Northeast Turtle Bay Marsh Creation Project

• Client

  Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) (Fenstermaker was a sub to Trigon Associates, LLC)

• Division

  Environmental, Engineering, Survey & Mapping

• Scope

  Magnetometer Surveys, Permitting, Marsh Creation/Nourishment, Coastal Engineering

• Completion

  Ongoing (95% design complete in 2021)

The Northeast Turtle Bay Marsh Creation Project is in the Barataria Basin in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana and proposes the creation/nourishment of 792 acres of marsh using dredged material from nearby Turtle Bay. The project area is part of a critical landbridge that helps to buffer the town of Lafitte, Louisiana and the West Bank of metropolitan New Orleans from tropical storm surge.

Marsh creation is one of the most critical components of the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan, and the Northeast Turtle Bay Marsh Creation project provides land building in an area with dire need, especially since the landfall of Hurricane Ida which devastated the area in 2021.

Fenstermaker was responsible for the marsh creation design, borrow area analysis, rock breakwater design, alternatives analysis, utility coordination, cost estimating, drafting of engineering plans, design reports, geotechnical coordination, and project specifications.  Early in the design process, Fenstermaker’s Survey and Mapping division conducted the magnetometer survey of the project site and collected data essential to design. Fenstermaker also prepared the drawings and applications necessary to complete the permitting process.

In late 2021, Northeast Turtle Bay Marsh Creation Project was selected for construction out of one of the largest cohorts of Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) projects to date. Currently, Fenstermaker continues to provide engineering services as the project moves forward to construction. Significant changes to the design are expected since Ida’s landfall. While this presents a formidable challenge, it also reiterates Louisiana’s need for large scale marsh creation projects.

Fenstermaker is proud to support Trigon, NRCS and CWPPRA in this critically important coastal restoration project.