425:" that could amplify storm surges 20 to 40 percent. Following the storm, an engineering investigation and computer modeling showed that the outlet intensified the initial surge by 20 percent, raised the height of the wall of water about three feet, and increased the velocity of the surge from 3 feet per second (0.9 m/s) to 8 feet per second (2.4 m/s) in the funnel-shaped region between the converging MRGO and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Mashriqui believes this funnel effect contributed to the scouring that undermined the levees and floodwalls along the Gulf Outlet, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the Industrial Canal. "Without MRGO, the flooding would have been much less," he said. "The levees might have overtopped, but they wouldn't have been washed away." The
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and another across the
Intracoastal Waterway, to permit the passage of barge and other small commercial traffic during normal weather conditions. The barrier, the largest of its kind in the United States, should protect against storm surges up to 28 feet in height. It was finished in 2011, and is far
377:
According to a congressional hearing statement made in late 2005 by Scott Faber of the
Environmental Defense Fund, "Traffic on the MR-GO has fallen by more than 50 percent since 1986. As of 2005, less than one oceangoing vessel per day, on average, used the MRGO canal, which costs approximately $ 13
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The promised economic development along the 76 mile channel in poverty-stricken St. Bernard Parish has yet to materialize. What the MRGO has delivered is an $ 8-plus million yearly maintenance plan for commercial and recreational waterborne traffic. The nearly $ 1 billion price tag for the less than
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In May 2007 the Corps of
Engineers announced it would close the MRGO to all traffic and would build an earthen dam across the MRGO in alignment with the natural ridge paralleling Bayou La Loutre. The Bayou La Loutre ridge siting was selected to complement future wetland restoration efforts, as the
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The MRGO Ecosystem
Restoration Plan was never implemented due to a disagreement about funding. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' District Engineer stated "I further recommend Federal and Non-Federal Sponsor responsibilities and cost sharing requirements...," while the State of Louisiana viewed the
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In 1943, the proposed project was initially presented to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers by the Dock Board of New Orleans under the name "Alexander Seaway", in reference to Col. Lester F. Alexander, a member of the Dock Board who was one of the architects behind the New Orleans plan. A competing
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of the surrounding marsh, the canal was already as much as four times wider by 2005 than as originally constructed. When MRGO was built, the channel was 650 feet (200 m) wide at the surface. By 2005 the channel had opened to up to 3,000 feet in some locations and had been dredged annually.
221:
to the Gulf of Mexico near
Gardner Island. Much criticized for its negative environmental effects, such as saltwater intrusion, wetlands erosion and storm surge amplification during Hurricane Katrina, the MRGO was closed in 2009. Maritime traffic was barred on April 22, 2009.
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connecting the
Industrial Canal to the Mississippi River obsolete; the MRGO as promoted in the 1950s was to help rectify this deficiency by permitting deep-draft vessels to access the Industrial Canal inner harbor. Authorization for the MRGO was formally provided by the
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After the abandonment of the
Centroport project, the Port of New Orleans refocused its efforts on improving its infrastructure along the Mississippi River, and what little maritime traffic the MRGO hosted progressively dwindled, opening it up to withering critiques.
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more significant than the Bayou La Loutre closure structure. It is two feet lower than the levees it will connect to in New
Orleans East and St. Bernard Parish. This will allow water to spill over the control structure before it overtops these levees.
335:, never secured sufficient funding and was quietly jettisoned by the port in the mid-1980s. The France Road Container Terminal and the Jourdan Road Wharf were the only two elements realized according to the Centroport plan.
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advanced a plan to largely abandon its wharfs along the
Mississippi River and relocate its activities to the inner harbor created by the Industrial Canal, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the MRGO. This vast project, termed
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experienced by the region's hurricane protection network. In the aftermath the channel was closed. A permanent storm surge barrier was constructed in the MRGO in 2009, and the channel has been closed to maritime shipping.
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disputes this causality and maintains Katrina would have overwhelmed the levees with or without the contributing effect of MRGO since the storm surge was perpendicular to the length of the canal.
504:"project should be undertaken at full Federal expense and that the state should have no financial obligations with respect to the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet Ecosystem Restoration Project."
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and the southern edge of the MRGO, preventing future storm surges from penetrating into the inner harbor of the Industrial Canal and Intracoastal Waterway. Two gates were built, one at
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costing more than $ 1 billion was constructed. The surge barrier closed the narrow end of the "funnel" described by the convergence of the levees bounding the northern edge of the
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million annually to maintain. Like many waterways constructed by the Corps, the MR-GO failed to attract as much traffic as the Corps predicted when the project was constructed."
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immediately opposed its reopening. Maritime interests called for re-opening the Gulf Outlet but equipping it with protective floodgates, or accelerating construction of the
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The MRGO and an outlet into Lake Borgne, approximately 50 miles (80 km) up the canal from its mouth and 15 miles (24 km) east of New Orleans (view towards the southwest)
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71 miles of shoreline protection in Lake Borgne, along the MRGO, and in the Biloxi Marsh, including 5.8 miles of oyster reef restoration in the Biloxi Marsh
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467:. The plan outline key components of revitalizing the wetlands and water bodies that had been damaged by the construction and resulting factors (e.g.
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two large container ships a day that use the channel is baffling, especially considering that the channel only shaved 37 miles off the original route.
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Southeastern Louisiana University, The SLU Poll: Attitudes Among St. Bernard Parish Voters About The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, Date: 5/26/2004
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Conceptually, the MRGO was first envisioned early in the 20th century as a way to provide shipping with a shorter route to the Gulf of Mexico. The
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757:"Investigators Link Levee Failures to Design Flaws; Three Teams of Engineers Find Weakened Soil, Navigation Canal Contributed to La. Collapses"
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Construction began in late 2008, and the Corps of Engineers completed the closure structure across the MRGO at Bayou La Loutre in July 2009.
93:
374:. MRGO was derisively termed a "Hurricane Highway" in Katrina's wake, due to its apparent role in amplifying the impacts of storm surges.
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Katrina's passage caused extensive shoaling of the MRGO, resulting in its impassability for deep-draft oceangoing vessels. Officials of
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363:, environmentalists and others, including voters in St. Bernard Parish whom the canal was intended to help, called for its closure.
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from the Gulf to the port's wharfs, versus the much closer proximity to open water offered by its emerging competitors. The modern
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Levees along the MRGO and the Intracoastal Waterway were breached in approximately 20 places, directly flooding most of
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felt increasingly disadvantaged by the length of time oceangoing vessels needed to navigate the twists and turns of the
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organization dedicated to "the principles of free enterprise and limited government" attacked it on economic grounds:
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Faber, Scott (2005), U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, Hearing Statements, Date: 11/09/2005
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natural ridge could regain its historic function of sheltering the marsh and swamp behind from the Gulf of Mexico.
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662:"New Orleans District > Missions > Environmental > MRGO Ecosystem Restoration > History of MRGO"
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plan was also presented by Jefferson Parish, referred to as the "Arrow to the Americas,' also known as the
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687:"How a Navigational Channel Contributed to Most of the Flooding of New Orleans During Hurricane Katrina"
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421:'s Hurricane Center, called MRGO a "critical and fundamental flaw" in the Corps' hurricane defenses, a "
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440:, which when completed would allow MRGO to be closed without affecting deep-draft commercial traffic.
406:. Storm surge from the MRGO is also a leading suspect in the three breaches of floodwalls along the
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Criticism intensified following the hurricane, when engineers implicated the MRGO in the failure of
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works controversies (New Orleans)#Legal issues in New Orleans
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In a matter of decades, the rapid growth of average ship size in the 20th century rendered the
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at the direction of Congress in the mid-20th century that provided a shorter route between the
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Intersection of MRGO (to right) with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, as seen from I-510 Bridge
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Supplementing construction of the closure, the Army Corps of Engineers also produced the
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Closure structure across MRGO at Bayou La Loutre shortly before completion, July 2009
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in 1914. New Orleans' initial response debuted in 1923, with the inauguration of the
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724:" Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 1, 1997 (archived 2006-12-08)
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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594:"Goodbye MRGO: Work begins to close shortcut to Gulf of Mexico"
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Inscription on house in storm-surge devastated neighborhood of
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633:"Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Evaluation Report, March 1997"
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Tugboat and barge in MRGO at Shell Beach, St. Bernard Parish
158:) is a 76 mi (122 km) channel constructed by the
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U.S. Waterborne Container Traffic by Port/Waterway in 2003
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471:) of the MRGO. The roughly $ 2.9 billion plan included:
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U.S. Seaports: At the Crossroads of the Global Economy
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Army Corps liable for Katrina damage, US court finds
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A freshwater diversion at or near Violet, Louisiana
67:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
971:Flood control in the New Orleans metropolitan area
413:Three months before Katrina, Hassan Mashriqui, a
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30:"MR-GO" redirects here. Not to be confused with
294:of 1956. Construction was completed in 1968.
394:suggests that the ruins be used to fill MRGO.
478:14,123 acres of fresh and intermediate marsh
438:Inner Harbor Navigational Canal lock project
141:Route of Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal
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850:Surge barrier spells death knell for MR-GO
370:and flood-walls protecting large parts of
884:"Canal May Have Worsened City's Flooding"
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518:Closer to New Orleans, a robust 1.8 mile
493:54 acres of Bayou La Loutre ridge habitat
326:With the completion of MRGO in 1965, the
127:Learn how and when to remove this message
829:MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Plan by USACE
637:Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District
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195:subsequent multiple engineering failures
27:Former canal in Louisiana, United States
852:, The Times-Picayune, October 22, 2009.
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617:. WWLtv.com. 2009-04-22. Archived from
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160:United States Army Corps of Engineers
76:"Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal"
193:, contributing significantly to the
65:adding citations to reliable sources
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782:Brown, Matthew (October 24, 2005).
685:van Heerden, I. L. (October 2009).
556:List of canals in the United States
148:Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal
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18:Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal
817:
784:"Katrina may mean MR-GO has to go"
382:Role in Hurricane Katrina disaster
258:linking the Mississippi River and
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981:1965 establishments in Louisiana
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344:Competitive Enterprise Institute
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890:, Wednesday, September 14, 2005
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465:MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Plan
52:needs additional citations for
956:Canals in Saint Bernard Parish
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514:IHNC Lake Borgne Surge Barrier
306:MRGO's operational performance
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487:10,318 acres of cypress swamp
213:and takes a path SSE through
201:The MRGO begins just west of
181:In 2005, the MRGO channeled
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792:New Orleans Times-Picayune
694:Public Organization Review
615:"MRGO now closed to ships"
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419:Louisiana State University
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207:Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
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869:Christian Science Monitor
707:10.1007/s11115-009-0093-8
490:466 acres of saline marsh
720:Barrett, David (1997), "
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427:Army Corps of Engineers
262:, thereby creating the
961:History of New Orleans
666:www.mvn.usace.army.mil
596:. NOLA.com. 2009-01-31
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292:Rivers and Harbors Act
288:United States Congress
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217:wetlands just west of
976:Canals opened in 1965
966:Intracoastal Waterway
951:Canals in New Orleans
927:29.89126°N 89.75744°W
877:The Control of Nature
722:Washington Waterworld
524:Intracoastal Waterway
499:2 recreation features
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176:Intracoastal Waterway
802:on 3 September 2006.
469:salt water intrusion
392:Chalmette, Louisiana
252:Houston Ship Channel
61:improve this article
932:29.89126; -89.75744
923: /
904:Port of New Orleans
761:The Washington Post
372:Greater New Orleans
328:Port of New Orleans
240:Port of New Orleans
191:Greater New Orleans
763:. October 24, 2005
580:2012-03-12 at the
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434:St. Bernard Parish
400:St. Bernard Parish
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260:Lake Pontchartrain
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215:St. Bernard Parish
189:into the heart of
871:November 19, 2009
361:Hurricane Katrina
333:Centroport U.S.A.
244:Mississippi River
183:Hurricane Katrina
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404:New Orleans East
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268:New Orleans East
256:Industrial Canal
211:New Orleans East
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54:verification
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415:storm surge
348:libertarian
283:canal locks
219:Lake Borgne
187:storm surge
168:New Orleans
945:Categories
918:89°45′27″W
915:29°53′29″N
671:2018-07-09
647:2006-04-02
600:2009-01-31
417:expert at
117:April 2010
87:newspapers
359:Prior to
814:MRGO.gov
578:Archived
535:See also
174:via the
767:May 15,
444:Closure
299:erosion
290:in the
226:History
203:I-510's
101:scholar
368:levees
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562:Notes
152:MR-GO
108:JSTOR
94:books
769:2011
402:and
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156:MRGO
146:The
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185:'s
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