re: New Orleans SWB is so prepared for Hurricane Zeta it got rid off Turbine #4

Well they already dug the holes they hide the backup generators for the pumps deeper. They feel the deeper they are the harder it is for the water to find them.

So we got that.

I wonder if these fools ever setup a scada system to monitor and control these stations remotely?

I remember for katrina no employees wanted to stay at the pump stations and abandoned them and they had no way of controlling remotely.

technology is there but when a city has brainless leaders.....

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I wonder if these fools ever setup a scada system to monitor and control these stations remotely?

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I remember a conversation in a meeting where we were explaining how the pump stations work to some Dutch consultants that had come over to help us following Katrina. This is not the exact conversation, but it's pretty close.

A Dutch engineer, who we will call Ulrich (I don't remember his real name, but that name sounds Dutch enough for story purposes) was seated at a large, full table with many others standing around those that were seated. It was a very diverse group of engineers, hydrologists, landscape architects, architects, economists, developers, SWB employees, DPW employees, Army Corps, local residents, and somehow myself. Ulrich pointed at a map on the table and asked, "How is Pump A controlled?"

A SWB employee standing towards the back spoke up, "I drive over there and turn it on."

Ulrich moved his finger to the other side of the map and then asked, "...and who turns on Pump B."

The same SWB employee said, "I drive over there and turn that one on, too."

Ulrich's face looked a little puzzled as his head kind of cocked to the side, but he pressed on with the questions: "So since you can't be in two places at once, you obviously can't turn them on at the same time?"

"No."

"And if the roads are flooded, how do you get from A to B"

"I don't."

Ulrich's brow furled even tighter, "And why don't you have two people - one for Pump A and one for Pump B?"

"I don't know. Money, probably."

"And why can't you remote start these pumps"

"The power system is over 100 years old and must be manually started."

"So why don't you upgrade the power system?"

"I'm sorry. That answer is above my pay grade."

At that point a higher level SWB rep jumped in. "Well, we've run the numbers and it's close to $1 billion to overhaul the system."

"And how long have you known about this issue?" Asked Ulrich.

"A few decades," quietly replied the rep.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. Did you say 'A few decades'?"

"Yes sir."

Ulrich leaned back slightly, threw up his hands, and looked around the table as he shook his head in utter disbelief. Besides from what I assume to be a Dutch swear word mumbled under his breath, he was left speechless. He couldn't believe he had been flown halfway around the world to be told that we knew the answer to the problem and had yet to do anything about it for decades.

That's New Orleans in a nutshell.

Granted the system is a lot more complex than that, but you get the idea.

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At that point a higher level SWB rep jumped in. "Well, we've run the numbers and it's close to $1 billion to overhaul the system."

"And how long have you known about this issue?" Asked Ulrich.

"A few decades," quietly replied the rep.

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After the 2017 stuff I remember seeing newspaper clips from the 80s with someone from the SWB saying something to the effect of "we can't keep this up for another 50 years without a significant overhaul that will cost a ton of money."

It's a fun catch-22 that no one trusts the SWB with money to overhaul, so they keep running down the pumps they have, which leads to less trust.

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Ulrich leaned back slightly, threw up his hands, and looked around the table as he shook his head in utter disbelief. Besides from what I assume to be a Dutch swear word mumbled under his breath, he was left speechless. He couldn't believe he had been flown halfway around the world to be told that we knew the answer to the problem and had yet to do anything about it for decades.

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You realize that the logical takeaway from this either move to the Netherlands (and have a dry house) or stay here and watch NOLA descend completely into the Third World city it is bee-lining to be.

PS: If you stay: Learn to swim.

"Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite."

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The city needs a system overhaul. Those in charge need to be from outside the city and preferably outside of Louisiana.

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I've said it before, but who is going to pay for this? It's literally billions of dollars. The residents of NO are already paying a ton of property taxes.

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who is going to pay for this?

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You and I are going to pay for it when they Feds have to step in.

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No lie
S&WB sent a oil pump turbine to our shop a few years ago. They said they needed it back in a month. It was a 1920’s vintage. Every part was scrapped.

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I'd love to see the wear and tear on a 100 year old piece of machinery like that. To think something so old to do something so key to the survival of the city is fricking ludicrous. I can't even fathom the stupidity of how the entire pumping system wasn't re-designed whenever NOLA had access to unlimited Federal dollars after Katrina.

I know that was indeed limited at some extent, but not by any margin that should hold back a full scale re-design of the city drainage pump system.

fricking New Orleans...jeez

There is about a 75% chance those 25hz motors that drive the pumps are built way better than anything today. They are not the problem, it’s the crappy turbine that bit the dust.