Independent Engineering Assessment of the New Orleans Temporary Outfall Canal Pumps.

摘要

After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) immediately started rebuilding the canal walls along the three main drainage canals and implementing additional flood protection for the City of New Orleans. The mission was to complete these additional flood protection features by June 2006 in anticipation of the 2006 hurricane season. USACE installed three temporary pumping structures with floodgates at the outfall of the three main drainage canals to Lake Pontchartrain. The gates were designed to remain open under normal operating conditions and be closed during a storm event when storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain might exceed safe levels. With the gates shut, the storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain would be prevented from entering the drainage canals, though the pump systems would still allow for the discharge of stormwater being pumped by the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board (SWB). A total of 40 large capacity hydraulic pumps were installed by USACE in 2006 to assist with the removal of stormwater from the three main drainage canals into the lake when the gates were closed. Additionally, 19 direct drive pumps were installed in 2007. This ensured the canal water elevations were kept at safe levels as established by USACE geotechnical engineers. Approximately 16,600 cubic feet per second (cfs) (7.5 million gallons per minute gpm) in pumping capacity was designed, procured, constructed, and tested in approximately 21 months. Moving Water Industries (MWI) provided the major equipment for the hydraulic pumping systems. A USACE inspection team was dispatched to MWI to observe and record the equipment assembly and testing at the factory prior to shipment in order to facilitate the objectives within the timeframe allowed.