“Levee Pruning” a project developed by Michael Geffel in the ParadoXcity studio New Orleans 2011.
This research suggests that the conditions for a Mississippi avulsion have been constructed through a delta management paradigm which promotes river degradation to maintain navigation and flood relief. Levee Pruning opportunistically utilizes the alluvial landscape infrastructure above the Old River Control Complex as a new spillway, mitigating degradation of the Old River Outfall Channel and reducing strain on Control Structures.
The ACOE levees are lowered and widened where the existing alluvial levee is highest so that the Mississippi gradually spills over as sheet flow into the Red River backwater area during flood stage, creating a resilient flood diversion that is gradually activated based on the needs of downstream settlement, reducing average flow through Old River to what is necessary for navigation and delta growth.
paradoXcity 