Plety of cities around the world are below sea level, like New Orleans. So how do they keep the waters at bay? The Times looks at the “countries with long histories of flooding [that] have turned science, technology and raw determination into ways of forestalling disaster.“
After devastating floods killed nearly 2,000 people in the Netherlands, the Dutch erected a futuristic system of coastal defenses that is admired around the world today as one of the best barriers against the sea’s fury — one that could withstand the kind of storm that happens only once in 10,000 years.“
Linking offshore islands with dams, seawalls and other structures, the Dutch erected a kind of forward defensive shield, drastically reducing the amount of vulnerable coastline. Mr. de Haan, director of the water branch of the Road and Hydraulic Engineering Institute of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, said the project had the effect of shortening the coast by more than 400 miles.
For New Orleans, experts say, a similar forward defense would seal off Lake Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico. That step would eliminate a major conduit by which hurricanes drive storm surges to the city’s edge — or, as in the case of Katrina, through the barriers.
The Dutch also increased the height of their dikes, which now loom as much as 40 feet above the churning sea. (In New Orleans, the tallest flood walls are about half that size.) The government also erected vast complexes of floodgates that close when the weather turns violent but remain open at other times, so saltwater can flow into estuaries, preserving their ecosystems and the livelihoods that depend on them.
The Netherlands maintains large teams of inspectors and maintenance crews that safeguard the sprawling complex, which is known as Delta Works. The annual maintenance bill is about $500 million. “It’s not cheap,” Mr. de Haan said. “But it’s not so much in relation to the gross national product. So it’s a kind of insurance.”
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… and who is going to be paid a lot of that $US 24 billion?
(Probably feeling just a bit too far bitter & twisted, but sometimes I wonder just how far is too far.)
I find it has become very easy for Americans to speak out against the government in times like these; however, where were all of you years ago… hindsight is ALWAYS 20:20. True it would have been far cheaper to fix it on th front end but which project do you choose. This country is like an old house, fix which evil first? Well if we knew the answer to that, this would be a perfect world. Instead of spending so much energy on bashing the lack of action, get out there and start it yourself. A hurricane can be traced back to the beat of one butterfly’s wings.
Byron Skinner: The Article was about flood-control technology. Got anything to add to that, or do you prefer to turn every discussion into an anti-Bush screed?
For myself, I’d prefer to learn about the technology, especially how New Orleans’ situation differs from the Netherlands’ and how this affects the technological options.
A project like the Dutch Delta works, which costed them about $8 billion dollars in the period of 1953 to 1997, is surely going to cost about triple that to apply similar engineering to Louisiana and Missisippi to protect New Orleans. Probably $24 billion or maybe even more.
Is it worth it? Its worth every dime in my opinion. We spent over $300 billion in the last 3 years on the war in Iraq alone, we surely can come up with 10% of that money in about 10 times the amount of time (it took the Dutch more then 30 years) to protect our own citizens from the irreversable effects of Global Warming.
Yes, bring on the Dutch to design the engineering. And bring on the workers from LA and MS to build it! We need Dutch engineering, Federal money, and Local employment to get this done.
Check out http://www.safecoast.org and find out that the coastal managers in the North Sea region are already thinking about the future. Believe me: by only constructing dams and dikes we won’t help ourselves in the 21st century…
whats up my name labreece douglas i wanna go to da military very bad but im kind a nervous
whats up my name labreece douglas i wanna go to da military very bad but im kind a nervous