The Lifting of the First Needle Officially Opens the Spillway - 2008 |
Structure from west to east |
Cranes wait in readiness |
Mississippi overflows its bounds - 2005 |
Close-up of the bays |
Spillway Bays |
Pierre Beaubercy Trepagnier - Original Owner of Plantations Taken to Build Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
Marie Celeste Delhomme Trepagnier |
Kugler's Hermitage Plantation - Destroyed to Build the Spillway |
George Kugler Family - Photo taken Where Spillway Now Stands |
Displaced When She Was a Little Girl by the Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
Trepagnier Plantation Taken to Build Spillway |
Audrey Kugler and Rita Kugler-Cousins |
Francois Joseph Delhommer Home |
Joseph Billion Delhommer Plantation |
Charles Joseph Perilloux, Sr. (my oldest brother) |
Rushing Waters - 2005 |
Riding High |
Mississippi at flood stage -2005 |
National Champion_Drake_from Missouri |
Sunset Over the Bonnet Carre Spillway |
The Sand Man Cometh |
Wildflowers of Spring |
Skilled pilot |
Spirit of Louisiana |
Pelicans enjoying migration |
Glorious Day |
Live Oak |
River Batture at Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
River on the Rise - February 23, 2008. |
River Side of the Spillway Locks |
The Raging Mississippi River - March 18, 2008 |
High Water - March 18, 2008 |
March 23, 2008 |
March 27, 2008 |
March 27, 2008 -Spillway "Needles" and Gauge |
Fishing for Bait - River Rise 2008 |
Supper From the Mississippi River - River Rise 2008 |
March 28, 2008 |
River Road Is Closed Through the Spillway |
March 31, 2008 - River Rose a Foot Since March 28 |
River Nears Flood Stage - March 31, 2008 |
Testing, Testing, One.......Two.....April 1, 2008 |
Riding High |
Corps Returning from Examining the Structure |
April 6, 2008 - 4:00 p.m. |
The River Runs Wide, Swift and Deep-April 6, 2008 |
April 9, 2008 |
"Seeping" Through the Locks - April 9, 2008 |
Historic Place |
Bonnet Carre' Spillway "Needle" |
April 11, 2008- Ninth Opening of the Spillway - Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World |
River Gauge Shortly Before the Noon Opening - April 11, 2008 |
Hundreds Gather to Watch Historic Event |
St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne |
Louisiana Governor Jindal, Senate President Chaisson and U. S. Army Col. Starkel |
Crane Lifts a Needle from the Bay to Allow River to Flow Through |
Workers on Airboats Keep Watchful Eye - April 11, 2008 - Opening Day |
Spillway Locks Opened - April 11, 2008 - Noon |
Governor Bobby Jindal and my grandson, Christopher Eckhardt -2008 |
Water Seeks Its Own Level as it Rushes Through Spillway Locks Towards Lake Pontchartrain |
Once in a Lifetime Experience |
People Fascinated With Bonnet Carre' Spillway - April 12, 2008 |
Bonnet Carre' Opening Attracts Every Walk of Life |
Spillway Viewed West to East from Montz, Louisiana - April 13, 2008 |
Bonnet Carre' Spillway Train Trestle |
Camp Memory Closed by Spillway Opening - 2008 |
A Buffet for the Birds |
Egrets Fishing |
It's Not Called "The Muddy Mississippi" for Nothing- April 17, 2008 |
Spillway Gauge - April 19, 2008 |
He Keeps it Working |
Spillway Gauge - April 23, 2008 |
National Weather Service Hydrologists Get a Briefing |
Corps' Commander Tours Bonnet Carre' Spillway-April 28, 2008 |
Opened 16 days and no end in sight |
Commander of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Inspects Spillway |
Spillway Gauge - April 30, 2008 |
Mississippi River Rages On - April 30, 2008 |
Crew Returns from Closing Five Bays as Gauge Shows a Foot Drop in River |
Bays Closed on Western End Allow Fishermen Calmer Water - May 4, 2008 |
River Still Pouring Through Spillway Locks' Eastern End - May 6, 2008 |
River Gauge on Spillway Structure - May 8, 2008 - 1:45 p.m. |
May 8-2:00 p.m.- As the Last Needle Drops the Spillway is Officially Closed |
River Level Slowly Receding and Spillway Gets a Rest-May 11, 2008 |
Spillway Gauge May 15, 2008 |
Spillway Waters Low Enough for Fishing |
Dance of the Egrets |
Water Still Flowing Through Spillway Locks - May 27, 2008 |
Crawfishing and Crabbing in the Spillway |
River Drops Eight Feet - Spillway Drying Up - June 9, 2008 |
Bonnet Carre' Spillway is All Dry - June 11, 2008 |
June 16, 2008 - River side |
August 2, 2008 -River Finally Receding |
Spillway Road Being Repaired After Flood Season |
Two Live oaks (Quercus virginiana) on a cheniere |
Spillway Water Attracts Birds |
May 11, 2009 |
Mississippi River Rising Rapidly |
Sand Mining |
Spillway Gauge - May 11, 2009 |
Spillway Gauge - May 17, 2009 |
Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
River at the Spillway Rises Three Feet in Nine Days |
Spillway Gauge on May 24, 2009 |
Corps of Engineers Monitoring Bonnet Carre' River Levels |
Strike up the Band - the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Has Arrived |
Spillway Gauge May 29, 2009 |
East Spillway Levee to West Spillway Levee - Spillway Structure Not Opened |
Spillway Gauge at 7 p.m. on May 31, 2009 |
June 7, 2009 at 1 p. m. |
Fishing By the Locks |
Unusually High Water Overflows into Spillway |
Mississippi River Water Seeping Through Spillway Locks |
Roseate Spoonbills and a Snowy Egret |
Bonnet Carre' Spillway Sunflowers Shortly After Sunrise |
In the Sunflower Patch |
River Very Low Compared to 2009 |
Mississippi Rising - March 14, 2011 |
Rushing Water |
Mississippi River at Bonnet Carre' Spillway - May 1, 2011 - 18 feet on gauge |
Birds fish in Spillway - May 2, 2011 - Gauge at 18 feet six inches |
Poor Little Fish |
Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) |
Female redwing blackbirds |
Sand and Clay Mining |
Fishermen Enjoy rising Water of Spillway |
Boys and Water 2011 |
River Road through Spillway Closed - May 4, 2011 - Gauge at 19 feet 4 inches |
Great Blue Heron in Spillway |
Great Blue Heron - Reminds Me of our Mardi Gras Indians |
Spillway Gauge at 20 feet - Opening in Three Days |
Opening Delayed Few Minutes Because of Fog - 2011- Gauge at 22 feet |
Official Opening of the Spillway - May 9, 2011 |
First Bays Opened in Spillway Structure - 2011 |
They Run the Show and Control the Flow |
One Guards the Levees - the Other Guards the Bonnet Carre' |
More Bays are Opened in Structure |
River Dangerously High |
The Balance of Nature |
Train Trestle that Crosses Spillway (please read under photo) |
2011-Where the Mississippi River Water Flows Into Lake Pontchartrain -Gauge at River 22 feet and steady |
Sunset on the Mississippi River at the Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
Mississippi River has reached its Crest here according to USACE |
Hwy. 61 (Airline Highway) on Montz side of Spillway Bridge - 2011 |
Opened Spillway Structure in Foreground - 2011 |
Spillway Gauge at 23 feet, the highest I've Ever Seen It |
Interstate 10 Over Spillway |
Batture Living-Saved by the Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
Track that carries Amtrak - CN Railroad |
Spillway Gauge May 27, 2011 - four inches higher than May 9 when it opened |
Water Still Pouring into Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
River gauge at Spillway Structure is 22 feet one inch. |
Sunset following a Scorching Day-Spillway Gauge is 22 feet |
Opened 32 days and still going strong 2011 |
Spillway Now Opened for 38 Days--Closing Some Bays 2011 |
Hopefully, the live oaks can breathe again 2011 |
June 18,2011 - Only 20 bays left open - Gauge reads 19 feet |
Winding Down 2011 |
Soil from 3/4 of the United States |
Spiillway Nature Trail |
May 25, 2013 |
Mississippi River Rising June 15, 2014 |
River out of its banks March 15 2015 |
May 2, 2015 |
Spillway Gauge on May 2, 2015 |
Mississippi River water on way to Lake Pontchartrain via Bonnet Carre' Spillway |
July 10, 2015 |
Water Seeping Through Locks on its Way to Lake Pontchartrain Spillway 2015 |
Unusual River Rise for the Month of July 2015 |
July 28, 2015--Unprecedented for July |
Water pours through cracks in Spillway locks - July 2015 |
High Water Houses Pelicans at the Spillway Locks December 2015 |
Ships riding high on the swollen Mississippi January 2, 2015 |
The mighty and muddy Mississippi River knocking at the Door 2016 |
11th opening January 10, 2016 |
Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr headed to opening of Spillway January 10 2016 |
An event of interest |
Opening the bays on the Montz side of the Spillway January 10 2016 |
Katherine Landry and Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr |
Pulling up a "needle" that holds the water back 2016 |
A view through the open bays of the Spillway to industry across the River |
A Steady Stream of Visitors Every Day |
January 31, 2016 |
Closing some of the bays on the Montz side |
Water is still pouring into the Spillway |
A Carp |
White and Brown Pelicans Wait for Fish in the Spillway Waters |
Mississippi River at Flood Stage May 2017 |
Brown Pelican sits atop the Spillway Structure |
Engineers may have to open the Spillway |
Col. Michael Clancy, Commander of the Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District |
Gauge on the Structure March 5 2018 |
River Height on March 5, 2018 |
Setting the Mississippi Free March 2018 |
Beginning to pull the needles in the structure to open the Spillway 2018 |
Major General Richard Kaiser and Col. Michael Clancy of the Corps of Engineers address the crowd |
The crew who do the dangerous work on the structure of removing the needles |
The Crowd at the 12th opening of the Bonnet Carre' Spillway March 8, 2018 |
March 12 2018 |
River rushing through the locks on its way to Lake Pontchartrainet |
January 28 2019 River seeping through Spillway locks |
February 27, 2019.....13th opening |
U. S. Army Colonel Mike Clancy and me |
All that is needed to open the Spillway locks |
March 7, 2019--one foot higher than the day it was opened |
An entire family of four generations |
Spillway Opens Twice in 2019 14th Opening |
River Much Higher than the Spillway Land |
July 2, 2019--opened 100 days so far this year |
Closing the Bays of the Spillway after more than 150 days in operation |
Dangerous and hard work |
The gauge on the structure is at 20 feet which is still considered flood stage |
92 degrees in the shade, hard day |
Live Oaks have been in water for more than 150 days, hoping they survive |
River Water pouring through the spaces between the pins, may go on for several weeks |
Finally, locks closed on July 27, 2019 |
November 16, 2019 River on the Rise Again |
Spillway April 2020 |
April 18 2020 |
Montz side of Bonnet Carre' Spillway April 18 2020 |
April 18, 2021 River on the Rise |