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Final 66-inch diameter vertical pile installed at IHNC Surge
Barrier project for hurricane protection
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Barrier to provide crucial protection to city of New Orleans from
100-year level of storm surges
BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2009--
Just 10 months since breaking ground on the Inner Harbor Navigation
Canal (IHNC) Surge Barrier project, The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) has
completed a major phase of construction on Lake Borgne near New Orleans,
driving the final 66-inch diameter, 144-foot-long vertical pile on the
foundation of the world’s largest storm surge barrier on Oct. 21, 2009.
The two-mile floodwall, designed as part of a system to provide
100-year-level storm protection to the city and surrounding areas,
extends from the north of Louisiana's Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to the
south of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO).
In April 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded Shaw the
project management, design and construction contract for the IHNC Surge
Barrier, the largest design-build civil works project in USACE history.
Under the terms of the contract, Shaw ultimately will construct a
10,000-foot-long, 26-foot-high barrier floodwall, two flood gates (a
swing barge gate and a sector gate) on the Intracoastal Waterway, a
vertical lift gate at Bayou Bienvenue and rock-reinforced T-style
floodwalls.
During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, storm surges entering the Intracoastal
Waterway and MR-GO combined in the IHNC to overtop and collapse a
4,000-foot-long section of floodwall, causing widespread flooding to the
city of New Orleans and surrounding areas. To be completed by 2011, this
barrier is part of a system expected to block future 100-year
hurricane-level storm surges from entering the IHNC.
“From their unprecedented unwatering of the city following Hurricane
Katrina to debris removal to temporary housing assistance, Shaw’s
commitment to the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans is well
documented,” said Col. Robert Sinkler, commander of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers’ Hurricane Protection Office. “We value Shaw’s design-build
expertise and program management capabilities, which are enabling each
planned phase of this important project to be completed on schedule.”
Finishing the first major phase of construction, the 1,271st
and final 66-inch diameter vertical pile that serves as the backbone of
the barrier was installed on Oct. 21. The 7,500-foot-long central
portion of the two-mile-long wall is made up of 144-foot-long concrete
cylinder vertical piles driven to a depth of 130 feet into the earth
reinforced by 2,600 concrete closure piles and 660 36-inch diameter
steel batter piles.
On Oct. 5, 2009, Shaw crews also installed the first horizontal concrete
cap beam at the top of the IHNC barrier floodwall. When added, the beams
increase the protection level to approximately 20 feet and add another
layer of integrity to the barrier’s overall structure, providing a
placement area for the parapet walls that ultimately will increase the
barrier’s height to 26 feet.
“The IHNC Surge Barrier is the largest floodwall in the world to provide
this type of fortification against this level of storm surges,” George
Bevan, president of Shaw’s Environmental & Infrastructure Group. “The
milestone Shaw has achieved thus far and our path forward are evidence
of the team’s resolve to achieve the barrier’s projected protection
level by the peak of the 2011 hurricane season.”
The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of technology,
engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication,
manufacturing, consulting, remediation and facilities management
services for government and private sector clients in the energy,
chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets.
A Fortune 500 company with fiscal year 2008 annual revenues of $7
billion, Shaw is headquartered in Baton Rouge, La., and employs
approximately 26,000 people at its offices and operations in North
America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific
region. Shaw is the power sector industry leader according to
Engineering News-Record's list of Top 500 Design Firms. For further
information, please visit Shaw's Web site at www.shawgrp.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe
harbor” for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained
herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation
statements to the effect that the Company or its management “believes,”
“expects,” “anticipates,” “plans” or other similar expressions) and
statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog or other financial
information or results are forward-looking statements based on the
Company’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future
developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no
assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those
anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve
significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our
control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various
factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize,
or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may
vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the
Company’s reports and registration statements filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports,
and on the Company’s Web site under the heading “Forward-Looking
Statements.” These documents are also available from the Securities and
Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw.
For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time
to time on a regional basis, visit our Web site at www.shawgrp.com.
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Source: The Shaw Group Inc.
The Shaw Group Inc.
Financial Contact:
Chris
Sammons, 225-932-2546
chris.sammons@shawgrp.com
or
Media
Contact:
Gentry Brann, 225-987-7372
gentry.brann@shawgrp.com
