CE 335 Engineering Mechanics of Soils Section 001 Stalin Galarza
The geographic location of New Orleans and the hydrology profiles nearby have risen the flooding tendency of the area; the city was built on low-lying marshland along the Mississippi River. On October 1965 after Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans and Louisiana, the congress approved the USCE flood protection plan, it was called “the barrier plan” it mainly consisted of a number of barrier complexes. Nevertheless, some disagreements caused the initial plan to change to the so-called “high level” plan which consisted on raising and strengthening levees and floodwalls. Levees and floodwalls were built all around the city to protect against flooding. Figure 1
After 40 years without any major …show more content…
The 17th Street Canal levee failure is one the most intrigued cases because it failed before the water reached the top of the I-wall, upon analysis of the ground and the structure it was found that the shear strength was selected unconservatively, hence there were inconsistencies on the design from the very beginning, and the gaps were created because as the water level raised the increased load created a separation of the wall from the soil.
These observations lead to the conclusion that the failure of the New Orleans flood protection system was the result of a failure of judgment and decision-making on the part of engineers and the authorizing/funding agencies. The New Orleans levees provide an example of the importance of the first canon of ASCE’s code of ethics: “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.
Sources
The geographic location of New Orleans and the hydrology profiles nearby have risen the flooding tendency of the area; the city was built on low-lying marshland along the Mississippi River. On October 1965 after Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans and Louisiana, the congress approved the USCE flood protection plan, it was called “the barrier plan” it mainly consisted of a number of barrier complexes. Nevertheless, some disagreements caused the initial plan to change to the so-called “high level” plan which consisted on raising and strengthening levees and floodwalls. Levees and floodwalls were built all around the city to protect against flooding. Figure 1
After 40 years without any major …show more content…
The 17th Street Canal levee failure is one the most intrigued cases because it failed before the water reached the top of the I-wall, upon analysis of the ground and the structure it was found that the shear strength was selected unconservatively, hence there were inconsistencies on the design from the very beginning, and the gaps were created because as the water level raised the increased load created a separation of the wall from the soil.
These observations lead to the conclusion that the failure of the New Orleans flood protection system was the result of a failure of judgment and decision-making on the part of engineers and the authorizing/funding agencies. The New Orleans levees provide an example of the importance of the first canon of ASCE’s code of ethics: “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.
Sources