Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Levee Inspection And Operations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CPRA operations chief outlines levee inspection, technical assistance and monitoring systems
Summary
CPRA operations division chief briefed the board on inspection protocols, technical assistance to local levee districts, monitoring networks and post‑storm damage assessments, and highlighted certification and training offered to local inspectors.
Brad Barth, operations division chief at the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, told the board that CPRA performs design oversight, construction monitoring, operations and maintenance (O&M) inspections, and post‑storm damage assessments for levee and restoration projects across the coast.
"We also offer levee inspector certification," Barth said, pointing board members to the state's training portal and describing a regular inspection cycle that coordinates with federal criteria.
Barth summarized three inspection regimes referenced in the transcript: federal inspection criteria under 33 CFR 208.10, the Rehabilitation and Inspection Program (PL 84‑99), and a state statutory inspection framework (transcript referenced as Louisiana statute 49:214.6.3). He said CPRA works closely with local levee districts and parishes on quarterly inspections, site visits, periodic formal inspections and damage assessments; local sponsors often have daily eyes on their systems through routine maintenance programs.
Barth described operational support CPRA provides during storm events, including a coast‑wide network of roughly 400 monitoring stations that feed a coastal information management system and a hurricane gauge monitoring system. He said those tools allow analysts to run surge and scenario sensitivities and to advise on operational gate closures and other last‑minute decisions during an approaching storm.
Barth gave examples of recent technical assistance, citing a parish‑level quick response that restored operation to a gate at the Empire Waterway in advance of hurricane season. He also outlined CPRA's role issuing letters of no objection for construction near federally authorized projects and coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Section 408/authorization reviews.
On restoration projects, Barth said CPRA conducts construction inspections and long‑term monitoring — many projects carry 20‑year monitoring and maintenance plans to evaluate performance of vegetation, elevation and project templates.
Board members asked about streamlining emergency access to CPRA systems for local levee districts; Barth and other staff said they are working to expand direct access so local operators can use webEOC and other CPRA situational tools during emergency response.
