its reputation within the local marketplace. Since that date, the company has undertaken numerous contracts within the HSDRRS programme. This year alone Odebrecht has completed work on the reconstruction and fortification of containment dikes at Cataouatche Lake and in the region of Chalmette. Meanwhile, it has begun work on the construction of extra surge protection for four East Jefferson water pumping stations, and has also signed an agreement to undertake preventive construction work for flood protection. Then finally in July this year the company won one of the last remaining major contracts for construction work in the East Jefferson area, which it will be undertaking in a joint venture with Florida-based Johnson Brothers. Valued at $82.6 million, the contract is for the construction of the northern section of a new flood wall in Kenner, which will run alongside the West Return Canal between Lake Pontchartrain and Interstate 10. A primary line of defence against hurricane driven storm surges that threaten East Jefferson from the west, the canal stretches from Lake Pontchartrain to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The new wall will be laid down just 35ft from the existing wall which protects East Jefferson from the LaBranche Wetlands, and will run parallel to it for most of its 2.2 mile length. Once the work has been completed the old wall is due to be demolished. The T-wall design of the new floodwall will be a significant improvement on the old one. Not only will it be a few feet taller than its predecessor, it will also be much stronger and more stable, largely due to design improvements underground where the foundation supports will in some places be four or five times deeper than the original ones. With some 44,600 cubic yards of concrete and 1.2 million linear feet of sheet piles required for the building work, transportation is being managed to keep the impact to the local community to a minimum. Where increased traffic is expected for truck deliveries, the company is remaining in close contact with the local communities. Meanwhile wherever possible, supplies are being brought to the site by canal barge. Work is being permitted 24 hours a day, but the company has given the assurance that no pile driving will take place between 10pm and 7am, to reduce disturbance to the
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www.bus-ex.com DECEMBER 10