Our team constructed and tested two 1:65 scale live-bed physical models of the proposed Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion and the conveyance channel. The project is part of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana (CPRA) $2.2 billion plan to construct the 2-mile long Sediment Diversion to divert muddy Mississippi River water into Plaquemines Parish’s degraded wetlands to rebuild land.  The hydraulic modeling and testing performed provided important design information related to sedimentation, riprap stability, coffer dam construction, gate testing and other key design parameters to make this concept a reality. Project construction commenced in August 2023.

Discover more:

• CPRA Break Ground on Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion
• Making Mississippi Mud In Massachusetts To Restore Wetlands | Here & Now [wbur.org]
• A Mini Mississippi In Mass. May Help Save New Orleans From Rising Seas [90.9 Boston NPR]
• Rerouting the Mississippi River could build new land—and save a retreating coast [Science Magazine]
• Find the Mississippi River in Massachusetts [Chronicle 5 WCVB]
• To Save Louisiana’s Vanishing Coast, Build a Mini Mississippi Near Boston [The New York Times nytimes.com]
• Louisiana researchers tackle a changing Mississippi Delta [PBS News Hour Weekend pbs.org]
• Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion could create, save 47 square miles of land over 50 years [nola.com]
• CPRA Using Giant Model to Test Mid-Barataria Diversion
• Mississippi River Diversions Could Save Louisiana's Drowning Coast [enr.com]
• Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority [Official Website]
• A Mini-Diversion in Boston is Paving the Way for Louisiana’s Boldest Coastal Project [mississippiriverdelta.org]

Project Features:

• Selecting alignment of 2.5-mile new roadway while minimizing impacts and cost containment to fall within allotted funding.
• Excavation = 1.4M cubic yards, Rock blasting
• Six (6) Roundabouts - Five (5) Single Lane, and One (1) Double Lane
• Six (6) Span Concrete Bridge, One (1) Single-Span Concrete Bridge
• One (1) Box Culvert
• Four (4) Rock Structure Habitat created for Eastern Small-Footed Myotis Bats
• Seventeen (17) Storm Water Management Basins (2) Utility Main Relocations Acid Bearing Rock (ABR) – rock containing the sulfide-bearing mineral pyrite represents a potential source of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD). As a result, the construction specification required to minimize exposure to air and water without being covered to 5 days, and required an ABR disposal at the project’s approved waste site.