NEW ORLEANS — Families and businesses in New Orleans rely on the Permanent Canal Closure and Pumps (PCCP) built by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent flooding during tropical storm and hurricane events.
Now to hear one massive drainage pump at the London Avenue Canal has corroded, 5 years into a 35-year design life is troubling for Lake Terrace neighbor Mark Gates.
“We did have water here after Katrina,” Gates said. “We didn’t have it in the house, but it did come up pretty good with the London Ave. Canal, so yeah, the pumps should be working and should be reliable if nothing else.”
Army Corps District Commander Colonel Cullen Jones fielded questions about the pump corrosion at Wednesday’s Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority meeting.
“What we can see going into London Ave. pump number one, it does not meet the 35-year design life, so we are going through and conducting this inspection and assessment to determine what is actually the underlying root cause of that,” Col. Jones testified.
The pump overheated and was taken out of service last May.
Last month, inspectors took apart the pump and found the problem.
Army Corps Project Manager Brad Drouant says the corps is now checking out the remaining 16 pumps.
They are located at the mouth of the London Avenue, Orleans Avenue, and 17th Street outfall canals.
“We’re planning on having all of the pumps inspected by April 30, this year and to take the actions that are required to make sure that we’re ready to move water for hurricane season 2023,” Drouant said.
One additional pump at Orleans Avenue also showed signs of minor corrosion.
“We’re doing some minor repairs,” Drouant said. “It will be back in service by March 20.”
The Army Corps plans to bring in temporary pumps to ensure capacity until the permanent ones are fixed or replaced.
“It was supposed to solve all the problems, but if it’s not going to function as it was designed, then we’ve got an issue here,” Gates said.
According to the corps, even with one pump down at London Avenue Canal, there is expected to be sufficient capacity to push water out of the canal, into Lake Pontchartrain during a hurricane event.
“We’re in great position,” Drouant said. “We built extra capacity into the London Ave. Canal PCCP site to account for future expansion that’s planned by the Sewerage and Water Board.”
One way or another, the Army Corps vows to have the city’s flood protection system intact by June 1, the start of hurricane season.
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