Posted on 04/25/2008 12:49:35 PM PDT by ClearBlueSky
4 Investigates: Floodwalls stuffed with newspaper?
11:54 PM CDT on Thursday, April 24, 2008
Lee Zurik / WWL-TV News Anchor
"It blows my mind."
Those are the words St. Bernard parish president Craig Taffaro used to watch videotape Eyewitness News showed him, of floodwalls built to protect his parish.
"That should be criminal," Taffaro continues.
What he's talking about was witnessed by a St. Bernard Parish resident whodidn't want to be identified, but did have sharp criticism of the work done by a contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"It's like putting a Band-Aid on the hole of a gas tank of an airplane," the resident said.
Instead of an airplane, it's a floodwall, and instead of a Band-Aid, the witness says two years ago, he saw the contractor filling the expansion joint or opening between the floodwalls with newspaper.
"The whole length of the wall was stuffed with newspaper.".....
(Excerpt) Read more at wwltv.com ...
I think it is because George Bush hates black people ... *snicker*
New Orleans was so corrupt it was wiped clean by the hand of God almighty....
But they are determined to rebuild the cesspool as fast as possible.
Before I would get too excited, the paper could have been used as a backing for an elastomeric seal.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were at fault for the levee failures following Katrina and now here they are again building defective flood walls.
St. Bernard Parish is not New Orleans.
You’re doing a great job, Brownie!
Well, it looked good ON paper.
What this episode should really tell the MSM is that all their fishwrap REALLY isn’t good for anything! /s
Employing your logic, would the F-5 tornado that wiped out Greensburg Kanas (two years ago) also be considered to have come from the hand of God...?
I’m not sure what Greensburg Kansas’s level of corruption and sin was to have set God’s mind to wiping it out.
It certainly would have to been equal to New Orleans for God to act in such a manner - right?
But it suffered as much, if not more, in damage to property & life.
I reject that assumption. God doesn’t miss when he wants to wipe something clean- and the French Quarter( Sin Central) escaped destruction. While the residential areas of N.O. were 10 feet deep, the bars and perverts in the Quarter were fine.
As a native, I make no apologies for saying that rebuilding ANYTHING here after Katrina is stupid. The N.O. area- and points south- are geographically doomed. One more big hurricane and the debate is over- it’s ALL permanent wetlands.
The point of my post was to show the WASTE of millions. If politics won’t allow the powers that be to say- outright- that the place is not worth defending, then at least get the most for the money you’re spending. If the Corps sees nothing wrong with the quality of this floodwall, can the rest of the country trust them to build effective flood protection elsewhere? Where is the culpability for shoddy work?
What’s everybody getting so excited about? Its newspaper- all part of “Going Green”. They are protecting a city and saving the planet all in one futile gesture. Plus, the government is spending a lot of money on it- this has all the necessary components to be wildly successful in the eyes of a liberal.
No, it is my understanding that the levee failures were due to improper maintenance by the politically-appointed levee supervisors.
Yes, I ventured into St. Bernard a few weeks after the storm and was amazed at the destruction as it was as bad or worse than the Lower 9th.
However, I was there a few months ago and it was looking much better.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/01/national/main1675244.shtml
Then why did the corp admit before congress that it was their design flaws that led to the failure of the levees?
We’re familiar with the Port at Chalmette and its employees, one of whom died as a result of Katrina. A number of employees have not been back to their homes since they were flooded. It’s my understanding that a lot of progress has been made in the area, however. While everyone was focusing on NO, St. Bernard Parish was almost totally ignored and its destruction equal to, if not worse, than NO.
We have 1 unidentified resident with presumably no idea what the engineering design was saying he saw them stuff the levee with newspaper and you’re just taking it as 100% true and bad. They do a lot of neat stuff these days with paper, paper and chemicals can do quite a lot of stuff, including potentially build a water proof structure. Also the guy could be full of it.
Maybe it would be best to find out the truth before getting all freaked out. And remember, NO doesn’t get hit by hurricanes very often any.
I thought the levees were blown up. Can't they make up their minds?
I’m not sure what an elastomeric seal is but it sounds like you might be right. They have been covering this on local radio today and it was apparently used up against a water stop. The preferred material is apparently a rubber sponge and from my understanding the paper was used in 3 expansion joints. Now that is what the corp is saying and I certainly am not vouching for what they are saying.
An elastomeric seal used to conceal dynamite that was placed inside at the orders of Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney, which would detonate right after Karl Rove used his weather machine to direct a hurricane towards New Orleans.
Would an expansion joint be expected to be water tight?
“Employing your logic, would the F-5 tornado that wiped out Greensburg Kanas (two years ago) also be considered to have come from the hand of God...?”
Huricane Katrina was only a level 3 hurincane when it hit New Orleans so you logic does not work. A level 3 huricane does not equate to an F-5 tornado.
And any way both were the fault of George Bush and Karl Rove. Both incidents of malignent weather was due to the after effects (dust in the atmosphere) of 9-11.
If only he had signed the Kyoto accord both would not have happened and thousands would still be living in peace.
Actually, NOLA would have survived Katrina and not flooded if the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had designed and built levees that were not flawed.
I don’t understand why you would blame God for the errors made by humans. New Orleans was/is made up of a lot of different people, just like any city - some good, some bad. I’m from there originally, and the people I know were/are good, hard-working, faith-filled people. All the good people I know got flooded, but the French Quarter stayed nice and dry. If God was trying to destroy a sinful, corrupt people, that would mean His aim was off, and I didn’t think He made mistakes!
so the corrupt New Orleans contractors skimped on the construction. Now we know how they were able to affort those casino fact finding missions.
I'm no engineer, but by the mere definition I would say no. And I agree with the above that just because there's paper it doesn't mean it wasn't used for something other than stuffing. I'm thinking to aid in a form, foundation, or whatnot.
No argument here but we could go back a bit further on the blame too . . .
Why in hades did the USA keep this swamp of a town in the same suicidal location that the French put it to begin with? We know now what can happen due to its location and we're rebuilding it in the same spot.
Brilliant! Please take more of my tax dollars for this worthy project!!!
A question. Were they replacing the entire floodwall or were they replacing the elastic strips? If they were replacing the entire floodwall a new rubber joint would be called for. If they were only replacing the elastic strips, what happened to the old rubber joints?
The city is there because it is a PORT. Food comes in, food goes out. Petroleum products come in, petroleum products go out. Products come in, products come out. Now if you can figure out how to put a port away from the coast, please let us all know. The port is there, the people who work for the port are there, all of the businesses that people need to shop at are there, the doctors, accountants, attorneys, barbers, etc, etc are there because people need those things near where they work and they need to live near where they work. The city has been there for over 250 years. Even if you moved it up river, you will have to displace others who have lived where they are living for a very long time.
If flooding required that people leave where they are permanently, then please move lots of people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, etc. Tell us the wonderful area you live in that suffers from no natural disasters. We’ll all move there!
Somebody finally found a good use for the NY Times
Okay, lets talk about viability of a city -vs- need for a port.
How many people does it take to operate the Port of New Orleans? How much housing, support, shopping do they need?
I submit that the Port could remain as it is- as protected as it is- and be very viable WITHOUT a huge city that cannot be protected from inundation again.
Same goes for the petroleum industry. Pipelines are underwater already, how many people does it take to keep the petroleum industry viable in LA? You will not convince me- much less the rest of the country now- that a huge population living below sea level is sensible.
The fact that the Port continued operating after Katrina- when the city was devastated- proves that it doesn’t require a city of 500,000 to exist.
My point in posting this was to show everyone how YOUR tax dollars are being wasted by the Corps AND the contractors they APPROVE. If it can happen here, after all the public attention after Katrina, how can the rest of the country trust the Corps to protect them as they say they are? How can ANYONE defend the waste of millions-much less their LYING to the public with political doublespeak?
If this story was about a levee in Ohio, or California, I think there would be more outrage than sarcasm. Hate N.O.- fine. Think it isn’t worth protecting, ok. You’re entitled to your prejudices, BUT, floodwalls with NEWSPAPER in them shouldn’t be acceptable for anyplace, under any circumstances.
Once, the Civil War was over and railroads arrived in the 19th century and trucks and planes arrived in the 20th century, New Orleans lost its stratigic status but remained an important port. Moreover, in the last half of the 20th century until today the area is of importance to the oil and gas industry.
You can no more move New Orleans due to its hurricane vulnerability than you can move New York City due to its vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
Perhaps that would have something to do with the fact that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers screwed up in their design and building of the levees that failed after Katrina.
However, the Orleans Levee Board rarely checked the walls, and when they did, really didn't do anything other than check off the walls were there.
From Wikipedia:
“Investigations after the disaster revealed that the levee and flood wall system was apparently mis-designed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and that the inspections by the board were perfunctory at best.”
“In the aftermath of the flooding, there have been calls for the elimination of the Orleans Levee Board and other local and regional boards. During a special session of the Louisiana Legislature, a bill was passed into law by Sen. Walter Boasso (D-Arabi), which consolidated the levee boards of various parishes between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.”
“The Orleans Levee Board ceased to exist on January 1, 2007.”
I see you have your emotion based hate for the Corps so the unproven accusation by unnamed sources, that just happens to validate your emotion based dogma, is to be blindly accepted as "truth"?
Sorry NO got MORE bleeding Fed Money then ANYONE else to build these dang things. Don't blame us because your local pols were crooks who shoveled fat contracts to corrupt local businesses in exchange for kick backs.
And I thought newspapers were only good for bird cages.
Move it as a port city, no.
DOWNSIZE it to the original city ‘footprint’,( the sliver by the river) yes.
Either the government has the guts to do it, or nature will.
Terrorists can be controlled- nature cannot.
N.O. is a sponge on water, surrounded by water. It is ancient plumbing, sinking streets, subsiding levees that are substandard and politically corrupt government. All of S.E. La is sliding off the continental shelf, the Gulf is mere miles away with no barriers between it and the city.
Do you seriously think the city can be rebuilt time and time again? It can’t be fixed now, the infrastructure is crumbling and volunteers are still doing clean-up work that a real, VIABLE, city does for itself. N.O. is old and on its knees. There WILL be more hurricanes, and everyone knows the city can’t take another hit.
The city that the French founded was on the highest ground- the French Quarter and along the river. That is all N.O. should have, logically, been- and all it makes sense for it to be. Everything else CANNOT be protected. It doesn’t even take a hurricane for further deterioration. N.O. is sinking, the water/sewerage system underground is ancient,busted, and leaking millions of gallons of water underground. A heavy rain causes news bulletins and live shots of the canal levees. Street flooding affects homes and daily travel-during normal rainstorms!
How much loss is enough? How much waste? All the $$ being spent to protect what nature will win could be used to downsize the city and get people out of harms way. Now the levees can’t stand a Cat 2 storm- evacuations will be called for storms we used to not worry about. Eventually even the most diehard will get sick of evacuating time after time.
This is not progress, it’s living on the razors edge. Nature WILL resculpt the Gulf Coast. It WILL win.
The New Orleans levies were rated to withstand up to a Category 3 storm.
Katrina was predicted to hit as a Category 5 storm.
When Katrina hit, it was a Category 4 storm.
The rating of the levies and the predicted strength of Katrina made the failure of the Democrat Governor and Mayor to evacuate the city in accordance to their own published Evacuation Plan even more unconscionable.
"Don't blame us because your local pols were crooks who shoveled fat contracts to corrupt local businesses in exchange for kick backs."
If you are referring to "fat" contracts to build and repair the levees, you should take it up with the Army Corps of Engineers. That falls under their authority.
The French built New Orleans in a safe location ..... on high ground. That is why the old French Quarter was spared any serious flooding.
My brother-in-law has a 100+ year old house in New Orleans that was built on lower ground that had an elevated foundation rising about four feet above the ground. When New Orleans flooded, the flood reached up to six inches BELOW the sill just as the builders 100 years ago planned it.
His father-in-law had a newer house built within the last 20 years on land that nobody 100 years ago would have been crazy enough to build on. That house had water up to the roof and had to be bulldozed.
Now if you can figure out how to put a port away from the coast, please let us all know.
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I think Houston, TX qualifies nicely.
Presumably, after the application of an elastomeric seal. Generally, in the US, we use compressable foam backer rod, not newspaper. But newspaper will work.
On use of paper, read the rest of the article, it goes into considerable detail as to what was found, what was specified, and the practical implications of what was/wasn’t done. The contractor clearly did not do the job contracted for.
Louisiana Officials Could Lose the Katrina Blame Game(CNSNews.com) - The Bush administration is being widely criticized for the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina and the allegedly inadequate protection for "the big one" that residents had long feared would hit New Orleans. But research into more than ten years of reporting on hurricane and flood damage mitigation efforts in and around New Orleans indicates that local and state officials did not use federal money that was available for levee improvements or coastal reinforcement and often did not secure local matching funds that would have generated even more federal funding.
On use of paper, read the rest of the article, it goes into considerable detail as to what was found, what was specified, and the practical implications of what was/wasn’t done. The contractor clearly did not do the job contracted for.
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