on the Mississippi River, the Calcasieu River, and the Atchafalaya River.