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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The Army Corps of Engineers is launching a new project to help strengthen the levees along the lakefront.

In a week, the Corps will start installing high-performance mats and roll sod over them on the backside of the levee.  The mats will help anchor the roots into the ground, that way if a hurricane surges over the levee, there’s less chance of erosion.

“It’s going to help add resilience to the 1% storm system that we’ve already constructed in the event that we do have a higher intensity hurricane, the system will be better prepared to withstand a more intense storm,” says Bradley Drouant with the Army Corps of Engineers.

The $5.8 million project on the levee spans a five-mile stretch of from Lakeview to New Orleans East. It’s expected to be completed in late summer 2016.