The parade ordinances say nothing about sheet pilings

Wasn't so long ago that the most cumbersome obstructions one would find on the Napoleon Avenue neutral ground were tents and ladders like these.



Lately, it's a bit different.



Those are the metal sheet pilings contractors working for the Army Corps of Engineers on the SELA drainage project have been driving into the ground this week.  The pilings are there to support the construction of a new underground drainage canal meant to augment the performance of the one that already exists there.





The pilings were the cause of a lawsuit filed during an earlier phase of the project when vibrations caused damage to nearby homes in Broadmoor.  Since then the Corps has switched to an alternate method of pile driving.  This thing is called a "silent piler"



A crane lifts the piling into place, and this machine just shoves it into the ground where it's then welded onto the preceding piling. It's not exactly "silent" but it is cool to watch.  Anyway, here's the outline of where the new canal is going to go.



The word is Carnival parades aren't expecting to have to change their routes this year.  But I don't see a whole lot of room to place ladders in there. All these people have to go somewhere, right?




The Napoleon Avenue portion of  the SELA project is currently estimated to complete in November 2016.