A phased study of the dike fields within the Vicksburg and Memphis Districts of the US Army Corps of Engineers was conducted to document the channel morphology trends since dike construction on the Lower Mississippi River (LMR). This included the development of the hydrographic survey database and methodology utilized to identify changes in channel geometry in response to dike construction. A subsequent report will provide further refinements to the approach and results of the comprehensive assessment. Recent Mississippi River Geomorphology and Potamology program efforts have employed the database developed by Mr. Steve Cobb to assess the geomorphic changes in 21 dike systems along the LMR. Previous studies using this database have indicated that the dike fields have not caused a loss of channel capacity. Furthermore, these efforts suggested that the trends in the dike fields are closely related to the long-term geomorphic trends along the LMR. Previous efforts using the Cobb database provided considerable insight into the dike effects on the LMR, but they were limited spatially and temporally. In this study, a database and protocols were developed to allow for a more robust assessment of dike field impacts and to extend the spatial and temporal extents of the analysis.
Empirical analysis of effects of dike systems on channel morphology and flowlines
