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Odebrecht USA is playing a major role in the construction hurricane-proof flood defences for New Orleans. Ben Sansom take closer look at the Kenner Floodwall proj
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n August 29, 2005, disaster struck New Orleans with an event that is likely to remain a scar on public memory for generations to come. The severity of Hurricane Katrina brought levels of destruction and human suffering not usually associated with the developed world, and these were splashed across newspapers and TV screens around the globe.
“In a joint venture with Florida-based Johnson Brothers, Od section of a new flood wall in Kenner, which will run alongside
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The storm surge peaked at a massive 28ft, while the waves that overtopped many of the levees and flood walls reached 55ft—both figures being the highest ever recorded in North America. Under this assault, a large portion of the city’s 350 miles of levees and flood walls were simply overwhelmed. Once the immediate rescue effort had been completed, however, the response has been characteristically vigorous. An unprecedented effort has been made to clear up, rebuild and protect this historic city, which is treasured worldwide as the birthplace of jazz and is home to over one and a quarter million people in the metropolitan area alone. By June 2006, 220 miles of levees and walls had been temporarily repaired as a prelude to the construction of more permanent higher levels of protection. Although there is theoretically only a 1 percent chance of such a storm happening in any one year, work is now well advanced on the Army Corps of Engineers’ Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS), a program that has been carefully calculated to protect the city from another devastating storm surge.
debrecht USA won the contract for the construction of the northern e the West Return Canal between Lake Pontchartrain and Interstate 10” Coming in at a cost of $15 billion, the work includes strengthening the levees and replacing the old concrete and steel floodwalls of I-wall design with stronger T-wall structures, constructing floodgates at vehicle and railroad access points which can be raised when flooding is expected, and building new and improved pumping stations to pump out rain and flood water. This gargantuan task has been broken down into 250 individual projects and the plan is that the work should be completed by 2011. The US division of Brazil-based global engineering and construction company, Odebrecht USA, has been a significant contributor to this massive engineering challenge. The company first set up its office in New Orleans in 2005, specifically to handle levee reconstruction work for the Army Corps of Engineers, and to establish
its reputation within the local marketplace. Since that date, the company has undertaken numerous contracts within the HSDRRS programme. This year alone Odebrecht has completed work on the reconstruction and fortification of containment dikes at Cataouatche Lake and in the region of Chalmette. Meanwhile, it has begun work on the construction of extra surge protection for four East Jefferson water pumping stations, and has also signed an agreement to undertake preventive construction work for flood protection. Then finally in July this year the company won one of the last remaining major contracts for construction work in the East Jefferson area, which it will be undertaking in a joint venture with Florida-based Johnson Brothers. Valued at $82.6 million, the contract is for the construction of the northern section of a new flood wall in Kenner, which will run alongside the West Return Canal between Lake Pontchartrain and Interstate 10. A primary line of defence against hurricane driven storm surges that threaten East Jefferson from the west, the canal stretches from Lake Pontchartrain to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The new wall will be laid down just 35ft from the existing wall which protects East Jefferson from the LaBranche Wetlands, and will run parallel to it for most of its 2.2 mile length. Once the work has been completed the old wall is due to be demolished. The T-wall design of the new floodwall will be a significant improvement on the old one. Not only will it be a few feet taller than its predecessor, it will also be much stronger and more stable, largely due to design improvements underground where the foundation supports will in some places be four or five times deeper than the original ones. With some 44,600 cubic yards of concrete and 1.2 million linear feet of sheet piles required for the building work, transportation is being managed to keep the impact to the local community to a minimum. Where increased traffic is expected for truck deliveries, the company is remaining in close contact with the local communities. Meanwhile wherever possible, supplies are being brought to the site by canal barge. Work is being permitted 24 hours a day, but the company has given the assurance that no pile driving will take place between 10pm and 7am, to reduce disturbance to the
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community. Meanwhile, vibration levels are being monitored throughout by the Corps, and Odebrecht is committed to maintaining them within predetermined levels based on industry standards for residential construction. 2010 has been a significant year for Odebrecht USA, which has been celebrating 20 years of operations in the United States. During that period, the company has completed some 55 major projects, working in the states of California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. Among the early projects was a $168 million contract for the construction of the Seven Oaks Dam in California, which began in 1993 and lasted for some 52 months. One of the company’s main clients has been Miami-Dade County, Florida, for whom it has completed both aviation and mass transportation construction work. The company is currently
responsible for the $2.85 billion expansion of Miami International Airport’s north terminal which includes 52 new gates, four train stations, new installations for the US Immigration and Citizenship Services, 123 counters, 119 self-service kiosks, 72 federal inspection service posts and a new luggage system. Odebrecht is also heading the construction of the $256 million MIA Mover, an automatic vehicle that runs on tracks connecting the airport to the Miami Intermodal Centre as well as the $360 Airport Link, a 4 km subway connecting the airport to the Earlington Heights subway station, a job that includes three sub-stations, a bus stop and highway access points. Having firmly established its credentials and built up a strong reputation for quality through the work it has completed over the past 20 years, the future looks bright for Odebrecht in the USA, and for the city of New Orleans, too. www.odebrecht.com
ODEBRECHT
USA
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