"One less hazard to worry about" A team from Metro Disposal, Inc., of Harvey, La., puts the closure on a pool left behind by a demolition in Lake View. LA-RFO Photo by Spec. Larry Gleeson. Back to Features

Zapping A Hazard!
Pool hazards left after Corps demolitions filled under FEMA program
By Dave Harris, Public Affairs, Louisiana Recovery Field Office  30 July 2007

When a demolition is done by the Louisiana Recovery Field office, a huge hazard is removed from a neighborhood.  However, if the property contains a pool, the hazard may have shifted from a vertical threat to one that is horizontal: the pool itself.

Of the 3,719 structures demolished, less than two dozen had pools that had to be remediated. At press time, most had been filed with the LA-RFO keeping a watch for singles here and there that might need work.

Contractor Metro Disposal, Inc., of Harvey, La., was awarded the task of draining the pools associated with Corps demolitions to ensure that there was drainage in the bottom of the pool and that the pools were filled with sand. 

A typical hazardous pool left by demolition

The project prevents someone from falling into a pool and sustaining injury or even death from the fall, with or without water.

A mesh screen/filter is used in pumping remaining water to minimize moving debris into storm drains or streets.

Two drainage openings at least 6 inches in diameter – one at the shallow end and one at the deep end – are required to enable drainage of subsequent rain water and to avoid creating quick sand pits.

The contractor also uses caution to prevent damage to surrounding turf and vegetation leading up to and surrounding the pool to be filled.

The contract adds that the “contractor shall employ all reasonable means of protecting the surrounding structures and concrete are adjacent to the swimming pools….If ground conditions are such that ruts may be created by the contractor’s equipment during access to and from the swimming pools, the contractor shall lay planking for the operation of equipment.”

The contract team was forced to think through dozens of "what if" scenarios for this non-traditional mission.