[Rebelbase]

Rebuild it!

[Rightly Biased]

Had a lengthy conversation about that with some people that love NOLA and they agree.


RB

[drlevy88]

and fill it in with spoils from Lake Ponchartrain

Are you sure you want to get them from Pontchartrain? That is going to be one nasty chemical stew soon, as NO's floodwaters are pumpted into it.

[shield]

N.O. has to be rebuilt...must be above SEA LEVEL however, or it'll just be again another accident waiting to happen.

[Coyoteman]

Part of the problem is the area is actually sinking.

[lormand]

How about draining Lake Pontchartrain into the Gulf, thus making New Orleans only vulnerable from the Mississippi levies, which has already been proven to withstand Katrina.

[Deetes]

Well it is going to be bulldozed . But, it will probably be built back. I have heard a lot of people say they are not going back .

[BCrago66]

Next time, use the label Vanity.

[AntiGuv]

Well, most everything except for the riverside stretch between the Garden District and Bywater (that includes Downtown and the French Quarter) wouldn't be any great loss anyhow..

[Last Dakotan]

Sell the French Quarter to the highest Las Vegas casino bidder. Bulldoze the rest.

[Abcdefg]

Dynamite ALL the levies, then build only on what is dry. No federal aid to build anywhere else except what is above the river and sea level.

[SedVictaCatoni]

Rebuilding New Orleans in situ would be madness. The nation needs an industrial seaport at the mouth of the Mississippi, but it doesn't need a giant below-sea-level slum. Re-establish a smaller seaport upriver.

Everything economically/politically important about New Orleans (the seat of the Fifth Circuit, the Federal Reserve Bank, etc.) should simply be moved to Baton Rouge, which now appears likely to become the region's new metropolis anyway.

[Last Dakotan]

Note the "armored" shoreline. That's really rich LOL.

[Delta 21]

Terraform it! Get the fill from the delta. If its built below sea level it will flood (again).

Oh the vanity!

[Enchante]

One thing that needs to be looked at extremely closely, I would think, is other land reclamation projects. The one that comes to mind first, since I used to live in Boston, is that in the late 19th century the city filled in a sizable area of bay and mudflats (the now famous "Back Bay") with landfill. The area involved to bring much of NOLA above sea level is vastly greater, of course, but since the depth of landfill required would be much less than filling in a bay, maybe the success of Back Bay in Boston at least suggests a way to look at the problem. I do know that the Back Bay neighborhood became one of the most desireable parts of of the city (well, the part east of Mass. Ave. anyway). It took decades to do this in Boston, but presumably far greater equipment, manpower, and funds could be brought to bear in NOLA.

"This parcel of land was created by filling the tidewater flats of the Charles River. This massive project was begun in 1857. The filling of present-day Back Bay was completed by 1882; filling reached Kenmore Square in 1890, and finished in the Fens in 1900. The project was the largest of a number of land reclamation projects, beginning in 1820, which over the course of time more than doubled the size of the original Boston peninsula. It is frequently observed that this would have been impossible under modern environmental regulations."

[Vinnie]

Agreed
I heard two congressmen from La. mentioning the exact idea so maybe it will come to fruition.
I don't think building a residential area in a flood plain is going to fly. Certainly didn't in Eastern NC after Hurricane Floyd.

On the down side, FEMA bought out the people in East NC. Buying out all those residences in N.O.is going very expensive.

[fallujah-nuker]

I had some thoughts along this line. I wonder if the other parts of New Orleans were originally below sea level, or did they subside when the marshes were drained. When Peter the Great built St. Petersburg he used millions of pilings which seemed to have worked. Is New Orleans built the same way? I want to know more.

[Eagle Eye]

Yes, the port must be re-opened.

But as I've posted on other threads, any building under three stories will need to be condemned and razed due to contamination.

The cost of remediation for these buildings and homes is prohibitive.

Add to that the folly of rebuilding where they don't belong.

[ryan71]

It will be rebuilt in the same place...

1. It will have to be filled in and raised to please insurance companies.

2. Who will rebuild there? Will the Government build new slums? Will those who have the money rebuild on large lots?

3. What will land cost? Will it be in demand? Or will nobody want it?

4. What will the population mix look like, if rebuilt? 67% black, 33% white? The other way around? I don't care. Just wondering.

It will be interesting OR sickening OR both to see what develops...

[wolfpat]

I have a vague memory of reading something about the Mississippi River not going to NO were it not for the Army Corp of Engineers. I think it has been trying to change course for years.
IIRC this was in National Geographic about 20 years ago.

[Quix]

Methinks that whatever the NEW MADRID HUGE QUAKE is going to do--will more or less obliterate whatever is near the NO area regardless of whatever rebuilding has been done however high unless it's what . . . ??? . . . considerable miles away and considerable 100's of feet above sea level.

We can't afford exercises in futility at this time.

Toooooo much grief headed our way.