tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post7663350619469881101..comments2023-05-31T09:03:52.907-05:00Comments on ~ Tim's ~ Nameless ~ Blog ~: Tastes like shoddy engineeringTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09248664089124106737noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-37737338508127221422007-07-23T09:17:00.000-05:002007-07-23T09:17:00.000-05:00Thanks for your insightful posts. I am working on ...Thanks for your insightful posts. I am working on sustainable development issues with Coastal Community Watch in Bay St Louis, MS. <BR/><BR/>There is a proposal to fill 1100 acres of wetlands for a high rise development. We are working to educate people why it is important to save the wetlands. Where can I find scientific data such as the impact that filling these wetlands might have on future storm surges?Ellathebellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14879064960557345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-88866857577522004982007-06-02T11:53:00.000-05:002007-06-02T11:53:00.000-05:00Tim, has anyone published the lab analysis of the ...Tim, has anyone published the lab analysis of the water that Bea suggested was seeping under the wall?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-63508963308362738102007-05-28T17:07:00.000-05:002007-05-28T17:07:00.000-05:00For some reason my 1st attempt to post failed, and...For some reason my 1st attempt to post failed, and I left the article and my notes at work. In brief, an assumption of a 14 foot surge attenuating at 3"/mile and moving at 4 mph would show and inland peak of approximately 10 ft, 16 miles inland, and 4 hours after coastal peak. The USGS data does not show anything near that conclusion. The peak level/time/distance relationship between the coast and a sensor, or between 2 sensors is much closer to a surge moving at 6 mph and attenuating at 1 ft/mile.<BR/><BR/>Most of the terrain is coastal wetland, but I made an attempt to eliminate any pair of sensors that were separated by a natural ridge. <BR/><BR/>Simplest example is the tardy and inconsistent arrival times of the two sensors on opposite shores of Calcasieu Lake, both are approximately 16 miles inland, both show peak surge long after (5 and 12 hours) after coastal peak, and both peaks are closer to the 1 ft/mile attenuation than 3"/mi.<BR/><BR/>It will take me a day or two to regenerate the chapter and verse that I lost earlier today, but I can send it to you if you are interested.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-53303213531441548082007-05-28T06:17:00.000-05:002007-05-28T06:17:00.000-05:00Will be happy to after I get back from work this a...Will be happy to after I get back from work this afternoon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-19067066906834397822007-05-26T23:12:00.000-05:002007-05-26T23:12:00.000-05:00A quick inspection of the data presented in the re...A quick inspection of the data presented in the report reveals that the maximum water elevations were recorded at a variety of locations in southwest Louisiana during Hurricane Rita. I don't see anything that leads to your conclusion about coastal wetlands. Perhaps you could elaborate?Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09248664089124106737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-58028019176668618512007-05-26T21:47:00.000-05:002007-05-26T21:47:00.000-05:00http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/ds220/A quick inspectio...http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/ds220/<BR/><BR/>A quick inspection of the data presented in the above report strongly suggests that storm surge was reduced by one foot per mile over coastal wetlands. Care to comment?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-50399172928247761722007-05-22T12:08:00.000-05:002007-05-22T12:08:00.000-05:00The Louisiana GIS CD published in 2000, worth alot...The Louisiana GIS CD published in 2000, worth alot of money in great detail, never thought to put the levy's in its database. It was from this database that I learned about the dams in Louisiana and their lack of repair. I also understand that the US ARMY Corp of Engineers is really underfunded. One of the midwestern heads of US ARMY CORP was utilized initially in the proposed Iraqi reconstruction. Do you see any parallel here? Failures? The fact that the levy's were forgotten on the CD says much, too. The CD was created by several LA ST Depts and included the Louisiana Office Of Emergency Preparedness and USGS. ESRI and Intergraph GeoMedia gave away software in order to view the maps of the state with its intricate overlays of powerlines, facilities, roads, gaslines, bridges, etc. Is is any wonder?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-16219725944708861322007-05-20T22:07:00.000-05:002007-05-20T22:07:00.000-05:00Have you sent your comments to Bea and Barry? The...Have you sent your comments to Bea and Barry? They would me most effective if fed back to the most vocal sources.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-9428344457510146312007-05-20T08:29:00.000-05:002007-05-20T08:29:00.000-05:00I'm neither an engineer nor a scientist--Damn it, ...I'm neither an engineer nor a scientist--Damn it, Jim, I'm a philosopher, not an engineer--but even I thought the taste test was both weird and gross.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for calling attention to it from a professional perspective. You're dead right: let's proceed from a scientific debate, not hysteria.Mr. Cliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11109771562167423540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-12273555373629475202007-05-18T00:20:00.000-05:002007-05-18T00:20:00.000-05:00I've been advised that Bea lost a lot in hurrican...I've been advised that Bea lost a lot in hurricane Betsy, I'm sympathetic to his loss.<BR/><BR/>He then moved to California. I wonder if he's biased.<BR/><BR/>When it comes to protecting many thousands of people or significant cultural treasures, engineers need to wear out their pencils making sure they have allowed for all contingencies, not designed to the thinnest possible margin.<BR/><BR/>Great engineering is as much an art as a practical science.<BR/><BR/>I often wonder whether the current crop of digital engineers actually understand the forces they are dealing with.<BR/><BR/>Dynamic and indeterminate systems demand great engineering insight, not just number crunching.mominemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517025007146886987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-78827267600052948812007-05-16T16:22:00.000-05:002007-05-16T16:22:00.000-05:00I've been thinking of you, reading all this stuff....I've been thinking of you, reading all this stuff. I also had the exact same thoughts about Bea tasting that water. What was he thinking?? EWWWW. Have the actual tests come back yet? Do we know that it's not seeping under that enormous wall? I thought, with the exception that you've mentioned, the Barry article needed saying. If I can get two or three folks to click over and read it, I don't really care if they go forward thinking that a mile of marsh absorbs a foot of surge as long as they go forward understanding the connection between the sacrifices of the Gulf Coast and the gains of the Heartland.<BR/><BR/>The really inflammatory piece is at Fix the Pumps. Yikes. Hang in there, darlin'. Keep fighting the good fight. Peace.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19557970.post-70347616679075816852007-05-16T11:18:00.000-05:002007-05-16T11:18:00.000-05:00He put that stuff in his mouth?? Yick.I'm a West ...He put that stuff in his mouth?? Yick.<BR/><BR/>I'm a West Coast kid--from Seattle and now living in the SF Bay Area. I went to NOLA on a mission trip with some seminary classmates in March, and I'm coming back in January to do an oral history project.<BR/><BR/>Be safe.Kirstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.com