The power of water!

Watching the water from the Mississippi River flow through  the Bonnet Carre Control Structure gave me a new meaning to the “power of water”.  On the River side of the structure the water  is calm yet coming out of the structure it looks like a fire hose on steroids.

Following the 1927 flood which was the greatest Louisiana  disaster until Hurricane Katrina, the Bonnet Carre Spillway Control Structure  was authorized to help protect the lower Mississippi River area, especially New  Orleans.  The structure opened in 1937
just in time for record floodwaters coming down the Mississippi.  When the Carrollton Gauge, in New Orleans,  registered 20 feet in January 1937, the spillway opened for the first time.  The spillway is opened every four to five  years to divert water from the New Orleans area.  The last time the bays were opened was April  2008.

By all accounts, the 2011 floodwater heading down the  Mississippi will be as bad, or worse than 1937.   To protect the New Orleans area, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began
pulling pins on May 9, 2011 and I viewed the structure on May 10, 2011.  On May 9^th, 28 of 350 bays were  open with an additional 44 bays opened on May 10th.  The Corps Member I spoke with said it is his understanding  that all bays would be opened.  Each bay  is made up of “needles” which look like railroad ties and have a large leather  strap by which they are pulled.  By lifting  the needles, the bays open and allow River water to flow through the spillway to  Lake Pontchartrain.  Once through the  bays the water travels six miles to reach the lake.

When the spillway is not flooded, it is a recreation  area.  The River Road passes through the  spillway and I have driven it many times.   Today all I could see were the utility poles that border the highway.  On Sunday, May 8^th, Mother’s Day,  there were families picnicking were water is now flowing.  Today instead of picnickers, there were
fishermen hoping to catch the “big one”.   I was told there was a huge catfish caught; unfortunately I did not see  the sight.

I have lived by the “Mighty Mississippi” all my life, and  most of the year it moves slowly by.  It is very peaceful to sit and watch the River flowing on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  Today, I watched in awe as the water passed through the bays of the  Bonnet Carre Control Structure.

Louisiana on Dwellable