City Grill

Dusty Bastion 
Gulf Coast Office Leader
HNTB

Construction in the region “currently is quite healthy,” Bastion says. “With projected increases in funding for transit, highway infrastructure, flood resilience and coastal restoration sectors, a strong construction market is anticipated for the foreseeable future.” 

HNTB is providing construction management and quality assurance services on the $2-billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project that is aimed at restoring and protecting   “thousands of acres of wetlands in the Barataria basin,” Bastion says.

He notes that in December 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a record of decision that will allow construction to begin on the large-scale diversion. 

“Once complete, the project will reestablish historic delta processes by allowing for controlled release of water, sediment and nutrients from the Mississippi River into the Barataria Basin estuary, supporting ecosystem-scale restoration of the estuary,” Bastion says. Construction for the project will begin this summer and is anticipated to take five years.