re: hypothetical question about the current state of the river?

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first of all I want to make a point of saying there should be no reason why a vessel like this should be going up river right at the state it's in

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certainly not one with a name like that. ship trouble comes in v's. just ask alaska

Those ships don't affect the water level much at all. The elements that the pilots are dealing with aren't as crazy as they seem in reference to affecting the navigation methods. The river is moving faster, which is why southbound ships are only allowed to travel during the day right now, but they can just run the engines at half-ahead which will make it just as if they are moving full-speed during normal stages. They are completely utilizing all of the tug boats out there to stabilize ships on docks and help turn them in or out. Finally, any ship that is sitting in anchorage and only being held still by their own anchors, are requiring a pilot on board at all times just in case it got loose.

I am a civil engineer that works on levees. The weight and volume of the boat don't really make a difference. The thing that causes problems is the wake of the boat. If the wake of the boat goes over the levee and runs down the back side, it will start to erode the levee. Thisnis what happened to the levees during Katrina.