Test suggests New Orleans levee built deep enough

Reuters ^ | 12/13/05

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

EW ORLEANS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - An initial test of one of New Orleans' broken levees on Tuesday suggested it had been built deep enough to meet design specifications, raising new questions of what caused the system of flood protection to fail during Hurricane Katrina, engineering officials said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed and oversees the system of levees, pulled out several metal sheet pilings from a damaged levee at the city's 17th Street Canal and found their length met design specifications of at least 17 feet extending below sea level.

Earlier seismic studies of the site by the Corps and Louisiana State University suggested the pilings were not sunk low enough into the ground to prevent water from surging under the levee, possibly causing a 400-foot (122 meter) breach that flooded the adjacent neighborhoods after Katrina hit on Aug. 29.

"This is a first step in trying to find out what went wrong, but not a conclusive step," Col. Lewis Setliff, commander of the repair task force at the Army Corps of Engineers, told Reuters. "We need to know why this failed so we can make adequate repairs."

The Corps has been building an emergency flood wall around the levee to allow an excavation of the breach itself early next month. The 17th Street Canal fracture was one of many levee failures that flooded 80 percent of the city and displaced tens of thousands of people.

Setliff said the Corps was also testing the concrete reinforcing the levee for possible flaws.

Rebuilding the levees is a crucial step in ensuring the safety of New Orleans residents as they try to reconstruct lost homes and businesses. A new hurricane season awaits next year, and uncertainty over the strength of the levee system has hampered private financing of the rebuilding.

Last week, Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter urged the White House to approve a multi-billion dollar flood protection plan to bring levees up to Category 3 storm standards by June, with future upgrades to more severe Category 5 protection.

He also recommended creating a statewide commission, including outside engineering experts in addition to the Army Corps, to oversee the project.

Category 3 hurricanes are measured by sustained winds of up to 130 miles per hour (209 kph), while Category 5 storms bear winds over 155 mph (250 kph).

[Recovering Hermit]

Yeah, but how big of a bomb will it withstand?

[auggy]

ya think Calypso Louie was right?

[randog]

Hmmmm...last month the engineers were saying it was a design flaw that any junior engineer would have caught. Now reality refutes that. The only answer is (and it's so obvious): George Bush did it.

</sarc>

[MRMEAN]

Why this PROOVES that Mayor Nagin and Farrakhan were right; them levees was BLOWN UP so that they would flood all the black people.

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

The speculation was the the Levee along the River in the Ninth Ward was bombed. Why would someone bomb a levee that ran straight though a Republican neighborhood?

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

Again, the 17th St. Canal runs through a white and Republican neighborhood.

[CajunConservative]

*Louisiana Ping List

If you would like on or off the Louisiana Ping list please FReepmail me and your name will be added or taken off of the list.

[kb2614]

This is from El-Reuters. I think I'll remain skeptical until I get the news from a more reliabe source, like the Weekly World News.

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

Fox news reported the very same thing...

[Cinnamon]

Calypso Louie was right! [/sarcsm]

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

Looks like Vitter is doing his job and fighting for a Cat. 5 Levee system.

[CajunConservative]

He's been doing a great job on this side of the state for Cameron and Calcasieu Parish as has Boustany.

[Phsstpok]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which designed and oversees the system of levees, pulled out several metal sheet pilings from a damaged levee at the city's 17th Street Canal and found their length met design specifications of at least 17 feet extending below sea level.

It's not how far it is below sea level, it's how far it is below ground level. The levees were already 10 to 15 feet below see level in these areas to start with. That means these marvelous pilings went as little as, what, 2 feet below ground level?

Are these the same engineers who later forgot to change from miles/yards to kilometer/meters for the Mars mission that ended up being an impactor instead of an orbiter?

[Capt. Tom]

NEW ORLEANS, Dec 13 (Reuters) - An initial test of one of New Orleans' broken levees on Tuesday suggested it had been built deep enough to meet design specifications, raising new questions of what caused the system of flood protection to fail during Hurricane Katrina, engineering officials said.

[battlecry]

Nah. Those were real rocket scientists.

[mcshot]

Who'd thunk eh!

"Impactor" very good.


mc ;>))

[River_Wrangler]

It's not how far it is below sea level, it's how far it is below ground level. The levees were already 10 to 15 feet below see level in these areas to start with. That means these marvelous pilings went as little as, what, 2 feet below ground level?

I wonderedifanyone would catch this "minor" detail.Most piling spec's specify to drive them to refusal. That would indeed penetrate the clay layer if present. I don't think 2 feet would get it.

[River_Wrangler]

It's not how far it is below sea level, it's how far it is below ground level. The levees were already 10 to 15 feet below see level in these areas to start with. That means these marvelous pilings went as little as, what, 2 feet below ground level?

I wonderedifanyone would catch this "minor" detail.Most piling spec's specify to drive them to refusal. That would indeed penetrate the clay layer if present. I don't think 2 feet would get it.

[River_Wrangler]

Reminder to self.....lay off the coffee!!!!