Department of Engineering / News / Open lecture - Hurricane Katrina: Geosystems in crisis

Department of Engineering

Open lecture - Hurricane Katrina: Geosystems in crisis

Open lecture - Hurricane Katrina: Geosystems in crisis

Professor Thomas O'Rourke the Thomas R. Briggs Professor of Engineering at Cornell University will be giving a lecture here at the Department of Engineering on hurricane Katrina, one of the greatest natural disasters of modern times.

Hurricane Katrina

Survivors awaiting rescue

The lecture will discuss the dynamics of the Mississippi River, loss of wetlands, and increasing exposure to storm surge and river flooding that have influenced planning and politics for over two centuries in the Louisiana delta. The technical reasons for the failure of the levee system, including the mechanisms where breaches occurred and the foundation characteristics, will be presented. The consequences of the failures on the infrastructure of New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico will also be discussed.

Everyone is welcome to come to this free open lecture, which will be held on Thursday 30 November 2006 at 5pm - Lecture Theatre 0 - Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, Cambridge.

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