Geotextile tubes are filled by pumping material in slurry form into the tube to form structures that can be used as breakwaters, levees, or other containment structures. TenCate has a new product that much improves […]
Complete plans have not been released yet, but an environmental impact document outlines general plans for stabilization of the 17th Street Canal in New Orleans using Deep Soil Mixing techniques. Portions of the London Avenue […]
A forthcoming draft study by the Army Corps of Engineers will hopefully shed light on an ongoing problem of stream bed degradation along the Missouri River. Portions of the river in Kansas City have dropped […]
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.
The US Army Corps has issued conceptual plans with elevations for proposed improvements to New Orleans flod protection system. Levees, floodwalls and closure structures will be designed for a 100-year storm surge. Achieving the conceptual […]
The US Army Corps of Engineers has issued a report that indicates the eastern portion of the levee system that protects Bernard Parrish will need to be raised by 11-ft to 29-ft to protect against the 100-year hurricane. Levees along Lake Pontchartrain were designed in the 1960s for what was then considered to be 200-yr and 300-yr hurricanes. Now they are judged sufficient for the 100-yr event. More at NOLA.COM.
The US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans district is looking for an unprecedented 100 Million Cubic Yards of Clay to be used for reconstruction and fortification of levees in the New Orleans area. Once borrow sources are approved by the Corps, they will likely be contracting directly with a USACOE contractor constructing one of the projects associated with New Orleans Hurricane Protection System. Material specs are USCS classification of CL or CH, <35% sand, PI < 10, organic content < 9%.
The American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE sent a cease and desist letter to the owner of the Levees.Org website notifying them to remove a video spoof of its post-Katrina levee inspection. Of course, through the wonders of the internet, Levees.org removed it from YouTube, but someone else posted it again. And because of all the fuss, it’s more popular than it would have been otherwise with over 16,000 views at the time of this post. Click through to watch it.
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