Yesterday President Mike Cooper ceremoniously started construction on the $1.6 million Tchefuncte Habitat Restoration project, an initiative that will protect the shoreline surrounding the historic Tchefuncte River Lighthouse in Madisonville.
President Cooper called St. Tammany a coastal parish and he said their decisions have reflected that by improving flood prevention and coastal restoration.
Once completed, the Tchefuncte Habitat Restoration will include a breakwater to protect the coast from wave erosion, a bulkhead, a 300’ pier near the Lighthouse and rip rap shoreline.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2025.
The Tchefuncte Habitat Restoration is the first of three projects to enhance the Madisonville coastal region. The next two projects, the Tchefuncte West Bank Marsh Creation, borrows sediment from Lake Pontchartrain to rebuild neighboring marshland, and the Lower Tchefuncte Breakwater Restoration, creates a rock wall to protect wave erosion near the mouth of the Tchefuncte River.
There are 16 total projects across St. Tammany’s coastline from Madisonville to Slidell and up the Pearl River, funded by federal Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) dollars.
