Gribblenation

Welcome to home page for Gribblenation's series on the bridges, crossings, and structures of the lower Mississippi River! Here you will find links to information about the many bridges, ferries, and flood control structures located along the river between the Mississippi & Ohio Rivers confluence near Cairo, IL and the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Head of Passes Light near Venice, LA. The bridges of the lower Mississippi River are a diverse collection of impressive engineering achievements. Many of these bridges were modern marvels at the time of their construction and most of them are still among the largest bridges of their respective types in the United States. In addition to the numerous monumental bridges in this region, there are multiple large-scale flood control structures and spillways that supplement the river's extensive levee system. These structures are strategically placed and help regulate the flow rate and level of the river during periods of high wa...

  The Old River Control Structure (ORCS) and its connecting satellite facilities combine to form one of the most impressive flood control complexes in North America. Located along the west bank of the Mississippi River near the confluence with the Red River and Atchafalaya River nearby, this structure system was fundamentally made possible by the Flood Control Act of 1928 that was passed by the United States Congress in the aftermath of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 however a second, less obvious motivation influenced the construction here. The Mississippi River’s channel has gradually elongated and meandered in the area over the centuries, creating new oxbows and sandbars that made navigation of the river challenging and time-consuming through the steamboat era of the 1800s. This treacherous area of the river known as “Turnbull’s Bend” was where the mouth of the Red River was located that the upriver end of the bend and the Atchafalaya River, then effectively an outf...