Leaky New Orleans levee alarms experts
May 21st, 2008 . by TexasFredNEW ORLEANS (AP) – Despite more than $22 million in repairs, a levee that broke with catastrophic effect during Hurricane Katrina is leaking again because of the mushy ground on which New Orleans was built, raising serious questions about the reliability of the city’s flood defenses.
Outside engineering experts who have studied the project told The Associated Press that the type of seepage spotted at the 17th Street Canal in the Lakeview neighborhood afflicts other New Orleans levees, too, and could cause some of them to collapse during a storm.
The Army Corps of Engineers has spent about $4 billion so far of the $14 billion set aside by Congress to repair and upgrade the metropolitan area’s hundreds of miles of levees by 2011. Some outside experts said the leak could mean that billions more will be needed and that some of the work already completed may need to be redone.
“It is all based on a 30-year-old defunct model of thinking, and it means that when they wake up to this one – really – our cost is going to increase significantly,†said Bob Bea, a civil engineer at the University of California at Berkeley.
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Leaky New Orleans levee alarms experts
It’s not like many of us didn’t try to tell these asshats in New Orleans, it’s not like they weren’t warned, when you build a city on Delta mud that’s already below sea level, and you have the Mississippi river on one side, and Lake Pontchartrain on the other, a leaky levee is damned good cause for alarm and a recipe for disaster…
So, sit back for a few minutes and ponder the fate of New Orleans as you listen to the the music and watch the video…
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It’s so sad about New Orleans. A female friend and I visited there several years ago and I loved it. We could not find bad food and the music was fantastic. But the water is raising and the levees will leak.
Why in the world don’t the engineers go to the Netherlands for a hint on how to keep out the sea? The French Quarter and the Garden district are an important part of American history.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – move the town, ya morons – thinking you can tame nature is very egotistical and will cost more lives in the future.
Karen,
I don’t know if the water is rising or not, but N.O. is definitely sinking. And I think the engineers do have a good idea what needs to be done, but I would agree the rest of the world will always be able to learn from the Netherlands. It is all about budget and politics.
I have to believe, the civil engineers in this country are capable of doing proper surveys, design and construction, but are they allowed? It would be truly interesting to be able to talk, without restrictions, to some of the engineers working on the levees.
In the end, from what I know, and I ain’t saying that is a lot, they need to decide what really needs protecting, protect it, and for the people and businesses who are not in that area, this country would be better served in the long run to move them to higher ground. And set up a good rail system to alleviate some of the commuting mess.
cheers,
Tom
I love New Orleans. It is my favorite city and I have many fond memories of numerous visit as a kid and attending many Saints games during the Manning era in the 70’s.
But…
I have to throw out a “told you so†in regards to the rebuilt levees when the Army Corp of Engineers hemmed and hawed in interviews about the levee rebuilding. I said then that I have a sneaky suspicion that those levees are going to prove to be sub-par rather quickly and I was right. Those living near those levees are screwed.
cary said:
Well, AlGore and his cult of global warming environmental dirt people wackos thinks they can tame nature.
But then again, AlGore has always been and remains to this day an egotistical little bastardo.