Engineering
Innovative environmental engineering services and infrastructure solutions.
By providing communities with reliable access to clean resources and protection from dangerous environmental hazards, carefully-designed infrastructure is critical to securing the health and prosperity of our society. Behind every life-saving infrastructure solution is a team of specialists providing comprehensive engineering services.
JESCO has helped federal, state, municipal and private clients overcome daunting challenges presented by issues like population growth and aging infrastructure. With 30 years of experience to our name, the JESCO team stops at nothing to provide efficient and effective engineering services for our clients.
Environmental Engineering and Flood Protection
JESCO’s primary environmental engineering services include technical support, field research, and demonstration services concerning soft-armoring and erosion control of levee embankments. We ensure the success of these projects through a blend of agronomic solutions that utilize turfgrass establishment, soil management, weed removal, and pest control solutions.
JESCO has had the opportunity to work alongside the New Orleans District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CEMVN) to protect our neighboring community from dangerous flooding and other environmental risks. These projects include the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS), the Mississippi River & Tributaries (MR&T) project, and the installation and management of over 300 miles of levee embankments.
Environmental Engineering Services
- Pre-turf establishment site inspections and soil and water sampling
- Review of construction contractors’ Turf Establishment and Irrigation Plan submittals ensuring compliance with contact
- Scope of Work and specifications documents
- Soil and water sampling and data interpretation/recommendations
- Compost testing
- Irrigation water testing and data interpretation
- Specifications adjustments/recommendations addressing site specific conditions
- Overseeing turf establishment operations and implemented by construction contractors
- HPTRM sod establishment implementation planning and logistics support
- Turfgrass establishment phase and post-establishment phase site inspections
- Agronomic recommendations (fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, soil amendments)
- Turfgrass repair recommendations and repair contractor scope of work development
- Daily and weekly project status reporting
- Site inspections
- Attendance of site meetings with USACE, contractor, and/or local non-federal project sponsors representatives
- Attendance of USACE project meetings
- Technical support for preparation and implementation of Operations & Maintenance Manuals
- and guidelines for vegetation management by federal (USACE) and non-federal sponsors
Field Service Management
The JESCO headquarters are located in the coastal region of Southern Louisiana, so we are well-aware of the importance of coastal preservation and the protection that healthy coasts provide for their surrounding environment. Because of this, we are committed fully to working with local and national partners to help protect America’s wetlands.
As part of this effort, JESCO provides the following coastal restoration and preservation services:
- Planning
- Design
- Installation
- Evaluation
- Operations
- Maintenance
- Monitoring
- Coastal Grasses Nursery
Additionally, we have partnered with Louisiana State University to support and provide exclusive coastal preservation grasses that provide superior benefits to other common solutions.
Coastal Preservation Grasses
Dunes and wetlands serve as natural lines of defense against storm surges and coastal flooding. But, without a sufficient amount of coastal grasses to guard against coastal erosion, these powerful barricades begin to fall apart and the risk of flooding and further erosion increases.
That’s why JESCO has partnered with Louisiana State University (LSU) to maintain stocks of unique coastal grasses needed to preserve the coasts of Louisiana. LSU researchers noticed that smooth cordgrass and sea oat grasses were extensively used in coastal preservation, but were concerned with a lack of genetic variation between these two varieties (making our coasts particularly susceptible to plant disease and pest infestations).
To solve this issue, LSU developed six new smooth cordgrass varieties and three new sea oat varieties to increase biodiversity and improve the adaptability of restoration plantings. These new coastal grass varieties also came with a number of advantageous adaptations compared to the original varieties:
- Superior vigor
- Taller height
- Larger leaves
- Greater stem density
- Increased tiller production
- Increased tiller spread
- Improved transplant recovery
- Improved seed production
- Better germination rates
- Increased erosion resistance
JESCO holds an exclusive contract with LSU to maintain breeder stocks of these new smooth cordgrass and sea oat varieties for the explicit purpose of supporting projects that aim to protect, preserve and restore Louisiana coastlands.