Ideas Floated for Hardening New Orleans Storm Defenses
Even as plans to build interim gates and bypass pumps at the mouths of three big stormwater outfall canals in New Orleans advance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is testing a new concept to block the canals with racks of ship propellers to jet water from the city in huge volumes, holding back storm surges in the process.
Responding to a Corps request for proposals, local engineering and architectural firm Waldemar S. Nelson and Co. submitted the proposal, which Nelson would perform under a 30-day indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with the Corps. The RFP sought designs with high-capacity pumps that could prevent the canals from back-flooding without damming them.