New Orleans, fill it with dirt

Not as crazy as it sounds. Dig a big lake, convey the dirt over. All
the houses worth saving, raise them up on a new foundation. The
skycrapers, just make the bottom floor a basement. Expensive? Yes, but
a permanent solution. Better than it happening again.

"D" == Doug writes:

D Not as crazy as it sounds. Dig a big lake, convey the dirt
D over. All the houses worth saving, raise them up on a new
D foundation. The skycrapers, just make the bottom floor a
D basement. Expensive? Yes, but a permanent solution. Better than
D it happening again.

It's been done befo

"After yet another massive flood in 1862, an ambitious project to
actually raise [Sacramento] above flood level was undertaken. Evidence
of the tens of thousands of cubic yards of earth and miles of masonry
work used to raise the streets can still be seen today in Old
Sacramento." And the downtown if you know where to look.

Bob Fry wrote:


It's been done befo


Galveston underwent a similar transformation after the 1900 storm.

Dave

Doug wrote:

Expensive? Yes, but a permanent solution.

Not at all. When New Orleans was settled, it was above sea level. The ground has
subsided and is continuing to do so.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

George Patterson ) wrote:
: Doug wrote:
:
: Expensive? Yes, but a permanent solution.
:
: Not at all. When New Orleans was settled, it was above sea level. The
: ground has subsided and is continuing to do so.
:

The Mississippi has contributed to the problem by building its own
bed too high...

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1135.htm
No. 1135: Ol' Man River


"...But here the Mississippi has built its own bed too high, and is
ready to leave it. That threat has been mounting steadily. By
WW-II, a third of the Mississippi was overflowing into the Old
River and from there to the Atchafalaya River. The Atchafalaya
meanders down through the Cajun parishes of south central
Louisiana. It was about to become the outlet of the Mississippi.
The Corps of Engineers responded by building dams and locks.

The Mississippi has been jumping about like that for thousands of
years. Most of Louisiana is made of sand and silt dumped by the
River. The Mississippi was shifting its bed during the Trojan Wars.
It was shifting again while the Romans built their aqueducts. The
Battle of Hastings occurred during its last major move.

Today, a striking feature of the Louisiana map is a long arm of
land reaching from New Orleans to the southeast, far into the Gulf
-- the lengthening bed of the Mississippi. That arm of silt was a
mere stump in my 1898 Britannica.

[snip]

We've contained the Mississippi's attempt to move for a while. But
move it will -- sooner or later. One big flood and it will break
through those fragile barricades to reach the low ground it hungers
for. When that happens, two hundred miles of fresh-water ports will
be left dry, unless we cut a salt-water trench across Louisiana.

Many observers look on attempts to hold the Mississippi as pure
hubris. One says, The three most arrogant human projects imaginable
are, in descending order, to steal the sun, to make the rivers run
backward, and to contain the Mississippi.

The longer we hold this tiger by the tail, the more committed we
are to a task that's more difficult every year. The Mississippi
warns us, yet again, that nature's intent is inexorable. Nature
will yield to our will -- but only so far, and only for a while..."


--Jerry Leslie
Note: is invalid for email

("Dave S" wrote)
Galveston underwent a similar transformation after the 1900 storm.


Mexico City and whatever that lake was that they filled in - then built on..


Montblack

On 31 Aug 2005 17:24:09 -0700, "Doug"
wrote:

Not as crazy as it sounds. Dig a big lake, convey the dirt over.

Actually, the problem seems to be that there IS a big lake,
Ponchatrain (however spelled). It leaked into New Orleans, causing the
big flood. It wasn't the storm surge that caused the problem, but
Ponchatrain.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
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Cub Driver wrote:
On 31 Aug 2005 17:24:09 -0700, "Doug"
wrote:


Not as crazy as it sounds. Dig a big lake, convey the dirt over.


Actually, the problem seems to be that there IS a big lake,
Ponchatrain (however spelled). It leaked into New Orleans, causing the
big flood. It wasn't the storm surge that caused the problem, but
Ponchatrain.


That is one problem. Another is the fact that we've forced the river
there to stay inside a channel that we've defined, so it's no longer
dumping its load of sediment all over the countryside. The Mississippi
is not called "The Big Muddy" for nothing!

I'm glad to see that we can discuss OT without any one bitching about
it being OT.

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone

This is true, You should see the basements of some places in Old Town Sac.
Theres a pretty cool brewery down in one of them called The Hogs Head, or
Hogs Breath, something like that. We were really buzzed on Valentines day
when we found it. Stayed on the Delta King that night.
"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
"D" == Doug writes:

D Not as crazy as it sounds. Dig a big lake, convey the dirt
D over. All the houses worth saving, raise them up on a new
D foundation. The skycrapers, just make the bottom floor a
D basement. Expensive? Yes, but a permanent solution. Better than
D it happening again.

It's been done befo

"After yet another massive flood in 1862, an ambitious project to
actually raise [Sacramento] above flood level was undertaken. Evidence
of the tens of thousands of cubic yards of earth and miles of masonry
work used to raise the streets can still be seen today in Old
Sacramento." And the downtown if you know where to look.