Jerry Rapp, P.E. Hydrologic Hydraulics Branch
POC - Water Control Office 314-331-8342 800-432-1208
Project Description: From River Mile (R.M.) 7.0 above the confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, to R.M. 24.0, the Mississippi River flows in a broad sweeping reverse curve. The distance is about 17 river miles; the average gradient is about ½ foot per mile. The narrowest distance across the neck of the large meander loop, an agriculturally rich 10,000-acre land mass known as Dry Bayou-Thompson Bend, is just 1 ¼ miles. Given the close proximity of the confluence, flooding across this area is incredibly erratic.The River can run virtually backward – a high Ohio River backing up a low Mississippi. Or it can be viciously swift – a high Mississippi rushing to a low Ohio. The Great Flood of 1993 presented the worst example of the latter scenario. With a 14-16 foot gradient across the narrow neck of alluvial floodplain, massive erosion and scour could potentially destroy thousands of acres of valuable farmland, create a disastrous Bendway Cutoff, and erode a section of the Commerce/Birds Point Mainline Federal Mississippi Rivers and Tributaries (MR&T) Levee................click here to read the rest of the description.....
Project location, click image for full size view
Project location in more detail, click image for full size view
A slide presentation can be accessed by clicking below. It gives a brief synopsis of the project from the early 1980's when the cut-off Iormation began through the late 1990's. View Slide Show Here.