Bayou Chene closure to be complete June 5
Officials plan to have Bayou Chene in Amelia closed by June 5, though the temporary barge floodgate may begin blocking some water flow by Thursday.
State leaders announced Friday that the state had committed to installing a temporary barge floodgate on Bayou Chene in anticipation of operation of the Morganza Spillway. The Mississippi River Commission made the official decision Monday to start opening Morganza June 2.
Operation of Morganza was deemed necessary to divert flood waters from the Mississippi River. But opening Morganza brings more water to the Atchafalaya Basin, which necessitated close of Bayou Chene.
With the Morganza opening, the Atchafalaya River is projected to crest June 18 near 10 feet at Morgan City, according to the National Weather Service.
Officials issued a contract Friday to close Bayou Chene. Driving of steel pilings started Monday and continued Tuesday. Authorities planned to move the barge into place Wednesday morning, said Tim Matte, executive director of the St. Mary Levee District. The levee district is managing the project.
Matte anticipates that sheet pilings will begin to be driven Thursday morning. The barge may begin to prevent some additional backwater flooding Thursday, but the channel won’t be closed until June 5, Matte said. Placement of rock will be the final action to close Bayou Chene.
On June 2, officials plan to send 10,000 cubic feet per second through the Morganza Spillway, followed by another 10,000 each June 3 and June 4.
“That’s a pretty nominal amount when, right now, the flow is almost 600,000 (cubic feet per second) past Simmesport,” Matte said.
After the first three days, the flow will increase more substantially. The total expected flow to be released from the spillway is about 150,000 cubic feet per second.
Work was also progressing Tuesday to build a limestone levee on Avoca Island, which is located near Bayou Chene, to help with the flood protection efforts, Matte said. The Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District was set to start placing sand bags along Tabor Canal.
Levee district officials have been working closely with consultants, along with staff of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
As of Tuesday, La. 70 in lower St. Martin Parish is now passable to vehicles.
Law enforcement officers are on site to make sure motorists are in their lanes and not going fast, said Brandie Richardson, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Transportation and Development.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, DOTD officials DOTD officials placed linked sand bags along about a half-mile stretch of La. 70 and then pumped water off the highway.