Ribbon-cutting set for Bayou Chene structure

In 2019, Chip Kline recalled that for years, St. Mary officials had been sure to say two words to people in a position to write big government checks: “Bayou Chene.”
The words referred to the push for a permanent structure to control back-flooding on the bayou when the Atchafalaya River runs high, most often in St. Mary and lower St. Martin, but in four other parishes, too.
Now they can add two hyphenated words: ribbon-cutting.
The St. Mary Parish Levee District has set an April 29 ceremony to mark the functional completion of the Bayou Chene Flood Control Structure.
The invitation list includes Kline, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority chairman; Levee District board members and staffers; Parish Council members; and a host of officials from across the region.
When Kline spoke in 2019, the CPRA was announcing $80 million in funding for the long-awaited project. The project consists of a permanent structure and a barge that can be moved into place like a gate to block floodwater.
Sealevel Construction Inc. of Thibodaux was awarded the main contract. Bollinger Shipyard built the barge at its Amelia yard.
The structure was designed to eliminate the need to sink a barge in the bayou in times of high water. That’s happened three times since 2011 at the cost of millions each time.
Even more attention is being lavished on Bayou Chene.
In addition to the flood structure, the bayou, a channel authorized by the federal government, is due for dredging for the first time since 2019.
The dredging is expected to cost about $30 million. Enough funding is in place for Raymond “Mac” Wade to tell local officials that dredging will begin this summer. Wade, executive director of the Port of Morgan City, said more funding will be sought through Congress for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Levee District has had a busy couple of years with flood control projects.
In addition to the Bayou Chene work, the Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure near Baldwin was officially declared complete in November.
The $11 million project, funded largely through the state Department of Transportation and Development, was designed to prevent storm surge from coming up the Charenton Canal into the Bayou Teche, threatening the Franklin-Garden City-Centerville area.
The Teche structure is similar to the Bayou Chene project. It’s designed to swing a barge into place in a holding structure when flooding threatens.
During the hurricanes of 2020, when the holding structure was in place but not the barge, the Levee District used sheet pilings in the opening to block storm surge.
Currently, an extension of the Yokely Levee and a closure of the levee beneath the La. 317 bridge are in the works.
The estimated cost of the Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure has been corrected.