Atchafalaya River

Mile 314.6 - RBD Main Intake -- Old River Control Structure

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026

314.6 RBD Main Intake -- Old River Control Structure

This is the original gate built in 1963 to “keep the Mississippi in its place,” and was almost washed a decade later, in 1973, by floods that scoured deep holes around its monumental concrete & steel footings. The auxiliary channel was built following this near disaster to help distribute the water more evenly during future floods, an add-on that seemed to work well during the 2011 flood.

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