Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New Orleans Times-Picayune
September 7, 2008
Protection priorities set as Ike progresses
By Molly Reid
Although New Orleans' work-in-progress hurricane-protection system withstood the storm surge from Hurricane Gustav, the Army Corps of Engineers must address several minor areas of damage and devise a makeshift levee system for the battered Grand Isle shoreline in preparation for Hurricane Ike, corps officials said Saturday at a post-Gustav damage-assessment briefing.
In anticipation of Ike, which could threaten southeast Louisiana in a few days, the corps has identified four spots in the New Orleans area that must be repaired immediately.
They are a barge gate at the Company Canal on the West Bank that did not properly seal during Gustav, which led to some minor leakage during the storm; a railroad gate near Lake Pontchartrain that needs grout replacement; the sluice gates at Pumping Station No. 19, which are slightly off track when they close; and the railroad gate I-wall near the Almonaster Bridge, which has washed-out patches that need to be refilled with soil and limestone.
Corps officials would not say whether those projects will be completed by the time Ike could approach the Gulf Coast, but some have already been contracted out and will be completed as soon as possible.
"Gustav was not a benign event for New Orleans," said Col. Al Lee, commander of the corps' New Orleans district. "This storm at one point was as big as Hurricane Katrina."
Grand Isle suffered damage to its levees ranging from erosion and breaches to complete destruction, including 85 percent of the 8,000 square feet of new construction on the island's eastern end, Lee said.
The damage to the Grand Isle levees was too significant to be repaired in a week, so the corps is investigating a variety of temporary flood-fighting measures in preparation for Ike, Lee said.
In addition to sandbags, the corps plans to construct temporary "burrito" levees made of a geo-textile fabric filled with clay and possibly topped with sand. The makeshift levees would absorb wave energy from storm surge, lessening its potential impact on the supports of homes and businesses, Lee said.
"We're looking at alternatives for how we can do it," he said. "If we're not able to do the entire island, we will look at the most critical areas."
On the whole, however, the New Orleans area met Gustav's storm surge with only a few bruises and with pumping capacity to spare, Lee said.
Floodgates were closed at the London Avenue and 17th Street outfall canals, and pumps operated for 13 hours, pumping an average of 6,300 cubic feet of water per second from the canals into Lake Pontchartrain. The pumps have a total capacity of 10,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second, said Karen Durham-Aguilera, director of the corps' Task Force Hope.
Operation of the pumps and gates at the Orleans Avenue Canal was not necessary.
Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the corps' Mississippi Valley Division, emphasized that even though the city's flood-protection system weathered Gustav successfully, the system is not expected to be at the 100-year-storm protection level until 2011.
Until then, "people need to continue to listen to local authorities . . . in heeding that risk," Walsh said.
September 7, 2008
Protection priorities set as Ike progresses
By Molly Reid
Although New Orleans' work-in-progress hurricane-protection system withstood the storm surge from Hurricane Gustav, the Army Corps of Engineers must address several minor areas of damage and devise a makeshift levee system for the battered Grand Isle shoreline in preparation for Hurricane Ike, corps officials said Saturday at a post-Gustav damage-assessment briefing.
In anticipation of Ike, which could threaten southeast Louisiana in a few days, the corps has identified four spots in the New Orleans area that must be repaired immediately.
They are a barge gate at the Company Canal on the West Bank that did not properly seal during Gustav, which led to some minor leakage during the storm; a railroad gate near Lake Pontchartrain that needs grout replacement; the sluice gates at Pumping Station No. 19, which are slightly off track when they close; and the railroad gate I-wall near the Almonaster Bridge, which has washed-out patches that need to be refilled with soil and limestone.
Corps officials would not say whether those projects will be completed by the time Ike could approach the Gulf Coast, but some have already been contracted out and will be completed as soon as possible.
"Gustav was not a benign event for New Orleans," said Col. Al Lee, commander of the corps' New Orleans district. "This storm at one point was as big as Hurricane Katrina."
Grand Isle suffered damage to its levees ranging from erosion and breaches to complete destruction, including 85 percent of the 8,000 square feet of new construction on the island's eastern end, Lee said.
The damage to the Grand Isle levees was too significant to be repaired in a week, so the corps is investigating a variety of temporary flood-fighting measures in preparation for Ike, Lee said.
In addition to sandbags, the corps plans to construct temporary "burrito" levees made of a geo-textile fabric filled with clay and possibly topped with sand. The makeshift levees would absorb wave energy from storm surge, lessening its potential impact on the supports of homes and businesses, Lee said.
"We're looking at alternatives for how we can do it," he said. "If we're not able to do the entire island, we will look at the most critical areas."
On the whole, however, the New Orleans area met Gustav's storm surge with only a few bruises and with pumping capacity to spare, Lee said.
Floodgates were closed at the London Avenue and 17th Street outfall canals, and pumps operated for 13 hours, pumping an average of 6,300 cubic feet of water per second from the canals into Lake Pontchartrain. The pumps have a total capacity of 10,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second, said Karen Durham-Aguilera, director of the corps' Task Force Hope.
Operation of the pumps and gates at the Orleans Avenue Canal was not necessary.
Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the corps' Mississippi Valley Division, emphasized that even though the city's flood-protection system weathered Gustav successfully, the system is not expected to be at the 100-year-storm protection level until 2011.
Until then, "people need to continue to listen to local authorities . . . in heeding that risk," Walsh said.