National Register Evaluation of New Orleans Drainage System, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

Abstract

The modern New Orleans drainage system represents a unique technological solution to natural conditions that have played an important role in the settlement and expansion of the city. The system was designed in 1895, and construction of the system began in 1897. Improvements to Drainage Pumping Stations Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 are proposed under the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project and the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project. Drainage Pumping Stations Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 7, built in the period 1897-1903, are original constituents of the system that have been expended in capacity as the drainage requirements of the city have grown. The 12' Wood screw pumps in Station No. 1 have been designated National Engineering Landmarks, and stations 3, 6, and 7 have other examples of these pumps. Drainage Pumping Station No. 4 was constructed 1945-1946 as an addition to the system. This report recommends that Drainage Pumping Stations Nos. 1, 3, 6, and 7 be considered individually eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, these stations, along with their associated canals, should be considered contributing elements of a drainage system National Historic District. Proposed improvements under the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Project and the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project will have no adverse affect on the associative, architectural, and engineering j>ignj|icj^^

Katrina: Macro-Ethical Issues for Engineers

“…And, as mentioned in an earlier section, the canals are destined to figure prominently in any plans for the future of the HPS. Yet those drainage canals owe their existence not to considerations of hurricane protection, but to efforts to improve sanitation, reduce disease, and develop new land going back to the early to mid nineteenth Century (Maygarden et al 1999;Rogers 2008) . Harder Jr. et al (2008) refer to levees as legacy systems.…”

Cultural Resources Survey, Lake Pontchartrain West Shore Hurricane Protection Project, St. John and St. Charles Parishes, Louisiana

“…two-stroke diesel engines, ca. 1930 (Bouchereau 1883(Bouchereau -1884Wilkinson 1890:65;Pickels 1925:385;Maier 1952:3-6;Morehouse 1910:420-425, 439;Maygarden et al 1999). If the plantation did not adjoin a suitable bayou or other outlet, outfall canals were constructed to carry water to suitable outfalls at secondary bayous.…”

The New Orleans Lakefront

“…Most importantly, the Levee Board did some thorough self-evaluation and returned to its plans for the lakefront. 14 Five years later, the appointment of the energetic and genial Abe Shushan to the Levee Board breathed new life into the dream of lakefront development-at the age of twenty-seven, he was the youngest to hold that position. 15 Shushan brought his own outsized drive to the position as well as his close relationship with Huey P. Long.…”