Greetings and Salutations....

On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 09:08:12 -0500, Rex B wrote:


Pope Secola VI wrote:

Second little note, you know the two levies that failed, According to
the District Engineer for the Corps of Engineers on the PBS News Hour
they were new levies constructed in 2003-2004. They were a new method
of construction that just didn't work. (Well back to the Drawing boards)

I wondered about that. They looked like basic vertical concrete fences,
with no apparent broad-based support. I'm no civil engineer, but it
looked like a weak design to me. Probably good enough for a trnquil lake
or canal.

Well, I wondered a bit about that myself. However...I did see
ONE schematic that indicated that the posts were actually pilings that

went fairly far into the body of the levee itself. I seem to recall
that at least half the length was buried in the ground. *IF* they
allowed for the stress load at the ground/air intersection, and
made that point a LOT stronger, that should have kept the
supports stabile. However, as has been said over and over...they
were built for a catagory 3 hurricane...which is an order of
magnitude or so LESS stress than a 4. In a way, I am kind
of impressed that the system only failed in a couple of places.
It could have been much worse.
Regards
Dave Mundt