Our Mississippi is a quarterly 

newsletter of the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers about its work 

in the Mississippi River Basin. It is 

published in cooperation with other 

state and federal agencies and other 

river interests with whom the Corps 

collaborates and partners toward 

long-term sustainability of the economic uses and ecological integrity 

of the river system.

DECEMBER ’14

Continued on page 2 >>

Advancing the nation’s Mississippi River IQ

The Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program adds new research 

to the river knowledge base, science that will drive future river management. 

It may not be true, as some have suggested, that we 

“know more about the moon than the Mississippi River.” But 

the storied waterway still holds many scientific and geologic mysteries key to managing 

this, “America’s Father of Waters,” as both a 

nationally significant ecosystem and nationally 

significant commercial navigation system.

The Mississippi River is the largest navigable 

river system on Earth. It is a huge national 

economic engine; it moves some of the greatest 

floods imaginable; it supplies water and recreation for millions of Americans; and it is an unmatched environmental treasure. Yet, scientists 

know so little of the river’s processes and characteristics. How does the river evolve over time? 

What is its sediment distribution? What are the 

best enhancements for threatened and endangered species? 

And how can we work in conjunction with natural processes in a 

system-wide plan that serves man and nature? 

“This vital river is one of the most complex systems in the 

world,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr, commander of the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division. “Yet we 

have a large knowledge gap in our understanding of the major 

ingredients in this national asset—sediments, water, the environment. We need to close the knowledge gap to help us learn 

how to better manage the river as we face future challenges.”

New River Research

In 2013, the Corps of Engineers initiated the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program to address this 

knowledge shortfall. This new program involves such things 

as geomorphic assessments, or studies of ways sediment falls 

and builds and how various proposed river diversion projects 

would affect that; system-wide sampling and modeling efforts; and studies (called ecohydrology) of ways physical and 

biological processes are integrated.

Sediment transport models are being improved, new 

geomorphic assessment tools are under development, and 

Maj. Gen. Wehr

LANDSCAPE: GAYLE HARPER.

The Mississippi River near the Trail of Tears State Park 

at Cape Girardeau, Mo. Photo by Gayle Harper from 

the new Roadtrip with a Raindrop: 90 Days Along 

the Mississippi River. gayleharper.com
2

multi-disciplined engineering and scientific teams are working in conjunction 

on ground-breaking technologies on projects throughout the basin. 

“We’re up to 30 to 35 projects, and this is just the beginning,” says Dr. Barb 

Kleiss, Technical Director of the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program. “We’re looking to develop this program into a permanent 

part of the division to provide science and engineering support for all management decisions within the Mississippi River and Tributaries project. Everything is for the single goal of answering scientific or engineering questions 

that are beyond just one single project but affect multiple projects over a large 

geographic area and help us manage the river better for multiple purposes.”

The Army conducted some of the earliest monitoring and investigation studies of the river in the early 1800s. Most of these historical efforts were focused 

on site-specific locations, but the data provides a knowledge base that’s still 

of value today. Unfortunately for consistency purposes, funding ebbed and 

flowed much like the river’s flows.

Mr. Edward Belk, who is currently the Director of Programs for the Mississippi Valley Division and Mississippi River Commission, spent the formative 

years of his Corps professional career working on and with the Mississippi 

River, including serving as Chief of River Engineering in Memphis District. 

This river background has made him a particularly passionate supporter of the 

Mississippi River Channel Improvement and Geomorphology and Potamology 

programs. He notes that most Mississippi River programs, improvement initiatives and investment priorities have historically come in response to major 

flood events on the river.

The epic 1927 river flood, for example, led to the creation of the 1928 

Mississippi River and Tributaries Project that ultimately fostered most of the 

modern-day Corps river projects and includes components still in use today. 

In addition to levees and other flood risk reduction efforts, this project also 

constructed meander cutoffs that shortened and straightened the main river 

channel by more than 150 miles between just south of Memphis, Tenn., to 

south of Natchez, Miss.

“These cutoffs were implemented in the 1930s and 1940s,” Belk said. “Believe it or not, the river is still responding to those cutoffs 75 years later.”

The Corps was a leader in Mississippi River research from the 1930s well into 

the 1980s, using field studies, sampling efforts, and physical hydraulic models. 

But there were always spikes in funding and interest, usually tied to intermittent major flood events, such as the Old River Control studies in the 1950s and 

the 1973 flood. The Mississippi River became a dormant giant in the 1980s 

with relatively stable average flows and fewer major floods on the main river 

channel, and the nation and the Corps became complacent on river issues.

That changed dramatically in 2011 when an epic flood exceeded historic 

levels, pushing Corps projects to their limits and shaking up the status quo in 

river knowledge. 

“The 2011 flood was a wake-up call,” said Belk. “While the record flood flows 

were passed relatively safely throughout the valley, we were faced with some 

problem areas and flood response questions we couldn’t readily answer. More 

importantly, we discovered that we had quietly lost nearly a generation of river 

experts with potamology expertise. Many of the long time ‘go-to’ guys with the 

most river expertise were no longer around.”

Modern Research 

The Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program focuses on 

advancing river knowledge in several major areas. This research is pulling information together on the sediment budgets of the middle and lower river and 

the Missouri River, river gauge analyses, dredging records analyses and other 

data for regional and basin-wide use.

The program also supports and informs the Mississippi River Commission, 

the Presidentially-appointed commission that has provided the Corps with engineering direction and policy advice on Mississipi River programs since 1879. 

Dr. Norma Jean Mattei, a Commissioner and a Professor of Engineering at the 

University of New Orleans, recognizes the importance of this effort. She noted: 

“Any increased understanding of the geomorphic and hydrodynamic characteristics of the river helps the commission provide good advice to the Corps of 

Engineers and to help prioritize future expenditures. It also helps us focus the 

best available technologies and brightest professionals on this national effort.”

Technology transfer benefits are another major benefit of this research 

thrust. An ever-growing number of historic river potamology reports are being 

digitized and posted to a new web site (www.mvd.usace.army.mil/mrgp)

for easy access by governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, river 

partners and the public.

Senior Project Manager Freddie Pinkard from Vicksburg District commented: “What may very well turn out to be the most important Mississippi 

River Geomorphology and Potamology Program product revolves around 

people. A key project thrust is fostering and mentoring new river engineers 

and scientists to ensure that historical information and emerging technologies 

are carried forward and that there will no longer be that missing gap in river 

knowledge and understanding.”

Adds Wehr: “The Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program is already providing technologies and expertise that is aiding current river 

projects and will be particularly important to meet new challenges like changing climate. We are using this new-found energy and focus to 

expand our knowledge and understanding. We’re seeing immediate benefits in navigation, flood risk reduction and most 

importantly, environmental projects. We’re excited about the 

ongoing potential for this great river and the nation.” —W.S.

More: 

www.mvd.

usace.army.

mil/mrgp

Top, left and center: Research teams integrate research on ecosystem needs and 

river flows at Island 63, an innovative project site. TOP right: This scale model of 

Mississippi River Lock and Dam 26 was built in the early 1970s for research efforts. 

Above: Corps leaders and members of the Mississippi River Commission, left to 

right: Dr. Jarrell Smith, the Hon. Dr. Norma Jean Mattei, Mr. Tom Holden, Dr. Barb 

Kleiss, Mr. Jose Sanchez, Mr. Edward Belk, the Hon. Sam Angel and the Hon. R.D. 

James check out some ongoing research at the Army Corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss.

“More importantly, we discovered that we had quietly lost nearly a generation of river experts with potamology expertise. 

Many of the long time ‘go-to’ guys with the most experience were no longer around.” —Mr. Edward Belk
ourmississippi.org 3

GEOMORPHOLOGY

& Potamology

A team effort

The record 2011 Mississippi River flood 

fostered a renewed interest in river knowledge to advance understanding of the 

complex natural and man-made processes that impact the Mississippi River.

Out of that came the Mississippi River 

& Tributaries Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program, 

designed to address science and engineering issues necessary to best manage 

the Mississippi River for its many, varied 

purposes, including navigation, flood 

risk reduction and protection of its rich 

ecosystem. A team of experts has been 

selected from each of the four lower districts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 

Mississippi Valley Division. Team members 

share the perspective and specific needs 

of the river reach within their respective 

district and also help to understand the 

river as a system. 

The management team includes Dr. 

Barb Kleiss, Technical Director; Freddie 

Pinkard, Senior Project Manager and Vicksburg District 

representative; Eddie Brauer, St. Louis District representative; Dr. Andy Gaines, Memphis District representative; 

and Steve Ayres, New Orleans District representative.

The heart of the program staff lies well beyond the 

management team, though, 

says Kleiss. One major program emphasis is to mentor 

young scientists and engineers and introduce them to 

potamology as a scientific 

field option. Each district has 

been required to supply a 

young engineer or scientist 

for field work, and young 

engineers have been paired 

with older employees as service mentors. 

“After the last flood, we 

realized a lot of our potamologists had retired; this is one 

way we’re trying to address 

that.” —K.S.

Learning from the Mississippi’s might 

As the most forceful floodwaters in the history of the lower Mississippi River 

raged into Northern Tennessee in Spring 2011, floodwaters crashed through a private levee 

near Tiptonville and sought a new, straighter connection to the other side of a river bend.

The damage wasn’t limited to the once fertile farmlands that suddenly contained an 80-foot 

deep gorge, almost a mile long. The river’s potential new path also threatened some $60 million 

in channel improvements already completed to maintain a river channel that 

meandered in a nine-mile curve.

Left to its own devices, the river’s 

new path at what’s known as the 

Merriwether-Cherokee Bend could 

additionally have serious implications 

both upstream and downstream, says 

Dr. Andy Gaines, a Memphis District 

research civil engineer and regional 

technical specialist for the Mississippi Valley Division. Those implications, here and elsewhere 

on the river, are the subject of a new Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program research study. 

“The river always operates in a cause/effect relationship,” said Gaines, the lead for the Merriwether-Cherokee study and a member of the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program’s management team. “If one reach is changed, you can expect change elsewhere. 

If a cutoff is formed, it would change reach dynamics in a way that could potentially affect our 

flood risk management, navigation and environmental responsibilities.”

Forecasting the future 

Immediately following the levee break, the Corps of Engineers repaired damage in the main area of 

break. That will offer protection in times of regular flow, Gaines notes, but not in times of flooding. 

Then, the river as it flows down from further upstream will likely be split into two directions, some 

of it heading into the new channel and other flows continuing around the meandering bend. 

More sediment will likely be deposited in the current navigation channel because there is less 

water to keep it moving, he said. That puts at risk features established to maintain navigation, 

such as revetments and training structures that helped to train eroding sediments and keep a 

predictable water highway. 

Other potential impacts of the new river condition formed by the levee break, study documents say, include navigation “outdraft” conditions, or currents that dangerously sweep tow 

boats and barges toward an embankment; increased need for dredging; potential hydrodynamic changes that could threaten the mainline Mississippi River levee in addition to endangering those existing channel improvement features; some $18.5 million in post-flood crevasse 

repairs; and $9.5 million in planned repairs.

A geomorphology and potamology study by definition requires you to step back and look at a 

larger picture over time, Gaines said. The team will do that, looking at whether there’s anything 

atypical about this particular river reach (for example, a structural feature that no longer exists). Researchers will employ several models to help assess how quickly a cutoff channel might 

develop as well as changes in sediment volume, long-term deposition and erosion.

By summer 2015, the scheduled study completion timeframe, researchers expect to be able 

to make recommendations on future action at the river reach, Gaines said. Further protecting 

the failed private levee is one option being explored, as is further degrading it and spreading 

the river flood energy over a wider reach. Other potential solutions are also being explored.

“There is a significant investment in the river as it is today,” he said. “The Geomorphology 

and Potamology study will enable the team to make recommendations on how to achieve the 

most viable solution.” —K.S.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

spent $60 million shoring up 

one of the Mississippi River’s 

meandering pathways, and then 

the river carved itself a shortcut. 

Now what?

BEFORE FLOOD ABOUT A YEAR POST-FLOOD 2014

Kleiss

Pinkard

Brauer

Gaines

Ayres

Geomorphology and 

Potamology

DEFINITIONS

• Potamology: the study of rivers

• Geomorphology: the study of 

the physical features of the 

surface of the earth and their 

relation to its geology

Study Highlights

• Potamology includes the 

hydraulic, physical, chemical 

and biological aspects of rivers. 

• Flood-risk reduction projects, 

based on potamology input, 

have saved billions of dollars in 

potential damages. 

• Mississippi River environmental and ecosystem restoration 

projects rely heavily on potamology data. 

• USACE has conducted potamology studies since the early 1800s; 

a vast amount of data in many 

locations need to be utilized. 

• Reinvestment in a USACE 

potamology program will grow 

expertise and knowledge that 

will have national implications. 

RIGHT: Scour and bankline erosion at 

Merriwether-Cherokee Bend. During 

flooding, the river attempted to straighten 

the bend and create a new channel. Repairs 

recreated the protective shoreline where 

the river scoured out the previous bank, 

creating a huge opening. 
4

“Inter-” is the overarching element for the Island 63 study. These key words describe an innovative project through which an interdisciplinary team of 

river engineers, biologists, scientists and other experts are working as one team across organizational and professional lines to determine how a pristine habitat is closely intertwined with the river’s various flows. Technologies developed at Island 63 will be applied up and down the lower Mississippi 

River to enhance management strategies and to improve knowledge of the river’s impacts and importance to the environment.

The wild and scenic Island 63 is located at river mile 639, roughly 12 miles northwest of Clarksdale, Miss. The study area includes thousands of acres 

of floodplain between the main river channel and the river levee along a 35- to 40-mile reach of the river. Island 63’s secondary channels, chutes, scour 

holes, lakes and borrow pits are greatly dependent on and impacted by variations of the Mississippi River. Floods can inundate the entire area; low 

river stages leave the woodlands dry except for the area’s numerous water bodies.

But while Island 63 is a productive habitat for many diverse animal and fisheries communities, human activities and river operations have greatly 

influenced water flow, sediment transport and habitat complexity. That all comes together to make this the perfect pilot for this two-year initial, interdisciplinary effort, to see how it can all continue to thrive together. 

Geomorphology

Charlie Little, a research hydraulic engineer at 

the Army Corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center, is the co-lead for the Island 

63 geomorphic assessment. This covers all the 

natural and man-made impacts on the geology 

and water flows in the main river channel and 

the backwater areas in the vicinity of Island 63.

“We are studying the geomorphic and hydraulic connections of the Mississippi River to all 

the water bodies in and around Island 63 at all 

river stages,” he said. “This includes monitoring 

and determining the characteristics that impact 

the fisheries.”

The team installed temporary gauges at various locations to monitor connectivity between 

the river and Island 63 water bodies. This will 

determine how water moves through the entire 

area including frequency, timing and volume.

“The new Mississippi River Geomorphology 

and Potamology Program is focused on the 

entire lower river, looking at changes in river 

channel alignment, depth and width; sediment 

load and diversity; and river stages and other 

factors. 

“We use the data to determine what the river 

has gone through, how it is today and what to 

expect in the future,” said Little.

As part of the Island 63 geomorphology assessment, the team has historic river data and 

readings dating back to 1915 to determine river 

changes and trends. 

For example, from just south of Memphis, Tenn. 

to south of Natchez, Miss., river cutoffs shortened 

the original meandering river channel by more 

than 150 miles. While improving navigation and 

reducing flood heights, the river is still responding to these cutoffs by cutting or deepening its 

channel to adjust for the changes in slope as 

water flows to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Ecohydrology

The ecohydrology study is an ecological assessment focused on relating the diversity of the 

Island 63 habitats to the hydrology of the river. 

That includes how the various river flows connect 

the main channel to the backwater areas and how 

this connectivity influences habitat diversity and 

the ability of fish to spawn and rear their young.

Dr. Jack Killgore, a Research Fisheries Biologist at the Engineer Research and Development 

Center and team leader for the ecohydrology 

effort, is managing a wide range of sampling 

activities and habitat analyses.

“No one ever put together a joint effort 

like this,” said Killgore. “The Mississippi River 

Geomorphology and Potamology Program is 

making this happen. This is a whole new opportunity for a comprehensive, holistic effort.”

As part of its research, the team uses baited 

lines and various nets to sample large fish. 

Adult fish are measured then marked with external tags and released. Floating light traps are 

used to collect larval fish and aquatic invertebrates. Juvenile and larval fishes and the invertebrates are preserved and transported back 

to the laboratory for analysis, and a statistics 

package is used to collect and analyze the data. 

Findings help determine which environments 

are most conducive to good habitat. 

“We are developing guidance that will be 

useful on the entire lower Mississippi,” said 

Killgore. “There are more than 10 river cutoffs 

that still have connections to the river that are 

unimpeded by levees. These important cutoff 

areas still function as a natural part of the river.

“We have a whole generation of new 

biologists that are growing up with new river 

engineers. The future looks great for Mississippi 

River projects from an interdisciplinary 

standpoint.”

Numerical Modeling

The final piece, numerical modeling, is at a very 

early stage. Expected completion is 2015 for the 

effort connecting the river hydrodynamics, sediment issues and environmental habitat, according to Dr. Andy Gaines, a research civil engineer 

and regional technical specialist with the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers’ Memphis District. 

This modeling effort has two major elements. 

One is focused on the interaction of the river 

and floodplain with the environment. The other 

element is supporting current and future operations to restore water flow in secondary river 

chutes and channels. 

“In 2006 a dike was notched at Island 63,” 

said Gaines. “How did the notch improve habitat 

conditions? How can the success at Island 63 

be applied elsewhere on the river?”

Over the last decade or so, Killgore’s fish 

teams identified the environmental habitat importance of secondary channels, smaller chutes 

and channels off the main river channel, for 

example. The lower Mississippi River has more 

than 750 rock dikes to enhance navigation and 

reduce dredging. However, these dikes accumulate sand and sediment, effectively blocking 

many secondary channels from vital river flow. 

Today, many dikes are notched with small cuts 

to allow water flow into secondary channels 

and backwater habitat areas, even during low 

river levels. 

Notes David Biedenharn, a 30-plus year veteran of Corps river studies, now the principal of a 

consulting firm specializing in river and potamology 

projects: “There has never been such a joint study 

on the lower Mississippi, so the focus here is on 

integrated science that can be applied elsewhere. 

Bringing all these interconnected things together 

is very important. How can we tweak navigation or 

flood projects for aquatic habitat improvement, for 

example? It is critical for the future of the river.”—w.s.

Mission Inclusive

Integrated science merges 

multiple river interests

Inter- pref. 1. Between or among 2. Mutually: together <interdisciplinary <interagency <intertwine <interactive 
ourmississippi.org 5

Credit

Far LEFt: Island 63 is a popular destination 

for local paddlers, illustrated by this photograph taken by the Quapaw Canoe Company, 

for the way environmental restoration efforts 

have led to a thriving aquatic wildlife population. Integration of various missions is key to 

the restoration success and various research 

projects. THIS PAGE, Top: Researchers complete 

survey work for a temporary gauge installation. 

Other teams (illustrated in the photos

with fish and nets) use trotlines, trawls, 

seines and traps to collect larval fish and aquatic 

invertebrates. The research on river flows, sediment, aquatic wildlife and more will be combined 

into models that will help river managers see 

how various improvements affected habitat and 

other conditions and could be applied elsewhere 

on the river.

“Our focus is integrated science that can be 

applied up and down the river and maybe 

other big river systems. We are trying to 

bring all of these interconnected things together: navigation, flood risk reduction and 

the environmental aspect.”

My Mississippi

Bill Lancaster, 63, Sunflower, Miss., 

Commercial/Research Fisherman 

“I started fishing full-time 

when I was about 35, and 

I’ve been fishing ever since.

In the spring or fall in the 

early ‘90s, I was coming out 

from fishing on the Sunflower River. When I got to 

the boat ramp, there was 

a group of people there 

getting ready to put boats 

in and go and sample fish. I 

had a boatload of fish, a lot 

of fish on the boat. They were really interested in some 

of the species I had, how I caught them and if I might 

be interested in collecting fish for them. That’s how my 

work with the Corps of Engineers got started.

“Probably the biggest contribution I’ve made to them 

is with the pallid sturgeon project on the Middle and 

Lower Mississippi River. I was catching a lot of sturgeon 

on trotlines at that time, and it just so happened there 

was a lot of interest in pallid and shovelnose sturgeon. 

It’s grown from that time on and it continues today. 

Each fish is tagged and weighed and released in hopes 

of recapture. There are a lot of population studies, seeing what’s out there. I was pretty familiar with the fish, 

and they learned a lot just by watching me, going out 

with me.”
6

Mississippi River potamology (the science of rivers) advances 

understanding of how natural and man-made factors combine 

to impact current and future flood damage reduction, navigation, and environmental and coastal wetland projects. Geomorphology—the geologic study of the configuration and evolution of 

land forms—covers processes such as sedimentation, river flows and hydraulics, man-made alterations like levees and dike fields, 

and the river’s reactions to those factors. Every day on the Mississippi River brings a notable discovery, but major dates in river 

potamology include:

Potamology Timeline

For historic reports

www.mvd.usace.army.mil/mrst

1717

First levee on the Mississippi 

River built by Europeans near 

New Orleans.

1817

First river discharge records are recorded by 

the Corps of Engineers. 

1822

Bernard and Totten 

Report, the first 

official U.S. survey 

of the Mississippi 

River.

1861

A. A. Humphreys and Henry L. Abbot 

complete the Report Upon the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi 

River, commonly referred to as the 

Delta Survey, which influenced flood 

control policy into the 20TH century. 

Since 1817, the Corps has intermittently collected vast amounts of data on the river, including 

hydrographic surveys, sediment sampling, velocity 

and current measurements, boring data, flow data, 

bed form data, geologic information, water surface 

slopes, and geomorphic assessments. 

1879

Creation of Mississippi River Commission by Congress to 

develop and oversee 

navigation and flood 

control plans on the 

Mississippi River. 

1927

The Great Mississippi Flood of 

1927 devastates 

the valley, driving 

legislative policy 

and engineering 

changes.

1946

The first official 

Corps “Potamology 

Investigations.”

1957

The Mississippi River Commission 

Potamology Board is established. 

71 reports were published 

under this program.

1962

The Corps Committee on Channel Stabilization 

is established. It sponsors studies of channel 

problems over the next decade.

1963

The Mississippi River 

Commission establishes 

a Potamology Research 

Branch to coordinate 

studies with the Potamology Board. Both ceased 

to function in the 1970s.

1973

The Mississippi River 

floods, producing 

river stages up to 

five feet higher than 

expected at some 

locations. 

1974

The 1973 flood drives new 

Corps potamology studies. 

This cast doubt on the previous stage-discharge relationships 

used to establish levee grades and other flood control projects, 

showing possible significant reduction in flood capacity.

The T-1 Potamology Study provides 

a “snapshot” of existing 1973 flood 

conditions; the P-1 reports define 

short- and long-term changes in the 

river’s stage-discharge relationships.

1995

The Corps establishes the Applied River 

Engineering Center with the intent to conduct applied river engineering studies. 

2011

The epic Mississippi 

River flood renews 

interest in potamology. 

Lessons learned and 

projects implemented 

based on 1940s–1980s 

potamology studies 

help pass the recordsetting 2011 flows. 

2013 and beyond

The Corps establishes the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology 

Program to advance river understanding and research, fund new technologies 

and interdisciplinary projects and mentor a new generation of river scientists 

and engineers. New studies are notably including environmental components 

in what traditionally focused on levees, locks and dams and channel alignment 

work; that includes a focus on environmental restoration, coastal land loss, 

water quality and supply (surface and aquifer), threatened and endangered 

species, recreation and invasive species. 
ourmississippi.org 7

Meet the river mapping pioneer

Artistic Fisk maps drive Mississippi River engineering for decades 

In 1944, Dr. Harold N. Fisk completed his revolutionary geological study of the Mississippi River 

Valley for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The backdrop for Fisk’s geologic study and the particularly artistic maps that resulted started 

around the 1930s, when the Corps recognized the intertwined relationship of geology with most engineering problems. Localized geological studies gave engineers a better understanding of the river’s 

behavior and insight for potential construction sites and materials. Building on this evolution, in 1941 

the Corps employed Fisk to conduct a comprehensive geological study of the entire alluvial valley of 

the lower Mississippi. Nothing of such magnitude had previously been attempted.

The Fisk study included a summary of the valley’s characteristics, chronology and analysis of the 

historical evolution of the river valley, characteristics of the alluvial plain and discussion of the river and 

its activities. The investigation provided a glimpse of not only the major factors that led to the establishment of the river’s modern course, but also factors that would shape the river’s future behavior.

Fisk’s team used detailed topographic maps, extensive use of aerial photography and historical accounts of the river valley—even narratives from Spanish explorers of the 16th century—to help identify 

abandoned courses of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Data from approximately 16,000 soil 

borings were incorporated as well. 

The report’s results would drive Mississippi River engineering for decades. The Fisk 44 study had 

a profound impact on the geological understanding of the Mississippi River valley and greatly influenced strategies to control the mighty river, including the massive Old River control complex in the 

1950s and 1960s.

The most impressive aspect of Fisk’s report were several volumes of colored, detailed topographical and geological maps that set a new standard for geological illustrations. These maps trace significant river course changes over the last 2,000 years, a very short period in geologic time. For instance, 

the river has taken at least three different routes through Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico; its present 

course through New Orleans dates only to around 650 years ago. 

The colorful Fisk maps are artistic wonders even today. Many fans and friends of the river frame 

matted Fisk maps for their beauty and relevance to America’s river. —W.S.

1928

The Mississippi River and Tributaries Project is 

enacted under the 1928 Flood Control Act. 

The MRT construction program includes levees, floodways and 

diversion structures, tributary basin improvements, and channel 

improvement features that are still used on the river today.

1932

The Corps initiates 

a channel rectification program to 

lower flood stages 

on the river.

By 1942, 16 such cutoffs would shorten 

the distance from Memphis to Vicksburg 

and reduced flood heights. These and other 

construction efforts would ultimately lead to 

the first Corps potamology studies.

1929

Corps 

creates the 

Waterways 

Experiment 

Station, 

the nation’s 

hydraulics 

laboratory.

“One of the really 

important things we do is 

understand how the river is 

changing, and then 

try to understand whether 

it’s changing because of 

natural reasons or whether 

it’s responding to man-made 

components. Without 

looking within the context of 

history, we can’t tell that.” 

Dr. Barb Kleiss, 

the Mississippi River

Geomorphology and

Potamology Program

Technical Director

More Fisk Maps

lmvmapping.erdc.usace.army.mil
8

Some sentiments about sediment

When most people think of the Mississippi River, the 

wide, flowing water usually comes to mind. But for nature, river engineers and 

scientists, and ultimately for river projects and environmental habitat, it is 

truly the sediment that matters.

Mississippi River sediments range in size from gravel to fine clays. Moving 

along the river bottom or suspended in the water, these sediments are the 

building blocks for the river’s main channel, secondary channels, wildlife habitat, and delta and coastal development. These sediments are provided by large 

and small tributaries carrying sediments from 31 states and two Canadian 

provinces. 

Sediment load drives many of the natural processes that impact the river. 

Sediment deposition patterns control dredging budgets, affect navigation patterns and change flood flowlines. They also are critical for a variety of wildlife 

habitats, such as sandbars used by the interior least tern, an endangered 

species on the river. River sediments are also one of key ingredients for coastal 

marsh restoration efforts on the Louisiana coast. 

The more we understand about sediments in the river, such as distribution, 

particle sizes, historical data and related information, the better we can plan 

and work with existing natural processes to minimize navigation and flood risk 

reduction project impacts while enhancing environmental habitat.

Sampling Now & Then

In late 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a comprehensive 

river bed sediment sampling effort. This sampling was designed to reproduce 

similar sediment sampling efforts conducted in 1932 and again in 1989 and is 

greatly expanding the knowledge base of river sediments.

“We took 754 samples along the river bed from north of St. Louis to the 

Gulf of Mexico,” said Thad Pratt, a Research Physicist at the Corps’ Engineer 

Research and Development Center. Pratt managed the bed sampling collection 

and analysis effort.

“We replicated the 1932 and 1989 studies. We used the same drag sampler. And all three sampling efforts were done at about the same time of 

year and same approximate river stages. This will allow true apple-to-apple 

comparisons of the current and previous sampling data. We even talked to 

the lone living participant from the 1989 sampling, Dr. Fred Ogden of the 

University of Wyoming, who was a student at the time. He gave us great 

insight into how it was done.”

Boat crews took samples in a few feet of water up to depths of 175 feet 

around Baton Rouge, La. Most samples were taken from locations at the 

middle of the river, but every 10 river miles, samples were collected from a 

complete cross-section of the river. A field log recorded each sample location, 

date, time and type of sample (coarse, fine, etc.).

Lab Analysis 

In the laboratory at Vicksburg, 

each individual sample was 

then dried, separated by particle size, weighed and the data 

recorded. The smallest particles 

were analyzed using a laser diffraction particle size apparatus, 

which provides a distribution 

function for the entire small 

particle sample portion. The 

larger particle size distribution 

was done using sieve analysis. 

“The full data set from this 

sampling will be compared to 

the 1932 and 1989 data for 

the entire lower river,” Pratt said. 

“This will give an idea of how the 

whole system is changing, both 

how sediment size changes over 

the years and what changes are a 

result of man’s impacts.”

Sediment Knowledge Results

Why does all this matter?

Bed sediment data is used in sediment transport models 

and is a critical parameter for accurately simulating natural 

river processes. If the composition of the bed sediment 

changes over time, it changes the frictional characteristics 

of the river channel and therefore the model output. The 

Corps of Engineers uses these model results to evaluate the adequacy of the 

existing flood risk reduction system and to predict future maintenance dredging requirements.

River sediment knowledge is also increasingly being applied in environmental projects, such as the recent joint U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Corps of 

Engineers conservation plan for several endangered species on the Mississippi 

River. 

Sediments are important to the health and welfare of the river system,” said 

Pratt. “Certain types of fish and invertebrates need certain sediments. If this 

sediment isn’t being delivered, that fish or that invertebrate will not be living in 

that river reach.” —W.S.

For more

www.mvd.usace.

army.mil/mrgp

above: Thad Pratt of the Engineer Research 

and Development Center and Richie McComas 

of the Corps’ Vicksburg District, pour off 

excess water from a river sediment sample 

prior to bagging and logging.

0%

19

3

2

19

8

9

2

013

19

3

2

19

8

9

2

013

19

3

2

19

8

9

2

013

19

3

2

19

8

9

2

013

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Reach: Miles Above Head of Passes, La.

950–750 miles 750–500 miles 500–250 miles 250–0 miles

Gravel

Very Coarse Sand

Coarse Sand

Medium Sand

Fine Sand

Very Fine Sand

Silt & Clay

Mississippi River 

Bed Materials

Comparison of River Bed Composition by Reach and Year: 1932, 1989, 2013

Right: This graph shows the 

changes in the sizes of the material 

in the river bed, upstream to downstream. In the Memphis area, there 

are still gravels in the bed; by the 

time you get to New Orleans, the 

river has lost so much energy there 

is seldom anything larger than 

coarse sand. below: A drawing 

from the report on the 1932 study 

where a paddlewheeler deployed 

the sediment sampler, which was 

later reconstructed and used for 

the 1989 and 2013 studies.
ourmississippi.org 9

Nature shows

the way

Looking to “nature’s lab” for 

clues to coastal land building

Crevasse study exemplifies efforts to understand the Mississippi 

River’s natural processes as a way to aid design and management of environmentally compatible restoration projects. 

I

n the last thousand years, nature built the 

Mississippi River delta and coastal areas 

using sediments carried by the river’s flow 

into various natural channels. 

By inference, many believe that diversions—

the man-made re-creation of natural channels—could be the best technique for replenishing and rebuilding coastal wetlands. Those 

wetlands are being lost at an alarming rate.

“However, building man-made diversions is 

quite expensive,” says Dr. Barb Kleiss, Technical 

Director of the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology Program, “so there is value 

in looking for existing examples to help us learn 

how diversions from the river might work.”

One of nature’s best potential laboratory 

examples of this is located at a historical site 

known as Fort St. Philip. While researchers 

were studying maps of wetland loss, they 

noticed that this area didn’t fit with the land 

loss trends. On the left descending bank of 

the Mississippi River about 20 miles north 

of the Head of Passes, a spot at which the 

Mississippi splits into three branches before 

entering the Gulf of Mexico, new channels 

or crevasses were forming from the river to 

the Gulf. Wetland assessment maps showed 

that small amounts of new land had formed 

in the area, indicating this area deserved 

more attention. 

But when the Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potomology Program asked 

GIS expert Glenn Suir of the U.S. Army’s 

Engineer Research and Development Center 

to use historical GIS data to determine how 

quickly land was being formed—information 

that could then be used to develop specifications and designs for artificial diversions—

the findings weren’t necessarily what was 

expected.

After examining images from a number of 

dates, Suir determined that the crevass formed 

sometime between 1970 and 1978, perhaps 

associated with the 1973 flood of the river. 

However, instead of finding a steady progression of new land being built, the study discovered that the initial result of the introduction of 

river water into the marsh via the crevasse was 

actually wetland loss—in fact, more than half of 

the wetlands in the immediate vicinity. 

While land gains were eventually made, 

this initial loss may provide important clues 

into the nature of diversions, both natural 

and man-made, and provide more realistic 

expectations of the rates at which diversions 

may be able to build land, Kleiss said.

Findings at a Glance

To calculate land change trends, researchers 

used various techniques and a combination of 

data sets and methods developed for previous coastal land change assessments and 

data sets created for the new study. In 1956, 

research showed, the study area consisted of 

5,012 acres of land and 2,379 acres of water. 

By 1970, the study area had experienced a 

633-acre net loss in land, which was primarily the result of shoreline erosion and the 

construction of oil and gas access canals. 

Land loss continued through 1998 (a net loss 

of 1,617 acres from 1970 to 1978; a net loss of 

316 acres from 1978 to 1988; and a net loss of 

664 acres from 1988 to 1998), most of it as a 

result of the breaching of the Mississippi River 

bank, the formation of crevasse channels and 

scouring and impounding of study area marsh. 

The only net land gains were experienced in the 

1998-2008 period (a net increase of 322 acres). 

These land gains appeared to result from the 

crevasses and/or from management/restoration 

projects in the study region, Suir said.

Unexpected events possibly contributed to 

land loss in this region, he noted. Those included Hurricanes Betsy (1965) and Camille (1969) 

and the major 1973 Mississippi River flood. 

There were additional smaller floods in 1991, 

1995 and 1997. Other factors that appeared 

to contribute to land change in this study area 

include subsidence, shoreline erosion and the 

impacts of oil and gas access canals. However, 

those appeared to be secondary land loss drivers compared to crevasse-related scouring and 

impounding of existing marsh, he said. 

“The data show that crevasses or diversions 

may be a land loss accelerant in the geologic 

short term, which in this case was decades,” 

he said. “The data also showed that land gains 

and long-term benefits from 

diversions may be enhanced by 

additional management and 

restoration activities. Ultimately, 

even when net land gains within 

the project area did occur, they 

primarily occurred in areas that were previously 

scoured by the diverted river flow, and then subsequently filled back in over time.”—W.S. & B.K.

For THE FULL 

REPORT

http://tinyurl.com/

qhaxkef

Where saltwater meets fresh, 

research issues abound 

Where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico 

and the saltwater of the one meets the freshwater of the 

other, there’s an inevitable co-mingling. During typical 

flows, saltwater might easily be found as far as 50 miles 

upriver.

But in times of drought or flows lower than normal 

on the Mississippi River, the salty sea water of the Gulf—

heavier and colder than the freshwater flowing above—

slowly creeps further upstream, sometimes almost 

twice that far, along the river bottom, separating much 

like you’d find with a container of oil and water. About 

every 10 years or so brings concern of a saltwater wedge 

threatening to render unusable the drinking supplies of 

cities as far north as New Orleans.

In 1988, 1999 and 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

responded by building an underwater sill out of river sediments, a multi-million dollar underwater dam that stopped 

the saltwater from traveling further. Now, a new model 

developed in the Netherlands and adapted by Corps Hydraulic Engineer Steven Ayres is being used to forecast and 

evaluate the progression of the saltwater wedge. 

This model won’t just predict potential threats to the 

drinking water; it will for the first time provide information 

on the potential impact of other river activities like proposed river diversions on the interaction between the salty 

and fresh water and also river sediments. The model will be 

used to study a process called flocculation, the chemical 

reaction between clay particles in the presence of saltwater, 

and how the resulting creation of larger clumps might affect 

river dredging needs and patterns, Ayres said.

The work complements a second, two-year study 

being launched in 2015. That research will look systematically at the interactions between fine sediments and 

the salt wedge and potential impacts of river diversions. Teams from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and 

Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss., will collect flow 

and suspended sediment measurements at 15 locations, 

including proposed river diversion sites and natural crevasses to determine such things as the extent of the salt 

wedge and seasonal variations. A camera system, digital 

video and direct sampling of sediments suspended in the 

water column will be used to gather data. One thing both 

projects may help determine is the extent to which flocculation contributes to river dredging needs as compared 

with the sediments carried downriver, an issue that’s 

especially pressing in Southwest Pass, one spot where 

the river enters the Gulf.

Ayres’ research started on a desktop computer; however, he quickly realized that more computing power was 

needed to run the complicated 3D model needed to look 

at flow stratification of the river from the river’s mouth 

up to river mile 75. The 3D Mississippi delta model is now 

running on a supercomputer at the Engineer Research 

and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss. 

One use of the model is to predict what might happen, for example, if water is removed from the river for 

diversions intended to help with coastal restoration. 

Another could come from the possible deepening of the 

river from its 45 foot depth to 50 feet—a depth change 

proposed by some as a way to accommodate larger 

ships traversing an expanded Panama Canal. 

“What that could do,” he said, “is offer a deeper channel in which saltwater could proceed upstream. The model will help us determine what the river is doing now with 

the wedge and what it’ll do in the future if we deepen the 

channel. There might be a more frequent need for the 

barrier.” —K.S.

Figure shows land change from 

1956-2008. Red indicates land 

loss; green indicates land gain. 
10

As a boy, James Buchanan Eads liked to invent things, and he liked to surprise 

people. One day he showed his mother and sisters his new wagon, made from a box, that could 

run across the room on its own. Concealed underneath was the source of its power: a live rat.

His later inventions would be even more clever and important than that. When people told 

him something could not be done, Eads did it anyway. 

Among his many accomplishments was a project completed in 1879 that created a yearround navigation channel from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. The river frequently 

clogged with silt, frustrating merchants. Eads made a series of jetties, or fences, that narrowed 

the river and forced it to cut a deeper channel. New Orleans rose from the ninth largest to the 

second largest port in the nation.

“Captain Eads, with his jetties, has done a work at the mouth of the Mississippi which 

seemed clearly impossible,” Mark Twain wrote in his memoir, “Life on the Mississippi.” Twain 

had called the Mississippi a “lawless stream” that “ten thousand River Commissions ... cannot 

tame.” Until Eads.

Like Twain and his famous characters Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Eads knew how 

hard life could be on the river. Born in Indiana in 1820, he was about 13 when his family lost 

everything they owned in a steamship accident. He had to quit school and sell apples on the 

streets of St. Louis.

Even though he couldn’t go to school, Eads never stopped learning. He took a job in a store 

and his employer let him use his personal library. Eads read everything he could, especially science books. He experimented at home, inventing things like a six-foot-long model steamboat. 

At 18, he took a job as a clerk on a Mississippi River steamboat. In a few years, he had earned 

enough to start his own business salvaging things from wrecked boats on the river bottom. 

Strong currents made that dangerous work. Eads designed his own boat and a device called a 

diving bell, built from a big barrel, to navigate the river floor. He was called “Captain” because 

he piloted the boat. 

The salvage business made Eads a rich man. He continued learning about the river and 

inventing ways to manage it. During the Civil War, Eads designed the first ironclad gunboats 

built in the United States. Those helped Union forces take over Confederate forts on the river.

After the war, Eads began another project trained engineers said was impossible: building 

a bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis. When it opened in 1874, it was called one of the 

man-made wonders of America. The Eads Bridge still stands.

The self-taught engineer never stopped imagining ways he could make water travel easier. 

His last idea was to build a “ship railroad” across southern Mexico to shorten the distance 

between the east and west coasts of the United States. That never happened. Eads died in 1887 

at the age of 66. —K.S.

Sources: National Park Service; PBS; “James B. Eads” and “Life on the Mississippi”

Diving Bell

When he was 22, Eads had a business to salvage wreckage from sunken riverboats. He hired an experienced 

diver from the Great Lakes to help him with a barge in 15 

feet of water. The current 

was so fast the diver gave 

up. Eads bought a 40-gallon 

barrel, made a seat inside it, 

fitted it with air pumps and 

attached it to a rig on his 

boat. Eads went down in it 

after the diver refused. His 

crew had trouble figuring 

out how to haul the strange 

bell back up, but Eads didn’t 

panic. The air pumps were 

working, and when he saw 

a hand appear under the 

rim of the bell, he grabbed it 

and swam out.

Meet

Captain Eads

 Self-taught inventor pioneers river improvements 

The construction of the 

Eads Bridge over the 

Mississippi River at 

St. Louis set precedents in 

construction and design.

Our Mississippi Kids

For more 

FUN ACTIVITIES

Visit Our Mississippi Kids 

at ourmississippi.org. 

Click on Upper Miss 

Educational Activities.
ourmississippi.org 11

At one time, nature enthusiasts feared they 

might never again catch a glimpse of the little bird with 

its distinctive black crown and yellow bill, hovering above 

the water before it plunged in to catch a fish. The survival 

of the interior least tern, the smallest of North America’s 

tern species, was in doubt.

A geographic subspecies of least tern, the bird was 

listed in 1985 as in danger of extinction under the Endangered Species Act. Like the bald eagle and American 

alligator, it has recovered with the help of research and 

conservation efforts, many in this case carried out by the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service has recommended 

delisting the interior least 

tern pending completion 

of strategic plans to ensure its continued survival 

in a range along large rivers in the central United 

States.

“This is pretty rare,” 

said Mike Thron, a biologist with the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers 

helping to implement the 

recovery strategy. “The Fish 

and Wildlife Service would not delist a species without 

assurances that potential threats to the species would not 

immediately return.”

Thron surveys the least tern population along the 

Mississippi River. The interior least tern population along 

the Mississippi River only was estimated at 10,150 in the 

2012 census, while the target recommended in 1990 

was 2,500. The population throughout the bird’s nesting 

range of large rivers in the central United States has been 

above its recommended target of 7,000 since the 1995-

96 census—up to 13,855 in 2012.

That comeback was influenced at least in part, experts 

say, by the restoration of the tern’s favored habitat. Barren beaches of sand are the preferred nesting locations 

for the terns, and many had disappeared from large rivers 

in past decades with the construction of dams, reservoirs 

and protected banks. On the lower Mississippi, where 

there are no locks and dams, fluctuating river stages 

persist where large sandbars remain exposed. But there, 

and where alterations for flood control and navigation 

were made, the Army Corps worked with federal and 

state partners to provide critical habitat, such as dikes 

redesigned to maintain some flow through side channels 

or chutes during periods of lower flow. Flow through 

a notch may create a water barrier from predators for 

least terns nesting on the sandbars.

Other tactics have been employed by Corps biologists elsewhere on the river, in sometimes wildly creative 

ways. At the Audubon Center at Riverlands, located in 

West Alton, Mo., for example, the Corps outfitted an old 

barge with tern decoys. Solar-powered speakers play 

the bird’s call and attract other terns to a barge used as 

a sandbar substitute for nesting.

“That can attract other terns to the nesting barge,” 

said Lane Richter, senior ecologist at Riverlands. “The 

terns need the reassurance that others are present and 

the area is good.”

While the highest concentration of nesting sites 

remains on the lower Mississippi, the stretch from Cape 

Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico, the Riverlands project 

shows that if the welcome mat is out, the birds will find 

it, biologists say. The barge has hatched as many as 30 

fledglings in a summer and is a popular attraction for 

school groups and other visitors. —S.F.

My Mississippi

Ed Wong, 61, Vicksburg, Miss. teacher, Mississippi River Studies, Vicksburg High School 

and former Mississippi teacher of the year

“I was born in Rolling Fork, Miss., a delta town north of here, and when I moved to Vicksburg, I could see the river from 

home. When I was in high school you could hear the Delta Queen or Mississippi Queen come up the canal, playing the 

calliope. When the teacher who created our Mississippi River class at Vicksburg retired, they turned it over to me.

“It’s a class without a textbook. We might have one presentation on historic floods, another on levees, another on the 

physical characteristics of the river. Speakers from the Corps come, and they don’t just talk construction and floods, but 

also navigation and wildlife. The kids like the wildlife aspect and the economic aspect too. It wows them. That, and the 

force of the river, the idea it’s not a static entity but that it has a mind of its own, that it has mood swings. We also cover 

the culture. We just had blues singer Bobby Rush come in. He talked about his life as a blues artist and sang with the kids.

“I was so ignorant about the river when I started. I used to think the river was one gigantic ditch that flowed from point A to B. I have a lot better appreciation for it now, a lot more respect for it, and more appreciation of the challenges the Corps has while trying to control it. That’s not an easy task. 

It’s also fun to see the Corps evolve. When I started teaching the class, high on the priorities of the Corps of Engineers was flood control and navigation. 

Now environmental concerns and education are high priorities. The Corps’ Vicksburg District makes the class possible. They coordinate speakers and 

provide field trips on the river. They let our kids steer the boat, and they feed us too. It’ll be the first time that some kids have been on the river.” —K.S.

Army Corps helps 

tern return

At a glance

The interior least tern is a 

geographic subspecies of 

Sternula antillarum, fisheating birds that nest in 

open sandy areas and other 

bare ground along rivers 

and coasts. 

Appearance: Black “crown,” 

snowy white underside and 

forehead, grayish back and 

wings, orange legs, yellow bill 

with black tip.

Adult size: 8 to 9 inches long 

with a 20-inch wingspan

Flight: may hover briefly 

before plunging into water.

Breeding season: 

April through August.

Nests: Shallow scrape in 

sand, soil or pebbles.

Reproductive habits: 

Both parents incubate eggs 

for about 24 days. Chicks 

leave nest a few days after 

hatching; adults lead them 

to shelter in nearby grasses 

and bring them food.

Range: Breed in summer 

along Missouri, Mississippi, 

Ohio, Red and Rio Grande 

river systems; winter along 

coastal areas of Central and 

South America.

Above: This nesting raft fashioned from a former barge was one successful Corps-sponsored way to 

usher in a comeback of the endangered least tern; sandbar restoration on the lower river is another. 
Scan here with your smartphone to go to the Our Mississippi website. 

Here, you can subscribe to our e-edition, read past editions and find riverrelated education materials.

Send story ideas to editor@ourmississippi.org

PRSRT STD

U.S. Postage

PAID

permit no. 

Contributors this issue: 

Editor

Kim Schneider

Designer

Diane Kolak

Contributing Writers

Wayne Stroupe

Kim Schneider

Sharon Flesher

Barb Kleiss

Pam Vedros

This newsletter is a quarterly update of ongoing efforts in the Mississippi River Watershed and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Army.

Mailing list changes:

Marsha Dolan, Marsha.G.Dolan@usace.army.mil

To read online:

ourmississippi.org

Click “Subscribe here” to subscribe via email.

• Kevin Bluhm, St. Paul, 651-290-5247

• Angela Freyermuth, Rock Island, 

309-794-5341

• Kimberly Rea, West Alton, 

636-899-0050

• Romanda Walker, St. Louis, 

314-331-8090

• Sarah Koeppel, Vicksburg, 

601-631-5894 

• Alainna O’Bannon, Vicksburg, 

601-631-7047

• Bob Anderson, Mississippi Valley 

Division, 601-634-5760

Questions or comments:

U.S.A.C.E. regional outreach specialists

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER

Gayle Harper

Navigation briefs

Communication keeps commerce moving on the 

Mississippi River system 

Near constant communication between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the navigation industry and the 

U.S. Coast Guard allowed commercial barge traffic to safely traverse a restricted section of the lower Mississippi River in early November.

Each autumn the Mississippi Valley Division’s Mat Sinking Unit begins several months of revetment work 

on the Mississippi River; establishing permanent locations for the constantly moving river banks using flexible 

concrete mattresses. For those not familiar with the process, revetment is 

a facing (such as of stone or concrete) to sustain an embankment.

This year’s mat sinking season included the Fair Landing, Ark., site located 30 miles south of Helena, Ark. (river miles 632-635), at which critical repairs needed to be made to the severe bank erosion caused by the 

2011 flood. This was high-priority work for the division because should a 

high-water event occur, the large scours could threaten navigation channel stability and the mainline levee system.

The revetment work must be performed when river levels permit (typically between August and December), as it can’t be performed during 

high river stages, which typically occur during the rest of the year. 

Because the narrow bend along this reach of the river only allowed 

for one-way traffic under normal conditions, the Corps and Coast Guard 

imposed river restrictions during daylight hours to allow for the bank repairs. Decisions were based on the needs of commerce and river conditions so that river traffic experienced limited delays. The Corps and Coast Guard also re-buoyed this threemile section of river to help widen the channel. 

Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, said: “We fully realize how important 

it is to keep commerce moving on the Mississippi River during harvest season.” He added: “We are in constant 

dialogue with industry and the Coast Guard to minimize the impact to navigation, while accomplishing critical flood control and flood risk reduction work before the next high water hits the region.” —P.V.

Season ends on upper river 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

locked the last tow of the season for 

the St. Paul, Minn., area on Nov. 20 

after early ice conditions became 

difficult for vessels to navigate. The 

Motor Vessel Mary K. Cavarra was 

locked through Lock and Dam 2 near 

Hastings, Minn., marking the unofficial end of the Twin Cities portion 

of the navigation season. The season 

was shorter than usual due to one of 

the latest Spring openings on record, 

caused by thick ice on Lake Pepin near 

Red Wing, Minn.,

Illinois Waterway lock 

closed for repairs 

The T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam, one 

of eight managed by the Rock Island 

District of the Corps on the Illinois 

Waterway, was closed Nov. 3 through 

Dec. 19 to address critical maintenance 

issue. The lock is scheduled for closure 

again closed again Jan. 19 through 

March 6 for continued maintenance.