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NEW ORLEANS — The Bonnet Carré Spillway is starting to close.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began closing bays today. They closed 13 bays today, leaving 170 of the 350 bays open.
All of the bays will be closed by March 31.
The spillway opened for the 12th time in history Thursday (March 8) to relieve pressure on the New Orleans levee system and the rising Mississippi River. The river was expected to crest Tuesday (March 13).
Some of that water will be diverted into Lake Pontchartrain and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing New Orleans.
The Spillway was constructed in response to the catastrophic flooding of 1927. It was completed in 1931.
The last time it opened was in 2016.
