Subsurface Drainage System Cleaning

In anticipation of the 2008 hurricane season, the City of New Orleans, Department of Public Works (DPW) has launched a $2 million effort to clear storm-related debris from more than 1 million feet of New Orleans' subsurface drainage system. The project, which DPW hopes to complete by September, calls for using suction trucks to clean catch basins and drainage lines that prior inspections have shown are more than 25 percent clogged by construction materials, debris, and other household items. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will reimburse the City as part of the federal assistance program for the cleaning initiative, which covers more than 10 percent of the city's subsurface drainage network. That network totals more than 8 million linear feet.

Magnum Construction Group of Luling, which submitted the lowest of four bids, was awarded the contract through the City's public bid process. Work began on Monday, May 5, 2008 and generally consists of 10-to-12-hour shifts, seven days a week. Although this work may not eliminate all flooding, it should significantly reduce the risk to property during normal storm events.

If cleaning efforts identify potential major defects in specific drainage lines, those lines will be identified for further inspection by closed-circuit television (CCTV). CCTV generally consists of inserting a camera into the drainage lines to "see" the interior condition of the pipes. Defects found during CCTV under this project will be identified and scheduled for rehabilitation/repair.

The drainage line cleaning project is the third the city has undertaken since Hurricane Katrina. The first emergency cleaning started after floodwaters subsided, leaving much of the drainage system clogged with mud, silt, debris and leaves. The monumental task, completed in December 2005, was carried out by more than 30 contractors who cleaned more than 3.2 million linear feet of drain lines and more than 62,000 catch basins. While FEMA initially rejected the reimbursement costs, the city ultimately collected all costs for the project.

In 2007, the city completed a second post-Katrina effort to rid the drainage system of residual sediment, including demolition and construction debris. That cleanup took place mostly in Lakeview, Gentilly and Mid-City (city planning districts 5, 6 and half of 4, respectively). These areas were chosen based on a random sampling of sites and were determined to have the highest concentration of debris, mainly attributable to their proximity to the levee breaches, the amount of demolition and construction activity in the area, and their low elevation which concentrated debris in these areas as the city drained. The new project will cover the remainder of the city.

DPW oversees maintenance of approximately 8.4 million linear feet of drainage pipe, over 85,000 catch basins and 48,000 manholes. DPW is responsible for drainage pipes measuring less than 36 inches in diameter, along with all connected drain inlets and manholes.

Mapping

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Below is a map that provides an overview of the 13 planning districts throughout the city. The planning districts are color coded based on whether the subsurface drainage system cleaning has been completed, is in progress, or is still pending. The map will be updated as work progresses. Clicking the planning district label on the below map will open a more detailed map of the individual planning districts.

Schedule of Work