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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by jchnhtfd However, my friend, it is the last paragraph that inspires me to quote you. I am a professional civil engineer, and have been for almost half a century now. If I have learned one thing, and one thing only, it is that Man and his works are no match for mother nature and her works. Could we build higher stronger levees? Sure. Would they be overtopped (and once overtopped, destroyed -- it's inevitable)? Sure. Bet your boots. Could the storm surge from a hurricane be reduced in height? Say again? The power of even a Category One storm is greater than all the power produced by Man, all over the world, while it is going. Mankind needs a little humbleness in the face of the forces of nature. [/quote] I'm a little disappointed but not surprised. Where's Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? The forces are great, but they occur over a wide area and are known. A structural engineer might be more interested in tons per square foot and design accordingly. The Transamerica building doesn't fall down after every eartquake and I suspect the engineers who build nuclear containment buildings would strongly disagree with you. The land based hotels in Gulfport are still standing. The actual construction phase of the first Transcon railroad took 4 years using mules, carts, shovels, and black powder. Today 15 miles of expressway takes longer and it falls apart within 5 years or falls down after the first minor earthquake. In a sense Iraq is the ideal public works project, they blow it up even before it's finished so it can be started over and over again. If you're saying it can't be done due to the poor quality of public works projects then I guess throwing in the towel may be the best answer. I agree about not rebuilding or protecting beach houses, but an entire city is a different matter. The delta is NO's natural barrier against most hurricanes and the channeling and dredging practices south of the city are causing it to disappear. If that's not dealt with, the high ground will be just as vulerable 50+ years from now. It's true Chicago was jacked up, but that's only part of the story. The flow of the river was reversed and the Deep Tunnel may have finally ended most flooding. There will always be flooding in low lying areas and most of LA is vulnerable. The issue is what to do with a given volume of water. Just raising the lowest areas spreads the water over a wider area. The alternative to storing it is to reduce the amount in the first place and since it's extremely unlikely the commercial and historic parts of NO will be abandoned, we're going to be rebuilding those levees anyway. If the situation in the delta is corrected, the major threat is storm surge off Lake Pontchatrain. The Dutch have some ideas that might be useful. Mother nature's barrier islands also do a good job of knocking down storm surge. On thought that comes to mind would be sacrificial outer levees or seawalls. We're becoming a nation of nay-sayers when it comes to large endeavors. I think a little Hubris is exactly what's needed.
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