Parish President Jason Bergeron gave the Parish Council a status update on projects under construction or in the design phase, including the Buquet Bridge and the city's power plant, June 26 during a Parish Council Meeting. Both structures were destroyed by Hurricane Ida, and both are at different stages of completion.
The power plant
"We were exploring options and funding sources for one larger than an 80-megawatt, but because of the time frames that it required to do that, we are proceeding with the 80-megawatt as of now," Bergeron said.
The 80-megawatt Houma power plant was destroyed by Hurricane Ida, Aug, 29, 2021, and a smaller 24-megawatt plant was built on Barrow Street to avoid the city going through rolling power outages. This smaller plant has run for 300 hours of runtime this year, and 100 hours last year.
The parish had been seeking to replace the destroyed 80-megawatt plant with a 100-megawatt plant, but according to Bergeron, this would delay the final construction by at least a year as it would then have to be approved by further entities. Instead, the plan is to rebuild as an 80 and utilize existing free space on the property to add onto the structure, thereby increasing its output at a later date.
The new power plant is currently in the design phase, which is expected to take between six and eight months to complete. The parish has secured $66.2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and is hoping to increase this amount by $103.8 million.
According to Terrebonne Parish Chief Finance Officer Kandace Mauldin, the parish doesn't have a set date on when the new power plant will be built, but in six to eight months, when the design is finished and the money has been secured, the parish will have a much better sense of when the plant will be finished.
Buquet Bridge
The Buquet Bridge, which crosses Bayou Grand Caillou along Falgout Canal Road, should be finished being rebuilt by the end of October 2026, according to Bergeron.
Like Ship of Theseus, the question has come up about at what point it would cease to be a repair job and instead become a replacement. Bergeron listed the parts of the bridge that had to be replaced and then said only one part would remain.
"Basically, as I understand it, and correct me if I am wrong, the only thing that won't be changed is the steel frame," Bergeron said to his staff.
Repairs are expected to begin this October. The price for the repair is currently unknown, Mauldin said, because the bridge is in the design phase. Bergeron said he could confidently say the cost would be "in the millions."
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