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Engineer says pump-station work complete, Valentine Pontoon Bridge design near bid phase
Summary
GIS Engineering told the council the Eunice Alamo pump station and Butch Hill pump station work are nearly complete or finished; design work for a 1,200 CFS Grand Bayou pump and the Valentine Pontoon Bridge is wrapping up and state coordination may allow construction before year-end.
John Boyse of GIS Engineering updated the Lafourche Parish Council on several infrastructure projects during the July 14 meeting, reporting progress on pump stations and the Valentine Pontoon Bridge.
“This project is substantially complete,” Boyse said of the Eunice Alamo pump station and showed photos of a new Lutovine pump station. He said the Butch Hill pump station is finished on the engineering side but awaits parish funding.
On the Valentine Pontoon Bridge, Boyse said the design package is wrapping up and that the state is coordinating with a contractor on a construction contract. “So we should hopefully be able to see construction starting on that before the end of the year,” he said. Council members pressed him on cost estimates; Boyse and others cited the most recent estimate as about $9 million, and some members recalled historical lower figures from years earlier, generating skepticism about proposals to complete the bridge for substantially less.
Boyse also described the Grand Bayou freshwater project at the design stage for a 1,200 cubic-feet-per-second pump station and noted additional surveying and bridge stability work were in progress.
Why it matters: Pump stations and bridges are central to parish drainage and mobility. The timeline and cost for the Valentine Pontoon Bridge will affect budget planning and local traffic patterns; pump-station work affects flood control ahead of the rainy season.
What happens next: Council members asked to track costs and schedules; the parish will consider funding and change orders for completed or near-complete projects at upcoming meetings.
Sources: Presentation and Q&A by John Boyse, GIS Engineering, to the Lafourche Parish Council on July 14.
