Navigation and flood control Mississippi River

1 navigation , flood control

1.1 19th century
1.2 20th century
1.3 21st century

navigation , flood control


towboat , barges @ memphis, tennessee



ships on lower part of mississippi

a clear channel needed barges , other vessels make main stem mississippi 1 of great commercial waterways of world. task of maintaining navigation channel responsibility of united states army corps of engineers, established in 1802. earlier projects began 1829 remove snags, close off secondary channels , excavate rocks , sandbars.

steamboats entered trade in 1820s, period 1830–1850 became golden age of steamboats. there few roads or rails in lands of louisiana purchase, river traffic ideal solution. cotton, timber , food came down river, did appalachian coal. port of new orleans boomed trans-shipment point deep sea ocean vessels. result, image of twin stacked, wedding cake mississippi steamer entered american mythology. steamers worked entire route trickles of montana, ohio river; down missouri , tennessee, main channel of mississippi. arrival of railroads in 1880s did steamboat traffic diminish. steamboats remained feature until 1920s. have been superseded pusher tugs. few survive icons—the delta queen , river queen instance.

oil tanker on lower mississippi near port of new orleans



barge on lower mississippi river

a series of 29 locks , dams on upper mississippi, of built in 1930s, designed maintain 9-foot-deep (2.7 m) channel commercial barge traffic. lakes formed used recreational boating , fishing. dams make river deeper , wider not stop it. no flood control intended. during periods of high flow, gates, of submersible, opened , dams cease function. below st. louis, mississippi relatively free-flowing, although constrained numerous levees , directed numerous wing dams.

on lower mississippi, baton rouge mouth of mississippi, navigation depth 45 feet (14 m), allowing container ships , cruise ships dock @ port of new orleans , bulk cargo ships shorter 150-foot (46 m) air draft fit under huey p. long bridge traverse mississippi baton rouge. there feasibility study dredge portion of river 50 feet (15 m) allow new panamax ship depths.

19th century

lock , dam no. 11, north of dubuque, iowa (2007)

in 1829, there surveys of 2 major obstacles on upper mississippi, des moines rapids , rock island rapids, river shallow , riverbed rock. des moines rapids 11 miles (18 km) long , above mouth of des moines river @ keokuk, iowa. rock island rapids between rock island , moline, illinois. both rapids considered virtually impassable.

in 1848, illinois , michigan canal built connect mississippi river lake michigan via illinois river near peru, illinois. canal allowed shipping between these important waterways. in 1900, canal replaced chicago sanitary , ship canal. second canal, in addition shipping, allowed chicago address specific health issues (typhoid fever, cholera , other waterborne diseases) sending waste down illinois , mississippi river systems rather polluting water source of lake michigan.

the corps of engineers recommended excavation of 5-foot-deep (1.5 m) channel @ des moines rapids, work did not begin until after lieutenant robert e. lee endorsed project in 1837. corps later began excavating rock island rapids. 1866, had become evident excavation impractical, , decided build canal around des moines rapids. canal opened in 1877, rock island rapids remained obstacle. in 1878, congress authorized corps establish 4.5-foot-deep (1.4 m) channel obtained building wing dams direct river narrow channel causing cut deeper channel, closing secondary channels , dredging. channel project complete when moline lock, bypassed rock island rapids, opened in 1907.

to improve navigation between st. paul, minnesota, , prairie du chien, wisconsin, corps constructed several dams on lakes in headwaters area, including lake winnibigoshish , lake pokegama. dams, built beginning in 1880s, stored spring run-off released during low water maintain channel depth.

lock , dam no. 2, near hastings, minnesota (2007)



lock , dam no. 15, largest roller dam in world davenport, iowa; rock island, illinois. (1990)



20th century

in 1907, congress authorized 6-foot-deep (1.8 m) channel project on mississippi, not complete when abandoned in late 1920s in favor of 9-foot-deep (2.7 m) channel project.

in 1913, construction complete on lock , dam no. 19 @ keokuk, iowa, first dam below st. anthony falls. built private power company (union electric company of st. louis) generate electricity (originally streetcars in st. louis), keokuk dam 1 of largest hydro-electric plants in world @ time. dam eliminated des moines rapids. lock , dam no. 1 completed in minneapolis, minnesota in 1917. lock , dam no. 2, near hastings, minnesota, completed in 1930.

before great mississippi flood of 1927, corps s primary strategy close off many side channels possible increase flow in main river. thought river s velocity scour off bottom sediments, deepening river , decreasing possibility of flooding. 1927 flood proved wrong communities threatened flood began create own levee breaks relieve force of rising river.

the rivers , harbors act of 1930 authorized 9-foot (2.7 m) channel project, called navigation channel 9 feet (2.7 m) feet deep , 400 feet (120 m) wide accommodate multiple-barge tows. achieved series of locks , dams, , dredging. twenty-three new locks , dams built on upper mississippi in 1930s in addition 3 in existence.

formation of atchafalaya river , construction of old river control structure.



project design flood flow capacity mississippi river in thousands of cubic feet per second.

until 1950s, there no dam below lock , dam 26 @ alton, illinois. chain of rocks lock (lock , dam no. 27), consists of low-water dam , 8.4-mile-long (13.5 km) canal, added in 1953, below confluence missouri river, bypass series of rock ledges @ st. louis. serves protect st. louis city water intakes during times of low water.

u.s. government scientists determined in 1950s mississippi river starting switch atchafalaya river channel because of steeper path gulf of mexico. atchafalaya river capture mississippi river , become main channel gulf of mexico, leaving new orleans on side channel. result, u.s. congress authorized project called old river control structure, has prevented mississippi river leaving current channel drains gulf via new orleans.

because large scale of high-energy water flow threatened damage structure, auxiliary flow control station built adjacent standing control station. $300 million project completed in 1986 corps of engineers. beginning in 1970s, corps applied hydrological transport models analyze flood flow , water quality of mississippi. dam 26 @ alton, illinois, had structural problems, replaced mel price lock , dam in 1990. original lock , dam 26 demolished.

a low-water dam deepens pool above chain of rocks lock near st. louis (2006)



soldiers of missouri army national guard sandbag river in clarksville, missouri, june 2008, following flooding.


21st century

the corps actively creates , maintains spillways , floodways divert periodic water surges backwater channels , lakes, route part of mississippi s flow atchafalaya basin , there gulf of mexico, bypassing baton rouge , new orleans. main structures birds point-new madrid floodway in missouri; old river control structure , morganza spillway in louisiana, direct excess water down west , east sides (respectively) of atchafalaya river; , bonnet carré spillway, in louisiana, directs floodwaters lake pontchartrain (see diagram). experts blame urban sprawl increases in both risk , frequency of flooding on mississippi river.

some of pre-1927 strategy still in use today, corps actively cutting necks of horseshoe bends, allowing water move faster , reducing flood heights.