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Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) has awarded the contract for the first construction increment of the River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp project (MSP).
Phylway Construction, LLC will complete “Reach 6” of the project, which includes clearing, excavating, and building guide levees through approximately three miles of Hope Canal between U.S. 61, Airline Highway, and Interstate 10.
The MSP is a 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) freshwater diversion located on the East Bank of the Mississippi River in St. John the Baptist Parish, just west of Garyville, Louisiana.
The project will reconnect the Mississippi River to the Maurepas Swamp and revitalize over 45,000 acres with freshwater, sediment and nutrients to nourish the area, one of the largest and last remaining coastal freshwater swamps in Louisiana.
The first construction contract is valued at $8.4 million and funded exclusively with state dollars. The cost to construct the Maurepas project in its entirety is valued at over $300 million and will utilize $190 million in funds from fines associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill as well as other state only funds.
The remainder of the conveyance channel between Airline Highway and the Mississippi River, along with Reaches 111-113 of WSLP, are currently in final design. Both projects are currently scheduled to be completed by the end of 2028.