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February 19, 2013
A major portion of Terrebonne Parish’s flood control program moved closer to reality last week, as officials took delivery of the future Bubba Dove floodgate on the Houma Navigation Canal.
The barge portion of the gate structure, equivalent to that of four tractor-trailers, was towed from a Bollinger shipyard in Amelia through the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to the location where it now sits, awaiting integration with other components.
“This is a level of flood protection we have never had before,” Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet said.
The $48 million gate, which officials expect to be operational in June – just in time for the 2013 hurricane season – is part of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District’s attempt to build a wrap-around system similar to the original proposal for a “Morganza-to-the-Gulf” project, which had problems getting funding traction at the federal level.
The need for protection from waters rushing up the HNC, said levee district director Reggie Dupre, is well documented, with an estimated 55,000 cubit feet of water per second logged during flooding from Hurricane Ike in 2008.
The floodgate is named for the late Gordon “Bubba” Dove Jr., son of State Rep. Gordon Dove R-Houma, who was killed in a 2009 wreck on I-310 near Destrehan while returning home from a charity concert for Hurricane Katrina victims.
The barge portion of the structure is 273 feet long, 60 feet wide and 42 feet high. It was towed from Amelia to the HNC site by Caillou Island Towing, a trip that took 12 hours.
Work on the barge gate alone began in 2011. The receiving structure was, and gate will be, put in place by L&A Construction.
The HNC Floodgate will provide surge stoppage up to 18 feet above sea level while surrounding levees are at 12 feet with plans to eventually elevate them to a height of 15 feet.
Once operational, the HNC Floodgate will be closed when water levels at the complex increase by 2.5 feet above sea level and continue rising.
Dupre said it will take up to six hours for a three-man crew to close the gate. The process involves pumping 1.8 million gallons of water into the structure and slowly swinging it into a closed position.
The barge gate will not be closed for standard southeasterly winds or normal high tide.
The Bubba Dove floodgate makes the slow trek down the Houma Navigation Canal from Bollinger shipyard in Amelia.
