New Orleans: Breach closed in 17th Street Canal levee

Times Picayune ^ | Sept. 4, 2005 7:32 p.m. | joe darby

[jonatron]

The breach in the 17th Street Canal levee that had put the city of New Orleans underwater was essentially closed early Sunday evening after days of work and the use of "ingenuity to the max," a top U.S. Corps of Engineers general said.

[John Jamieson]

to the lake then the ocean.

water will receed until it reaches sea level then must be pumped.

[The Brush]

In parallel the discharge would be much greater but recharge time considerably longer

Vinnie,
You answered my question! Now if I ever find two women I'll really be shocked.

[Lib Buster]

I'll tell you what we need to find out. Are the levees or floodwalls in question controlled and maintained by the Corps of Engineers, or are they controlled and maintained by the New Orleans Levee Board? I've been told that they were the latter, but have not been able to confirm. If they are, this would be HUGE.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The breach in the 17th Street Canal levee that had put the city of New Orleans underwater was essentially closed early Sunday evening after days of work and the use of "ingenuity to the max," a top U.S. Corps of Engineers general said.

It's Bush's fault.

[CitizenM]

My Aunt lives 2 blocks from the Lake levee (she was pulled by C.G.) She said it ruptured when it was hit by a barge! The barge was trying to fix a bridge.

That is the second time I heard about a barge hitting the levee. There was a short report on FOX about an 80-some- year-old man who said the same thing. The FOX reporter questioned about a barge being on the lake, if it had been blown in there by the hurricane. Wonder what is up with this "barge" story - if there is any truth to it.

[TYVets]

You will see an imprint of that seal on Nagin's right buttock.

From what I have seen and read over the weekend, you will see a matching imprint on the left buttock if they meet today.

[driveserve]

Is that you again my cerebral Pablo? My how you have devolved from the cold logistician you so proudly proclaimed yourself to be. What happened? Someone else get your goat? Have you taken your medications? Really, the discussion between you and Mr. Howlin was quite sane until...

"Now everyone; reporters, Freepers, survivors have been calling it a LEVEE for SIX damn DAYS. If you have a problem with it being called a levee, take it up with them and leave me be"...

Have you lost your the ability to reason? What happened to the "I use logic. You use emotions" guy I came to know and love? Speaking of which, you chickened-out of a perfectly crafted challenge for you to defend your position on another subject that I'm sure you remember. You were doing just fine until, well, until you couldn't bully someone, which is what you've done here. You're making enemies Mr. Spock. I suggest you crawl back to logicland because no one here is impressed by your mental acuity, such as it is. After-all, a man who doesn't fight for what believes, doesn't believe and is not a man.

Mr. Howlin, Senor Pablito does this as a matter of course. If you're interested, look back on our exchanges with bummerdude and me. Otherwise, take my word for it that he nothing but a poseur. He ran from me without a fight. I proved him wrong by default.

Any response from you Paolo, would be most welcome, but keep it cool-headed and "logical". After-all, that's your forte. Right?

driveserve

[George Oh Well]

"George have you taken the time to read up on the NO pumping system?"

Yes. So far "experts" are saying it will take 4.5 - 96 days to pump the city dry. That's like saying Hurricane Katrina was somewhere between a Force 1 and a Force 20 hurricane.

[bert]

....Pictures and accounts show these to be concrete 'walls' about 2' thick; these are canals created by retaining walls....

I'll sharpen this up just a bit. The base is earthen, like a conventional levee. The depth was increased by driving sheet piles, interlocking steel plates about 24" wide, and then sheathing the sheet piling in concrete.

[urtax$@work]

Good point. According to my contacts at COE, during
flood events of large and sustained period, supersaturation
occurs. When waters receed, releiving pressure causing
"slumps" that will have to be repaired. Happened here
in Missouri during the 93 flood.

[Paul C. Jesup]

driveserve, everyone has a bad day and everyone misunderstands what is stated sometimes, so don't even start this with me.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Thank you for telling me this.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Howlin, you called me paranoid.

driveserve's post (147) proves I am not paranoid. There are people on this forum and in my life that are looking for the slightest excuse to flame/hurt me. Just keep that in mind.

[Roccus]

Had read elsewhere on FR that the levee was breached and the water flow drew the barge into the opening.

[sully777]

I have a crazy question. Maybe your dad or someone can answer.

I've seen shows showing engineers build runways in a matter of hours in Viet Nam, bridges within a day's time, and ports, etc.

Question: Can the Corp build a temporary port outside NOLA to get things going. And more importantly do they have the ability to build temporary oil refineries?

[Roccus]

Have only gotten as far as this post on this thread but would like to thank you for all the info you've imparted.

[Nov3]

Again, they probably have at least cursory knowledge of the problem - have you taken the time to read up on the NO pumping system?

[dfwgator]

From Die Hard:

Takagi: You want money? What kind of terrorists are you?
Gruber: Who said we were terrorists?

[voletti]

You're talking about 2 different questions here. Building a bridge across, say, a river,in a day is one thing, but damming that river is quite another. The former involves a few tons of material to be put into place at most. The latter requires levees of sufficient strength to withstand TREMENDOUS water pressures and building up enough reinforced levees can't be done overnight. Needs 100s, maybe 1000s of tons of material. Temporary ports shouldn't be a problem but temporary refineries? No idea. Would seem to me that just building the coolant towers would take weeks, if not months. Usually countries have spare refining capacity to cope with sudden demand surges or failures/shutdowns etc.

[Finalapproach29er]

The barge was trying to fix a bridge or overpass.

My Aunt saw it happen, then was rescued from her roof.

Her husband (chef) cooked dinner for the Coast Guard that day before they left.