cspan caller just said the levee that broke was a new one, and

[napi21]

someone needs to find out who built it and did they do a poor job that caused it to fail.

Does anyone know if there's any truth to her story?

[achtung_circus]

1. Working on memory here

but an article in the Economist I read Thurday stated that some newer levies had settled (to be expected with new earth) and the funds for recompaction and topping up "weren't there".

[ohio_liberal]

2. There was a patch job on the 17th St Canal this summer

Not new, in the process of being repaired. All of the levees in the area are sinking.

The Senate was seeking to restore some of the SELA funding cuts for 2006. But now it's too late.

One project that a contractor had been racing to finish this summer: a bridge and levee job right at the 17th Street Canal, site of the main breach on Monday.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313

[babylonsister]

3. Oh, rich! Let's now point fingers at the engineers!

Not directed at you, napi21, but me thinks they're now grasping at straws. Some people just don't want to believe their fearless leader is so incompetent.

[napi21]

5. I didn't get the impression she was aiming at the engineers.

It sounded more like she was intimating that, maybe a Co. like Halliburton (No she didn't say a name) or some gov't crony had been given the job and they screwed up.

That was what it sounded like to me.

Since there was recent work on this levee, I think it is a fair question. After all, we quaestion the work of mechs after a plane crash, or the work done on a road that crumbles too soon after being paved.

[babylonsister]

6. I didn't hear the call so this was my knee-jerk reaction.

However, your analogy, RE: mechs, is a good one and one I can relate to. I am so used to blame being shifted that I'm always suspect.

[ignatius 2]

13. Maybe it's the same compny that owned the loose barge.

n/t

[yankeedem]

8. But I thought that pugs didn't play the blame game

:spank:

[madokie]

4. I saw a picture of this section of the levee earlier

Don't remember where. It looked liked it was being worked on. It was fresh dirt and it appeared to be a couple feet or so lower than the levee on either side.

[Zynx]

7. It's a design consequence, not bad workmenship.

The levee itself was NOT a concrete wall. The concrete was on top of an earthen embankment - meaning that the foundation of the concrete wall was composed of soil and clay.

If the levee was overtopped, this would erode very quickly due to water plunging down onto it, similar to how a garden hose just destroys ground if you leave it in place. This would then cause the concrete wall to sag, at which point it's toast.

[zalinda]

9. I have to ask

why doesn't the government contact the Dutch engineers who worked on their dikes for a consult? They are experts at holding back water.

zalinda

[napi21]

11. 'cause Shrub doesn't NEED help from oursiders!

Hell, they just forced a German plane, loaded with emergency supplies to turn around, and the water purification equipment is still onboard a plane sitting somewhere in the States, but not authorized to unload!

[lostnfound]

10. How can we find out which contractor? Who picks contractors?

Just wondering.

[napi21]

12. I'm sure there was a contract involved. I don't know who

would have OK'd it. I suspect the Army Corps of Engineers since I think they are in charge of the levee system.