The World's Largest Water Pump



This summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on a barrier and pumping station designed to protect New Orleans from flooding. The pump will be capable of moving 150,000 gallons per second:

The $500-million station—the newest installment of a $14-billion federal project to fortify the Big Easy against the type of fierce storm the city sees once in 100 years—will protect the 240,000 residents living in New Orleans, a high-risk flood area because of its nearby shipping canals. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway is one of the city’s most trafficked industrial waterways, but it provides a perfect path from the Gulf for a 16-foot storm surge to flood homes and businesses. When a major storm threatens, the waterway’s new West Closure Complex will mount a two-point defense. First, operators will shut the 32-foot-tall, 225-foot-wide metal gates to block the surge. Then they’ll fire up the world’s largest pumping station, which pulls 150,000 gallons of floodwater per second. And unlike the city’s notorious levees, the WCC won’t break when residents need it most. “This station is designed to withstand almost everything,” including 140mph winds and runaway barges, says Tim Connell, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s project manager for the complex.


http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-08/saving-new-orleans-worlds-largest-water-pump

Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

There is a better way. Lets prevent the flooding in the first place and you guys can really enjoy your paradise. Sounding crazy yet?

As we all know the floods are caused by the hurricanes. Man, I'm thinking now!!

Let's slow down the hurricanes. Brilliant!!

We'll convert that fabulous pump appropratly and take it out into the gulf, extend the intakes down into some real cold water and pump it to the top.
that will cool the surface of the gulf.

Since the hurricane's winds are speeded by the warm water of the gulf, cooling the water should slow them down enough to prevent serious damage.

Sounds reasonable after all doesn't it?

Here's wishing all of you continued success and happiness in all your endeavors.
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Reply to crescentCityRay: The pumpstation is a combination of 13 pump bays side by side and two sets of gates. Like another poster said, it is not on the Mississippi, it is on the Gulf intercostal water ways. It will be located just south of the convergence of the Harvey and Algiers canals. Each bay will pump 1500 gal/sec which combined will pump about 20,000 gal/sec combined. It could fill the Superdome in just over an hour. There will also be 13, 23,000 Gal tanks to feed these 13 pumps along with 13, 500 Gal day tanks. The USACE is wasting alot of money on this and other projects to save the idoits that live below sea level. if you are worried about flooding, ugh DONT LIVE BELOW SEA LEVEL! One thing to keep in mind is that all pumpstations now have safe houses where the crew can live to ensure the pumps stay on during the hurricane. They also have generators to power every thing. And to let you know 500m is not the cost of the pumpstation, it is a bit more.
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@ Biker

You're right, technically it is a propeller judging by the image. For the most part propellers work with axial rotation and impellers work with centrifugal rotation. Most pumps do have impellers, but the configuration shown in the diagram is a propeller.
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Out west along the Columbia river in Oregon there are 250,000 HP (as I was told, anyway) irrigation pumps - one I'm aware of raises water 300 feet and pumps it six miles across the land through a pair of six foot diameter pipes. I wonder how this compares. Guess I'll have to work out the flow capacity of six foot pipes.
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