The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, along with other parish and city officials, celebrated the groundbreaking of the Louisiana Avenue Detention Basin Project on Tuesday, Oct. 4.  

Set on 18 acres of property on Louisiana Avenue along Contraband Bayou, the basin will be 935-feet wide, 885-feet long and 13-feet deep. Once completed, it will have the capacity to hold up to 60 million gallons of water – that’s the equivalent of 7-1/2 football fields with one-foot of water covering each.

 The detention basin will retain excess water from Contraband Bayou. When the bayou reaches a certain high point during heavy rains, the basin will detain that water until the event has passed and the bayou has receded. The basin will then slowly expel water back into Contraband Bayou until it levels back to 3-feet of water – its permanent pool level.

"It's kind of like a parking garage for the water," said Allen Wainwright, Director of the Division of Engineering and Public Works. 

The site will also be accessible to the public and have landscaping, lighting benches, trash cans, and a half-mile walking path.

“This is a great day as we break ground on what is the first of many regional detention ponds around Calcasieu Parish,” said Anthony Bartie, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Vice President. “Contraband Bayou is an ongoing concern for flooding, so this detention basin project is especially needed in the area. On behalf of the entire Police Jury, I pledge to our residents that we will continue to make drainage and flooding our utmost priority.”

 “This project will help with flooding within the watershed and surrounding community, while offering residents passive park amenities – such as a walking path,” said Alberto Galan, Assistant to the Parish Administrator. “It is being funded with a combination of local parish and federal funds from the American Rescue Plan allocation granted to the Police Jury. These funds are also being utilized to fund various other water, sewer, and drainage infrastructure projects parishwide.”

Triton Construction will begin work on the $5.76 million project immediately after the groundbreaking ceremony. Construction is expected to be completed in March 2024.

For project updates, visit calcasieuparish.gov.