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.