BATON ROUGE – State officials said Wednesday that new strategies and staging areas will reduce debris removal times by half, according to LDEQ projections.

According to the LDEQ, since the staging site was activated on North Sherwood Forest Boulevard, haul efficiency has increased by 66 percent. That means crews can haul 17,000 more cubic yards per day to a total of 60,000 cubic yards per day.

Also, Brown said there is no disposal at the North Sherwood Boulevard site, just debris separating and compacting. He said separating and compacting the debris reduces three truckloads to just one truckload.

“The contractors expect the addition of the staging site will cut the total removal time in half – from the original estimate of 120 days to something like 60 days,” Brown said.

In another instance of streamlining operations, contractors are in constant contact with school officials so that operations can be suspended until school bus routes are complete each morning and afternoon.

An additional site on Joor Road has been authorized but has not yet begun operation. Brown said these temporary staging locations will only be used during the duration of the declared emergency.