New Orleans Levee System Performance during Hurricane Katrina: London Avenue and Orleans Canal South
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 5
Abstract
Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. The effects of the hurricane were particularly devastating in the city of New Orleans. Most of the damage was due to the failure of the levee system that surrounds the city to protect it from flooding. This paper presents the results of centrifuge models conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers simulating the behavior of the levees at London Avenue North and South that failed during Hurricane Katrina. Those levees failed without being overtopped by the storm surge. Also included are the results of a centrifuge model of one levee section at Orleans Canal South, which did not fail during the hurricane. The key factor of the failure mechanism of the London Avenue levees was the formation of a gap between the flooded side of the levee and the sheetpile. This gap triggered a reduction of the strength at the foundation of the protected side of the levee. The results are fully consistent with field observations.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the writers would like to gratefully acknowledge that support. Permission to publish this work was granted by the Director, Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory of the Engineer Research and Development Center. Several entities and their personnel should also be recognized for their invaluable contributions to this work. Those include the primary centrifuge modeling locations RPI and ERDC, in addition to Steedman and Associates, GeoDelft, University of Brighton, New Orleans District of the USACE, and the Mississippi Valley Division.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 5 • May 2008
Pages: 668 - 680
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 18, 2007
Accepted: Jan 23, 2008
Published online: May 1, 2008
Published in print: May 2008
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