Last week we considered the notion that all technology fails – it’s simply a matter of time and circumstance. So given that, how can we even think about designing any technology which can withstand the whims of Mother Nature?

Well, civil engineers deal with this every day. They’re the ones who build huge bridges and dams and skyscrapers and the like. They look at a structure – any structure – and see, not a massive, fixed monolith of intertwined steel and concrete, but rather a dynamic entity, a constantly-stressed – almost living – structure. They see tension at every point, and they still build it to withstand what they imagine nature will throw its way. And they want to build it to last forever.

Ask a civil engineer how to build a system of levees and flood walls and drainage canals for a city like New Orleans – or a country like the Netherlands – both of which are essentially below sea level, and there is a single bottom-line answer: “Over-build.”

The Dutch have built an aggressive and constantly-evolving system, which is designed to defend against every storm conceivable – officially, only being overcome by a storm so mighty it might hit every 10,000 years. Now let’s compare that design objective with the New Orleans case, a city whose storm defenses were designed to defend against a Category 3 hurricane, when hurricanes can and are measured as high as Category 5.

Remember Hurricane Andrew in 1992? It was indeed a Category 5, and that was hardly 10,000 years ago. Until hours before Katrina made landfall, she was rated a Category 5 and on a beeline for the French Quarter. But a fortuitous quirk of weather, an opposing front which suddenly developed, stole some of Katrina’s power and steered her east. Yet this did not save New Orleans from disaster, for it was a different disaster. The technology it had in place wasn’t up to the challenge.

There may be casinos in New Orleans, but a city isn’t supposed to be gambling on what level of hurricane might hit. But there’s human nature to consider. It’s always hard to spend serious money on technology, when it’s a sunny day and there are so many other needs.

Somehow, the Dutch manage to remember that the North Sea can deliver a powerful punch, serving up weather they’re never witnessed in their collective memory. And so, they prepare for the worst they can imagine.

But even if New Orleans had prepared for a larger hurricane, it may have been at risk. The greatest part of the recent devastation can be laid squarely on the failure of in-place technology - technology which was designed to work in this very situation. Still, two major breaches in a flood wall and levee left 80% of the city in standing water.

For engineers, the meaning is clear: It’s not enough to design for the big picture. Systems must have the ability to predict that they are failing. Like a chain’s weakest link, critical systems must be able to identify which links are weakening and how, and they must be designed so that interventions are possible. Whether it’s back-up technology or additional supports or whatever, it is essential that interventions can also be successful, and catastrophe averted.

So, brace yourself. This means that the technology needed will cost even more money than anyone really wants to spend.

Yet the ideas are simple: “Over-build,” “Sense failure early,” and “Enable intervention in case of failure.” Let’s remember those notions when it’s time to decide just what to do next.

I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.

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