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September 13, 2005
Why did the New Orleans levees fail?
Rich Lowery got an email that suggest that the levees that failed are the newer ones ...
Rich, the article from this morning's New Orleans Times-Picayune is what I have been hearing since this weekend. Namely, the amount of funding for the flood control efforts (high or low) is not the issue here, but that newer structures built since 1995 were flawed. The 17th Street Canal sections were completed only within the last 18 months. The main breaches appear to all be from SELA [Southeastern Louisiana Flood Control Project] or post 1995 construction efforts that are concrete rather than earthen -- like the Mississippi River levees…
The NOLA article, "Mystery surrounds floodwall breaches," by John McQuaid, September 13, 2005, includes this:
The floodwalls lining New Orleans canals consist of concrete sections attached to steel sheet pile drilled deep into the earth, fortified by a concrete and earthen base. The sections are joined with a flexible, waterproof substance.Floodwalls were breached in the 17th Street Canal, at two places in the London Avenue Canal, and at two places in the Industrial Canal, Suhayda said. Naomi said last week that one of the Industrial Canal breaches likely was caused by a loose barge that broke through it.
Suhayda said that his inspection of the debris from the 17th Street Canal breach suggests the wall simply gave way. "It looks to have been laterally pushed, not scoured in back with dirt being removed in pieces," he said. "You can see levee material, some distance pushed inside the floodwall area, like a bulldozer pushed it."
He suggested that because the walls failed in a few spots, the flaw may not be in the design but in the construction or materials…
I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that anyone would even suggest that there may have been flaws in the construction of or materials used in the levees ... it is starting to sound like Turkey ...
Posted at September 13, 2005 01:16 PM | Categories: Katrina Jambalaya
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Maybe it was human error.
Posted by: Solomon2 ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ishkabible.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 15, 2005 11:06 AM
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