Just thirteen months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the damaged Louisiana Superdome reopened as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome – to the delight of a beleaguered Gulf Coast region. Never in the history of U.S. stadiums has a facility been so heavily damaged and rebuilt so quickly. 5,000 tons of debris were removed, and the US National Football League’s New Orleans Saints regained their home.
The project included a new Champion Square, which gives the venue a connection to the streetscape of New Orleans. Several phases on operational and revenue driven enhancements were also carried out and everything from the fan arrival and experience, to sightlines were enhanced.
AECOM served as sports architect in association with Trahan Architects, Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects and Billes Architecture. One of the key factors in achieving such a quick turnaround, was that AECOM (through Ellerbe Becket) had a long-term relationship with SMG (the Superdome’s management company) and the Superdome Commission and had been working pre-Katrina on plans to enhance the building to keep it current with NFL stadium trends.
The result is a Superdome that is better than ever.
Partners
Trahan Arch/Sizeler Arch/Billes Arch | Broadmoor LLC: Construction
St. Bernard Parish, southeast of New Orleans, was one of the areas hit hardest when Hurricane Katrina’s 23-foot storm surge breached the city’s levees in 2005. About 85 percent of the parish lay under water. In the aftermath of Katrina, AECOM played a key role in executing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) $14.2 billion plan to protect New Orleans from future storms.
In addition to providing immediate post-disaster cleanup and restoration support to USACE on more than 30 projects, we provided constructability reviews and construction services to upgrade the levee section known as Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity (LPV) 146, located in St. Bernard Parish.
At LPV 146, the AECOM-led team placed more than 100,000 cubic yards of concrete to build approximately eight miles of flood control wall, or “T-wall,” atop the existing levee. Raising the protective barrier from an approximate elevation of 20 feet to 29 feet greatly reduced the area’s vulnerability to potential storm surges.
LPV 146 was a large-scale, highly complex undertaking. The three phases of the $273 million project entailed constructability reviews, which included initial scheduling and cost estimating; plan validation, which required driving of test piles; and finally construction.
As a validation of the quality of AECOM’s work, LPV 146 protected St. Bernard Parish when Hurricane Isaac swept through the area in 2012.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
- Completed entire project without a lost-time accident
- Reduced project timeline by 42 days and produced $50 million in net project savings
- Awarded the highest profit rate allowable under a USACE contract—10 percent
- Earned USACE’s highest performance rating