New La. Coast Restoration Work To Start In 2 Areas

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — A $428 million to restore two parts of Louisiana's rapidly eroding coastline is moving ahead.

The commander of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, officially signed the plan during a news conference Friday atop the concrete Lake Borgne hurricane surge barrier.

One part of the effort aims to rebuild a beach and wetlands at Caminada Headland south of Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish, the Times-Picayune reports (http://bit.ly/MEZqzt). The other part will rebuild Shell Island, a barrier island east of Grand Isle in Plaquemines Parish.

Louisiana officials said the state will spend $108 million, part of its share of costs, to begin construction by the end of the year. Overall, the state plans to spend $300 million on coastal restoration in the next year, an official said.