NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- New Orleans' failed 17th Street Canal levee was seven feet shallower than the U.S. Corps of Engineers claimed, it was reported Thursday.
An LSU investigative team, using ground sonar, found that sheet piling supporting the floodwall extended just 10 feet below sea level, not 17 feet as advertised, the New Orleans Times-Picayune said Thursday.
The first reading was taken about 150 yards south of the break that allowed water from Lake Pontchartrain to inundate the city Aug. 30.
The finding strengthened earlier findings that faulty design and construction played a role in the canal breaches that flooded much of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
The Corps declined immediate comment.
Independent engineers have questioned whether the pilings, even at the Corps' stated depth, went down far enough to support the floodwalls and prevent storm surge from penetrating beneath the earthen levees and causing structural failure.
The Corps said the bottom of the canal was 18.5 feet deep.
