Coastal Protection and
Restoration Authority

Project Overview:

The Houma Navigation Canal is being constructed adjacent to the Bubba Dove Floodgate and will serve as a critical element of the Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection system.

Upon completion, the HNC Lock will allow a longer window of opportunity for navigation activities when the adjacent Bubba Dove Floodgate is closed to protect communities from storm surge or high water events. During gate closures, the lock will allow vessels to travel in either direction on the HNC, enabling officials to close the floodgate earlier and keep it closed longer, benefiting the area’s ecosystem suffering from saltwater intrusion.

Phase 1 of the HNC Lock Complex project will dredge over 1 million cubic yards of material to prepare the area for the lock complex and create 150 acres of marsh in six areas north of the complex along the navigation channel. Phase 1 is anticipated to be complete in the fall of 2022. A tentative bid date for construction of Phase 2 of the lock structure, which will include an 800-foot lock chamber with 110-foot-wide sector gates, is anticipated in spring 2022.

The HNC Lock Complex is a joint effort of CPRA and the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District. Engineering, design, and construction for Phases 1 and 2 of the HNC Lock Complex are funded with money resulting from the damages of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, allocated through the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act).

Sealevel Construction, Inc., headquartered in Thibodaux, won the competitively bid dredging contract for the lock site.

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