Morganza Spillway weir, two sluice gates, seventeen scour indicators, and 125 gated openings which can allow up to of water to be diverted from the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya Basin during major floods. The project was completed in 1954. A highway (Louisiana Route 1) and the Kansas City Southern Railway cross the structure The Corps of Engineers maintains the structures and, in times of flood, monitors their piers for scouring and stability. The Corps of Engineers has two 25-ton cranes used to lift and lower the flood gates. The cranes roll on special tracks next to the roadway, enabling the operators
Battle of Stirling's Plantation Fordoche crossing followed the east bank of Bayou Fordoche, running west to a point about three miles from Morganza, then following a turn in the bayou, ran south three and a half miles to a loop in the bayou by Norwood’s plantation. Just west of Norwoods, the Opelousas Road forked to the northwest, crossed the Fordoche, and ran on to the Atchafalaya across from present day Melville, Louisiana. Shortly after leaving Morganza, the force encountered Confederate pickets and skirmished with them throughout the day until they reached the Norwood plantation, about six miles from the Archafalaya, where they went into