Bayou Lafourche
Bayou Lafourche | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Louisiana |
Parishes | |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Mississippi River |
• location | Donaldsonville, Louisiana |
• coordinates | 30°6′N 91°0′W / 30.100°N 91.000°W |
Mouth | Gulf of Mexico |
• location | Between Timbalier Bay and Caminada Bay |
• coordinates | 29°N 90°W / 29°N 90°W |
Length | 106 miles (171 km) |
Basin features | |
Cities |
Bayou Lafourche (/ləˈfuːʃ/ lə-FOOSH[1]), originally called Chetimachas River[2] or La Fourche des Chetimaches,[3] (the fork of the Chitimacha), is a 106-mile-long (171 km)[4] bayou in southeastern Louisiana, United States, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The bayou is flanked by Louisiana Highway 1 on the west and Louisiana Highway 308 on the east, and is known as "the longest Main Street in the world."[5] It flows through parts of Ascension, Assumption, and Lafourche parishes. Today, approximately 300,000 Louisiana residents drink water drawn from the bayou.[6]
History
The name Lafourche is from the
It was formerly a Mississippi River outlet (distributary), but was dammed at Donaldsonville in 1905.[8] The dam cut off nourishment and replenishment of a huge wetland area of central Louisiana. It changed the formerly flowing bayou into a stagnant ditch.[9]
The Bollinger Shipyards, founded by Donald G. Bollinger, was launched on Bayou Lafourche in 1946.
On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Lafourche parish. Dam walls at the end of the bayou were closed to prevent a storm surge of salt water from entering.[10]
Mississippi River reintroduction
A long-term project to revitalize Bayou Lafourche with an increased flow of fresh water from the Mississippi River and halt the accelerated loss of land down the bayou is currently in progress.[11][12]
In 2016, Bayou Lafourche was
By 2025, a $96 million[13] pumping station is set to be completed in Donaldsonville, next to the original that was constructed in 1950. The new station will be able to pump three times the amount of fresh water from the Mississippi River than the original and, in turn, return the flow of water throughout the bayou during low tides.[14]
Crossings
From north to south, the following roads and railroads cross the bayou (almost all connecting
- Donaldsonville
- Union Pacific Railroad Livonia Subdivision in Donaldsonville
- Rondinaud Road in Donaldsonville
- LA 943
- Belle Rose
- LA 70
- Paincourtville
- LA 70 Spur
- Bridge Street at Plattenville
- Napoleonville
- former Texas and Pacific Railway (now open to non-motorized traffic)
- Napoleonville
- LA 1010 at Ingleside
- Supreme
- Labadieville
- St. John Bridge
- LA 3185
- Tiger Drive
- former railroad in Thibodaux
- LA 20(St. Patrick Street) in Thibodaux
- Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux
- Banker Drive (no motor vehicles) in Thibodaux
- Audubon Avenue
- LA 648
- Lafourche Crossing, Lafourche
- LA 649 (St. Charles Swing Bridge) at St. Charles
- Raceland Lift Span Bridge
- Raceland
- US 90
- former LA 364
- )
- Lockport
- LA 3220 (Bollinger Bridge)
- Valentine Bridge at Valentine
- T-Bois Bridge
- Former Larose
- Larose
- Larose
- Cut Off
- Galliano, southern terminus of LA-308
- Galliano
- Golden Meadow
- Gateway to the Gulf Expressway) at Leeville
In popular culture
The film Southern Comfort is set on Bayou Lafourche.
At the end of the novel Post Office by Charles Bukowski, protagonist Henry Chinaski quits his job at the Los Angeles post office to "pick up 10 or 20 grand for 3 months trapping at Bayou La Fourche. [...] Muskrats, nutria, mink, otter... coon. All I need is a pirogue."[15]
In The CW Network's supernatural-fantasy series, The Originals, the Bayou Lafourche is a major setting and has acted as the home of the Werewolf encampments for decades after the Vampires exiled them from the city of New Orleans.
In the film Hard Target, the lead character Chance Boudreaux, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Cajun from Bayou Lafourche in Southern Louisiana.
See also
References
- ^ "Bayou Lafourche (Part 1 of 4)". YouTube. December 5, 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Course Of The River Mississipi, from the Balise to Fort Chartres. Ross, Lieut. 1775" rumsey.geogarage.com
- ISBN 978-1-4184-5544-6.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 20, 2011
- ISBN 978-0-8071-3723-9.
- ^ "Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District". Retrieved 2014-07-18.
Serving the citizens of Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes for over 50 years
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Government Printing Office. pp. 179.
- ISBN 978-1-60344-632-7.
- ^ Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. "Bayou Lafourche Historical Marker".
- ^ "Hurricane Ida Makes Landfall as an 'Extremely Dangerous Major' Storm". The New York Times. August 30, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
- ^ "Mississippi River Reintroduction Into Bayou Lafourche (Deauthorized) (BA-25b)". Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act Program. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
- ISBN 978-0-08-093126-5.
- ^ AP staff. (23 October 2022). "Work Begins on New Pump Station on Bayou Lafourche". US New & World Report website Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- NOLA.com.
- OCLC 767984111.