New Orleans
My heart goes out to those hurt by the disaster... but...
Well frankly, this disaster could have been largely averted.
First of all, a friend of mine, a professional urban planner, assures me that no planner in their right mind would want to choose a site like that for development if it could be avoided. Flood plains just generally suck for construction. Even if they can be safely developed, they are expensive.
Second of all, as an engineer myself, the mishandling and narrow-margin engineering sends a cold chill down my spine. In the electronics world, this sort of thing is what causes power elements to blow their guts across the inside of a chassis at seemingly random intervals. While the scale is different, the methods and principles of engineering are the same, as are the problems. Narrow margins nearly ensure disaster. Your MTBF is largely determined by your margins. The problem is that, in the infrastructure engineering world, MTBF means "mean time between PEOPLE DYING".
An MTBF of 100 years sounds good for a DVD player. It's NOT FREAKING ACCEPTABLE FOR A LEVEE. Dumping a lake into a major urban environment and deluging thousands of people is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
I won't blame the planners or the engineers. I don't imagine either of them possessed the gross incompetence needed to screw things up this badly. This speaks of beancounterism. Well congratulations beancounters. You have blood on your hands. Maybe next time someone says, "the levee is weak and people will die," you will freaking listen.
Well frankly, this disaster could have been largely averted.
First of all, a friend of mine, a professional urban planner, assures me that no planner in their right mind would want to choose a site like that for development if it could be avoided. Flood plains just generally suck for construction. Even if they can be safely developed, they are expensive.
Second of all, as an engineer myself, the mishandling and narrow-margin engineering sends a cold chill down my spine. In the electronics world, this sort of thing is what causes power elements to blow their guts across the inside of a chassis at seemingly random intervals. While the scale is different, the methods and principles of engineering are the same, as are the problems. Narrow margins nearly ensure disaster. Your MTBF is largely determined by your margins. The problem is that, in the infrastructure engineering world, MTBF means "mean time between PEOPLE DYING".
An MTBF of 100 years sounds good for a DVD player. It's NOT FREAKING ACCEPTABLE FOR A LEVEE. Dumping a lake into a major urban environment and deluging thousands of people is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
I won't blame the planners or the engineers. I don't imagine either of them possessed the gross incompetence needed to screw things up this badly. This speaks of beancounterism. Well congratulations beancounters. You have blood on your hands. Maybe next time someone says, "the levee is weak and people will die," you will freaking listen.