A "must read" by John McPhee, first published in 1987 on the sinking city of New Orleans. (got the lead from Doc)
Looks hopeless to me.
The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town: "ARCHIVES
THE SUNKEN CITY
Issue of 2005-09-12
Posted 2005-09-03
excerpt:
"Among the five hundred miles of levee deficiencies now calling for attention along the Mississippi River, the most serious happen to be in New Orleans. Among other factors, the freeboard—the amount of levee that reaches above flood levels—has to be higher in New Orleans to combat the waves of ships. Elsewhere, the deficiencies are averaging between one and two feet with respect to the computed high-water flow line, which goes on rising as runoffs continue to speed up and waters are increasingly confined. Not only is the water higher. The levees tend to sink as well. They press down on the mucks beneath them and squirt materials out to the sides. Their crowns have to be built up. “You put five feet on and three feet sink,” a Corps engineer remarked to me one day."
(From “The Control of Nature: Atchafalaya,” which ran in the issue of February 23, 1987.)
"
No comments:
Post a Comment