Lower Mississippi River

The Lower Mississippi River is the part of the Mississippi River that begins at Cairo, Illinois. It starts where the Ohio River joins the Middle Mississippi River. From this point, the river flows almost 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) before reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

This part of the river is very important because many ships and boats travel along it. It is the busiest section of the whole Mississippi River System, helping connect many places and carry goods.

Structures

The Lower Mississippi River does not have locks or dams. It has levees and dikes to stop flooding and keep a safe path for barges. Special structures like the Old River Control Structure, the Bonnet Carré Spillway, and the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal near New Orleans help control the water.

History

In the 1900s, people built walls called levees to keep the Lower Mississippi River away from its floodplain. They also made the river channel straighter. This changed the land a lot, taking away forests and putting farms in their place. These changes hurt wildlife and fish and made the water less clean. Water from farms also made the river murkier and polluted, which was bad for plants and animals that live in the water. This also caused problems in the Gulf of Mexico.

Navigation

The Corps of Engineers makes sure the water is deep enough for ships to travel from St. Louis, Missouri to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

From Baton Rouge to the Gulf, the river is deep enough for large ships to reach the Port of New Orleans. Some ships can pass under the Huey P. Long Bridge to go to Baton Rouge. There is a plan to make the river even deeper for even larger ships called New Panamax.