How Civil Engineering is Helping New Orleans Deal With Its Flooding Problems

The French Quarter is a miracle of civil engineering expertise. French engineers carefully observed the natural flooding patterns of the French Quarter. The French Quarter’s design helps it withstand flooding problems that plague other neighborhoods.

Everything about traditional New Orleans design is intended to avoid flooding problems. The traditional raised building style is meant to discourage flooding. So were the areas that were chosen for development.

That all changed in the gold rush following the Louisiana Purchase. Civil engineering switched from ethical to opportunist almost overnight. This has caused many of the flooding problems New Orleans has experienced in the last 200 years.

Hurricane Katrina illustrated the need for better civil engineering in the Crescent City. Things have improved a great deal following Hurricane Katrina. The United States Army Corps Of Engineers has dropped billions of dollars into a hurricane prevention system. It’s still not enough, though.

Here are some ways civil engineering is preventing floods in New Orleans.

How Civil Engineering Can Help Prevent Flooding Problems In New Orleans

New Orleans has been experiencing problems due to flooding for over a hundred years. There have been great steps made in correcting these civil engineering oversights. There’s still a lot of work to be done to make the city safe against future flooding issues, though.

The History Of New Orleans Water Management

New Orleans Mayor Martin Behrman had every reason to be proud in 1914. He was discussing the state of water management in the Crescent City in front of the League of American Municipalities in 1914. Behrman regaled the crowd in with some of the recent innovations to help prevent health issues that came with flooding problems.

Martin Behrman proposed two courses of action. One solution was a modernized drainage system. The other was simply doing nothing.

Modernization won out over inaction. Several modern innovations helped to make New Orleans noteworthy. New Orleans had one of the most advanced drainage infrastructures at the time.

The creation of the Drainage Advisory Board in 1893 proved that city officials were serious. New technology like the Wood screw pump greatly enhanced the city’s ability to handle wastewater.

These innovations made New Orleans world famous for their civil engineering. Engineer Albert Baldwin Wood was brought on to solve the drainage problems of the Netherlands. Newspapers referred to New Orleans as “the best-drained city in America.”

Those same newspapers pointed out that New Orleans should not become complacent. New Orleans needed to continue to strengthen their infrastructure. Sadly, that mission fell by the wayside for 90 years.

The Future Of Water Management In New Orleans

New Orleans has finally reinstated its forward-looking goals towards the city’s infrastructure. Hurricane Katrina pointed out the need to do so. New Orleans is moving into the future by looking backward as well as forwards.

The Gentilly Resilience Project

New Orleans was recently awarded $141 million from the United States Department Of Housing And Development (HUD). This grant is intended to improve New Orleans’ green infrastructure. So far, it’s restricted to the upscale Gentilly neighborhood. Known as the “Gentilly Resilience District,” is one example of the way civil engineers are addressing historic problems using modern means.

The premise of the plan is simple but its implications are profound. Engineers are investigating ways to slow down soil subsidence to retain groundwater and diminish the strain on the city’s drainage system.

Many of New Orleans’ flooding problems are caused by heavy downpours. These deluges can amount to up to 64 inches of rain annually and frequently overwhelm storm sewers. Even the best-laid plans of Army Corps engineers will have a hard time holding up to that amount of water.

To combat this incredible amount of precipitation, civil engineers are re-purposing several large tracts of land to serve as a runoff facility for floodwaters. A large undeveloped tract of land near Dillard University serves as a holding station for rainwater while the streets of more populated areas are drained.

The Gentilly Resilience Project is an example of civil engineers making the most of what they have. This renovation project is notable for its reliance on traditional techniques and natural resources along with cutting-edge civil engineering principles.

The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan

The Gentilly Resilience Project is limited to one upscale neighborhood. To truly counteract the issues with flooding that New Orleans have plagued New Orleans a more expansive project is in order.

The New Orleans Urban Water Plan actually bridges the past and the future of water management in New Orleans. The ambitious program was greatly influenced by a collaboration with the Netherlands, who were inspired by Albert Wood all those years ago.

The Urban Water Plan is set up similarly to the Gentilly Resilience Program. Civil Engineers are implementing “rain gardens” in flood-prone areas. These gardens will act as spillover storage during times of heavy rain.

These properties are also fully functioning community gardens. Their aim is to increase the quality of life for New Orleans residents while also helping to diminish flooding problems.

This civil engineering strategy will not only reduce the costs of property damage due to flooding problems. It will also help to reduce the amount of revenue lost due to business closures because of flooding.

Water management will be a vital new source of jobs, as well. 65% of water management jobs don’t require a college degree. This emerging industry could help remedy some of New Orleans’ economic issues. It will also help deal with the water problem at the same time.

There is no clear-cut answer as to how civil engineering can address the matter of flooding in New Orleans. It’s more a matter of a variety of approaches coming together in new and innovative ways to solve age-old problems.

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