Repair of the truck scale in Port Manchac that was badly damaged during Hurricane Ida appears to be in its final stages.
During a recent South Tangipahoa Harbor Commission meeting, commissioners voted to award an $11,500 contract to M&R Resources for electrical work. The electrical work will be completed in a modified shipping container, which, after much discussion, was identified as the most effective solution to house the scale.
Commissioners also awarded a $2,000 contract to AECOM to continue engineering services at the site.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is covering 90% of the work, Port Commission Executive Director Patrick Dufresne said.
Commissioners also directed Dufresne to seek bids for a company to inspect Terminal 3, where a new roof was recently installed, at the port. Much of the discussion has centered around whether a commercial construction company or a structural engineering firm should inspect the facility.
However, as the conversation progressed, a consensus was reached that the wisest option was for the construction company to conduct an initial inspection to determine what additional steps, if any, should be taken.
“I’d like to see what’s broken, what hasn’t been fixed, what’s rusty,” committee Tina Roper said. “I don’t think we need to go to a structural engineering assessment of the building until the tradespeople come back and (determine) we have that type of (damage).”
“I think we can do it at a much lower cost.”
Commissioner Dr. Bill Gobert agreed, saying a qualified person first needs to walk through the building and do a thorough assessment. That should determine whether follow-up by a structural engineer is warranted, he said.
Bayou Diesel is the sole tenant at the warehouse, and Roper said to her knowledge an inspection has never been conducted, or at least not in recent years. The commissioners acknowledged that there was no record of what was in this building or the maintenance or condition of the building.
“After reporting damage to Building 2 after Ida, it opened our eyes to what might happen in (Building 3),” Roper said. “I’ve never been in the building.”
If the chemical is indeed causing corrosion, a professional should be hired to mitigate any damage, Commissioner Tim DePaola said.
“We need scope; we might be wasting our time (with the commercial building inspector),” he said.
“We might do that, but my point is we have to start somewhere,” Roper responded.
Commission lawyer Andrei Kudrin said Bayou Chemical essentially rents the space and if something breaks down at the port, it doesn’t do the repairs.
“If they cause harm, they are responsible,” Kudrin said.
Dufresne also reported that plans to repair the jetty continue to advance with FEMA and the state Office of Homeland Security. He said the engineers wanted to ensure that the work would adhere to international ship docking standards and rules.
“(Engineers) were satisfied with the repairs and what we are doing to fix them,” Dufresne said.
He stated that the next step is to complete the final cost of the repairs, at which point Coudrain will draft a contract for the repair phase for bidding. FEMA is paying 90% of the entire cost, including engineering costs, Dufresne said.
If the contract is less than $1 million, FEMA will pay the cost directly, but if it exceeds $1 million, the port will be reimbursed, he said.
