Team 9 Home
Background Problem Past Proposals Current Proposals Images Links

Past Proposals



We have spent the semester designing solutions to our team goals.  Throughout the semester, we have learned from our research and received input from the other teams, so our proposal has changed.  Below are our previous proposals, and information on how we have updated or discarded them.

1)       Adding another major distributary channel of the Mississippi river south of New Orleans would help carry sediment to the wetlands east and southeast of the city.  This would not improve conditions for flood control in the city itself, but relocation of people would be minimized.

Compare this with our current plan.  We have changed to two distributaries so that we can send sediment to a larger area of wetlands.  We are using already existing channels to decrease labor costs, and are incorporating one of them with our plan to modify the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO).

2)       Adding another major distributary channel of the Mississippi river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans would help carry sediment to the wetlands south and southeast of New Orleans.  This would decrease the volume of water flowing past the city at any given time and would make flood control easier, but the degree of population relocation required would be significantly greater than in our first proposal.

We have abandoned this idea because it would prevent us from getting the maximum possible amount of sediment to the wetlands.  Taking water from the river higher up would decrease the amount of water available to divert to the wetlands southeast of New Orleans, which are more critical for us to protect.  Also, any river channel upriver of New Orleans would create other new problems: it would have to be restricted, so as not to displace more people, and so the sediment buildup would occur in a similar way to the current channel.

3)       Adding a new channel north of Baton Rouge would drain parts of both the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers and would help to distribute sediment to the wetlands south and southeast of New Orleans.  It would improve conditions for flood control in port cities along both rivers, including New Orleans and Morgan City.  Again, the amount of disruption caused by relocation would be significantly greater than if an additional distributary were dug south of New Orleans.  If a new channel were added north of Baton Rouge, it would take some of the present strain off the Old River control structure, which is now keeping the Mississippi river from changing its course entirely.  If left to the laws of nature, the Mississippi would change its flow pattern and join with the Atchafalaya river, which has a lower, more direct route to the sea.

The reasons this is problematic are similar to those from item 2.  Also, our new plan should reduce the strain on the Old River control, a result of increased erosion on the river bed.  Refer to our current proposal for more information.