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 like the upper part of the river. Instead, it has levees and dikes to prevent flooding and keep a safe path for barges to travel. There are also special structures like the Old River Control Structure, the Bonnet Carré Spillway, and the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal near New Orleans to help control the water flow.

History

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

Navigation

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

From Baton Rouge to the Gulf, the river is deep enough for big 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 bigger ships called New Panamax.