Worst Engineering Ever

[infrogmation]

The flooding of New Orleans was caused by: Incompetent design by the Army Corps of Engineers.

From article in today's Times-Picayune:

"This is the largest civil engineering disaster in the history of the United States. Nothing has come close to the $300 billion in damages and half-million people out of their homes and the lives lost. Nothing this

Comments

A Word From Mr. Heh V. Sarcasm.

[jdquintette]

So I guess fixing it should be no problem then, huh? We know who's responsible, and they of course will do the right thing.

[pentomino]

As I understand it, the Army Corps of Engineers does an absolutely splendid job of doing exactly what they're told. But when exactly what they're told is the wrong thing, they end up taking the fall. In college, my Social Issues in Technology professor explained at least two cases where this had already happened before 1999 -- one in particular where they straightened out a river, and suddenly the river's properties changed drastically and things started going wrong. I'll have to check the textbook when I get home.

This seems slightly different. I thought the Corps would take the fall because of the protection of the wetlands going away, not because the levee was built wrong to begin with.

[jeanster04]

It seems our theme is more fitting than we first thought.

Krewe theme

[infrogmation]

Yes. I was a bit scheptical that the Corps(e) should be the main focus, but Lisa was clearly right on the nose.