Another river thread: Is it possible for the river to reroute through the Bonnet Carre'?

The purpose of the spillway is to reroute the river due to high water levels so the obvious answer is yes??

I sense sarcasm. My question is wondering if the river can overtake the structure.

State of Mississippi gonna be pissed when they find out about this

Absolutely not. The River has been trying for 100 years to reroute through the Atchafalaya basin. This will happen long before a minor shortcut through the Bonnie Cary spillway happens.

The Bonnet Carrie Spillway was built at or near one of the historical crevasses. So a portion of it's flow went that way at least once prior to Spillway construction. But that was strictly a high water event. At low water, I believe it would keep on following it's established channel.

It's not like the Old River Control Structure where the Mississippi has tried to follow the course of least resistance and will continue to do so, unless something changes.(i.e. lowering the river bottom)

In my LA Geography class, Dr. Mueller claimed that the river changing course was a force of nature that could not be stopped..it is inevitable for it to revert back and ergo doom Morgan City.

A man with a very long investment horizon would do well to buy a thousand or so acres around Ferriday and sit back and wait.

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My question is wondering if the river can overtake the structure.

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It’ll blowout at Old River long before that. Then the Atchafalaya will be the way to the Gulf after you brave the Simmesport rapids.

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So why not build a new and improved river control structure behind (in front of?) it for when it inevitably fails?

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I would imagine this is the likely route we will go when it comes time.

It doesn't have the same sound of doom as saying the ORCS will fail.

It happened often in the 1800s. The last one stayed open for 9 years flowing through LaPlace.

Lora resources were exhausted when the levee broke in 1874, and the crevasse remained open for nine years until the Mississippi River Commission provided repair funds. Construction of the mainline levee system permanently closed in Bonnet Carre crevasse, and the spillway five miles south now relieves flood pressure in the area.