Port Hudson Pride Road Stream Bank Stabilization

Pride-Port Hudson Road serves as an important corridor for the City of Zachary in northern East Baton Rouge Parish.  This project focuses on an area of stream bank north east of the Port Hudson Pride Road bridge crossing of the Comite River.  The current roadway and bridge are at risk of failure from flood related hazards, such as erosion/undercutting and displacement/destruction of the road structure. This project’s goal is to stabilize the roadway and bridge to avoid those risks.

Comite River Stream Bank

The photo above shows the erosion along this section of the Comite River.  If left in this current condition, the Comite River is expected to erode the stream bank until reaching the Port Hudson Pride crossing, therefore rendering that section of road unusable and making closure necessary.  Closure of this roadway to address necessary repairs would require at least 120 days of repair and an at least 12-minute detour.  To avoid these measures, the project will focus on adding rip rap and weirs along the approximate 1100 feet of stream bank.  This will reinforce the stream bank and prevent further erosion and prevent road failure as a result.

The total cost of this project is $3.19 million, with 75% of this funding from the FEMA Hazard Grant Mitigation Program. This funding is supplemented with East Baton Rouge’s local match of 25%, which will be paid for by the Louisiana Watershed Initiative.  The Port Hudson Pride Road stream bank stabilization project will protect the area near its Comite River bridge crossing from further erosion and undercutting.  The addition of rip rap to this area will ensure that the stream bank remains intact.  Additionally, erosion prevention will protect the Comite River bridge crossing, ensuring that neither displacement nor destruction occurs in the event of heavy rains or riverine flooding.