The Mississippi Is 20 Feet Above Its Escape Route

In Louisiana, a concrete structure keeps the Mississippi from switching to a shorter, steeper route to the sea down the Atchafalaya. We measured the step it holds back, ran a flood model on the real ground, and asked what happens without it.

20 ftthe step, 1 April 2019 (measured)

142 mithe shortcut to the Gulf

29.5%Atchafalaya’s share, 2008–2010

Two ways to the Gulf: 315 river miles down the Mississippi, 142 down the Atchafalaya. [2]

From the film: the Old River Control Structure from the air, with the Mississippi on one side and the channel to the Atchafalaya on the other.

From film No. 01 · 0:16

A concrete structure keeps the Mississippi from switching course.

Watch the film · 8:34

The index

Places, one question each

No.	Question	Place	Status
01	Why hasn’t the Mississippi moved?	Old River, Louisiana	Film · 8:34
02	The next place is in production.	—	Get told first

Standards

01Every number has a source.Linked, dated, and listed under each film.

02Every simulation is labelled and checked.Against gauges, satellites and what actually happened.

03Mistakes are corrected in public.On the film’s page, with the date.