FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2008
THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
H U R R I C A N E G U STAV A F T E R M AT H
The search for damage began
Tuesday when New Orleans
District commander Col. Al Lee,
accompanied by geotechnical
and structural engineers and
the president of the Southeast
Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West, conducted a helicopter “rapid assessment” of
600 miles of levees.
They were accompanied by
Brig. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp,
the chief of the corps.
Using new computer equipment called an Automated
10
Orleans
Parish
610
NEW ORLEANS
61
HARAHAN
Lake Borgne
PAR
IS R
D.
Jefferson
Parish
CA
.C
HA
R LES A V
90 AVONDALE WESTWEGO
E.
L
BUS.
90
St. Bernard
Parish
ARABI
CHALMETTE
ALGIERS
GE
N.
DE
GRETNA
MARRERO
4
NA
90
510
EASTERN
NEW ORLEANS
GA
39
MERAUX
UL
1
LE
HARVEY
VIOLET
9
LAPALCO
Jefferson
Parish
45
1 Pump Station No. 11 near the
Algiers lock: Identify and repair
cause of leak or seepage.
2 Railroad Gate W-29 on the
Industrial Canal at France
Road: Repair scoured area along
I-wall.
3 Industrial Canal west side,
north of U.S. 90: Raise elevation
of temporary HESCO basket wall by
2 feet to make it the same height as
adjacent I-walls.
8
46
POYDRAS
BELLE
CHASSE
6
r
METAIRIE
10
7
3
2
Bayou
Sauvage
National
Wildlife
Refuge
Riv
e
10
.
E HWY
LAROS
‘Rapid assessment’
5
ST
At Pump Station 11 on the
West Bank just west of the Algiers Lock, a leak or seepage
could lead to flooding for lowercoast Algiers. Engineers are
trying to identify what is causing water to seep around the
structure and how to repair it.
At Belle Chasse pump station
No. 2, an 18-inch gap was discovered in a transition between
the station and the levee, but
the gap actually is higher than
most of the levee, Kurgan said.
Work on easily repaired problems will begin immediately, officials said. But others will require a closer look by engineers
before a solution is identified
and repairs can begin.
In some cases, the corps will
embark on advanced “floodfighting” measures, such as adding huge sand-filled Hesco baskets to block water and increase
the stability of a wall or levee.
The baskets are less likely
than sandbags to be dislodged
by surge, and a version often is
used overseas by the Army as
protection from explosions.
Lake Pontchartrain
ippi
Seepage at pump station
Route Reconnaissance Kit, a
corps engineering research specialist filmed the system to capture positions, elevations and
other data about problem areas.
A second helicopter reconnaissance on Tuesday included
additional senior corps officials
and the president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection
Authority-East.
On Wednesday, eight assessment teams traveled to the potential problem locations by
ground and air for a closer look.
On Thursday, more than 100
engineers, accompanied by levee district and state Coastal
Protection and Restoration Authority officials, divided into 12
teams to continue the search.
Teams also were dispatched to
Grand Isle and levees in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.
Senior corps officials stressed
that the damage assessment is
ongoing, with additional trouble
spots likely to be identified in
coming days and weeks.
“This is a living document.
This is a snapshot as of this
morning, based on our senior
leaders’ recons and our assessment teams’ first day,” said
Maj. Nick Nazarko, executive
officer in the corps’ Hurricane
Protection Office.
Other areas being reviewed
and repaired are in St. Bernard,
Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes.
Meanwhile, the Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center will demonstrate
new emergency concepts for
closing levee breaches in Stillwater, Okla., on Sept. 30.
The techniques were developed after the failure to rapidly
close breaches during Hurri-
5 miles
W PKWY.
CLEARVIE
But Maj. Tim Kurgan,
spokesman for the New Orleans
District, said that after a brainstorming session Thursday afternoon, an initial list of 10 problems had been expanded, but
none seemed to be major.
Kurgan said the troubleshooting process was 75 percent complete and that initial surveys will
end today.
The problems include seepage
through levees, walls or other
structures; scouring that could
weaken walls or floodgates; a
settlement crack in a wall; the
need for armoring with rock in
some areas; and the addition of
overtopping splash protection to
others.
For example, engineers found
that water had scoured limestone rock and soil around a
railroad gate near the Almonaster Bridge over the Industrial
Canal in New Orleans. The
damage could pose a threat to
the stability of the I-wall that
blocks surge from entering
Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly.
Col. Jeffrey Bedey, commander of the Hurricane Protection Office, which oversees
most east bank levee projects,
said it’s unclear how the scouring occurred on the protected
side of the railroad gate on the
Industrial Canal because surge
did not overtop the wall there.
But the eroded soil might no
longer be strong enough to hold
up the wall when surge rises in
the canal, throwing its weight
against the wall’s exterior.
The gate allows train access
to an industrial area on the west
side of the canal and is closed in
advance of a tropical storm or
hurricane.
Army Corps of Engineers to repair Gustav damage to levee system
Missi
ss
LEVEES, from A-1
. .. .............................. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ... ...
PLUGGING THE HOLES
Y
Protection checked via
air, ground after storm
CAUSEW
A
A-20
Mississippi
River levees
Hurricane protection
levees/floodwalls
4 West of Harvey Canal,
Westminster Pump Station:
Additional armoring required.
5 East side of London Avenue
Canal: Repair embankment
erosion. Engineers also will re-grout
one wall section.
6 St. Bernard Parish levees:
Repair vehicle ruts on the levee.
7 Industrial Canal I-walls:
Add rock and splash pad
reinforcements at several locations.
8 Plaquemines and Jefferson
Parish Pump Station, Belle
Chasse PS No. 1: Repair seepage.
9 Plaquemines and Jefferson
Parish Pump Station, Belle
Chasse PS No. 2: Repair transition
from pump station floodwall to levee,
where an 18-inch gap was
discovered.
10 Industrial Canal: Add relief
wells.
Source: Army Corps of Engineers
THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
cane Katrina.
The scale demonstrations will
include new repair methods for
closing shallow breaches, rapidly protecting exposed levees
and two methods for closing
large breaches.
The new techniques are being
underwritten by the Department of Homeland Security.
●●●●●●●
Mark Schleifstein can be reached at
mschleifstein@timespicayune.com or
504.826.3327.
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