Slidell pumps ready to go

Six drainage pumps at Schneider Canal going back into operation
Slidell residents can breath a little easier the next time there is a heavy rainstorm.
The city administration announced Monday the six drainage pumps at the Schneider Canal in southern Slidell will be back in full operation by next week.
The pumps were knocked out of commission by Hurricane Katrina two years ago, leaving the city with three pumping stations. Public Operations Director Mike Noto said the loss of the Schneider Canal station reduced the city's ability to pump water out of Slidell by 50 percent.
Noto said the six Schneider Canal pumps each move 63,000 gallons of water per minute for a total of 380,000 gallons per minute.
Last June, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved $2.5 million to rebuild the pumping station.
Nottingham Construction Co. of Baker won the bid for the project. The company removed the six pumps and sent them back to the factory for refurbishing. Then the motor control centers and electrical cabinets were all replaced. Everything, except the two diesel-powered generators, were either replaced or rebuilt.
Nottingham also had to clear the canal of grass and water hyacinths that were clogging the pumps' intake pipes, and that caused some delay in the project.
The contractor also replaced the earthwork walls that are behind the pumping station just off U.S. Highway 11.
The original station was finished in 1998 at a cost of $5 million.
Work continues at the other three drainage pump stations to make drainage more efficient in the city, the administration said.
Engineering and design work has started on the refurbishing of the Lee Street station that is estimated to cost $77,000. Work crews have finished a metal shelter to protect the pumps at the City Barn station on Bayou Lane. Finally, city officials are looking at ways to enlarge the sump area at the Delwood pumping station.