Comments on: Army Corps of Engineers Plans to Cut Down All Trees Near Levees

By: Live Oak Levees in Louisiana « Quinta Scott’s Weblog

Live Oak Levees in Louisiana « Quinta Scott’s Weblog — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:22:42 +0000

[...] When I opened my post with the above quotation on November 19, 2009 in an article titled Tale of Two Levees, I was referring to the conventional wisdom about levees, all kinds of things make them fragile come flood-time. I should have added that conventional wisdom states, “Never allow trees to grow on levees. The roots break up the soil and undermine the levee.“ [...]

By: Leksaker

Leksaker — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:38:01 +0000

What about those trees?

By: Baby

Baby — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:06:11 +0000

I think they are totally crazy. I donÂ´t think it will be solved by cutting down the trees.

By: Joomla Experts

Joomla Experts — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:39:32 +0000

cool! keep up the good work!
http://www.jm-experts.com

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:07:48 +0000

Luke is right. Tree roots hold soil together while alive, but when they die, they first dry out and shrink, allowing water and air to penetrate further into the soil. Then they rot, leaving tunnels in the soil behind. But that’s not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is one of soil compression.

Compression in a levee or dike can and should exceed several thousand pounds per square foot. Tree roots that penetrate soil actually break it up in the process, decreasing the soil compression. This is why forest floors are so fertile – the tree roots are constantly breaking up the lower layers of the soil to allow air, water and organisms to penetrate and thrive, which makes for a great peaty loam to grow stuff in. Dikes and levees though use rammed and compacted earth, and sometimes concrete where economical, and have to be as densely packed as possible to prevent water migration and seepage.

Trust me – as a part time horticulturalist, the Corps know their stuff on this count.

By: John Davis

John Davis — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:20:55 +0000

Lovely, here we go again it looks like!

RET
http://www.absoluteanonymity.tk

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:38:23 +0000

As much as I dislike the corps ( I work alongside them alot), they are correct on this. Tree roots can severely impact the integrity of a levee or dam. Roots that penetrate to the containment side are an obvious hazard. Another is trees dont live forever, once a tree rooted into a leveee dies and the roots decay, well that should be obvious too.

By: Mr. Dave

Mr. Dave — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:24:52 +0000

Who zoned these low-lying areas as suitable for people to live and work in? Why are citizens paying federal taxes to protect local communities of stubborn people who choose to live in these places where real estate prices are low . . . because they’re flood prone areas? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills thinking about this.