David R Hoover, Architect, NCARB

There are now a lot of reports on the failures of the Levees in the New Orleans area on the television and on the internet, and now the talk seems to be moving at how much money Louisiana should be given to build more levees around the small isolated communities in the South and to reinforce or rebuild the levees around the New Orleans area. Why do we think that this is a good idea? I am not sure. From working in this area, I have seen what it takes to build a deep foundation for the mid to high-rise buildings in the CBD, and the one that is certain is that you will be driving piles a few hundred feet to hit anything "substantial" (I use this very loosely) and create enough friction from the surrounding swamp to hold the structure up and create a matt slab to basically float the building. If you have ever lived her or driven around town, you will always notice that the driveways to the residential garages are always a foot or so lower, so that the occupants can not even dr...

There is an interesting article located here: http://hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/042807_seattle_times.html It discusses houses located in the Netherlands and Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana that utilize a buoyant foundation made of expanded polystyrene to raise the house in flood waters. The house is connected to poles on either side, which keep the house anchored to the site. Elizabeth English, who is with the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, stated that she has met resistance from FEMA and local building departments, since the housing type is currently not covered under the International Building Code.