Weeks after the initial devastation of Hurricane Katrina, local and federal officials still question whether it is feasible to rebuild the areas of New Orleans hardest hit by the storm. While rebuilding is possible, officials cannot make firm plans until engineers have their say. They must survey damaged areas of the city to assess what can be rebuilt and how it can best be rebuilt to better withstand future hurricanes. Civil engineers have begun looking into what factors affected how floodwalls and buildings held up during the hurricaine.

When faced with the daunting problem of rebuilding an entire city, engineers look to past disasters and their solutions to formulate the best plan of action. Recently, engineers traveled along the coast of Indonesia to investigate the damage of the shocking tsunami that hit Southeast Asia last year. By using new data as well as data gathered from a large wave that struck Indonesia in 1992, engineers have designed permanent buildings that will stand up better to the destructive power of another tsunami. In turn, the data gained from Indonesia’s coast may help engineers form the blueprint for reconstruction in New Orleans. Read more about how engineers helped repair and prepare for this natural disaster in Southeast Asia in PRISM, ASEE’s award-winning magazine.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 3rd, 2005 at 11:18 am and is filed under The National Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.