Draining New Orleans

The 300-Year Quest to Dewater the Crescent City

Richard Campanella

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Hardback

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English

Louisiana State University Press
31 May 2023

History of the Americas; Industrialisation & industrial history; Historical geography; Urban & municipal planning; Flood control

In Draining New Orleans, the first full-length book devoted to ""the world's toughest drainage problem,"" renowned geographer Richard Campanella recounts the epic challenges and ingenious efforts to dewater the Crescent City. With forays into geography, public health, engineering, architecture, politics, sociology, race relations, and disaster response, he chronicles the herculean attempts to ""reclaim"" the city's swamps and marshes and install subsurface drainage for massive urban expansion.

The study begins with a vivid description of a festive event on Mardi Gras weekend 1915, which attracted an entourage of elite New Orleanians to the edge of Bayou Barataria to witness the christening of giant water pumps. President Woodrow Wilson, connected via phoneline from the White House, planned to activate the station with the push of a button, effectively draining the West Bank of New Orleans. What transpired in the years and decades that followed can only be understood by examining the large swath of history dating back two centuries earlier—to the geological formation and indigenous occupation of this delta—and extending through the colonial, antebellum, postbellum, and Progressive eras to modern times.

The consequences of dewatering New Orleans proved both triumphant and tragic. The city's engineering prowess transformed it into a world leader in drainage technology, yet the municipality also fell victim to its own success. Rather than a story about mud and machinery, this is a history of people, power, and the making of place. Campanella emphasizes the role of determined and sometimes unsavory individuals who spearheaded projects to separate water from dirt, creating lucrative opportunities in the process not only for the community but also for themselves.

By: Richard Campanella
Imprint: Louisiana State University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 230mm, Width: 150mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 771g
ISBN: 9780807178546
ISBN 10: 0807178543
Pages: 424
Publication Date: 31 May 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard Campanella is a geographer and associate dean for research at the Tulane School of Architecture. He is the author of fourteen books, including The West Bank of Greater New Orleans and Cityscapes of New Orleans, as well as hundreds of articles on Louisiana history and geography.

Reviews for Draining New Orleans: The 300-Year Quest to Dewater the Crescent City

""Geographer Campanella has authored numerous books about New Orleans. . . . This new work is one of his best. . . . Campanella provides a well-documented account of how past public works, public health concerns, race relations, natural disasters, environmentalism, and Louisiana politics influenced drainage choices. His prose is excellent and his arguments well stated.""--CHOICE