[backhoe]

Probably, after they get the ship channels cleared, it will go back to being an important port (you don't need a lot of city. You need warehouses, road and rail connections, and a place for the barge and ship traffic to tie up to) because of the geography of how it's easier to get goods down river and out.

KAC, that's how I see it-- there's a good case to be made for rebuilding the Port of New Orleans. However, it's my opinion that the city is dying while we watch, and not worth rebuilding- at least not in the same vulnerable area.

A side note? I read ( but have not confirmed ) that NO was our only supertanker hub. If so, that's a little crazy-- it seems to me we need at least one on each coast, plus the Gulf of Mexico.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

We don't need any choke points.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The hub is offshore, so tankers didn't have to come into port. But it was the only one of it's type.

Seeing what's going on in New Orleans, I think maybe it's a great thing that it'll never be the same again.

I do suspect that the old, high parts of the city will continue to be kept, just because they aren't that damaged (unless they get burned down.)

But will New Orleans be the jewel? I bet it's now BR's turn to shine.

[neb52]

http://www.marad.dot.gov/dwp/deepwater_ports.html

It appears it was the only one currently in operation, but some may have just come online a few months before the hurricane and others are going through the application process to get a license.

[stevie_d_64]

Lightering vessels are whats used in the Port of Houston...Its a slower operation, but steady...

The Houston Ship channel cannot handle deeper drafted ships...