The Lake Borgne Surge Barrier is a two mile long 24-26 foot high floodwall complex on the east bank designed to seal the Inner Harbor (Industrial Canal) from the Lake Borgne and the Gulf.

The project consists of a bypass barge gate and a flood control sector gate at the GIWW, a vertical lift gate at Bayou Bienvenue, a braced concrete barrier wall across the MRGO and the Golden Triangle Marsh, and floodwalls on the north and south ends that tie into the risk reduction system in Orleans Parish and St. Bernard Parish, respectively. In April 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded the construction contract to The Shaw Group, making this the largest design-build civil works project in Corps history. [$700 million]

In December 2008, the Corps held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of test pile-driving. Construction of the barrier floodwall, which will be 10,000 feet (1.8 miles) in length, began on May 9, 2009, and crews are working around the clock to meet the 1 June 2011 deadline. As of October 2010, the barrier wall and floodwall tie-ins are substantially complete. In addition, construction continues at the three gates. The barge gate is currently open to all marine traffic along the GIWW while a cofferdam closes off the sector gate portion of the channel.