Houma turns back clock for major film crew
August 23, 2012Lockport mayor succumbs to cancer
August 23, 2012
Members of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District know what floats their boat. Last Tuesday it involved crews at Bollinger Shipyard in Amelia launching the nearly completed Houma Navigational Canal Bubba Dove barge gate.
The structure measures 273 feet in length, 42 feet in height and 60 feet wide. It is the key working part to the HNC Floodgate Complex.
The $10 million barge gate, which will now have top-side wenches, pumps and other working parts installed, will be the primary storm surge wall of protection for Terrebonne Parish once it is operational at the HNC complex south of Dulac.
“The actual structure has been built,” Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District Executive Director Reggie Dupre said. “It is now just a matter of building the mechanical portions.”
Work on the barge gate alone began in 2011. Dupre said the structure should be delivered on site by November, then connected to the already positioned $39 million receiving structure and operational by June 2013. The receiving structure was, and gate will be, put in place by L&A Construction.
State Rep. Gordon Dove, for whose late son the gate has been named, said seeing this project progress is an honor.
“This floodgate and the levees surrounding it will also be helped with completion of the Bayou Grand Caillou floodgate, which is next,” Dove said.
Dove identified this project as one part of the Morganza to the Gulf project and represents progress made by locals without federal assistance. “That is why we are asking voters for a half cent sales tax,” he said. “We are not asking to start flood protection. We are asking to help complete it.”
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 Houma Navigational Canal Bubba Dove barge floodgate is out of dry dock and now floating at Bollinger Shipyard in Amelia. With the interior work complete crews will now install wenches and pumps to the topside. The barge is expected to be operational by June 2013.
