Highlights

• The Old River Control Structure prevents the Mississippi River from changing course and abandoning New Orleans
• Structure failure would cost $295 million daily in shipping losses alone, with total impacts reaching hundreds of billions
• 60% of U.S. grain exports depend on the Mississippi River shipping that would be severed
• The New Orleans metro area would lose its primary drinking water source within weeks
• Rising flood levels and sediment buildup threaten the 60-year-old structure's integrity

Old River Control Structure: Louisiana's Hidden Threat to America's Economy

The fate of America's economy hinges on concrete gates that most people have never heard of.

LETTSWORTH, La. (KPEL News) — Four concrete barriers in rural Louisiana control whether the United States remains an economic superpower or faces the worst infrastructure disaster in its history.

The Times-Picayune reports that sediment is choking the Mississippi River around the Old River Control Structure, potentially causing catastrophic damage to a 60-year-old system that nearly failed once before.

Russell Beauvais manages this structure. He bluntly told the Times-Picayune that "Without this, the nation and the state of Louisiana wouldn't exist like it is today."

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The Mississippi Wants to Jump Ship

The Mississippi River has followed its current path for approximately 1,000 years, but nature is now urging it to shift its course to the Atchafalaya River, which offers a route 150 miles shorter and twice as steep to the Gulf of Mexico.

And it looks like the river is winning this fight. LSU professor Yi-Jun Xu found that sediment has built up 40 feet in the past three decades below the control structure, meaning the river is building its own underwater dam.

Captain Henry Shreve created this problem in 1831 when he cut through a river bend. The shortcut eventually connected the Mississippi to the Atchafalaya. By the 1950s, engineers realized the Mississippi would abandon New Orleans entirely without intervention.

The Army Corps of Engineers built the Old River Control Structure in 1963 to force a 70-30 water split between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. Federal law was written that mandates these percentages.

When America's Economic Lifeline Breaks

However, it's not just another installation. A structural failure of the Old River Control Structure means economic collapse not just in South Louisiana, but for the entire country. Here's what it would look like.

Shipping Dies Overnight

River shipping would cost $295 million daily in immediate losses. One 15-barge tow carries the same cargo as 1,000 trucks or two 100-car trains. The country simply lacks enough trucks and train capacity to replace.

On top of that, 4 of America's 15 largest ports sit between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. They handle 60 percent of U.S. grain exports and hundreds of billions in annual commerce. All of that would fail if this structure did.

Global Hunger Follows

The United States exports more grain than any country except Russia. Sixty percent of that grain moves down the Mississippi on barges, and losing this capacity during a global harvest failure would create conditions worse than the 2008 food crisis that sparked riots in dozens of countries.

Lloyd's of London warned that major food disruptions lead to "rioting, terrorist attacks, civil war, mass starvation and severe losses to the global economy." If you remember the Arab Spring, among other major protests of 2008, then you can start to understand what this would look like.

Energy Grid Collapses

Louisiana generates 75 percent of its electricity from natural gas. The industrial corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans contains ten oil refineries, three major oil import facilities, and hundreds of billions in petrochemical plants. This corridor is one of the most important refinery corridors in America.

Meanwhile, major natural gas pipelines serving Midwestern and Northeastern states cross the Atchafalaya River, and two more critical oil pipelines moving refined products to the East Coast would also be severed if the structure failed.

We would be looking at months-long impacts on our energy sector.

Lafayette and Acadiana Face Permanent Flooding

Structure failure would devastate Lafayette and the entire Acadiana region through catastrophic flooding that would make the 1927 Great Flood look manageable.

A complete structure collapse would divert 70 percent of the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya Basin. The protective levees surrounding the Basin were designed for controlled 30 percent diversions, not the full force of America's largest river.

What's more, the levee system would fail at multiple points. History shows what happens during smaller floods. In 1927, levees broke at Bayou des Glaises near Cottonport, Bayou Rouge in Avoyelles Parish, and Bayou Courtableau between Port Barre and Washington in St. Landry Parish. That flood covered most of southern Louisiana with much less water than a complete Mississippi diversion would produce.

The West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee serves as a fifteen-mile-wide channel designed as a "spout" for controlled flooding. Under normal operations, officials can open structures allowing Bayou Courtableau to drain into the Basin. During Hurricane Barry, these emergency measures barely prevented catastrophic flooding in Lafayette Parish.

A permanent Mississippi diversion would overwhelm every drainage system in Acadiana. The region's waterways flow toward the Atchafalaya Basin, which would be in complete chaos. Backwater effects would flood areas currently protected by levees.

Interstate 10 and Highway 90 bridges crossing the Basin would likely collapse, trapping residents during evacuation. The 18-mile I-10 bridge connecting both sides of the Basin took decades to build and would be destroyed in days.

This wouldn't be temporary river flooding. The geographic restructuring would force permanent abandonment of much of Acadiana until entirely new flood control systems could be built—if that's even possible with 70 percent of the Mississippi flowing through the region.

1.5 Million People Lose Drinking Water

Structure failure would cut off the New Orleans metropolitan area's primary fresh water source within weeks. Salt water from the Gulf would move upriver, potentially reaching Baton Rouge—230 miles inland.

The lower Mississippi would become a saltwater estuary. Power plants and industrial facilities would need two years to retrofit for corrosive saltwater, and underground aquifers can't meet regional demand.

New water sources would require pipeline construction, costing tens of billions.

It Nearly Failed Before

The Old River Control Structure barely survived the 1973 flood. One wall collapsed as water carved beneath the foundation. Emergency concrete pours prevented total failure.

The Corps built backup systems in 1986. Sediment keeps building up. LSU's Xu warns that a major flood could push accumulated sand downstream and overwhelm the entire system.

"It is very urgent, actually, at a minimum to do a risk assessment," Xu said. "How can we evacuate people? And to where?"

Politics Block Solutions

The Trump administration halted funding for a five-year study examining Mississippi River management in June. Engineers were investigating seasonal flow adjustments before the funding stopped.

Mississippi officials want fewer spillway openings that damage their coast. Morgan City port operators fear increased Atchafalaya flows would silt up their facilities. New Orleans needs steady river levels.

The problem? It seems that nobody agrees on solutions while the infrastructure ages.

America's Single Point of Failure

Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters calls the Old River Control Structure "America's Achilles' heel." One structure's collapse would simultaneously cripple agriculture, energy, transportation, and water systems.

Beauvais manages this critical infrastructure from rural Louisiana. "It would be a major impact if something would happen here," he says.

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Most Americans couldn't find this structure on a map. Its failure would reshape the nation's role in global commerce.

Extreme weather is getting worse. The structure is getting older. The Mississippi will eventually change course. The only question is whether America will be ready.