b'SURFACE WATERG\x1b\x16\x15\x14\x13 L\x14\x0e\x14\x18\x1d Innovative Gates24LAFOURCHE When Dupre started on the MorganzaSo far, the levee district has built 11 barge to the Gulf project, there were twogates, each about one-third the cost H\x14\x12\x1c 1 arc-shaped, rolling sector floodgates inof a sector gate. The largest and most place, built by the district\'s predecessorexpensive of the barge floodgates is the 182 using Corps of Engineers designs. WithHouma Navigational Canal "Bubba Dove" N L\x1c\x18\x14\x15\x1e new design standards and the need toFloodgate, completed in 2013 at a cost of 24 build floodgates to a higher elevation, the$50 million.cost of building sector gates was very high, he M\x1c\x0e \x1e\x0c 315 says. Instead of replicating those expensive designs,With a 250-foot (76 m) opening, a sill depth of -24 feet H\x19\x18\x13\x1e N\x1e\x11\x10\x0f\x1e\x0e\x10\x19 C\x1e\x1e\x0bConstructed the levee district adopted a much more cost- (7.3 m) and a flood protection elevation of +18 feet (5.5 UnderTERREBONNE effective, local approach called a barge gate.m), the Bubba Dove Floodgate is one of the largest in construction the U.S. Building a sector gate at that location would Permit andM\x14\x13\x1d\x1e\x11\x12\x1d In the open position, a barge as long as the channelhave cost more than $150 million, Dupre notes. design phase 57 is wide sits on a platform, weighed down by a few D\x12\x1a\x1c\x18\x11\x1e feet of water in its hull. One side of the barge isClosing a barge gate is a delicate operation that Planned project C\x1c\x12\x1b\x13 attached to a piling that serves as a pivot, like therequires a skilled crew and favorable conditions. Floodgate hinge on a door. Without a slight but steady current pushing against the L\x1e\x1d\x1cclosing motion, it can be like slamming a 273-foot-long B\x19\x18\x17\x16\x1c\x1e\x18\x15 When a storm approaches, the gate crew empties(83-meter), 250-ton steel door shut in a windstorm.the water to float the barge off of its platform, then D\x12\x1a\x1c reels in the loose end to shut it like a door across the"We didn\'t have the resources to build these sector channel. Once it fully blocks the channel, the crewgates that can work in adverse conditions, sofills its hull with water to sink it in place on a set ofwe have to work with the tides to close them,"pins, forming a seal on the concrete floor of Dupre explains.the channel. H\x14\x12\x1c "You\'re really fighting water with water," DupreYOU\'RE REALLY FIGHTING N\x1c\x1b\x11\x1c\x1d\x1b\x14\x13 notes. "They take longer to operate than a sector C\x1c\x13\x1c\x1a L\x14 gate, but once they\'re closed, they work just as well." WATER WITH WATER.D\x1e\x1d\x1c\x1b\x1a \x1c\x18\x1e\x1cEmptied of water, a barge gate floats, and can easily be pulled by cables to open or close the waterway. When the hull is filled with water, the barge gate sinks into place and forms a seal with the channel floor.Whos Minding the Planet? 9'