If you click on each small photo you will get a larger photo with a narrative underneath the photo, so please scroll down under the photo and enjoy.

LOCATION: In St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, between the towns of Montz and Norco and some 33 miles above Canal Street in New Orleans. On the Montz side you can get to the structure by taking the CCC Road off of LA Hwy 61 (Airline Highway). On the Norco side you can get to the structure by taking Apple Street to the River Road off of LA Hwy 61 (Airline Highway). Turn west on River Road.

This Spillway should have been built in St. John the Baptist Parish in the area known as Crevasse where a huge levee break occurred at the turn of the century. Instead of displacing so many people and destroying producing plantations, it would have been better in the Crevasse. However, Leon Godchaux, a sugar baron in St. John Parish, and politics prevailed.
The word "Bonnet Carre'" means Square Bonnet symbolizing the bonnets that the ladies in the area wore. The area where the Spillway lies is part of the original German Coast in Louisiana. It is in St. Charles Parish.

The Bonnet Carre' Spillway was carved out of the towns of MONTZ, LOUISIANA and SELLARS, LOUISIANA in 1928 and completed in 1931. Several plantations and smaller properties were expropriated by the federal government for this project--the four plantations being Delhommer, Hermitage, Roseland and Myrtle Land. The Kugler families owned Hermitage and Delhommer at the time of the displacement. The Trepagnier Family built Myrtle Land. Our family friends, the Kugler family, lost their land, house and cemetery to the Spillway. One of the men born in 1905 in Montz had to move when the federal government took the property for the Spillway. Mr. Felix Simoneaux died in April 2016 one month from his 111th birthday. For three months he was recorded as the oldest living man in the United States and the 7th in the world. The Corps was supposed to move the remains of the people buried in the two cemeteries in the Spillway, however, in the 1950's a backhoe hit a casket while digging in the Spillway and it was discovered that the cemeteries had been left as is. Most of the people buried in the cemeteries were black, people who had lived and worked on the plantations all their lives and wished to be buried there. They saved the costs of public cemeteries. Other families who owned property that was taken by the Corps were the Simoneaux, Perilloux and Charles Felix Boudreaux families.
The Spillway was considered a design marvel in its time. 135,000 cubic yards of concrete of sufficient strength to fight the forces of the Mississippi River was used. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers designed a special concrete that would handle just over 5,000 pounds per square inch to use in the sructure. The product has seen little if no change from when it was built. The total cost was $14,212,200.
The length of the Spillway from the River to Lake Pontchartrain is 5.7 miles and contains 7,623 acres. From Lake Pontchartrain the water flows into the Rigolets into the Gulf of Mexico.
The structure itself is 7000 feet long and contains 350 bays which are filled with pine "needles" that are lifted out by 2 cranes. The Spillway has been opened 13 imes--in 1937, 1945, 1950, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1997, 2008, 2011,2016,2018 and 2019 The Spillway was built to prevent the City of New Orleans from flooding.
It is a habitat and nesting grounds for thousands of birds and also a site for migrating birds.
When the Spillway is dry it is used for many recreational events including dog trials, model airplane competition, fishing, hunting, birdwatching, photography, running and motorcycle riding.
If you click on the small image you will get a full screen. Be certain to scroll down and read under each photo as I usually write a story or history.
April 11, 2008 - The Spillway was opened for the ninth time in its history.
MAY 9, 2011 - The Spillway was opened for the tenth time in its history and all 320 bays were opened.
The Spillway was opened for the thirteenth time in its history on February 27, 2019 It was closed after a few weeks and re-opened for the fourteenth time on May 10, 2019. It was opened for the FIFTEENTH time on April 3, 2020.
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