NEW ORLEANS, LA, OCT 8, 2018 -- After being devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans is committed to protecting the city from future flooding. As such, as part of the Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps (PCCP) project, SUEZ, through its Water Technologies & Solutions Business Unit, recently completed the installation of 17 custom Climber Screen systems. With this innovative screen technology, the city will be able to control flooding and help prevent pollution while directing water back into Lake Pontchartrain.
SUEZ's Climber Screen Model IVS technology was installed for the 17th Street, Orleans Avenue and London Avenue canals. The project was complex with many engineering challenges, as each outfall canal and pump station had various requirements for different sized pumps and flow. The total peak design flow for the 17th Street canal is 10,222 million gallons per day (MGD), the Orleans Avenue canal is 2,187 MGD and the London Avenue canal is 7,301 MGD.
Working in conjunction with Environmental Technical Sales, Inc. (ETEC), the local SUEZ representative; Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., the design build contractor; and MR. Pittman Construction, SUEZ supplied the Extreme Duty Climber Screens designed to protect the high output pumps that remove floodwaters from the collector canals. The system is able to clear potentially pump-damaging materials from a submerged bar rack and move them to a discharge chute for removal. Debris too large for the screen to remove will stop the screen operation to help prevent damage and activate an alarm to make operators aware of the blockage. They can then manually remove the object and return the screen to service protecting the area from flooding.
