1. New Orleans Levee Failure Physical Modeling Mateo Arimany Albert Bleakley February 2010

2. New Orleans Levee Physical Modeling Mateo Arimany Albert Bleakley February 2010

3. New Orleans Levee Failures Rope & bucket physical centrifuge model 1 page summary handout ABET grading format

4. Outline Background - Bleakley Geography Outfall canals Levees Hurricane Katrina - Bleakley Effects Failures Investigation - Arimany Borings/CPT/soil testing Centrifuge modeling Lessons learned - Bleakley

5. Legend Federal Federal Non-COE Non-Federal 5 Parishes 350 Miles of Levee/Floodwall 73 Pumping Stations (Fed & Non-Fed) 4 Gated Outlets Background – Geography Orleans Area

6. 6 1878

7. NEW ORLEANS A B Lake Ponchartrain MISS. R Hurricane Betsy 1965

8. City of New Orleans Ground Elevations From Canal St. at Mississippi River to the Lakefront Mississippi River Bank Lake Pontchartrain Shore NEW ORLEANS A B Lake Ponchartrain MISS. R A Project design flowline (18 feet) Derbigny At I-10 Esplanade At St. Claude Canal St At River St Louis Cathedral Gentilly Blvd At Allen Dillard Univ Campus St Anthony At Filmore Ave WAINRIGHT DR AT L. C. SIMON Uno Side Of Wainwright Dr London Avenue Canal floodwall HURRICANE LEVEE / FLOODWALL (14.0 FEET) 30 20 10 0 -10 -20 30 20 10 0 -10 -20 Elevations In Feet Ngvd Floodwall Along Mississippi River 23 FT New Orleans Topography B

9. Hurricane Katrina Aug, 2005 One of America’s largest natural disasters Cat 5 less than 12 hrs before landfall 127 MPH wind at Louisiana landfall Maximum surge of 28 to 30 feet along Mississippi coast City of New Orleans flooded Cat 4 less than 12 hrs before landfall 175 MPH max sustained winds in Gulf of Mexico 120 MPH max sustained winds at landfall Cat 3 strength at landfall 9 Hurricane Rita Sep 24, 2005 Hurricane Rita Sep, 2005

10. 10

11. 8 to 15 feet 10 to 13 feet 12 to 15 feet 9 to 11 feet High: 15 Ft. Low: 0 Ft. Design Failure Breach Locations New Orleans Maximum Flooding Depth

12. As of 4 NOV 05

13. Investigation

16. Physical Modeling Team Prof Tarek H. Abdoun, PhD Prof Thomas F. Zimmie, PhD, PE Inthuorn Sasanakul, PhD Javier Ubilla, MS Marcelo Gonzalez, MS Hassan Radwan Alex Sankovich Dominic Moffitt Michael K. Sharp, PhD, PE Wipawi Vanadit-Ellis, MS Wayne Hodo Henry Blake David Daily Dave Carnell R. Scott Steedman, PhD FREng FICE Kevin Stone, PhD Prof Dr Ir Frans Barends Paul Schaminée, MSc Adam Bezuijen, MSc

18. London North Model London South Model Orleans South Model

19. ERDC Centrifuge RPI Centrifuge Test Video

20. London South – sand foundation

40. Sand layer pile tip local shear failure

42. London South – sand foundation

43. Crack opening phase, marked by start of wall rotation and pore pressure rise around the toe of the sheet pile (ERDC London South)

44. Crack opening phase, marked by start of wall rotation and followed by large scale failure (ERDC London South)

45. Main failure phase, ERDC London South, marked by rapid and continuing wall rotation and pore pressure rise (PPT15)

46. limiting shear force on underside of peat limiting passive resistance in sand Pivot hydrostatic force Wall Swampy Marsh ‘crumple zone’ rising water pressure decreases vertical effective stress Typical cross section London South – sand foundation

47. 17 th Street Canal Orleans North Canal

48. 17 th Street – clay foundation

59. Top of clay layer general shear failure

60. Crack opening phase, marked by start of wall rotation and pore pressure fall near sheet pile, followed by failure (RPI 17 th Street)

61. Pivot Key findings 2. The centrifuge models were consistent and useful to determine mechanisms in all cases studied. 1. Wall movement was in all cases sufficient to form a crack in front of the wall. 3. Performance of all levee sections studied 17 th Street, London Avenue and Orleans was consistent with field observations and numerical models. Swampy Marsh 4. Uplift of swampy marsh leads to unloading.

62. Lessons Learned - System Improvements: 62 Permanent Pump Stations Repair Correct Floodwall Deficiencies Improve Storm Proof Pump Stations Surge Barrier

63. IHNC Lake Borgne 63

64. IHNC Lake Borgne 64

65. IHNC Surge Protection Seabrook Objectives: Provide 1% event risk reduction to: New Orleans East New Orleans Metro IHNC-MRGO St. Bernard Status NEPA for Seabrook out for Public Review Dec 2009 NEPA Compliance – Dec 2009 Notice to proceed Construction – Feb 2010 Risk Reduction Complete – June 2011 65 Conceptual

66. Summary Background - Bleakley Geography Outfall canals Levees Hurricane Katrina - Bleakley Effects Failures Investigation - Arimany Borings/CPT/soil testing Centrifuge modeling Lessons learned - Bleakley

67. Questions?