CAN New Orleans be rebuilt?

[Silverhair]

There are lots of threads on whether or not New Orleans should be rebuilt. But is it even possible to rebuild it? I am NOT an engineer. All I know about this subject is what I have read on the internet in the past couple of days, and what a little bit of common sense can see.

The levees can't be repaired until the water stops flowing rapidly through them. All repair equipment will have to be on barges and the barges will need to be stationary. Right now the water is rapidly flowing through the breeches. And nothing can be done until the leveees are repaired. So it appears the order of events will be:

1. Let flooding continue until New Orleans is full, and the leeve breech does not have rapid flow.

2. Fix levee. (Will the flood have weakened other parts of the levee?)

3. Fix pumps. Since the pumps will be underwater, that may be an interesting challenge. Maybe get new pumps?

4. Pump out water.

5. Build new, better levee system.

5. Bulldoze all of the old homes. After having had water sit in them for several months, they will not be able to be repaired.

6. Figure out who own what. Many deeds, records, & other legal papers will have been lost, so this may be a considerable task.

Now, you are ready to attempt rebuilding. Can it even be done?

[justinsb]

1. What I heard last night is that

they can't feasibly pump all the water out. That the real choices are

1) Let New Orleans remain a lake or
2) Fill it in with debris, dirt, gravel (completely covering the old city) and force the water out that way.

[skypilot]

2. Part of me thinks...

...that it should not be rebuilt. Geographically, it's just not a good spot, to say the very least.

[Ediacara]

3. There might be a way to shore up the levies while water still flows

If helicopters would be able to lift up train cars and drop them along the levee breach to they'd act an anchoring wall for sandbags to rest on. This obviously has complications, like can a helicopter lift a train car? Would the train cars cause even more damage to the levees? How do you repair the levee with a train car in the way?

[Algorem]

4. Carlyle Group and Halliburton can build 'New New Orleans' a model

Homeland Security State City.

[FSogol]

5. The pumps are submersible and are designed to be underwater. Their

problem (if I have heard correctly) is a lack of electricity.

And yes it can and will be rebuilt.

[GumboYaYa]

10. Some of the pumps are five feet or more above sea level. I know the ones

on Napoleon are. I think some of theones at the 17th Street Canal are raised as well. If they can stop the water, they can get the pumps working. The big question now is where do they pump it all. The 17th street canal levee has to be fixed before the water can be pumped out of the city. That is the route back to the lake.

[havocmom]

6. Havocdad suggested taking satillite pictures of the city before the storm

and laying out a new one somewhere ABOVE the lake. Might as well rebuild it on higher ground somewhere. Let the wetlands take back what is theirs. There is an important lesson for home buyers even if develpoers just won't get it.

[Xithras]

7. Building it with the same street layout would be silly.

Imagine the possibilities...a city built AROUND a public transportation system, a city designed to be walkable rather than one that relies on freeways, a city that can be an EXAMPLE for the rest of the country.

Don't rebuild the city by repeating all of the mistakes of the past, build it better!

[GumboYaYa]

9. New Orleans already is built around public transportation.

It is one of the only walkable cities in America. I never owned a car when I lived there. The public transportation system in New Orleans is the only public transportation system in America that contributes money to the city budget rather than being an expense.

[havocmom]

11. BINGO!

And it wouldn't be New Orleans if it were different. Just put the New New Orleans up higher!

[Xithras]

8. 6 is actually pretty simple.

The county assessors office will have land ownership records in several formats, so as long as the owner has ID, they're fine.

[HadItUpToHere]

12. 3 to 6 MONTHS just to pump out the water...

this is going to be just bizarre.

[Brewman_Jax]

13. It has been done

The city has been rebuilt at least 3 times in its history. The original New Orleans was destroyed by a hurricane in 1721. Military engineers designed the grid pattern of the city (now the French Quarter) that is known today. Fire nearly destroyed the city twice in 1788 and 1794. They've done it before, they'll do it again.

[trekbiker]

14. it will be rebuilt.. but it will be a lot smaller.

and dont forget, with global climate change we'll be seeing large hurricanes more often.

[Orsino]

15. The earth has been salted.

Nothing's going to grow very well, right? Drowned in sea water and rain?