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

1. New Orleans Levee Failure Physical Modeling Mateo ArimanyAlbert BleakleyFebruary 2010

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

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

4. 1878 17TH St. Canal

5. Lake Ponchartrain Hurricane Betsy 1965 B A NEWORLEANS MISS. R

6. Lake Ponchartrain B A NEWORLEANS MISS. R 30 30 20 20 10 10 Elevations In Feet Ngvd 0 0 -10 -10 -20 -20 New Orleans Topography City of New OrleansGround Elevations From Canal St. at Mississippi River to theLakefront Floodwall AlongMississippi River A 23 FT B Project designflowline (18 feet) London Avenue Canal floodwall HURRICANE LEVEE / FLOODWALL (14.0 FEET) River Bank LakePontchartrainShore Canal St At River St Anthony AtFilmore Ave Gentilly BlvdAt Allen Esplanade AtSt. Claude Derbigny At I-10 Uno Side OfWainwright Dr WAINRIGHT DRAT L. C. SIMON Dillard UnivCampus Mississippi St LouisCathedral

7. Hurricane RitaSep 24, 2005 Hurricane Rita Sep, 2005 Hurricane KatrinaAug, 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. 10 to 13 feet 8 to 15 feet 12 to 15 feet 9 to 11 feet New OrleansMaximum Flooding Depth High: 15 Ft. Low: 0 Ft. Design Failure Breach Locations

10. As of 4 NOV 05

11. Investigation

12. Investigation

13. Investigation

14. Physical Modeling Team R. Scott Steedman, PhD FREng FICE Kevin Stone, PhD Michael K. Sharp, PhD, PE Wipawi Vanadit-Ellis, MS Wayne Hodo Henry Blake David Daily Dave Carnell Prof Dr Ir Frans Barends Paul Schaminée , MSc Adam Bezuijen, MSc 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

16. London North Model London South Model Orleans South Model

17. Test Video ERDC Centrifuge RPI Centrifuge

18. London South – sand foundation

38. Sand layer pile tip local shear failure

40. London South – sand foundation

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

42. 17th Street – clay foundation