Mississippi River back from the river, it is normally dry on both sides. Even if it failed at the crest during a severe flood, the flood waters would have to erode to normal water levels before the Mississippi could permanently jump channel at this location. During the 2011 floods, the Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza Spillway to 1/4 of its capacity to allow 150,000 ft/sec of water to flood the Morganza and Atchafalaya floodways and continue directly to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In addition to reducing the Mississippi River crest downstream, this diversion reduced the
Flow control structure dam across a shallow stream, forcing all of the water to one side to allow it to be easily collected in a canal. This can keep a canal full even with very low flows in a stream. Another simple device is a series of concrete piers installed in a spillway to slow down the descending water so that it does not cause damage at the bottom of the spillway. Flow control structure A flow control structure is a device that alters the flow of water in a stream, drainage channel or pipe. As a group these are passive structures since