Hurricane Protection
- Inner Harbor Navigation Canal – Reach 1 Safety Water Elevation Study
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
the challengeThe Bioengineering Group was contracted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (USACE) to provide a report that presented an analysis of the flood protection walls and levees along the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC), the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIWW), and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) for the reaches starting at the east side north end of the IHNC Lock and proceeding north to the IHNC turning basin, then going east along the GIWW to the MRGO and ending at the Bayou Bienvenue Gate. The report evaluated the Current Design Maximum water levels for each of the reaches in the three sub-basins of the IHNC, GIWW, and MRGO.
the interdisciplinary approachThe Bioengineering Group conducted stability and seepage analyses to determine safe water levels of an existing 1.5-mile stretch of levee within the GIWW. The stability analysis incorporated the Method of Planes and Geostudio’s SLOPE/W®. Shearlines were also developed using geotechnical data provided by USACE. As part of the scope, engineered drawings were developed identifying the levee baseline, known utilities, cross sections, shearlines, borings and CPT locations for an 8-mile section of levee. USACE provided access to historical data such as design memoranda, construction plans, as-build plans, TFG construction plans, and existing survey data. In addition to the historical data, recent studies and conceptual designs were provided for reference. The Bioengineering Group's primary responsibilities included: 1) project management, 2) an analysis providing the Current Maximum Water Levels and the flood control features required to provide protection from those levels, 3) providing the results of the engineering studies and investigations including calculations undertaken in the course of developing the requirements for the project, all presented in separate sections of appendices of the Engineering Report, 4) identification of all known utilities presented in tabular format, 5) drawings depicting the existing levee and wall cross sections and loading diagrams, including geotechnical features and soil data, and 6) Technical Review Documentation. The analyses were performed within 90 days per the scope of work, even while some of the data was obtained from USACE during the 90-day period.
the resultsThe final report included full documentation of analytical decisions, assumptions, and methods. The analyses were completed on time and all documentation was submitted in a manner that met professional engineering quality standards. All work was accomplished with adequate internal controls and review procedures to ensure technical accuracy, and all plans were submitted with A/E/C standard border and title block and electronically.