Leaky New Orleans Levee Alarms Experts (http://www.wdsu.com/news/16355655/detail.html?rss=no&psp=news)
NEW ORLEANS -- A levee that broke with catastrophic effect during Hurricane Katrina is leaking again because of the mushy ground on which New Orleans was built.
The seepage is raising serious questions about the reliability of the city's flood defenses, and outside engineering experts said the type of seepage spotted at the 17th Street Canal afflicts other New Orleans levees, too, and could cause some of them to collapse during a storm.
The Army Corps of Engineers so far has spent about $4 billion of the $14 billion set aside by Congress to repair and upgrade the metropolitan area's hundreds of miles of levees by 2011.
Some outside experts said the leak could mean billions more will be needed and that some of the work already completed may need to be redone.
The corps disputed the experts' dire assessment.
The agency said it is taking the risk of seepage into account and rebuilding the levees with an adequate margin of safety.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-26 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-27 01:27 am (UTC)Corpse of Engineers
Date: 2008-04-30 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 01:28 pm (UTC)NEW ORLEANS -- A levee that broke with catastrophic effect during Hurricane Katrina is leaking again because of the mushy ground on which New Orleans was built.
The seepage is raising serious questions about the reliability of the city's flood defenses, and outside engineering experts said the type of seepage spotted at the 17th Street Canal afflicts other New Orleans levees, too, and could cause some of them to collapse during a storm.
The Army Corps of Engineers so far has spent about $4 billion of the $14 billion set aside by Congress to repair and upgrade the metropolitan area's hundreds of miles of levees by 2011.
Some outside experts said the leak could mean billions more will be needed and that some of the work already completed may need to be redone.
The corps disputed the experts' dire assessment.
The agency said it is taking the risk of seepage into account and rebuilding the levees with an adequate margin of safety.