Flood of projects hits New Orleans

06/18/2009

By Angelle Bergeron

The floodgates are about to open on the long-awaited deluge of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract awards to bring the Greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System up to 100 year levels by 2011.

In an effort to apprise the engineering, design, construction and project management community of the requirements and demands of upcoming projects – some 40 before the end of 2009 - the Corps’ New Orleans District hosted an industry conference June 18 at the New Orleans Marriott in Metairie.

If the standing-room-only attendance of about 325 is any indication, the contracting community is hungry for the work and likely to supply the Corps with a healthy pool of bidders.

An abundance of contractors is critical to delivering the amount of projects and technical challenges required in a compressed time frame, says Dan Hitchings, former director of Task Force Hope, and current program manager for Arcadis-US, performing design and construction management for Corps projects in south Louisiana.

“The price of building materials, particularly steel and cement, are lower than they were last year at this time,” Hitchings adds. “That means bids may come in lower than estimates.”

Art Lujan, executive director of a local AFL-CIO Building Trades funded training program, went to the meeting to find out when the work will flow so he can put graduates to work.

“The city hasn’t started their Katrina work, neither has the state,” Lujan says. “The Corps is about to release several billion dollars worth of work, and that is a huge chunk.” Lujan was also looking for assurances from the Corps regarding enforcement of the Davis-Bacon Act, including the apprenticeship portion.

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