NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the wake of hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the Army Corps of Engineers has begun pushing ahead with new levee work for this highly vulnerably metropolis built among swamps and coastal lakes.
In the past two weeks, the Army Corps announced substantial agreements with Louisiana officials that, in effect, move critical levee projects off the drawing board and into construction.
On Sept. 22, the Army Corps and state officials signed a $3.9 billion agreement to share the cost on a breadth of new levee work, much of it around central New Orleans.
And then on Tuesday, the corps announced another agreement with the Pontchartrain Levee District to study building a new flood protection system for portions of the city west of the Louis Armstrong International Airport. Parts of this area, known as the River Parishes, were unexpectedly flooded by Ike earlier this month.
But the Sept. 22 agreement was considered a true milestone because without it, critical work to improve the city’s levee system would have stalled.
John Paul Woodley Jr., the corps’ assistant secretary for civil works, said the agreement allowed his agency to meet its “aggressive construction schedule.” The corps wants to finish building a levee system around New Orleans capable of withstanding major storms by 2011.
The agreement establishes criteria on how to move onto the next phase of levee work, which will not be funded entirely by the federal government. Until now, the federal government has financed the vast majority of levee, pump and floodgate work since Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005.
Under the 45-page pact, the corps has agreed to collaborate with state officials and share engineering documents, conduct independent reviews and give people periodic updates on what kind of protection they can expect from the new work.
A team of federal and state appointees will also be formed to coordinate the work.
The agreement also allows the state to fund portions of its work by giving the federal government land, easements and rights of way. This could involve giving the corps dirt to use or the authority to build levees across land not owned by the federal government. The projects could involve taking land from private owners and moving highways, pipelines and other infrastructure.
Under the deal, the corps can terminate the work if the state does not fulfill its obligations.
Now that this initial agreement has been reached, engineers will complete detailed technical documents on how the multibillion-dollar projects will get built, said Steve Wilson, a member of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s announcement for the River Parishes is of particular importance because it opens up a new front in the effort to save greater New Orleans from flooding.
The area west of New Orleans is largely without any protection and it has been growing as a bedroom community. Officials say the proposed levee system would protect 40,000 people, 1,700 businesses, two oil refineries and important evacuation routes — U.S. Highway 61 and Interstate 10. Early estimates say the levee work could cost $500 million.
Ike flooded Highway 61 and floodwaters crept into business parks.
Since 1985, when Hurricane Juan flooded the area, people in the River Parishes have asked the corps to build levees, but the project faltered.
On Tuesday, officials said $7 million would be spent on engineering, cost-analysis and environmental studies. Those studies should be done by the summer of 2010, officials said.
The area is vulnerable because it sits next to Lake Pontchartrain and because logging a century ago destroyed cypress-tupelo swamp forests that acted as a buffer.
 
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