The coastal project aims to preserve the famous lighthouse on the Chefunkte River

MADISONVILLE, La. (WVUE) – Since 1837, a lighthouse has stood at the mouth of the Chefunkte River in Madisonville, where the river flows into Lake Pontchartrain.

Today, however, there is some risk of the lighthouse tipping over or into Lake Pontchartrain.

As is the case with much of coastal Louisiana, the land around the lighthouse has eroded and settled over the decades, leaving the lighthouse entrance dangerously close to the water’s edge.

“The biggest concern as the hurricanes kept coming, with Ida and even this last one (Francine), we’re out there with sandbags trying to protect this lighthouse,” said Alexis Hochevar, board member of the Madisonville Maritime Museum.

The museum, which operates the lighthouse in Madisonville, has been planning the restoration for nearly 20 years.

Lake Pontchartrain encroaches on the Chefuncte River(WVUE)

On Tuesday (Oct. 29), St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper and other officials broke ground on the $1.6 million Tchefuncte Habitat Restoration.

The project, paid for by the parish’s share of federal offshore oil royalties, includes a barrier to reduce wave action and sediment pumped from Lake Pontchartrain.

“We took the shovel-ready project to the parish and Mike Cooper took it on,” said John Ammerman, another member of the museum’s board.

More work is planned, including a project to restore the marsh near the lighthouse.

A breakwater will be installed a few hundred yards to the east where there was once an island that protected against the waves.

It is hoped that this will reduce the nuisance flooding that regularly plagues those who use Lake Road in Madisonville.

“It may not stop the storm surge of major hurricanes,” Cooper said, “but it will stop the southeast winds we’re used to.”

The first works on the development of the land around the lighthouse should begin within a few days, parish representatives said.

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