Morganza Spillway its present course through the major port cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans to a new course down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Morganza Spillway, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was opened during the 1973 and 2011 Mississippi River floods. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, in large part due to the Mississippi River swelling to wide in spots. To prevent a repeat of the Great Flood of 1927, and better control river flooding in general, Congress passed the
U.S. Route 190 the Beauregard Parish Jail, Beauregard Parish Courthouse, and the DeRidder Commercial Historic District. US 190 runs concurrently with US 171 to Ragley, where US 190 parts with US 171 heading east. From Ragley, the two-lane highway heads nearly due east almost parallel to I-10 until Opelousas. US 190 crosses the northern reach of the Atchafalaya Basin near the Morganza Spillway en route to Baton Rouge. From Baton Rouge, US 190 passes, in places divided, through Denham Springs, Albany, Hammond, Robert, Goodbee, Covington, Mandeville, before reaching the eastern terminus at Slidell. The stretch between I-12 south of Covington and the intersection