Crews digging throughout parish to improve drainage
St. John – Residents are seeing progress on drainage throughout St. John. Excavators are digging, crews are cleaning, and debris and vegetation clogging the parish's drainage canals are being removed. In an effort to continue to improve the drainage system in St. John, parish officials brought in several local contracting companies to assist the Public Works department in cleaning the ditches and canals throughout the parish.
Crews are located in LaPlace, Reserve, Garyville, and will be on the westbank by next week. The crews will be working for a few more weeks ahead of an anticipated master drainage contract being approved by the Council in February. The master drainage contractor will resume the excavation work once the contract is approved.
The work is being done as part of the overall drainage action plan being managed by the administration. The Action Plan consists of clearing the 27 major drainage canals on both sides of the river, cleaning the culverts under roads and railroads throughout the parish, and cleaning the ditches on both sides of the river. In addition, the administration and council have moved forward on large drainage improvement projects in Reserve in the St Peter's school area and around the Homewood and Central Ave neighborhoods, and in LaPlace near St Joan of Arc School and Persimmon Street area and in the Old Riverlands subdivision area. Simultaneously, permits are being secured from the Army Corps of Engineers for all of the major drainage canals on both sides of the river. The major drainage canals carry rain water to Lakes Maurepas, Pontchartrain, and Des Allemands. The major drainage canals have not been cleared of vegetative debris in over a decade and are in severe need of the clearing to allow the water to flow out of the developed areas.
"We have crews attacking the drainage situation from all angles. We are doing short, middle, and long term fixes to our drainage system," said Public Works Director Clifford Bailey.
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