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A 70-year-old floodgate sitting between the high river Waters of the Mississippi and WBR
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:36 pm
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:36 pm

What kind of damage could we expect if this thing failed—flooding homes, businesses, and refineries?
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:41 pm to Joev1
It's a Navigation Lock not a floodgate. It would flow into the Atchafalaya Spillway which would already have high water levels.
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:42 pm to Joev1
My first thought is it would end up being a bigger problem further South and potentially flood out low lying places like Bayou Sorrel, Pierre Part, etc.
If it happened, I bet it’d be “relatively” easy to plug. Unlike a levee breach where the whole thing is just eroding and getting bigger as you try to plug it up.
If it happened, I bet it’d be “relatively” easy to plug. Unlike a levee breach where the whole thing is just eroding and getting bigger as you try to plug it up.
This post was edited on 6/5/25 at 12:43 pm
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:43 pm to Trout Bandit
So the land along the intercoastal would be unaffected?
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:45 pm to Joev1
Reminds me I need to get over to Morley's Marina one of these weekends.

Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:47 pm to Shexter
they had one similar down in Plaquemine no longer in use
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:48 pm to Joev1
quote:
What kind of damage could we expect if this thing failed
The loop would get delayed by another decade
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:48 pm to Joev1
quote:
It's a Navigation Lock not a floodgate.
quote:
So the land along the intercoastal would be unaffected?
yes. I'd assume you'd have some minor flooding , but it wouldn't wash away Brusly or Addis. Water is flowing under it already.
This post was edited on 6/5/25 at 12:54 pm
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:51 pm to Joev1
Things were built better 70 years ago
Posted on 6/5/25 at 12:57 pm to Joev1
Crawfish prices would rocket to the moon
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:07 pm to Joev1
quote:
A 70-year-old floodgate sitting between the high river Waters of the Mississippi and WBR
The Port Allen lock is nowhere near as risky or as vulnerable as the ORCS. I don't understand why there's not a redundant structure downstream from it now to act as a fail safe in case the ORCS was undermined.
If ORCS breaks, it would take years to fix if it could be repaired at all.
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:10 pm to Joev1
There is another set of gates that are currently open, hence the height of the water in the lock structure. If that gate failed, they would just close the other gate and cease operations until the gate is repaired.
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:15 pm to Joev1
quote:
floodgate
Lol!
They built quality floodgates 70 years ago. And wouldn’t both gates in the lock have to fail?
This post was edited on 6/5/25 at 1:16 pm
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:24 pm to Joev1
We refurbished that back in 2009. 1st time that it was de-watered in like 45 years or so. Corps of Engineers refurbished the gates and seals and we repaired and resealed all the joints. Crews worked 24 hrs a day for 30 days straight to get it done.



This post was edited on 6/5/25 at 1:28 pm
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:25 pm to SuperSaint
quote:Truth
Things were built better 70 years ago
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:27 pm to Joev1
how many floodgates like that exist along the Miss River in Louisiana?
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:29 pm to Trout Bandit
quote:
It's a Navigation Lock not a floodgate. It would flow into the Atchafalaya Spillway which would already have high water levels.
Yeah, there are a couple of place of potential concern on the Lower Mississippi (Old River stucture for one). This is probably prettty far from being one of them.
This post was edited on 6/5/25 at 1:31 pm
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:36 pm to Y.A. Tittle
This ^. If the Old River Structure fails a lot of people have a big problem
Posted on 6/5/25 at 1:52 pm to PANTHER
It will definitely be an oh shite moment.
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