Flood protection after Katrina
Description
"Flood protection of New Orleans before and after Katrina"
The lecture consists of three parts: the situation before and shortly after Katrina, the plans for an improved system of flood defences and their realisation so far, and the role therein of mathematical models for water levels, currents and waves.
The lecture will start with a hydraulic sketch of the area around and in New Orleans, with special attention to the flood threat and protection. Here, a parallel will be drawn with the Dutch situation. An impression will then be given of Hurricane Katrina and the breaches it caused. This will address the question to what extent this was an unstoppable natural disaster ("act of God") or whether the design of the flood defences contributed to the occurrence of the disaster to some extent ("your own fault, your own fault").
It then discusses the safety philosophy adopted in the design of the new system of flood defences around the city. In the short-term plans, a safety level corresponding to a water level to be reversed and associated waves with an exceedance frequency of once every hundred years is targeted. Movable storm surge barriers have a prominent place in the design. Some impressions of the ongoing implementation of these works will be given.
Finally, the role of computational models for water levels, currents and waves, their global structure as well as their capabilities and limitations will be briefly discussed. Their history and the Dutch contributions to it will also be discussed.
10.30:00 Reception with coffee
11:00 Lecture by Prof J.A. Battjes
11:45 Pause
12:15 Continuation of lecture with concluding discussion
12:45 End of meeting
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
From motorway A13 Rotterdam or Den Haag, exit Delft Zuid/TU Delft. Keep following TU Delft. At the end of the exit TU Delft turn right onto Schoemakerstraat. Then take the first turn left and immediately left again across the bridge. You are now in the car park of the burnt down Faculty of Architecture (Van den Broekweg). The Cultural Centre is at the end of this road, across Mekelweg. Due to work on the newly constructed ' Mekelpark', the Mekelweg is closed. Public transport via NS Delft-Zuid (see also the link below).
Location
Cultuurcentrum (theatre hall, 232)
Mekelweg 10, 2628 CD Delft
Organiser
History of Technology
Histechnica
Name and contact details for information
Further information from ir L.A.Hissink, tel: 020-6649882 or via the e-mail address below