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Geography Complicates Levee Repair - New York Times
by Decius at 8:40 am EDT, Aug 31, 2005

John Hall, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said last night that the corps and other agencies were "in a great frenzy" to figure out how to plug the 300-foot gap along the 17th Street Canal.The narrow canal, which is used to drain water pumped out of the eternally soggy city, is not accessible by barge, in part because a newly built low bridge and hurricane barrier sits 700 feet down the canal toward the lake end. "We can't get at it," Mr. Hall said.

Engineering challenges...

RE: Geography Complicates Levee Repair - New York Times
by seas-usa at 5:04 pm EDT, Sep 2, 2005

Decius wrote:
...in part because a newly built low bridge and hurricane barrier sits 700 feet down the canal toward the lake end. "We can't get at it," Mr. Hall said.
A well placed charge(s) would have safely demolished the bridge and hurricane barriers.
(cost of a bridge vs the city)
Perhaps Mr. Hall could have come up with a more creative excuse or solution, but the opporttunity is lost.
.

Geography Complicates Levee Repair - New York Times
by Rattle at 10:22 am EDT, Aug 31, 2005

John Hall, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said last night that the corps and other agencies were "in a great frenzy" to figure out how to plug the 300-foot gap along the 17th Street Canal.The narrow canal, which is used to drain water pumped out of the eternally soggy city, is not accessible by barge, in part because a newly built low bridge and hurricane barrier sits 700 feet down the canal toward the lake end. "We can't get at it," Mr. Hall said.

Engineering challenges... is putting it lightly. Its going to be a hard week in the Big Easy.

I must admit that the full impact of this storm was not clear to me until I saw the TV last night, even though I expected it to be bad.

For years I have made the joke that I'd like to see New Orleans before its completely destroyed. Today, I'm feeling bad about making that joke. And its not because I still have not spent any time down in New Orleans.

The sheer human tragedy present on everyone TV screens today is heartbreaking. What's worse, is we saw this coming. The failures present here were all preventable at multiple stages. It starts with the fact that its not a good idea to build a city below sea level, and it ends with evacuation plans that were clearly not mature enough to deal with the reality everyone knew was coming.

The big question: What do we rebuild? And what do we abandon?