Enough said. They (The Corps of Engineers) have been d!cking around with a flood gate across highway 23 for 2 YEARS now. TWICE it has broken the concrete supports that hold this huge swing gate. (Why not a roller gate?).... Twice the concrete supports have been jack hammered out, and TWICE they have re-designed the concrete supports. Maybe THREE times the charm? What drove up costs so much for the levee projects was the exorbitant price that was paid for borrow pit clay for the projects. Lots of people were made Multi-Multi millionaires for MUD! All the COE had to do was buy the property at Fair market Value and get the mud themselves to save HUGE money. They were told this by the leaders of St. Bernard, Jefferson, Orleans & Plaquemines parish but they didn't listen and thus the inflated cost.
Trust me, I know people in key ACOE and contractor positions (Conti) and I know the story. I also know the track record of the COE, and it hasn't been a bargain for any project they have overseen.
Look what the wonderful ACOE design for flood gates in the Belle Chasse tunnel did. These "Geniuses" put in two flood gates on each end of the tunnel and the bottom elevation of the gates are BELOW the water table. So for 2 years we have had a stream of water entering the tunnel! Now they are trying to dig relief wells to pump the water out before it gets to the gates. Best design EVER said NOBODY.....
So please don't sensationalize the ACOE, I've worked with them and they are not the smartest engineers in the profession....and yes, I'm an Engineer.
Don't try to blame the Corps of Engineers for your own colossally stupid decision to build your home on a tiny bit of ground between the Gulf of Mexico, and well the Gulf of Mexico. And don't think for a moment that Congress is going to decide that Plaquemines Parish is more important to protect than New York City or Sacramento, California. Both of those places have dense populations and are in grave danger from flooding. For that matter they'll authorize the money for the Old River Control structure before they'll authorize money for you. And don't think the rest of us should subsidize your bad decision either. Face it you built where you did, because you figured you could always run to the federal government for your welfare subsidy in the form of low insurance payments that the rest of us would have to pay for, so you could get a cheap house.
Nope.
And you obviously do NOT "know the story" if you think for a moment that the federal government is in the business of getting a bargain for anything they buy. They are required by law to pay fair market value for what they get. They also almost NEVER get to build the best design. They get to build whatever congress authorizes, and until Katrina made the nation sit up and notice, that meant taking whatever congress would give after funding two wars and a tremendous military buildup. The New Orleans district has always been a neglected stepchild of congress.
So who are these "key people" you know? Are they Colonel Fleming of the New Orleans District? General Creer? Major Gonzalez? Rick Kendricks? Colonel McCormick? Luis Ruiz? Will Stevenson? Bob Rowlette? Derek Boese? April Villa? Vic Landry? Soheila Holly? Because if these aren't your "key people", then you don't know any key people.
I do.