17th Street Canal

The 17th Street Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana.

A levee breech on a section of the Canal flooded much of the city in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The canal and associated infastructure

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  View of the Canal looking lakewards, a short distance from the Metarie Road Pump facility. Note levees topped by concrete flood walls along the canal.
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  Hurricane Katrina related graffiti on the Canal floodwall. Note cracks in wall.
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  Cracked joint in flood wall in portion of the Canal not subjected to high flood waters due to breech closer to the lake.
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  close-up of a crack in the flood wall.
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  Metarie Pumping Station on the Canal, built in 1899
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  Lake side view of Metarie Pumping Station
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  Woman walks dog along the levee beside the floodwall on the Metarie side of the Canal, 11 November, 2005. In the background to the right, ongoing repairs in the breech on the New Orleans side can be seen.

The breach

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  Photo from the air on 30 August. High patches of green ground are what was formerly the levee underneath the concrete floodwall, pushed back and up, apparently from beneath.
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  Air view of Canal and breech after Katrina, 31 August
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  A Texas Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter deposits a 6,000 pound-plus bag of sand and gravel on-target, Sunday, September 4, as work progresses to close the breach in the 17th Street Canal.
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  Sunday, 4 Sept 2005. The Old Hammond Highway Bridge in foregroundenabled Army Corps of Engineers contracts to drive sheet piling to close off the canal from Lake Ponchartrain. The Lake Pontchartrain end of the Canal is just over block distant off the lower left edge of the photo. Looking down the canal the breach into Orleans Parrish is visible. The skyline of the New Orleans Central Business District lies in the distance. In the front center, the pilings are all that remain of locally famous Sid- Mar's Seafood Restaurant, destroyed by the storm.
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  Army Corps of Engineers "Flexiboat" in the Canal
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  Building roadway to Canal breech
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  Sheet metal pilings for repairing the Canal
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  Ongoing repairs on the canal breech as seen from Old Hammond Highway Bridge, 11 November 2005
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  Breech repairs with barge
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  Flood damaged homes and piles of silt & debris behind the breech
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  The Canal is temporarily damed off at the Old Hammond Highway Bridge while repairs to a breech are being made.