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Technical Tours
Enrich your experience and visit to New Orleans by participating in the technical tour program. Special arrangements have been made by this year’s host committee to introduce attendees to some of the world’s most intriguing and unique facilities. You’re encouraged to review the list of tours and check the times and dates that each tour is available. Space is limited and at a premium. Reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.


Entergy Thermal
Monday, April 19, 2010
1:30 pm - 3:30 pm

A 32,000-ton chilled water cooling plant was constructed to provide services for the largest district cooling business in New Orleans. It includes an integration of highly critical health care and health sciences facilities known as the New Orleans Regional Medical Center (NORMC) district complex. This chilled water cooling plant facility can fulfill the demanding levels of reliability required of Louisiana’s largest health care and medical research centers.


St. Bernard Project
Monday, April 19, 2010
7:45 am-5:00 pm

St. Bernard Project: Rebuilding the homes and lives of New Orleanian Families-Volunteer Project
Transportation and Lunch Provided
Fee: No Cost

Most of the devastation from Katrina occurred in the outskirts of the city and the surrounding suburban area. Many of those areas have been restored, but some do remain either unrestored or torn down and undeveloped. For this reason, our committee thought it would be a good idea to offer attendees of the conference the opportunity to contribute to that restoration effort through a volunteer activity. As a result, we are planning to offer attendees an opportunity to volunteer on the “St. Bernard Project”– www.stbernardproject.org. This is an award-winning nonprofit rebuilding organization whose mission is to remove barriers for families who want to return home. The average cost to rebuild a home in St. Bernard Parish is $15,000 and takes twelve weeks. These costs are kept low because most of the labor is provided by volunteers. Liz McCartney, director and co-founder, was named the CNN 2008 Hero of the Year.
Entergy’s Transmission Static Var Compensator at Nine Mile Plant
Monday, April 19, 2010
9:00 am-11:30 am

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Installed in May of 2005, this 300 MVAr SVC provides fast dynamic voltage support in response to transmission system disturbances and enables Entergy to avoid running expensive out-of-merit generation for this purpose. The dynamic range of 0-300 MVAr is achieved by six steps of 75 MVAr each, using three thyristor-switched capacitor branches, two rated 75 MVAr and one rated 150 MVAr controlled in a binary switching sequence. Designed and built as an EPC project, the SVC incorporates redundant SIMATIC TDC Digital control systems.

No camera recording devices, firearms, alcohol or smoking is allowed at the facility.


Entergy’s Gretna Transmission Operations Center—Near Downtown New Orleans
Monday, April 19, 2010, 1:30 pm-3:30 pm
 Wednesday April 21, 2010, 9:00 am-11:30 am



The Louisiana Superdome
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
9:00 am - 11:00 am

Touted as Louisiana’s Most Recognizable Landmark, the Louisiana Superdome is home to The Superbowl-bound New Orleans Saints, the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic, the State-Farm Bayou Classic, and the Tulane’s Green Wave Football Team.  Upcoming events include the NCAA Men’s Final four 2012, Women’s Final Four 2013, and the Superbowl, 2013.  Opened in 1975, the Superdome has been the site of six Superbowls (of the Nine hosted in New Orleans,) four Final Fours, and two BCS Championships. 
 
While the Superdome has held a countless number of celebrated events and concerts, it is also proper to commemorate its role in Hurricane Katrina.  As a shelter of last refuge, the Dome provided protection from the Hurricane as it ravaged its structure and integrity.  The remarkable story of bringing the Superdome back to life in a post-Katrina World was the biggest stadium reconstruction project ever attempted in the United States.  Upgrades since 2005 include $300 million dollars of repairs, documented with a display of photographs in the 200-level lobby above Gate A.  Please join us to tour this iconic structure, located in the heart of the City of New Orleans.  


Army Corps of Engineers-Hurricane Protection Tour
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
8:30 am-1:00 pm
Capacity: 40 people
Foreign Nationals must register by March 15, 2010 for clearance.
Fee: $25

Orientation lecture will be provided at the Convention Center prior to beginning of tour. The tour includes a bus tour of the pumping station, floodwalls, safe room, 9th ward, Paris Bridge, West Closure Complex, and Surge Barrier which is estimated to be complete by 2010.


LIGO Science Education Center
Thursday, April 22, 2010
9:00 am-3:00 pm
Capacity: 40 people
Fee: $35

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) detects the ripples in space-time by using a device called laser interferometer, in which the time it takes light to travel between suspended mirrors is measured with high precision using controlled laser light. Two mirrors hand far apart, forming one “arm” of the interferometer, and two more mirrors make a second arm perpendicular to the first. LIGO is located in Livingston, LA and is a national research facility. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation through a co-operative agreement with the California Institute of Technology in Partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


NASA UNO/Michoud Assembly Facility
Thursday, April 22, 2010
9:00 am-1:00 pm
Capacity: 40 people
Foreign Nationals must register by January 15, 2010 for clearance.
Fee: $35

NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is one of the world’s largest manufacturing plants with more than 2.2 million square feet of manufacturing space and state-of-the-art plant and tooling equipment. The Michoud facility supports several major projects for the Constellation Program, which is developing NASA’s next generation of crew exploration and launch vehicles. A tour of Michoud includes some of the advanced manufacturing equipment used in production of NASA flight hardware.