Louisiana’s Mississippi River Delta will be gaining international attention this year.
Teams of engineers, scientists and other researchers from the private sector and around the world will be joining together to re-envision the sustainability of the southern portion of the river in the Changing Course competition.
According to Changing Course, nearly 1,900 square miles of the state’s coastal wetlands have been lost in the last 100 years, and the problem is only growing. The importance the Mississippi Delta region has on the state’s economy regarding shipping and natural resources places stopping further subsidence as a priority of the competition.
The teams will be a combination of local, national and international firms coming up with new ideas for the lower Mississippi River. That vision will encompass the importance of navigation, commerce and the people living on the coast, according to Clinton Willson, chair of the technical team for the competition and University associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering.
“It’s broader than just science, but bringing the pieces together,” Willson said. “We’re really looking at what we want the river to be in 25 years to make sure navigation is sustainable and utilize resources for coastal restoration.”
The results the various teams come up with will build on the State of Louisiana’s 2012 Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, a plan meant to halt the encroaching sea on the coast.
The effort by all of the teams will likely generate carefully thought out solutions, which have the potential to make an impact on the 2017 Master Plan, Willson said. However, there is no guarantee a team’s plan will be accepted.
Teams are currently in the process of submitting a request for qualifications, due tomorrow, which will be the first screening in deciding what teams make it to the next step, Willson said.
Jeff Carney, University associate professor in the school of Architecture and director of the coastal sustainability studio, is participating in the competition and will be submitting a request to participate.
The opportunity for local firms to partner with international organizations and create a knowledge exchange is something of real value, Carney said.
“The [2012] master plan is the perfect base because it’s a dramatic step forward and we need to test it, and push it, to the next level,” he said.
In December, teams will be selected based on qualifications and skill sets they possess, where they will then craft and submit proposals in January in New Orleans, Willson said.
From those proposals, a group of around four teams will be selected to advance to the design competition Phase I, he said.
“They will get funding and can spend four to five months to create a framework design, a strategy for maintaining the river and effective use of resources,” he said.
In late summer 2014, the remaining teams will present their design and from there, two teams will be selected to move forward to Phase II, Willson said.
“The first part of the competition is framework,” he said. “The second is a move toward an in-depth assessment of technical aspects. If you do something to change the river, what would that mean from an engineering standpoint .”
The team to advance from Phase II will effectively have won the competition based on the quality and nature of their plan.