Blue Sky – Calm Water | Travel With Cajunville

As Laurie marveled at the quiet of the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway today, she remembered her view of the area in 2011 when the bays of the control structure were opened and the Mississippi River was gushing through.

Instead of flowing water, today there were people in the spillway biking, four wheeling, walking, and enjoying all sorts of outdoor activities. The blue skies, mild temperatures and dry weather had people thinking Spring and heading outdoors.

Traveling to New Orleans, we usually drive either the I-10 or Highway 61, but today we decided to travel the River Road from Reserve, LA into New Orleans. The River Road passes through the Bonnet Carre’ Spillway and is an enjoyable drive viewing the control structure on one side and the outdoor recreation area on the other. The spillway, 30 miles upriver from New Orleans, was designed after the 1927 “Great Flood” to divert water from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. The control structure is 7,700 feet long and contains 350 bays. The bays are made of timber and are removed and closed by using an electric crane on a narrow gauge track. When all bays are opened, 250,000 cubic feet of water can be diverted every second.

When the Mississippi begins to swell in the spring and the treacherous river threatens to overflow it banks, break levees, even change course, everyone takes it seriously. But today, where water flowed in May 2011 to help relieve the pressure, we had a pleasurable drive and sightseeing excursion.