Project design flood
The project design flood is a hypothetical "maximum probable" flood of the
The current project design flood was developed in 1956 by the
Once the project design flood was developed, flow rates at critical points are used to determine how high levees need to be, how deep the dredging needs to be, and the flowrates at which flood control structures need to be used.
1928 project design flood
In response to the
Adding the flows of the
1941 project design flood
The Ohio River flood of 1937 caused the flood stage at Cairo to reach 59.5 feet (18.1 m) despite a flow of only 2,100,000 cubic feet per second (59,000 m3/s).[1] In response, the United States Congress ordered the MR&T to review of the flood control plan. Maximum flows were changed to 2,600,000 cubic feet per second (74,000 m3/s) at Cairo, 3,065,000 cubic feet per second (86,800 m3/s) at Arkansas City with the White River backwater area levee overtopped, and Red River Landing unchanged at 3,000,000 cubic feet per second (85,000 m3/s).
Current project design flood
The current project design flood was developed at the request of the
After the
Location | River | Flow (ft³/s)[2] |
Flow (m3/s) |
100 year Flood Stage[4] |
---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis, Missouri | Mississippi R. | 150,000 | 4247 | |
St. Louis | Missouri R. | 100,000 | 2832 | |
Paducah, Kentucky | Ohio R. | 1,760,000 | 49,838 | |
Paducah | Tennessee R. | 490,000 | 13,875 | |
Cairo, Illinois | Mississippi R. | 240,000 | 6796 | 63.2 ft. |
Cairo | Ohio R. | 2,250,000 | 63,713 | |
Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway | 550,000 | 15,574 | ||
New Madrid, Missouri | Mississippi R. | 1,810,000 | 51,253 | |
Memphis, Tennessee | Mississippi R. | 2,410,000 | 68,244 | 53.9 ft |
Greenville, Mississippi | Mississippi R. | 2,890,000 | 81,836 | |
Vicksburg, Mississippi | Mississippi R. | 2,710,000 | 76,739 | |
Natchez, Mississippi | Mississippi R. | 2,720,000 | 77,022 | |
Old River Control Structure | 620,000 | 17,556 | ||
Red River Landing, Louisiana | Mississippi R. | 2,100,000 | 59,465 | |
Morganza Floodway
|
600,000 | 16,990 | ||
Baton Rouge, Louisiana | Mississippi R. | 1,500,000 | 42,4755 | |
Bonnet Carre Spillway
|
250,000 | 7079 | ||
New Orleans, Louisiana | Mississippi R. | 1,250,000 | 35,396 | |
Atchafalaya Wax Lake Outlet | 440,000 | 12,459 | ||
Morgan City, Louisiana | Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway | 1,060,000 | 30,0165 |
See also
- Mississippi River floods
- Bonnet Carre Spillway
References
- ^ a b c d "The Mississippi River & Tributaries Project: Controlling the Project Flood" (PDF), United States Army Corps of Engineers, April 2008, retrieved 2023-02-19
- ^ a b "MR&T PROJECT" (PDF), MISSISSIPPI RIVER & TRIBUTARIES PROJECT, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, February 2011, retrieved 2023-02-19
- OCLC 42652759.
- ^ "Controlling the Project Flood" (PDF), The Mississippi River and Tributaries Project, 2007, retrieved 2012-01-10
Further reading
- McWilliams, Charles D.; Hayes, George W. (2015). "Comparison of the 2011 Mississippi River Flood to the MR-T Project Design Flood". Journal of Hydrologic Engineering. 22 (5): E5015002. ISSN 1084-0699.
- Camillo, Charles A. (2012). Divine Providence: The 2011 Flood in the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project. US Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District. Retrieved 2015-12-16.