NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Levee failures in Greater New Orleans, 2005

In 2005, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, there were extensive failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans, Louisiana and surrounding communities. There were also extensive subsequent investigations by civil engineers to attempt to identify the underlying reasons for the failures. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lowest pressure 902 mbar (hPa; 26. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... Nickname: The Crescent City, The Big Easy, The City That Care Forgot, NOLA (acronym for New Orleans, LA) Location in the State of Louisiana and the United States Coordinates: Country United States State Louisiana Parish Orleans Founded 1718 Mayor Ray Nagin (D) Area - City 350. ...

The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet ("MR-GO") breached its levees in approximately 20 places, flooding much of New Orleans East, most of Saint Bernard Parish and the East Bank of Plaquemines Parish. The major levee breaches in the city included breaches at the 17th Street Canal levee, the London Avenue Canal, and the wide, navigable Industrial Canal, which left approximately 80% of the city flooded.^[1] There were three major breaches at the Industrial Canal; one on the upper side near the junction with MR-GO, and two on the lower side along the Lower Ninth Ward, between Florida Avenue and Claiborne Avenue. The 17th Street Canal levee was breached on the lower (New Orleans West End) side inland from the Old Hammond Highway Bridge, and the London Avenue Canal breached in two places, on the upper side just back from Robert E. Lee Boulevard, and on the lower side a block in from the Mirabeau Avenue Bridge. Flooding from the breaches put the majority of the city under water for days, in many places for weeks. The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal (also known as MRGO, MR-GO or Mr. ... St. ... Plaquemines Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... The London Avenue Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana does not connect Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. ... The Industrial Canal is a 5. ... The Industrial Canal is a 5. ... The two Lower Ninth Ward areas, including Holy Cross and the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood in relation to the rest of the city of New Orleans. ... Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... The London Avenue Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana does not connect Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. ...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, engineers investigated the possibility that a failure in the design, construction, or maintenance caused much of the flooding. Some investigations point to the possibility of a weakening of the soil beneath the foundations of the flood walls due to storm water, which would indicate that a major design flaw made during the construction of the levees had been a major cause of the failures due to the storm.^[2]

Background

Flooding due to rain and storms has long been an issue since the New Orleans' early settlement due to the city's location on a delta marsh, much of which sits below sea level. The city is surrounded by the Mississippi River to the south, Lake Pontchartrain to the north, and Lake Borgne to the east. Construction of the levees along the River began soon after the city was founded, and more extensive river levees were built as the city grew. The levees were originally designed to prevent damage caused by seasonal flooding. Today, the modern 17th Street and London Avenue Canals are used for drainage, while the wide, navigable Industrial Canal is used for shipping. The heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Betsy in 1965 brought concerns regarding flooding from hurricanes to the forefront. Image File history File links New_Orleans_Levee_System. ... Image File history File links New_Orleans_Levee_System. ... Drainage has been a major concern since the founding of New Orleans in the early 18th century, and an important factor in the citys history. ... Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. ... Freshwater marsh in Florida In geography, a marsh is a type of wetland, featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, cat tails, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Lake Borgne is a lagoon in eastern Louisiana of the Gulf of Mexico. ... Hurricane Betsy was a powerful hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

Shortly after hurricane Betsy, the Army Corps of Engineers designed a Lake Pontchartrain Hurricane Barrier to shield the city with flood gates like those that protect the Netherlands from the North Sea. Congress provided funding and construction began in 1971, but work stopped in 1977 when a federal judge ruled, in a suit brought by Save Our Wetlands, that the Corps' environmental impact statement was deficient. In 1985, after nearly a decade of court battles, the Corps scrapped the plan, and decided on reinforcing the city’s levee system instead. ^[3] The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... According to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) whenever the U.S. Federal Government takes a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment it must first consider the environmental impact in a document called an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). ...

There were many predictions of hurricane risk in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005. ^[4]^[5]^[6] In 2001, the Houston Chronicle published a story which predicted that a severe hurricane striking New Orleans, "would strand 250,000 people or more, and probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city drowned under 20 feet of water. Thousands of refugees could land in Houston."^[7] Many concerns also focused around the fact that the city's levee system was only designed for hurricanes of no greater intensity than category 3.^[8]^[9] As it turned out, Katrina was Category 3 when it made landfall and most of New Orleans experienced Category 1 or 2 strength winds. However, due to the slow moving nature of the storm in its pass over New Orleans, several floodwalls lining the shipping and drainage canals in New Orleans collapsed and the resulting flood water from Lake Ponchartrain inundated the city within the two days following the storm, causing costly damage to buildings and resulting in many deaths. Lowest pressure 902 mbar (hPa; 26. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 2001. ... The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a scale classifying most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the levels of tropical depression and tropical storm and thereby become hurricanes; the categories it divides hurricanes into are distinguished by the intensities of their respective sustained winds. ... Lake Pontchartrain is the second largest salt-water lake in the United States, and the largest lake in southeastern Louisiana. ...

Furthermore, the region's natural defenses, the surrounding marshland and the barrier islands, have been dwindling in recent years.^[10] This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ... In geography, a bar is a linear shoaling landform feature within a body of water. ...

New Orleans, Louisiana sits between (and below) the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. ...

Levee and floodwall breaches

Most of the levee failures were reported on Monday, August 29, 2005, at various times throughout the day. Overall, approximately 28 levee failures were reported.^[11] A breach in the Industrial Canal, near the St. Bernard/Orleans parish line, occurred at approximately 9:00 AM CST, the day Katrina hit. Another breach in the Industrial Canal was reported a few minutes later at Tennessee Street, as well as multiple failures in the levee system, as well as a pump failure, in the Lower Ninth Ward, near Florida Avenue. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1082x1323, 954 KB) Summary Breach in 17th Street Canal wall in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1082x1323, 954 KB) Summary Breach in 17th Street Canal wall in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... Nickname: The Crescent City, The Big Easy, The City That Care Forgot, NOLA (acronym for New Orleans, LA) Location in the State of Louisiana and the United States Coordinates: Country United States State Louisiana Parish Orleans Founded 1718 Mayor Ray Nagin (D) Area - City 350. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1772 KB) Summary New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Houses on Pratt, with their back yards abutting the breech of the London Avenue Canal. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 1772 KB) Summary New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Houses on Pratt, with their back yards abutting the breech of the London Avenue Canal. ... The London Avenue Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana does not connect Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Industrial Canal is a 5. ... Location Location of St. ... New Orleans (French: Nouvelle-Orléans) is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... CST can stand for: Civil Support Team Common Spanning Tree Central Sandinista de Trabajadores, the Sandinista Workers Centre Central Standard Time (USA) Central Standard Time (Australia) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (in Mumbai, India) Chinese Standard Time Chungyuan Standard Time (in Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and some other small islands) Church of... The two Lower Ninth Ward areas, including Holy Cross and the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood in relation to the rest of the city of New Orleans. ...

Local fire officials reported a breach at the 17th Street Canal levee at about 12:00 PM CST, though there was some confusion among FEMA officials over whether this was an actual breach, or overtopping. The Duncan and Bonnabel Pumping Stations were also reported to have taken roof damage, and were non-functional.^[11] Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. ... A levee, levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, to raise), floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial embankment or dike, usually earthen, which parallels the course of a river. ... CST can stand for: Civil Support Team Common Spanning Tree Central Sandinista de Trabajadores, the Sandinista Workers Centre Central Standard Time (USA) Central Standard Time (Australia) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (in Mumbai, India) Chinese Standard Time Chungyuan Standard Time (in Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and some other small islands) Church of... New FEMA seal The Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA is an agency of the United States government dedicated to swift response in the event of disasters, both natural and man-made. ...

Breaches at St. Bernard and the Lower Ninth Ward were reported at 5:00 PM CST, as well as a breach at the Haynes Blvd. Pumping Station, and another breach along the 17th Street Canal levee. CST can stand for: Civil Support Team Common Spanning Tree Central Sandinista de Trabajadores, the Sandinista Workers Centre Central Standard Time (USA) Central Standard Time (Australia) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (in Mumbai, India) Chinese Standard Time Chungyuan Standard Time (in Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and some other small islands) Church of...

By 8:30 PM CST, all pumping stations in Jefferson and Orleans parishes were reported as non-functional. CST can stand for: Civil Support Team Common Spanning Tree Central Sandinista de Trabajadores, the Sandinista Workers Centre Central Standard Time (USA) Central Standard Time (Australia) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (in Mumbai, India) Chinese Standard Time Chungyuan Standard Time (in Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and some other small islands) Church of... Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana with a population of 455,466 (Census 2000). ... New Orleans (French: Nouvelle-Orléans) is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ...

At 10:00 PM CST, a breach of the levee on the west bank of the Industrial Canal was reported, bringing 10 feet of standing water to the area. CST can stand for: Civil Support Team Common Spanning Tree Central Sandinista de Trabajadores, the Sandinista Workers Centre Central Standard Time (USA) Central Standard Time (Australia) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (in Mumbai, India) Chinese Standard Time Chungyuan Standard Time (in Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and some other small islands) Church of...

A quarter-mile breach in the levee near the 17th Street Canal, 200 yards from Lake Pontchartrain, was reported at 10:30 PM CST. An estimated 66% to 75% of the city was now under water.^[11] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... CST can stand for: Civil Support Team Common Spanning Tree Central Sandinista de Trabajadores, the Sandinista Workers Centre Central Standard Time (USA) Central Standard Time (Australia) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (in Mumbai, India) Chinese Standard Time Chungyuan Standard Time (in Taiwan, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu and some other small islands) Church of...

At about midnight, a breach in the London Avenue Canal levee was reported. The London Avenue Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana does not connect Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. ...

Interestingly enough, the Orleans Canal, about midway between the 17th Street Canal and the London Avenue Canal, supposedly engineered to the same standards, and presumably put under similar stress during the Hurricane, survived intact. An incomplete section of floodwall along this canal allowed water to overtopped at this point, thus reduced the pressure against the wall. The Orleans Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

Investigations

Preliminary investigations

During the 6 weeks following Katrina, preliminary investigations were carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, as well as by independent parties. United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 military men and women. ... The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a professional body, founded in 1852, to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. ...

Possible failure mechanisms being investigated by engineers included the overtopping of levees and floodwalls by the storm surge, consequential undermining of flood wall foundations or other weakening by water of the wall foundations, the storm surge pressures exceeding the strength of the floodwalls, as well as impact by vessels such as barges which had broken free of their moorings (such as the ING 4727 barge which may have crashed through a levee in the Industrial Canal near the Lower Ninth Ward). ING 4727 is a barge belonging to Ingram Barge Company that became famous when it went through through a levee and landed in a residential neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. ...

A preliminary report by the American Society of Civil Engineers on an independent investigation has concluded that the flooding in the Lakeview neighborhood was caused by the soil of the levees giving way and not by water overtopping the flood walls. The statement said that there was evidence that a section of the levee embankment that supported the flood wall had moved approximately 45 feet laterally. Inspectors also found evidence of the dirt levee moving at the London Avenue breach. However, many miles of levees worked as they should even though the water got over their tops.^[12]

Soil borings have been made in the area of the 17th Street Canal breach. These borings show a layer of peat which starts about 15 to 30 feet below the surface and ranges from about 5 feet to 20 feet thick. The peat is from the remains of the swamp on which the low area of New Orleans (near Lake Ponchartrain) were built.^[13] The shear strength of this peat was found to be very low, and to have a high water content. According to Prof. Robert Bea, a geotechnical engineer from the University of California, Berkeley, this would make the floodwall very vulnerable to the stresses of a large flood. "At 17th Street, the soil moved laterally, pushing entire wall sections with it. ... As Katrina's storm surge filled the canal, water pressure rose in the soil underneath the wall and in the peat layer. Water moved through the soil underneath the base of the wall. When the rising pressure and moving water overcame the soil's strength, it suddenly shifted, taking surrounding material -- and the wall -- with it."^[14] Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ... Lake Pontchartrain is the second largest salt-water lake in the United States, and the largest lake in southeastern Louisiana. ... (UTC)Shear strength in geology and geotechnical engineering is a term used to describe the strength of soils, to resist deformation due to shear stress. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ...

The peat layer appears to be about 1000 feet wide. It is not clear if it was properly taken into account when the levees were built. The flood walls consist of a concrete cap on a sheet pile base driven 17.5 feet deep at 17th Street Canal. A deeper piling would have anchored the flood wall in much stronger soil. Look up Pile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Floodwall design

Investigators are focusing on the 17th Street and London Avenue canals because evidence shows they were breached even though water did not flow over their tops. That could indicate a design or construction flaw. Eyewitness accounts and other evidence shows that levees and flood walls in other parts of the city, such as along the Industrial Canal, were topped by floodwaters first, then breached or eroded. Many of the New Orleans levee and floodwall failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina occurred at weak-link junctions where different levee or wall sections joined together, according to a preliminary report released on November 2, 2005, by independent investigators from the University of California, Berkeley, and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).^[15]^[16] November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ... The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a professional body, founded in 1852, to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. ...

In the investigation by the American Society of Civil Engineers, it was found that when the geological borings were made in 1981 prior to construction of floodwalls along the 17th Street Canal, they revealed to both the Army Corps of Engineers officials as well as the contractors who designed and built the wall the nature of the weak layer of soft soil that would lie under the base of flood walls' foundation of steel piling.^[13] 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

"According to the analysis, they've got the soil strength test. It doesn't show exactly the input for the analysis, but assuming they used it and came out with factors of safety, it's showing the numbers are safe. So it leaves an open-ended question as to why the flood wall failed." said Peter Nicholson, a geotechnical engineer from the University of Hawaii who is heading up an American Society of Civil Engineers team looking at the levees.^[13]

The original design for the steel sheet foundations for the flood walls showed a proposed depth of 10 feet (3 meters), and the design documents show calculations were made with the wall base at 12.8 feet (3.9 meters). According to a New Orleans engineer, the depth was apparently increased later, to a depth of 17 feet (5.1 meters), and this is what was built. However, investigations using sonar by a forensic engineering team from the Louisiana State University showed that at one point near the 17th Street Canal breach, the piling extends just 10 feet (3 meters) below sea level, 7 feet (2.1 meters) shorter than the Corps of Engineers had maintained. "The corps keeps saying the piles were 17 feet, but their own drawings show them to be 10," van Heerden said. "This is the first time anyone has been able to get a firm fix on what's really down there. And, so far, it's just 10 feet. Not nearly deep enough."^[17] Other reports confirmed that construction on the London Avenue and Industrial Canal levees was similarly below these stated standards.^[18] They also found evidence that homeowners along the 17th Street Canal near what would be the site of the breach had been reporting on persistent seepage from the canal flooding their yards for a year prior to Hurricane Katrina. Other studies showed that the levee floodwalls on the 17th Street Canal were, "destined to fail,", from bad Army Corps of Engineers design, saying in part, "that miscalculation was so obvious and fundamental," investigators said, they, "could not fathom how the design team of engineers from the corps, local firm Eustis Engineering and the national firm Modjeski and Masters could have missed what is being termed the costliest engineering mistake in American history."^[18] Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. ...

It is likely that the Katrina storm surge created unusual subterranean pressures under the walls. Those pressures appear to have made soil under the sheet pile weaker so that it gave way, moving the steel sheet-pile-and-concrete walls along with it. But engineers studying the levees also say that other, unknown factors, including structural problems in the walls, could also have contributed to the breaches.^[14] Look up Pile in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Aerial evaluation revealed damage to approximately 90% of some of the levee systems in the east which should have protected St. Bernard Parish. Location Location of St. ...

Levee maintenance

Poor maintenance practices were also found along miles of other levees. A possible trigger of the 17th Street Canal levee breach may have been the fall of a large oak tree, planted too close to the base of the levee.^[19] A similar scenario may have played out on the London Avenue Canal. Burrowing animals created large tunnels that undermined already weak foundations. Maintenance and inspection are the responsibility of local levee boards. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x750, 542 KB) Summary New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Graffitti along the Metarie side of the flood wall atop the 17th Street Canal, showing a map of Louisiana with New Orleans marked by a fleur-de-lis as the center of... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x750, 542 KB) Summary New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: Graffitti along the Metarie side of the flood wall atop the 17th Street Canal, showing a map of Louisiana with New Orleans marked by a fleur-de-lis as the center of... Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. ...

National Academy of Sciences Investigation

On October 19, 2005, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that an independent panel of experts, under the direction of the National Academy of Sciences, would convene to evaluate the performance of the New Orleans levee system, and issue a final report in eight months. The panel would study the results provided by the two existing teams of experts that have already examined the levee failures.^[20] October 19 is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense... Captain Donald Henry Rumsfeld, USNR (Ret. ... President Harding and the National Academy of Sciences at the White House, Washington, DC, April 1921 The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine. ...

Senate Committee hearings

Preliminary investigations and evidence were presented before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on November 2, 2005, and generally confirm the preliminary investigations described above.^[21] The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In his written evidence to the committee, Ivor van Heerden, from Louisiana State University, concluded, "Most of the flooding of New Orleans was due to man’s follies. Society owes those who lost their lives, and the approximately 100,000 families who lost all, an apology and needs to step up to the plate and rebuild their homes, and compensate for their lost means of employment. New Orleans is one of our nations jeweled cities. Not to have given the residents the security of proper levees is inexcusable."^[21] Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. ...

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Admits Fault

On April 5, 2006, months after independent investigators had demonstrated that levee failures were not due to natural forces beyond intended design strength, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock testified before the U. S. Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water that, "We have now concluded we had problems with the design of the structure." He also testified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not know of this mechanism of failure prior to August 29, 2005. The claim of ignorance is refuted, however, by the National Science Foundation investigators hired by the Army Corps of Engineers, who point to a 1986 study by the Corps itself that such separations were possible in the I-wall design.^[22] April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Senate is the upper house of the U.S. Congress, smaller than the United States House of Representatives. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The logo of the National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. ... United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 military men and women. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Nearly two months later, June 1, 2006, the US ACE finally unequivicaolly admitted responsbility for the tragedy in New Orleans with the release of the completed report. The Final Draft of the IPET report states that the destructive forces of Katrina were "aided by incomplete protection, lower than authorized structures, and levee sections with erodible materials."

See also

As a result of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, there were extensive failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans, Louisiana and surrounding communities. ... Drainage has been a major concern since the founding of New Orleans in the early 18th century, and an important factor in the citys history. ... ING 4727 is a barge belonging to Ingram Barge Company that became famous when it went through through a levee and landed in a residential neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. ... The Industrial Canal is a 5. ... Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. ... The London Avenue Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana does not connect Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. ...

References

^ Murphy, Verity. "Fixing New Orleans' thin grey line." BBC News. October 4, 2005.
^ Warrick, Joby; Grunwald, Michael. "Investigators Link Levee Failures to Design Flaws." Washington Post. October 24, 2005.
^ Schoenbrod, David. "The Lawsuit That Sank New Orleans" Wall Street Journal;' September 26, 2005.
^ Wilson, Jim. "New Orleans is Sinking." Popular Mechanics. September 11, 2001.
^ Fischetti, Mark. "Drowning New Orleans." Scientific American. October, 2001.
^ Mooney, Chris. "Thinking Big About Hurricanes." The American Prospect. May 23, 2005.
^ Berger, Eric. "Keeping its head above water: New Orleans faces doomsday scenario." Houston Chronicle. December 1, 2001.
^ Westerink, J.J.; Luettich, R.A. "The Creeping Storm." Civil Engineering Magazine. June, 2003.
^ Laska, Shirley. "What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not Missed New Orleans?" Natural Hazards Observer. November 2, 2004.
^ Bourne, Joel K. "Gone with the Water." National Geographic. October, 2004.
^ ^a ^b ^c Staff Writer. "Timeline: Who Knew When the Levees Broke." National Public Radio. February 10, 2006.
^ Staff Writer. "Engineers: Levees shifted, collapsed." MSNBC. October 7, 2005.
^ ^a ^b ^c McQuaid, John; Marshall, Bob. "Officials knew about weak soil under levee." Times Picayune. October 22, 2005.
^ ^a ^b McQuaid, John. "Swamp peat was poor anchor, engineer says." Times Picayune. October 15, 2005.
^ Yang, Sarah. "Investigators release preliminary findings of levee failures at Senate hearing." University of California, Berkeley. November 2, 2005.
^ Seed, R.B.; et al. "Preliminary Report on the Performance of the New Orleans Levee Systems in Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005." University of California, Berkeley. November 2, 2005.
^ Marshall, Bob. "Short Sheeted." Times Picayune. November 10, 2005.
^ ^a ^b Marshall, Bob. "17th Street Canal levee was doomed." Times Picayune. November 30, 2005.
^ Vartabedian, Ralph; Braun, Stephen. "Report to cite flaws in levees." The Indianapolis Star (from a Los Angeles Times report). October 23, 2005.
^ Schleifstein, Mark. "Corps levee probe role reduced." Times Picayune. October 19, 2005.
^ ^a ^b "Hurricane Katrina: Why Did the Levees Fail?." U.S. Senate (Hearing Report for the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs). November 2, 2005.
^ Walsh, Bill. "Corps chief admits to 'design failure'." Times Picayune. April 6, 2006.

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Contents

Background

Levee and floodwall breaches

Investigations

Preliminary investigations

Floodwall design

Levee maintenance

National Academy of Sciences Investigation

Senate Committee hearings

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Admits Fault

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Contents

Background GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Levee and floodwall breaches

Investigations

Preliminary investigations

Floodwall design

Levee maintenance

National Academy of Sciences Investigation

Senate Committee hearings

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Admits Fault

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Background