Luncheon: New Orleans Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps (PCCP)
New Orleans Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps (PCCP)
+1PDH Approved
The City of New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In response, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers embarked on the $14.6 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction system to repair the damage and improve resiliency for the city and surrounding communities. The final piece was the $690 million Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps (PCCP) design-build project with Stantec as the lead design engineer and architect.
There are three main drainage outfall canals in the City of New Orleans – 17th Street, Orleans Avenue, and London Avenue. These canals are a critical element of the flood control system, serving as drainage conduits for much of the city. This project provides a long-term solution for reducing risk from a 100-year storm event. The solution blocks Lake Pontchartrain surges, which can have wave heights of almost 14 feet, from entering the canals with 18-foot high barrier gates and pumps stormwater from each canal back into the lake. The pumps have a combined capacity of 24,300 cubic feet per second.
The massive pumps are powered by twenty-four, 2.6 megawatt generators backed up by six redundant units for a total of 78 megawatts across all three sites. The site layout maximizes the distance from existing structures and minimizes acoustic and visual impacts for surrounding neighborhoods. Critical equipment and infrastructure is indoors, buried, or located in hurricane rated enclosures for protection from flying debris. Over 600,000 gallons of diesel fuel and other critical backup utilities are provided on-site for operating the facilities at full capacity for five days.
Dan Grandal is a Professional Civil Engineer with over 24 years of experience. He is a resident of New Orleans and graduated from Tulane University. He is a Professional engineer in Florida and Louisiana, a Certified Floodplain Manager and a LEED Accredited Professional. The focus of his career has been in flood risk reduction and resiliency in geographical areas affected by sea level rise and climate change. His project experience includes large pumping stations, drainage master plans, low impact developments and other innovative storm water projects. He is a Senior Project Manager for Stantec Consulting Inc. and has recently worked on the New Orleans’s Permanent Canal Closure and Pumps (PCCP), Hagan-Lafitte Green Infrastructure and Drainage and Blue Green Corridors.