Using Newspaper to Build Levees
I just ran across an interesting article from 2008 on the Think New Orleans blog entitled Truth Stranger Than Fiction: Army Corps of Engineers Building Levees Out of Newspaper
It’s a fascinating and damning story of “maintenance and repair” of the New Orleans levee system after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I encourage you to read the article. It’s not long and it’s very compelling.
This picture is priceless:
Why is it we wonder how our infrastructure fails? With design and building like this, failure is imminent.
The Army Corps of Engineers had a large amount of responsibility in the flooding of New Orleans and the loss of 1400 lives. The oil and gas industry and residential and commercial construction industries also contributed significantly to damage and loss of barrier islands and wetlands.
But the biggest failure of all is humankind’s lack of understanding of the complex, multifaceted ecosystem of south Louisiana. Many factors converged over time to cause this catastrophic event.
The question is will the city of New Orleans, state of Louisiana, and Federal Government address the root causes of this catastrophe. I’m not holding my breath, but I am hopeful that we the people of Louisiana have had enough and will demand that the root problems will be properly repaired, or even redesigned and rebuilt from scratch if needed.
Posted on November 21st, 2009 by Sherri
Filed under: Lessons & Analysis, Photos
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