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West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Pump Stations and Drainage Structures

Coastal flood risk reduction and water resources infrastructure that incorporates value engineering while mitigating flood risk

  • $385M

    Construction Value

  • 4

    Pump Stations

  • 5,600

    CFS Pumping Capacity

  • St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. John Parish, Louisiana

    St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. John Parish, Louisiana

Vulnerable communities across the Gulf need resilient systems like Westshore to address sea level rise and catastrophic hurricanes

During Hurricane Isaac, storm surge flooded thousands of homes in Louisiana and submerged I-10, delaying emergency response across the region for days. USACE initiated the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain Risk Reduction project to reduce future storm damage risk to more than 60,000 vulnerable people.

Our team is providing design services for a 100-year storm risk reduction system featuring levees, pump stations, flood walls and gates, environmental and drainage canals, a FEMA 361 operations safe house, and bypass drainage gates. We’re designing the stations to pump stormwater over surge levees and floodwalls and conducted a resiliency check by modeling a 500-year storm event to confirm the system could withstand overtopping and wave loads. Structures are being designed to withstand hurricane winds, while redundancy was built into the electrical and mechanical systems to avoid a single point of failure. Soft soils were challenging, so we have incorporated surcharge with wick drains, staged construction, and deep foundations to limit settlement. Seepage and stability are being analyzed to prevent water from destabilizing flood protection.

Our design is being expedited to meet USACE schedule and funding obligations. Ultimately, we were able to incorporate value engineering, money saving options into a design that effectively and economically reduces risk.

Meet Our Team

Jeffery Pena, Principal

One of the most satisfying parts of my professional career is knowing the work I do directly helps others.

Dan Grandal, Vice President

My job is to help communities become more resilient and to provide the basic building blocks that get those communities functioning.

Hilary Thibodeaux, Principal, Senior Project Manager

With increasing coastal issues, I’m proud to deliver innovative and quality coastal projects to protect communities and reduce land loss.
Hilary Thibodeaux Principal, Senior Project Manager Read More

Ryan Waldron, Coastal Engineer

I feel tremendous pride when I work on a project that restores or protects our fragile and beautiful landscape.

Thomas Cancienne, Client Service Manager

We are at the forefront of the coastal issues facing not just the nation but—in particular—our communities.

Austin Nall, Project Manager, Geotechnical Engineering

My passion for the outdoors fuels my work to provide resilient, mindful designs that sustain natural resources and improve our communities.
Austin Nall Project Manager, Geotechnical Engineering Read More

Jeffery Pena

Principal

Dan Grandal

Vice President

Hilary Thibodeaux

Principal, Senior Project Manager

Ryan Waldron

Coastal Engineer

Thomas Cancienne

Client Service Manager

Austin Nall

Project Manager, Geotechnical Engineering

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