Len Bahr, Ph.D., founding editor of LaCoastPost is scheduled to appear on MSNBC this evening at 7:00 PM CDT on Countdown with Keith Olberman to discuss the use of sand berms to save marshes from oil. Here is an article by Dr. Bahr that appears in LaCoastPost. And here is a segment of the article:
In terms of specific criticisms, I have predicted that the berms will: (1) squander limited sand resources; (2) increase the depth and reduce the friction of the bottom profile; (3) increase the erosive power of tidal exchange; (4) steal dollars from and interest in less dramatic but more effective measures; (5) exacerbate the ongoing tension and lack of cooperation between federal and state agencies; (6) inject political overtones in what should be objective technical discussions; (7) jeopardize the credibility of the overall mission to protect and restore the Mississippi River delta; and (8) – most telling – fail to actually reduce the risk of oiling local marshes.
Thanks for the heads up Paul.
I do not have Dr Bahr's credentials by a long shot. But I did spend a career involved in the development of complex software products. Software engineering is obviously not the same as civil engineering, but I'd be the entire escrow fund that they share a couple of principles:
ReplyDelete1. If the people touting the project say that it will be done in six months, plan on twelve. I read the other day that the estimate for the berms is now nine months; I believe it was originally six. You can figure that the berms are eighteen months way.
2. If the project is something that has never been tryed, don't count on anything. It may well never get finished. If it does, the builders will make sacrifices and cut corners for a delivery so scaled back that it can't possibly live up to its hype. And, as Dr Bahr points out, their will be all sorts of unintended consequences. It is very possible that Louisiana will wind up with something that is a net negative. That may seem hard to believe right now, but it's a definite possibility.
In short, cast a cold eye at any solution touted as a panacea.