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On Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast with 140 mph winds, forever altering the Gulf Coast landscape.
What appeared to be only a glancing blow to New Orleans turned more severe as the Lake Pontchartrain levee was breached, inundating more than 80 percent of the city with water.
Catastrophic devastation was also inflicted upon the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with homes and businesses leveled by a 30-ft. storm surge. Hurricane Katrina picked up several Gulf Coast casinos and hurled them hundreds of yards inland, crippling the region's gambling industry for months and potentially even years. At least three of the floating barge casinos in hard-hit Biloxi were tossed from their moorings by the storm's nearly 30-ft. wall of water, their hulls coming to rest up to 200 yds. from the shore.
Work has begun in earnest to repair damaged infrastructure and buildings throughout the region. Following is a wrapup of the some of the most recent developments:
Interstate 10 repairs, by Candy McCampbell. Work started Sept. 12 and continues around the clock on the Interstate 10 "twin span" bridge over Lake Pontchartrain to restore travel between New Orleans and Slidell.
Boh Bros. Construction Co. of New Orleans was the low bidder on the $30.9 million job. The bridge has been closed since precast concrete panels were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Meanwhile, T. L. Wallace Construction Co. of Columbia, Miss., started work Sept. 10 on a $5.2 million contract to repair the I-10 bridge over the Pascagoula River in Mississippi.
Mississippi closed sections of I-10 eastbound on Sept. 7, routing vehicles to I-10 westbound in preparation for the bridge repairs.
I-10 is open for travel in both directions but traffic has been reduced to one lane, according to District Engineer Ricky Lee.
All the rest of I-10 through Mississippi is "clear and in good shape," Lee said.
Also in Mississippi, two bridges on Hwy. 90 are out - the 1.9-mi. Bay St. Louis Bridge and the 1.6-mi. Biloxi to Ocean Springs Bridge, Wade said. Repair and replacement of the bridges will cost an estimated $200 million, she said.
The remainder of Hwy. 90 is out between Waveland and Ocean Springs, a distance of about 40 mi.
Mississippi Coast's demolished infrastructure, by E. Michael Powers, Engineering News-Record. Much new construction along the Mississippi coast was built with 1969's Hurricane Camille in mind. At the time, the storm was thought to be the worst destructive force that could possibly hit the region. But Hurricane Katrina came ashore with a broader, higher storm surge, up to 30 ft. high.
As a result, homes and other structures did not simply have trees thrown through them. They were washed clean from their foundations.
The massive influx of water destroyed much of the region's critical infrastructure. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has stepped in to help the battered, resource-strapped municipalities fix broken wastewater treatment plants.
At the Southern Regional Wastewater Management District's treatment plant in Waveland, Corps members were on scene leading an effort to repair its damaged portions.
The storm surge dissipated to approximately 8 ft. upon reaching the plant, allowing it to survive structurally but ruining much of its equipment.
"There's nothing really running. Anything electronic is probably going to have to be replaced," said William Demers, a Corps maintenance mechanic, who leads the repair team. Even functional wiring had to be replaced because of gradual salt-induced decay, he said.
A parts shortage hindered the repair effort at the plant. No one could deliver needed parts, so a worker had to be sent to Mobile, Ala., to procure new electric motors, he said. A smattering of small specialty contractors helped to assess damage and make repairs. Plant generators worked but water overtopped the tanks, requiring replacements.
Lt. Col. Mike Windham, construction and facility management officer for the Mississippi National Guard, is helping to coordinate efforts of the Corps, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Mississippi's own emergency agency.
Corps attention is also focused on Gulfport wastewater and water treatment systems along with those in nearby Hancock County and Harrison County, whose populations and Katrina impacts are greatest.
"We're driving hard down here because this is where we're really hurting," said Windham.
Reaching the more ravaged areas was a challenge due to massive road damage. Bridges on I-10, I-110, and U.S. 90 all sustained damage, ranging from span closure to complete obliteration. Most roads exposed to the Gulf are impassable after the storm surge sucked the earth from beneath them. The railroad running along the coast is also impassable. Tracks were ripped from the bridge across Bay St. Louis.
The Corps used backhoes to clear debris fields far enough from the road so that power trucks could begin to rebuild the local electricity grid. The agency also cleared the parking lot of an amusement park so that FEMA could eventually use it as a local base of operations in Waveland. A lot also houses trailers for temporary housing, said Corps spokesman Frank Worley.
The Corps took the lead on a variety of humanitarian efforts, he said, such as delivering ice, water and food to the people of the Mississippi Coast, but has since handed the task off to FEMA, the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations. The Corps then moved on to other humanitarian efforts with "Operation Blue Roof," in which local contractors installed for free, high quality temporary roofs for permanent area residents.
Contractors keep operating despite tough odds, by Angelle Bergeron. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana and Mississippi contractors are mustering all of their ingenuity to meet the demands of what will probably prove to be their toughest client - necessity.
With limited resources ranging from manpower, food and living accommodations to equipment and materials, contractors epitomize the best in teamwork and improvisation to rebuild infrastructure and communities so storm-ravaged Americans can resume their lives.
Gulfport, Miss.-based Roy Anderson Corp. was founded in 1955, so the company has survived quite a few hurricanes, said Gina Dambrino, director of marketing.
"Roy Anderson Corp was back up and running (albeit on generators) the day after the storm," she said. "A lot of people evacuated and came right back. We are in construction so we know you have to get back fast because we are going to be busy."
During the day, air mattresses leaned against office walls. And like virtually every other contractor's office along the Gulf Coast, the staff pulled double duty, covering for other employees who hadn't yet returned.
"We are feeding our employees and finding shelter for those who need it," Dambrino said. Familiar with the hurricane drill, RAC relocated some of its accounting staff to its Jackson office and set up an emergency hotline for employees to check in.
"We had the payroll set up for direct deposit, so we didn't even miss a paycheck," Dambrino said. RAC offered to make roof repairs on area apartment buildings so they could have first dibs on renting the space for displaced workers.
"We have people here filling out applications all day every day and we are hiring as many people as possible," Dambrino said. "We're receiving a lot of donations, so we've set up relief for employees. Every day it's getting better. Things are getting back to normal."
South Central Construction special hurricane publication. South Central Construction will publish a special hurricane recovery publication, to be packaged with its December issue. Within the publication, the magazine will examine in detail the hurricane's impact on the south central region's construction industry, as well as the intensive efforts under way to rebuild the state's damaged infrastructure, industrial, commercial and residential markets.
This special publication will also provide important project bidding and plan room information from McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge.
In the meantime, updated information about the reconstruction can be found invite at the South Central Construction Web site at www.southcentral.construction.com. Daily news updates from South Central Construction and Engineering News-Record, vital links and construction.com's Hurricane Recovery Information Center are directly accessible from the home page.
Also, contractors, suppliers and other construction-related companies are invited to post important bulletins within the Hurricane Connection site.
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