GRL Engineers are providing wave equation analysis, dynamic pile testing (PDA), and CAPWAP analysis for a US Army Corps flood control and storm surge project on the New Jersey coast. They have been involved in […]
Nearly 3,000 dams in Texas will be exempt from inspection, including 216 that are rated as high hazard. This is thanks to a Texas State law passed earlier this year meant to lessen the burden […]
The Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance or GEER group funded by the NSF puts experts on the ground in the aftermath of natural disasters to collect geotechnical data that can used in case studies and ultimately […]
TenCate geosynthetics was a textile technology company in 1953 when disastrous flooding struck the Netherlands. The company came up with some of the first applications of geosynthetics that allowed the creation of the Oostershelde Flood […]
Significant flooding in the the UK towards the end of September caused the collapse of a culvert on private property that sent a torrent of water towards the residential structure pictured here. The flood caused […]
The Army Corps of Engineers announced last month that 17 levee systems in central California totaling 180 miles will be inelligible for federal rehabilitation assistance in the event they are damaged in a flood. This […]
Residents of Iowa County were forced to evacuate as the swollen Missouri River caused a breach in one of its levees. What I found interesting was a description of a sand boil geyser: A Black […]
Despite some sand boils found along the Mississippi River, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the Army’s chief of staff, said “the levee system has done its job, up and down this river.” Mike Stack, the chief of […]
That is the title of a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article on post-Katrina levee issues in New Orleans (by way of ASCE Smart Brief). I think the article is somewhat sensationalized, but they do cite some interesting parallels between the levee reconstruction efforts made after Katrina and the levee construction/reconstruction that occurred after Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
The article also discusses a recent US Army audit with some disturbing although not unexpected findings:
An initial September 2010 target to complete the $14.8 billion in post-Katrina work has slipped to mid-2011. Then last September, an Army audit found 84 percent of work behind schedule because of engineering complexities, environmental provisos and real estate transactions. The report added that costs would likely soar.
A more recent analysis shows the start of 84 of 156 projects was delayed – 15 of them by six months or more. Meanwhile, a critical analysis of what it would take to build even stronger protection – 500-year-type levees – was supposed to be done last December but remains unfinished.
There have been a number of reports on the flooding in Supai Canyon, near the Grand Canyon this past weekend. I think the best description of the event and the subsequent rescues was from the AZ211 website which I found by way of the Arizona Geology Blog (quoted after the break). The flood was impressive. I hope the areas near Havassu Falls and Mooney Falls were not too heavily damaged. I was fortunate enough to hike and camp that location back in College, the travertine is just amazing and makes the water so green. Mooney Falls and the area downstream are particularly breathtaking. [Photo credit: National Parks Service]
Many reports I’ve seen attribute the flood the result of the failure of the Redlands Dam. But again, the Arizona Geology Blog quotes the National Park Service as saying that the dam is a minor one meant to create a pond for livestock and wasn’t a significant factor in the flooding. The latest reports I saw was that 11 hikers who were missing were located today (by way of Geology.com)
Copyright © 2007-2020 by Randy Post