Mile 132.9 - LBD Bonnet Carre Crevasse

132.9 LBD Bonnet Carre Crevasse

The east bank of the Lower Mississippi, opposite Bonnet Carre Point, was an area where it seemed almost impossible to construct a levee that could withstand a major flood. Levees had crumbled in the area many times, and when the flood of 1850 came along, it opened up a crevasse that was more than a mile wide. Water flowed through it for more than six months. The crevasse was closed, and in 1859, another break occurred in the same area. It, too, was almost a mile wide. By the time the flood of 1871 occurred, local interests had succeeded in closing the wide gap again, but the flood brought a new crevasse. In 1874 another major flood broke the levee again, and the local people and the State of Louisiana gave up in despair. Bonnet Carre Crevasse would have to remain open until some kind of outside assistance could be obtained for the difficult and costly repairs. It was closed in 1883 with funds provided by the Mississippi River Commission. It had been proposed, some time before the Civil War, that the Bonnet Carre Crevasse area be permanently opened to serve as an outlet for the flood waters on the Lower Mississippi. Engineers were dubious about the wisdom of the plan, fearing that the outlet would enlarge (as natural outlets had done so often) and create new problems. By the mid-1920's modern equipment and new skills made the plan feasible, but the crevasse itself was not chosen as the most suitable location. The mainline levee system permanently closed the crevasse, and the spillway was constructed about five miles south of the old levee break. (Braggs)