Phase 2 of the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline erosion control project has begun in southern Tangipahoa Parish

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller
(985) 748-3211

AMITE—Phase 2 of the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline erosion control project has begun in southern Tangipahoa Parish.

Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller announced today that HDR Engineering has been contracted to serve as project engineer on the second phase of parish’s rock jetty breakwater project. Miller said the consulting firm engineered the first phase of the project, which runs along the southern shoreline of the parish west of the Tangipahoa River.

Miller said Phase 2 will include the remaining 4.3 miles of Tangipahoa’s unprotected shoreline along Lake Pontchartrain. This area includes two portions on either side of the existing rock jetty, with one running eastward to the St. Tammany boundary and the other west to Pass Manchac. Miller said this phase of  project will cost approximately $570,000, and that cost will be absorbed by federal grant funds.

Miller said an initial environmental performance study prepared by Southeastern Louisiana University shows the existing rock jetty is working as it was intended. The study indicates there is a build up, or “accretion” of additional layers of land on the backside of the breakwater. The rock jetty is also successfully slowing down the process of shoreline erosion. Fish gaps have been built and planned along the length of the breakwater to allow movement of seasonal waters and offer various marine species access to the wetlands area behind the rock jetty.

“This is a critical element in our fight against coastal erosion in southern Tangipahoa Parish,” Miller said.

The project will be reviewed and permitted through the Army Corps of Engineers, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, and other agencies, as part of the requirements of the federal funding.