good article on how New Orleans came to be as it is. 2

http://tinyurl.com/8cqjp

Original link was

http://www.madere.com/history.html

but that doesn't work any more, so I got it from the Google Cache.

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines: faq731-376

 

[ACtrafficengr]

It's the worst place you could think of to build a city -- except for anywhere else nearby.

And a city near the mouth of the Mississippi is essential. The Mississippi is navigable by barges I believe as far as Minnisota. A port is needed relatively near the Gulf to transfer cargo from river barges to ocean-going ships.

I spent some of my school years near N.O. I remember how we were taught the site of the city was chosen to give it some measure of protection against hurricanes. The ironic thing is the builders were right; the French Quarter - the site of the original settlement - was largely spared by the flooding.

So, yes, New Orleans should be rebuilt. However, we should rebuild it in a way that addresses the way current flood control structures have damaged the delta.

------------------------------------------
"...students of traffic are beginning to realize the false economy of mechanically controlled traffic, and hand work by trained officers will again prevail."

Wm. Phelps Eno, ca. 1928

 

[rmw]

Here is another that puts it in language that even this old ME can understand.

rmw

http://www.techcentralstation.com/090305A.html