Specifications New Orleans Pumps

West Bank levee work faulted for excessive debris in dirt

Twenty minutes and two broken shovels later, they had unearthed a log the size of a typical suitcase.

“If they’ve got a 200-pound log buried in that levee, it makes you wonder what else is buried there,” said Giuseppe Miserendino, the levee authority’s regional director. “How does your quality-control person miss something that big? What else didn’t they catch?”

The inspectors hauled the log to the levee authority’s Marrero headquarters to serve as Exhibit A in illustrating the agency’s recurring concerns about debris in dirt used to raise West Bank levees.

The authority’s online inspection reports contain hundreds, if not thousands, of photos of tree limbs, chunks of concrete and large rocks found embedded in or lying on levees under construction at about eight sites across the West Bank.

Miserendino said most of the trouble spots were corrected after inspectors issued their sometimes damning reports, one of which said a contractor appeared to be cutting corners on debris removal to meet the corps’ June 1 deadline to provide protection from a 100-year storm.

The Army Corps of Engineers has been overseeing more than 50 projects to upgrade 66 miles of West Bank levees and floodwalls in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s catastrophic flooding.

“The majority of the jobs are very well done, but there are a select few that we’ve had tremendous problems with,” Miserendino said.

Three singled out

He singled out three projects totaling 7 miles of levees as the biggest areas of concern.

Dirt for two of those projects came from borrow pits in Waggaman operated by River Birch, which runs a nearby landfill and is embroiled in the federal criminal investigation of public corruption in Jefferson Parish. A River Birch official said the firm has supplied clay for more than 20 West Bank levee projects with no previous problems and suggested the debris issue may be related to how the levee contractor handled the material.

Miserendino emphasized that the debris problem isn’t so severe that he fears a catastrophic levee failure could put people’s lives and homes at risk. Instead, he’s worried the unsuitable material will cause the levees to subside prematurely, sending the authority’s maintenance costs skyrocketing.

“Do I think these levees are going to blow out? Do I think they’re going to fail? No,” he said. “But do I think we could face a significant maintenance nightmare that will cost Jefferson Parish taxpayers a lot of money? Yes.

Fix the pumps: Debris Part 6

On Sunday, June 12, 2011, the Times-Picayune's Paul Rioux had an excellent article on the front page about the whole debris issue. Titled " West Bank levee work faulted for excessive debris in dirt ," the article hit all the high points this series has covered over the previous five parts, while filling in a number of holes. The best part is it did so much more concisely than I have. The T-P's editorial board followed up with an editorial two days later emphasizing the importance of overcoming the persistent debris problems across the west bank. "Site visit began on the floodside of the levee between Sta.0+44 to Sta 55+00. The material that is being hauled in contains a considerable amount of debris and is being picked out. Pickers were at approx. Sta.15+00 during site visit. Levee lifts are being placed on top of an abundant amount of small wood chips (within spec size) in this area. Phylway reps informed SLFPAW that USACE stopped hauling of material to this area until the problem is further investigated." " Debris throughout the jobsite continues to be an issue. East end of project (Sta.182+00 to 120+00) will need to be picked again; including areas that were picked earlier in the week. North/South levee (Sta.70+00 to Sta.112+00) will need to be repicked prior to seeding of the levee in this area. West end of the project (Sta.15+00 to Sta.0+00) where degrade operation had stopped will need to be re-picked also." Finally, River Birch's claim of "no issues" to a reporter, when it has taken subpoenas and FBI raids to get information out of River Birch in the federal investigation, is absurd in the extreme. I doubt they would reveal additional unpublicized problems to a reporter writing an article documenting the problems that have already been publicized through numerous inspection reports available on the internet. Also, I have to note that Mr. Miserendino may be slightly optimistic, since we don't really know what else is in these levees. According to their reports, the SLFPA-W inspectors only started clamping down on debris in the last half of 2010, but levee construction has been going nearly continuously since 2005. Indeed, on troubled project WBV-14c.2, the existing levee - which was being used to build the new levee - was so contaminated with debris that the dirt from it was ripped off the project and thrown away. How many other spots like that - of which Mr.

Engineering contracts and specifications, including a brief synopsis of the law of contracts and illustrative examples of the general and technical clauses of various kinds of engineering specifications, designed for the use of students, engineers, and contractors

Engineering contracts and specifications; including, a brief synopsis of the law of contracts and illustrative examples of the general and technical clauses of various kinds of engineering specifications

Army Corps of Engineers: Known Performance Issues with New Orleans Drainage Canal Pumps Have Been Addressed, but Guidance on Future Contracts Is Needed

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