West Pointe a La Hache Stormwater Pump Station
New Orleans, Louisiana
PACE is working with the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR) to determine the feasibility of improving the siphon system already in place. The West Pointe a La Hache Siphon, located in Plaquemines Parish was constructed in 1990 in response to the alarming rate of decline in the marshes found in the Louisiana delta region. When the area was in its natural state, the Mississippi River would repeatedly overflow and change course, depositing its large supply of sediment along the coast and creating southern Louisiana. Due to the build-up of levees along the Mississippi River, flooding of the surrounding wetlands is no longer a regular occurrence because engineering efforts have prevented the river from changing course. The system in place at West Pointe a La Hache returns a supply of fresh water and river sediment to the marshes which could reverse the decline of the marshes. PACE is creating a permanent on-site vacuum priming system that is capable of priming all eight tubes simultaneously or individually, replacing the on-site vacuum storage tank with a more robust and simplified system, installing an on-site control building to house siphon mechanical equipment and associated equipment to protect from weather elements and vandalism, extending the siphon intake pipes to increase sediment transport and decrease the frequency that the tubes lose prime, and provide attachments to one or more intake pipes to be coupled with dredging operations in order to increase sediment intake.
Advanced Elements:
- Self-regulating vacuum priming system to both initially prime the siphon in less than 10 hours, and also maintain optimal siphon conditions for transfer of maximum flow
- System adjusts for changes in tide conditions upstream and downstream
- Siphon shuts down if system conditions are not optimal, such as reverse flow or bad water quality
- Mechanical equipment is enclosed in raised cast