| Seabrook Floodgate | |
|---|---|
| Crosses | Industrial Canal |
| Locale | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Owner | US Army Corps of Engineers |
| Material | Concrete, steel |
| Construction begin | 2010 |
| Construction end | 2011 (estimated) |
The Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) Seabrook Floodgate Structure is a flood barrier in the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana. The floodgate is designed to protect the Industrial Canal and the surrounding areas from a storm surge from Lake Ponchartrain.
The building of the floodgate was authorized by Congress in 2006 and will operate in tandem with the Lake Borgne Surge Reduction Barrier to reduce the risk of storm surge damage to some of the New Orleans region's most vulnerable areas – New Orleans East, metro New Orleans, the Ninth Ward, Gentilly and St. Bernard Parish.[1]
The Seabrook Floodgate Structure will consist of a sector gate and two vertical lift gates approximately 540 feet (160 m) south of the Ted Hickey Bridge with floodwall tie-ins on the east and west sides.[2] Other components of the Seabrook Floodgate project include retrofitting the existing I-wall and the Alabama Great Southern Railroad gate to heights that meet the 100 year level of risk reduction the Corps strives to achieve by 2011; constructing new T-walls that will tie the retrofitted walls to a new vehicle gate being built at the boat launch on Leon C. Simon Drive; and raising the Hayne Boulevard ramp.[3] When complete, the Seabrook structure will close the only remaining gap on the East Bank of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System.
The US Army Corps of Engineers awarded the construction of the project to Alberici Constructors, Inc. in July 2009[4] Construction started in the fall of 2010, and although construction activities will continue beyond the Corps' projected June 1, 2011 deadline, a temporary cofferdam will be built to reduce risk to the area during the construction.