Hurricane Katrina Final PDF

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[ CITATION ASC13 \l 3081 ]

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BHARDWAJ

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AMIT

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ENS 2159

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ENGINEERING INNOVATION AND ETHICS

MEHRDAD RAISI CASE STUDY

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09/04/2019

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CASE STUDY

HURRICANE KATRINA

ENS2159 ENGINEERING INNOVATION AND ETHICS LECTURER: Dr. Mehrdad Raisi Tutor: Tina Moss SUBMITTED BY: AMIT BHARDWAJ ST 10458359

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Overview of Hurricane Katrina 3. Standard Hurricane System 4. The Levees System Failure 5. Consequences and Damage Caused 6. Engineering Assessments 7. Recommendations 8. Australian Engineering Code of Ethics 9. Competencies Demonstrated and Lesson learned 10. References

1. Introduction Over the years, the ethics of engineering and technology have developed greatly. Engineering have developed and become more prominent through innovation. As a result, ethics in engineering have become more institutionalised over the years concerning health, safety and environmental risks to organisations, clients and employees[ CITATION Phi15 \l 3081 ].

2. Overview of Hurricane Katrina On the morning of August 29 ,2005, Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest, deadly and extremely destructive storms ever hit Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi and city of New Orleans[CITATION THe07 \l 1033 ]. This was classed as a category 5 hurricane. The Death toll from this was confirmed around 1850 people, mainly from Louisiana and Mississippi. 80% of New Orleans was flooded and was under water with storm surge of about six meters. The estimated property damage was calculated to be around $81 Billion, with a total estimate of $150 Billion economic impact on effected regions[ CITATION 11f \l 1033 ] [ CITATION wap05 \l 1033 ]. After the assessment it was outlined that the just hurricane wasn’t the sole cause of such extensive damages but some of the engineering failure had contributed extensively well. The designed standard Hurricane procedure was outdated. The failure of Levees, floodwalls, interior drainage and pump stations was some of the direct causes for such a catastrophe[CITATION THe07 \l 1033 ]. This Report outlines in detail the various factors that contributed in failure of the in-house hurricane system in Gulf of Mexico and US in 2005. Secondly, the report will reflect the impact of hurricane Katrina. Furthermore, it will outline how Engineers Australia (EA) code of Ethics can be used to address the issues. Lastly, we will discuss the recommendations given, what must be done to avoid such a catastrophe in near future followed by conclusion.

3. Standard Hurricane System Every country and state have an Emergency management procedures and systems in place for any natural disasters. In this case the Federal Emergency Management Agencies of USA and Mexico had Hurricane Protection system in place. Hurricane protection system was designed after years of planning and was constructed on project to project based on location and geography of the land. The main pillars of this Hurricane protection system were the pumping stations, drainage systems, Levees and the floodwalls. These Systems was put in place to protect the low land areas that were below the sea level along the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

Figure 1- The Hurricane Protection System

3.1.

Pump Stations and Drainage

Most of the Orleans is below the sea level. So, to protect it from flooding in case of any storm or heavy rainfall pump stations and drainage systems were designed. The System have evolved in the last 280 years (J.D. Rogers, 2008). These Drain and pump system were designed to pump the storm waters from the streets back into the lake. There were about 24 drainage pumping stations, collectively housing more than 120 drainage and constant running pumps. As New Orleans’s have the largest drainage system in the world. The pumps need a stable power supply as some of the pumps runs Constantly 24 hours. So, they are contacted to the power grid and some of them have their own diesel engines.

Figure 2- Drainage system operated by New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, as it existed prior to Hurricanes Katrina

3.2.

Levees System and Floodwalls

Levees and flood walls play an important role in flood protection. Levees are known as reinforcements used to keep the lake or river from overflowing to the other side of the what the leeve is protecting behind it [ CITATION THe07 \l 3081 ]. Three basic types of flood systems build were I-wall, T-wall and Levees as shown in the figure 4. Levee can be made natural or man-made. Levees are usually made of earth or can be built by using artificial material such as concrete, soil and wood.

Figure 3- Three types of Flood protection structures

(Mission 2010: Team 4: Levees and Flood Protection Systems - Levee Board, 2019)

4. The Levees System Failure The failure of levees System during Hurricane Katrina is known as the world biggest engineering failure that has resulted in near destruction of a major US city[ CITATION ASC13 \l 3081 ]. There were over 50 breaches of the levee systems. The reasons behind the failure of levees system was their inconsistency in build heights. Some of them were very low. Also, other factors were the poor design and how poorly they were constructed and maintained. The poor soil strength was another great factor in Figure 4 Map Shows Breaches In Levees failure of levees system as engineers overestimated the soil strength during designing and implementation of levees projects.

5. Consequences and Damage Caused Hurricane Katrina had a long-term consequence and caused a lot of damage.

5.1.

Financial Losses and Economic Growth

As a result of hurricane Katrina, the damage bill was estimated about $81 billion and costs over $150 billion making it the costliest hurricane in American History[ CITATION wap05 \l 3081 ].

5.2.

Deaths and Injuries

Overall, more than 1850 people lost their lives due to hurricane Katrina[ CITATION 11f \l 3081 ]. Also, about 7543 non-fatal injuries were reported[ CITATION Cro06 \l 3081 ].

5.3

Long Term Impacts

Health and safety were one of the biggest long-term impact as almost every hospital in the affected area was crippled. As of March 2006, only one fifth staffed beds were available as compared to pre-Katrina. Most of the population became homeless as a result people moved to different areas effecting the economic growth[ CITATION ASC13 \l 3081 ].

Figure 5- Population Comparison Year After Hurricane Katrina[ CITATION THe07 \l 3081 ]

6. Engineering Assessments In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the engineering failure contributed to the catastrophe that happened in New Orleans. As engineering failed to recognise the fragility of the levees system in case of higher magnitude hurricane. It was paramount that there is real change needed in engineering, Management and its governance.

6.1.

Understanding Risk and Safety

It was made clear that the safety, health and welfare of everyone should be of utmost priority. More efforts and planning should be put in to understand the risk involved in any project and should always embrace safety[ CITATION Phi15 \l 3081 ].

6.4. Engineering Quality Standards Engineer standards were raised focusing more on quality rather than quantity. “The flaws uncovered as a result of Hurricane Katrina must serve as a sobering reminder to engineers everywhere that their work has life-or-death implications. Whatever the constraints — whether related to cost, schedule, political resistance, or inertia — engineers must continue to uphold the highest standards of their profession, knowing that peoples’ lives are at stake”.[ CITATION THe07 \l 3081 ]

7. Recommendations To make sure that we are prepared if such an event happens in future following recommendations were made.    

Redesign the Hurricane protection system and work on inter agency’s coordination. Change the Dynamics of the Levees such as increase the height and they need to be monitored regularly. Upgrade the floodwalls and strengthen the structure’s life. Upgrade the pumping stations.

8. Australian Engineering Code of Ethics Australian code of ethics defines the values and principles that let us use our knowledge and skills to create engineering solutions ahead of our personal and sectional interest[ CITATION Eng19 \l 3081 ]. If such an event had to occur in Australia, then the engineers need to follow the Australian code of ethics outlined in Engineers Australia to practice Ethical engineering. In accordance with Australian code of ethics an engineer should be Trustworthy, demonstrates Integrity and should be able to practise competently. He or she should promote sustainability and must exercise leadership[ CITATION Eng19 \l 3081 ].

9. Competencies Demonstrated and Lesson Learned Professional competencies that I have demonstrated, and lessons learned through this report are: PE2.3: Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of contemporary engineering practice in the engineering discipline.

PE2.3: Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes.

I was able to achieve this competency because during my research on hurricane Katrina I understood that for a success of any project small or big designing and implementation process is very important. As due to lack of engineering designing and accountability the Levees system failed during Hurricane Katrina due to which there was lose of life and property.

PE3.2: Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains. I was able to attain this competency by writing this report. As It helped me to improve my writing skills and made me realise that I still have a fair bit to go in sharping my writing skills.

10. Challenges The biggest challenge that I have faced in this report was understand the topic itself and how to get the relevant information. It was hard to understand the engineering aspect of it and how it related to engineer’s code of ethics. But after extensive research and getting information through different cited sources I think I did overcome these challenges. which I am sure will be reflected in my report that I have written for the given topic.

11.References 11 facts about hurricane katrina. (n.d.). Retrieved from dosomething.org: https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hurricane-katrina ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (TCFE). (2013). New Orleans Hurricane Katrina Levee Failures. UNC Charlotte: university of North Carolina at Charlotte. Retrieved from Failure Case Studies: https://eng-resources.uncc.edu/failurecasestudies/dam-failure-cases/neworleans-hurricane-katrina-levee-failures/ Cross, J. (2006). MEDLINE, PubMed, PubMed Central, and the NLM. Editors' Bulletin, 2(1), 1-5. Engineersaustralia. (2019). https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ethics. Retrieved from Engineersaustralia.org.au: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ethics J.D.Rogers. (2008). Development of the New Orleans Flood Protection System prior to Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 134(5), 602-617. Jansen, P. B. (2015). Ethics Assessment in Different Fields Engineering Sciences. EU: University of Twente. Mission 2010: Team 4: Levees and Flood Protection Systems - Levee Board. (2019). Retrieved from web.mit.edu: http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2010/teams/neworleans4/leveeboard.html The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System. (2007). What Went Wrong and Why. Virgina: American society of civil Engineers. waple, A. (December 2005). Hurricane Katrina. Asheville, NC: NOAA'S National Climate Data Centre....