Comite Diversion gets 2025 completion date despite issues

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Comite River diversion project gets a 2025 estimated finish despite supply chain issues

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced, today, there are six major components to start and finish, on top of existing construction, until the Comite River Diversion Project is finished.

The project costing more than $900 million is slated to finish in the third quarter of 2025.

It’s the latest and what work crews are hoping is the last time they have to push the completion date back.

“We have an early finish in the fourth quarter of 2024 anywhere into the third quarter of 2025,” said Nick Sims with the Corps. “That is the realistic schedule,” he added.

That is if supply chain and inflation issues don’t become more of a problem than project officials say it already is.

“The bottom line is this. One of the factors that’s really impacted the cost and schedule of this project is the cost of the bedding stone and the riprap all along the channel,” said Paul Henderson with the Five-S Group, a company working on the project.

Henderson listed the war between Russia and Ukraine as one of the many reasons for the increased cost and pushed-back schedule.

“This contract would mean the remaining rock for the Comite diversion canal would be a government-supplied material,” he added.

While that may sound like a solution, the Concerned Citizens for Drainage Improvement group doesn’t believe it.

“It’s pretty redundant quite frankly, with promises, broken promises, deadlines, missed deadlines declared,” said Robert Burns with the concerned citizens for drainage improvement group.

A lot of their members live along the Comite and fell victim to the 2016 flood.

“$9 billion worth of damage, said Rep. Valarie Hodges. “Nine billion. This is close to a billion-dollar project but it can alleviate nine, ten billion of damage if we have another,” she added.

The Army Corps briefly mentioned that they are in talks with FEMA to draw up new flood zone maps, which could lower or eliminate your need for flood insurance.

Those details are still pending.