Road Improvements Leave Marshes Intact
Highway to Port Essential to National Energy Supply

Located at the southern tip of Lafourche Parish, Port Fourchon services half of the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, making it a critical link between the United States and its offshore oil and gas interests.

Connecting this vital port to the mainland is Louisiana Highway 1, dangerously overcrowded and the only hurricane evacuation route for oilfield workers and residents of nearby Grand Isle. Running through a wetland that subsides roughly an inch annually, Highway 1 could sink below sea level in five years.

“Given the rate of land loss, simply widening this road would be a waste of time,” says Ted Falgout, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission and chairman of the Louisiana Highway 1 Coalition.

Composed of local government and industry representatives, the coalition works to secure full funding for a plan to replace 17 miles of Highway 1, from Golden Meadow to Port Fourchon. Currently in the second phase of construction, the project is building an elevated highway over the most threatened section of wetland. Moving equipment and materials on top of the bridge as it is built limits the project’s footprint in the marsh.

“This construction technique costs more than traditional methods, but it’s less harmful to the wetlands,” Falgout says. “Like much of our working coast, Port Fourchon and the oil and gas industry depend on wetlands for protection.”