Arcadis aids New Orleans recovery

Engineering firm Arcadis G&M Inc. is working on dozens of infrastructure projects to protect New Orleans from hurricane storm surges, and the Chattanooga office has one of the contracts.

The local office has agreed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to oversee construction of the Seabrook Floodgate, said Arcadis project manager Maurice Bandy.

The floodgate is one of 71 projects that Arcadis is working on as part of a revamping of New Orleans’ flood protection system, Mr. Bandy said.

“This is the most challenging project I’ve worked on,” Mr. Bandy said. “There have been a lot of issues we’ve had to deal with, but we’ve overcome them.”

More than half of Arcadis’ 80 Chattanooga staff have worked on the Seabrook Floodgate for the Army Corps of Engineers, said M. John Hensley Jr., senior vice president. The office is familiar with Louisiana, Mr. Hensley said, because it has worked with Arcadis’ Baton Rogue, La., office to survey damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Planning for the Seabrook Floodgate began almost two years ago and is still ongoing, Mr. Bandy said. Construction is expected to start in April 2010. Arcadis is designing the floodgate and will oversee its construction, which should cost between $150 million to $200 million.

The Seabrook Floodgate will be built near the entrance to the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal from Lake Pontchartrain, Mr. Bandy said. The floodgate will be open to water traffic but can be closed to protect New Orleans against storm surge from hurricanes. The floodgate work is a joint venture with The Bioengineering Group Inc.

“It’s a once in a lifetime project,” Mr. Hensley said.

Arcadis also is designing the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Project, which will protect a quarter-million people with gates and what will be the world’s largest pumping station, Mr. Bandy said.

All of New Orleans’ flood protection work must be finished by June 2011, Mr. Bandy said.