Three massive, 20-ft. pumps with 143,000 gallons-per-second capacity were installed last week on the city's West Bank to stop storm surges from the Harvey and Algiers canals. According to the Times-Picayune, the pumps will be able to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool within five seconds. That sounds impressive :-} Installation of three more pumps was scheduled for this week and the remaining five are still at the factory - the check is in the mail?
Kenny Crumholt, an Army Corps of Engineers supervisor said the project will be far enough along to "provide protection from a 100-year storm by the peak of the 2011 hurricane season," reported the Times-Pic. At the moment, though, engineers are trying to figure out why 5,400-horsepower diesel engines are overheating - sigh.
The West Bank levee authority is expected to pay the $5 million annual cost of operating and maintaining the equipment unless Congress says the corps must.
Four stadium towers with lights were built to allow 1,000 workers to toil 24/7 to get the project done. Meanwhile, nola.com today reports Tropical Depression 12 has formed and Hurricane Igor has reached category two in strength.
Here's what they looked like before Katrina:
And the model system built by the Dutch.
Read a transcript from PRI's "The World," comparing the two systems.
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