- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
1
Posted on 2/23/19 at 12:11 pm to JudgeHolden
Maybe, but also not dumping all the land making material off the shelf seems like a winning strategy over time.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 12:39 pm to WeeWee
I was on the ORCS in 1973 and 2011. If you ever go to the area during flood and understand what you are looking at you will see why the river will change course one day. As someone mentioned read some of James Eads works. That man walked the bottom of most of the river. Read up and on “ avulsion “. It will explain everything. Go see the place during a big flood. There is not much holding a lot of water back. Standing at the hydroelectric facility you can see the grade down the Atchafalaya. I carried a five man life raft in my truck when I was up there in 2011. 
Posted on 2/23/19 at 12:48 pm to Duke
Was a typical practice way back in the day, before the levee system was regulated
Posted on 2/23/19 at 1:49 pm to JudgeHolden
quote:
When they opened the Morganza the last time, they put out a map predicting water levels in the spillway. It wildly overstated the flooding.
That was due to the ground being so dry it absorbed a tremendous amount of the water. This time the ground is already saturated
Posted on 2/23/19 at 2:56 pm to LSUBoo
quote:
North BR is generally higher ground.
Makes sense, since most of the residents there can’t swim
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:10 pm to doubleb
quote:
Could levees upriver of the control structure break?
The levee system was in the process of being strengthened during the flood of 2011. They did not break during 2011 and the levees are even stronger now. The roads and land next to levees are patrolled by game wardens and state troopers to keep someone from trying to blow a hole in the levee. Yes it is possible the levees could break, but it is highly unlikely.
quote:
What relieves pressure from those levees.
Opening the BCS and Morganza spillway diverts water away from NOLA and BR. They also increase the amount of water leaving the MS RIver which relieves the pressure on the levees upstream from the spillways. There also multiple places along the river where the river bends and the corps can cut the levees and flood nothing but farmland to relieve pressure on the levees upstream of the cuts.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:14 pm to TDsngumbo
Levees would be dynamited downriver to save Baton Rouge.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:21 pm to TDsngumbo
You'll never have only a 4 foot section wash out. Once it starts, it will wash out a large area. My parents told me they would post guards on the levee when back in the 30's and 40's so no one on the other side would start a break. Self policing the levee back then when it got to flood levels.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:27 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
It's not so much the direct pressure on the levee as the undermining. There are sandboils up and down the river in high water. One of those could hypothetically weaken a levee to the point of collapse
Which is why the levees are closed to the public and patrolled constantly to find and identify a sandboil before it gets to the point of threatening the levees. If a sandboil gets big enough to the point where it might threaten a levee then corps will do a controlled breech downstream of the boil and relieve the pressure on the boil. For example, there was a sandboil close to some of the land that my family farmed in Madison Parish in 2011. The corp found it and then they would not even let anyone within a mile of the levee. My brother could not even plant some of his fields until after the river dropped below flood stage. The corp also cut a hole in the levee in Tensas Parish and flooded some farm land but there was a secondary a secondary levee and the geography of the area prevented the main levee from bursting in a place where there would be a catastrophic break.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:29 pm to NYNolaguy1
quote:
relieve head pressure
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:36 pm to TDsngumbo
quote:
I'm genuinely curious what happens if the forecast crest of 43' in BR occurs (which we have every reason to believe it will and this is by no means record levels) and then a 4' section of levee washes away sometime over night due to the increased pressure on the levee at a time when it's saturated from heavy rain since November. Where would all that water spread out to?
If that were to happen (and it's a big "if" due to all sorts of factors), the first thing that would probably occur would be for the Corps to open the frick out of ORCS to relieve some of the pressure, possibly the Bonnet Carre as well.
In the meantime what we would see would probably have some aspects of the 2016 flood backflow issues (both here and in North La) where effected tributaries would actually flow north as southern flow rates reached their limit.
The extent of how far the waters would go in any direction would depend on how long it took emergency personnel to contain the flow and where the breach happened.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 4:56 pm to cave canem
quote:
The manipulation goes back much farther than that, the problems started when Capt. Shreve cut off Turnbulls bend and goes from there.
For those who continue to insist that somehow both BR and NO will be cut off if water is allowed to freely flow down the Atchafalaya please take note that the river did exactly that for some 500 years.
Nearly every single flowing body of water between US hwy 49 in MS and US hwy 165 in LA was a dis-tributary of the MS during high water in recent history, we caged it with levees making the monster what it is today.
The levees and structures are not protecting us from higher floods, they are the cause of them
We have spent the last 150 years trying to bend the river to our economic advantage and there will be a price to pay for this.
Correct. That is why the plantation houses built before the war of northern aggression are built above ground. The river would flood and then it would recede. People used canoes to get around until then. Of course that is not practical in today's modern age do we have to build levees to keep the river in place for navigation.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 5:08 pm to cave canem
quote:
In 2019 you are most likely correct, over the next 50 years I have my doubts your statement will hold up.
Using absolutes when dealing with mother nature is a fools errand.
I was only talking about 2019. I have no idea what will happen in 2069 but hopefully we all have hovercrafts by then and people will stop building houses and buildings on slabs at ground level. Like you said earlier almost everything between the Yazoo River and the Ouachita River and from Memphis to Venice La is in a floodplain of some kind.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 5:49 pm to WeeWee
In a last ditch effort to keep St. A George from voting Together Baton Rouge will probably blow the levee.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 8:39 pm to WeeWee
quote:
but hopefully we all have hovercrafts
As a kid of the 70's everyone thought it would happen by 2000.
Posted on 2/23/19 at 8:51 pm to WeeWee
quote:.
The levee system was in the process of being strengthened during the flood of 2011
We are not strengthening them per se we are reacting to a problem they cause, they are no stronger in relation to the forces than they were before, we are just adding to the pressure load.
When do we stop and how high do you think they can be built?
FYI before the levee war started all that was needed to protect NO was a 4 ft berm
ETA some good basic info here
This post was edited on 2/23/19 at 9:07 pm
Posted on 2/23/19 at 8:58 pm to cave canem
quote:
cave canem
whats your deal? you like a civil engineer professor or something? Or are you just a huge nerd about the levee system? Kinda bizarre for someone to seem to know so much about them without being in the "business".
Posted on 2/23/19 at 9:25 pm to Chuker
quote:
whats your deal? you like a civil engineer professor or something? Or are you just a huge nerd about the levee system? Kinda bizarre for someone to seem to know so much about them without being in the "business".
Was forced by the ACE to breach a levee on the family farm and did LOTS of research on the subject in a failed attempt to fight them on it.
While doing this I found James Eads fascinating and have read most of his work.
Add that to this week I am bored and halfway around the world and you get these post
This post was edited on 2/23/19 at 9:27 pm
Posted on 2/23/19 at 9:41 pm to cave canem
quote:
FYI before the levee war started all that was needed to protect NO was a 4 ft berm.
Of course the guys who started building the 4' berm were Iberville and Bienville, so it isn't like flooding is a new problem.
The site for the city was selected because it was relatively high ground. It was also a much smaller footprint for the first 80 or 100 years. A berm on the north side was sufficient to prevent most flooding from the "back of town" side. 300 years later, we're still building levees, and we'll be building levees 300 years from now.
Anyone with any sense recognizes that levee building is not without it's problems, but what's the alternative? Do you propose abandoning all development near the river south of Memphis? What's your solution?
Page 12 of 107
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News