NORCO, La. (WGNO) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent time Wednesday removing and replacing 10-20 wooden pins at the Bonnet Carré Spillway. The Corps hold the exercise every year during high water season as a precaution in case they need to do the operation for real.
A crew of about a dozen workers used a crane that reached down and pulled out the timber needles or pins. The needles were placed on top of the structure, then put back in.
This process is a vital part of the flood control system in New Orleans. If needed, the structure diverts water out of the Mississippi River through the spillway into Lake Pontchartrain.
The pins have been in place since the 1930s and the operation has been done successfully 10-times in its history, most recently in 2011.
