City and S&WB Announce More Drainage Pump Repairs
Catch basin repairs ramp up,
520 residents supported at resource center
NEW ORLEANS –
Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and City officials provided an update on the status
of Sewerage and Water Board’s (S&WB) power generation and drainage
systems in New Orleans as well as an update on catch basin repairs and
assistance delivered to over 500 residents at the flood resource center held
last week.
Since the August 5 drainage and flood
incident, three pumps have been repaired. There are currently 105 of the 120
pumps available to be operational in the event of heavy rainfall. Crews have
repaired three large drainage pumps at Drainage Pump Stations #6, #7 and #11
and taken one pump offline at Drainage Pump Station #11 to conduct scheduled
repair services. The 15 total pumps that are out of
service have been assessed and emergency repairs have begun. The 105 pumps that
are operational are being assessed to determine their capacity. At this time,
five different contractors are working around the clock to fix the pumps that are out of service.
S&WB has posted a status
update of the pumps on its website. In response to recent rain events on July
22 and August 5, S&WB has provided to the public Drainage Pumping Station
Logs and the Central Control Log Book. Those items are available at www.swbno.org.
The turbine damaged on August 9,
Turbine #1, is running after being repaired and is operational. To provide
additional capacity and redundancy, 26 generators were ordered and delivered.
Sixteen generators are connected and ready to use, seven are undergoing testing
and will be available soon, and additional three are on standby and will be
deployed as needed. This redundancy will remain throughout Hurricane Season.
The City will update residents on generator installations, and pump and turbine
repairs as information becomes available.
Additional Funding For Drainage,
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
On Thursday, Aug.17, the
City of New Orleans presented an approximately $26 million plan from Mayor
Landrieu to clean and fix thousands of catch basins, provide an early warning
system for underpass flooding and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the
problems that led up to the July 22 and August 5 floods. Mayor Landrieu
previously announced the City would work to clean and fix more catch basins and
drain lines, especially in areas most prone to flooding.
The $22 million for catch
basin and drainage point repairs includes $7.8 million allocated by the City Council from the City’s fund
balance for catch basin cleanings and $14.2 million in bond funds for drainage
point repairs that were committed to other street projects. Additionally, the City Council allocated $3 million to Homeland Security
for disaster preparedness, $650,000 to Homeland Security for underpass flood
early warning system, and $500,000 to Chief Administrative Office for Root
Cause Analysis.
Update on Catch Basin Cleanings and
Drainage Point Repairs
The Department of Public Works (DPW) is
working Monday through Friday to clean and unclog catch basins and flush drain
lines. Since Aug. 6, DPW has cleaned over 450 catch basins and more than 13,450
feet of drain lines. DPW cleans an average of 5 to 6 catch basins per day per vacuum
truck crew for an average of 4,263 catch basins per year. DPW flushes
approximately 48 miles or 255,780 linear feet of drain line per year.
DPW has also issued a request for bids
for an additional $7 million in catch basin cleanings with responses expected
by Wednesday, Aug. 23. Additionally, DPW has requested bids for $14.8 million
in drainage point repairs. Those bids are due Friday, Aug. 25.
Flood Recovery Resource Center
Last week, the
City of New Orleans hosted a flood recovery resource center to provide
flood-affected residents and businesses additional access to information and
resources. The resource center saw nearly 520 individuals across four days.
Organizations provided individuals information and resources to help fix flood-damaged homes and businesses; provide legal assistance for tenants facing eviction and to avoid contractor fraud; and help in obtaining Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, rental assistance and donated goods.
Catholic
Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans will continue to assist flood-affected
residents with intake and case management.
For more information on
flood recovery resources, residents and business owners should visit https://nola.gov/ready/augustflood/ or call
311.
Independent, Third-Party
Analysis
On Monday, Aug. 14, the City
of New Orleans released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an independent
third-party firm to conduct an analysis of the flood events of July 22, August
5, August 8, along with other past events, and the turbine failure at the
S&WB Carrollton Power Plant on August 9, 2017. The City is seeking a firm
to deliver a report that details in narrative, diagrams and data the causes of
the flood events and turbine failure. It should be completed with input and
analysis from subject matter experts and interviews with staff and contractors
in order to determine the underlying causes. In addition, the analysis will
provide clear and accurate information to the public from an independent source
regarding the system’s capacity and vulnerabilities that can be communicated to
the public.
Respondents must possess
subject matter expertise and extensive experience in both root-cause analysis
and the technical subject matter involved. Proposals are due today, Aug. 21,
2017. To view the RFP, click here.
The City will keep residents updated
through email alerts and Twitter @NOLAReady.
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