PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

GBA supported the USACE New Orleans District and the Port of Lake Charles (POLC) in preparing a 20-year Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) and the corresponding Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the disposal of dredged material from the continued maintenance of the Calcasieu River and Pass, Louisiana Project. The DMMP investigated alternatives for managing dredged material, including confined, aquatic (open water or ocean), and beneficial use placement areas. Ultimately the DMMP will create and restore more than 6,000 acres of marsh through the beneficial use of dredged materials. GBA was responsible for the following tasks: local, state, and federal resource agency coordination; public outreach and hearings; feasibility studies; alternatives analysis; engineering design; EIS coordination; design of marsh creation and shore protection; hydraulic and hydrodynamic modeling to include sediment transport and ship wake analysis; geotechnical investigations and analysis; hydrographic surveys; cost estimation; economic analysis and cost allocation strategies.

GBA recently completed the DMMP for the Calcasieu River and Pass for the POLC and received the highest rating available from the EPA and minimal public or agency comment. GBA is currently assisting the POLC with the negotiation of the Project Participation Agreement.

Due to lack of appropriations to fully maintain the project while the study was being conducted, GBA worked with the POLC, Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes, the State of Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, USACE, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to obtain funding in order to fully maintain portions of the Calcasieu River and Pass Navigation Channel while beneficially utilizing the dredged materials to restore 450 acres of intertidal marsh in Black Lake and 250 acres on the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. These successful projects were a direct result of cooperative coordination of the local sponsor, the local community, the State of Louisiana, and the Federal Government. GBA assisted in coordinating these efforts, negotiating the Memorandums of Agreement between the parties, topographic and hydrographic surveys, geotechnical investigation, conceptual designs, cost estimation, and independent technical review of the final plans and specifications prepared by USACE.

CLIENT:

Port of Lake Charles 
150 Marine Street
Lake Charles, LA 70601