Morganza Spillway in 1954, the Morganza Spillway has been opened twice (in 1973 and 2011), and considered for opening during four other major floods of the Lower Mississippi River. On April 17, 1973, in order to lower the water level of the Mississippi River and relieve pressure on the Old River Control Structure, the Corps of Engineers opened 42 of the 125 steel gates of the Morganza Spillway for the first time since its completion, allowing about half of its maximum designed flowrate to pass from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya Basin. The spillway received minor scouring and slight damage to 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