Database showing lower New Orleans levee heights incorrect, officials say; overtopping unlikely
JUL 11, 2019 - 8:57 AM
https://www.nola.com/news/hurricane/article_874b557e-a3e3-11e9-915d-b7288a72cc5b.html
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers are disputing data in a corps database that shows numerous sections of Mississippi River levee in New Orleans and points downriver fall short of the 20-foot height at which forecasters expect the river to crest Saturday. Ricky Boyett, a corps spokesman, said late Wednesday that the corps’ New Orleans District office show levee elevations in the Lower 9th Ward at “between 20 and 21 feet.” He added that the agency’s modeling “does not show overtopping of the levees in the 9th.”
The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reported earlier Wednesday that a corps database, housed on the corps’ website, showed levees are below 20 feet in numerous locations, including spots in Bywater, the Lower 9th Ward and Algiers, as well as much of St. Bernard Parish. The database shows levee heights of between 18 and 20 feet in those locations. The newspaper used that data after being told by the corps on Wednesday that the information in the database was reliable and up-to-date. Boyett has not explained the disconnect between his remarks and the information on the corps’ website.
John Monzon, regional director of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East, said on Thursday that he had gone out survey levees in Algiers after becoming concerned about some of the heights listed in the Corps' database. Those surveys showed the levees to be 25 feet high, putting them well above the projected river levels, he said.
The question could become moot: The National Weather Service on Thursday morning updated its forecast for the river, predicting the water will rise to a crest of 19 feet, a foot lower than earlier forecasts. If the storm surge from the system—expected to become Hurricane Barry over the next couple of days—does overtop the river levees in New Orleans, that would be the first such occurrence in the city’s modern history. While Boyett said corps officials don’t expect overtopping in the city at this point, he acknowledged some weak spots in the area’s defenses.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I remember when some of the breached levees were being rebuilt and there were reports of a contractor, who was reinforcing one of the new levees, who got caught putting trash in the levee instead of select fill, per the specifications. This was probably in 2009 or 2010.
I was at a meeting about an airport project and a bunch of folks from the NO District of the Corps of Engineers happened to be there. The topic of garbage being put in the levees as fill came up because it had been in one of the local papers. We were all just idly speculating about what could be done to prevent this in the future.
The COE folks confirmed what I already knew about such large construction projects: an inspector had to be present at all times to verify that the proper material was being used as fill, but apparently the contractor paid off the inspector so that he could use cheap garbage instead of the correct material, which was much more costly. The local news reported that old washing machines, tires, and other bulky crap was being tossed in and then overlaid with the correct fill material. This would, of course, cause the levees to fail again in the future. One of the COE guys offered that maybe they needed to hire an inspector to watch the first inspector. Jeez, where does the corruption end?
So this particular contractor and inspector were caught, charged and fined (don't know about jail time). But how many other levee contractors did the same thing and weren't caught? That bothers me. I guess we will find out.
