Project to protect East Jefferson's pump stations gets Corps of Engineers order to proceed

By Bob Ross, The Times-Picayune

May 04, 2010, 3:02PM

The Corps of Engineers on Tuesday issued the order to proceed on a $174 million project to provide protection for East Jefferson's four pump stations from tropical weather.



The job goes to Odebrecht Construction Inc., of Coral Gables, Fla., which won the project after a complaint led to a second bidding process.



Originally, Kiewit Louisiana was the lowest of six bidders for the job, with a price of $195 million. One of the losing bidders, Cajun Constructors of Baton Rouge, filed an official protest with the corps U.S. Government Accountability Office. The GAO handles all federal complaints about purchases and contracts.







The Suburban Pump Station, shown here, is one of East Jefferson's four stations that would get fronting protection under a $174 million project that received an order to proceed on TuesdayAfter the project was bid again, Odebrecht was the low bidder, with a price $21 million lower than Kiewit's originally winning bid. No one came forward to protect Odebrecht's bid, which triggered the corp's order on Tuesday for Odebrecht to proceed with the work.

The pump station protection project is part of billions of dollars in projects the corps' is working hard to complete by June 1, 2011.



The project involves floodwall protection for the pump stations in the lake, in addition to a system of valves and gates to stop water from Lake Pontchartrain from getting into the canals that drain neighborhoods. This "backflow" has been named as the culprit for flooding much of East Jefferson in 2005 during Katrina.



The work will take place at the Bonnabel, Suburban, Elmwood and Duncan pump stations.