Vermilion Parish Police Jury moves forward in fixing shoreline project at Southwest Pass

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury approved proceeding with new installation work on the final 9,600 feet of shoreline protection being done on the Southwest Point at Southwest Pass Project during a special meeting held Tuesday at the Vermilion Parish Courthouse Building.
The police jury approved the addition of $2,530,725 to add marine mattresses and ballast reinforcement for the steel rings that are being installed as part of the GOMESA Shoreline Protection Project for the parish.
Work on the project had been suspended because of scouring caused by the current and wave action that affected the integrity of the work.
Todd Vincent of Sellers & Associates, the engineers for the parish, said work is scheduled through this year, with suspension of work for the winter, and is expected to be completed next year.
“The scour protection that we’re proposing has been used on several projects, most recently one completed by CPRA (Coast Protection and Restoration Authority),” Vincent said in response to a question from Police Juror Dane Hebert. “It was called Biloxi Marsh Project. They did a demonstration project. It was a $9 million demonstration project, and they experienced some scour on it. You could see some of the reef balls that they used were leaning forward. So the engineer that designed the project was designing the actual project, which was a $33 million project. So they implemented a similar mattress system for their scour protection.”
Nationally-known consulting firm Tetra Tech investigated the scouring issue at Southwest Point for Sellers & Associates, and designed the scour protection for the project.
“I have a lot of confidence in Tetra Tech as well as this proposed design, which has been used on several projects before, so we’re confident that it will prolong the life of the structure and reduce the scour on the structure,” Vincent said.
Hebert asked if more engineering work was needed before proceeding with the work on the structure.
“That’s what they were designed for,” he said. “The issue is both the current and the wave action on the soil. They’ve analyzed both conditions, and the mattresses are designed to handle both conditions.”