When Hurricane Katrina occurred, it pushed water from Lake Pontchartrain into New Orleans’ three major drainage canal, putting pressure on floodwall-topped levees which failed to withstand the load of the water. The rise of lake water caused the failure in two places of I-walls along the city’s London Avenue Canal and moved by some 35 feet a floodwall on the 17th Street Canal. I-walls rely on the passive pressure of the soil, which is the horizontal pressure of the soil. The passive pressure of the soft soils in the New Orleans area is ineffective. The force of the storm surge is exerted on the top of the wall and the bottom is not supported by the soft soils. After Katrina, the long-term solution-construction of a permanent canal protection system-still remains about one year from completion. The $654-million Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps (PCCP) project now is the last major piece of the $14.6-billion storm risk-reduction system in low-lying New Orleans. The federally funded effort will give the city, which is from 2-20ft. below sea level, protection from a major storm that has a 1% annual chance of occurring, also referred to as the 100-year storm. The pump stations are being built in the middle of residential neighborhoods, next to a university and along the city’s scenic waterfront. By spring of 2017, the permanent system at Orleans Avenue should be ready for testing and placed into service, with London Avenue and the 17th Street canal following shortly after.
The PCCP projects will have floodgates to protect the canals from a 16-ft storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain and the cumulative ability to pump 24,300 cu ft. of water per second from the city’s interior-enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 3.63 seconds.
Certified Installers take note: Perma-Liner Industries would like to invite you to our Refresher Training (Perma-Lateral™ specific) that will take place on July 12th and 13th at our Clearwater facility!! Please plan on attending. Register by calling 1-866-336-2568 or Click Here! See you then!
