BATON ROUGE - The US Army Corps of Engineers is considering the construction of a new dam and reservoir along the Amite River to help prevent flooding in heavily populated parts of East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension parishes.

The Corps is looking at the Darlington area as a prospective location for the $2.3 billion project, which would create a flood pool of nearly 20 square miles along the East Feliciana-St. Helena parish line.

There's no prospective timetable on how long the project would take should it be approved. If approved, it would still require funding from Congress. 

The Corps will have a 45-day comment period, including public hearings on Dec. 17 at the North Park Recreation Center in Denham Springs and Dec. 18 at the Clinton United Methodist Church in Clinton.