Revetment Types

Revetments are used to hold the river in desired alignment by stabilizing the river banks. They are placed on the outside banks of the bends in the river where the river's attack is most destructive. The New Orleans District has revetted over 361 miles of the Mississippi River bankline.

New Orleans District uses two methods to construct revetments. One method is placing concrete mats in the river along the bank. The other method is trenchfill revetment.

A bank after the revetment construction

College Point after the revetment construction and rock placement for stabilization

An eroded bank

Bank failure due to erosion at Luling, Louisiana. Note the size of the white truck in the background.

An caved bank

A caved bank at Arbroth, Louisiana. Failures of this type are caused by the earthen bank shifting underwater.

 

 

Contact

CEMVN-ED-LC
New Orleans, LA
504-862-2952

Updated 8/29/2011

 

 

Concrete Mats


Revetment construction with concrete mats on the Mississippi River is unique. The process starts with the smoothing of the bank to a stable slope from the top to well beneath the water surface. Then the concrete mats are placed in the water along the base of the river. Before the development of the concrete mats the revetments were constructed using wood, typically hand woven willow planks.

Wood revetment construction
Revetment construction in the past was done with wood.
Smoothing the bank
Before placing the revetment, large floating draglines smooth the bank to a stable slope from the top to well beneath the water surface.
St.Francisville Casting Field
The St. Francisville Casting Field located 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. An average of 120,000 "squares" of concrete mattresses are cast here every year.
Concrete mat dimensions
Each "square" of concrete mat measures four feet in width by 25 feet in length by three inches thick. The individual mats are woven together with steel wire into flexible 140-foot-wide sections. Each square of woven mats contains almost one cubic yard of concrete.
Laying the mat
Once the assembly of the mattress is completed, the launching barge moves out into the the river along the mooring barge, allowing the mattress to slide over the edge. When the mattress covers the desired area, the cables are cut and the barges are moved to lay the next mattress.
Assembling the concrete mat
The concrete mats are assembled on the sloping deck of the launching barge into a mattress connected to launching cables which are anchored to the bank..

Contact
CEMVN-ED-LC
504-862-2952

Trenchfill


The Corps uses trenchfill revetments to stabilize the existing channel and prevent the channel from changing course and developing a new chute channel that is less navigable. Trenchfill revetments are used when the channel is poorly aligned, and the standard articulated concrete mattress revetments can not be used.

Trenchfill revetments achieve the desired channel alignment by using the river as a dredge to remove the silt and sand in front of the trench. Once the the sand and silt has eroded away, the stone launches into the river and paves a new riverbank.

 

 

Trenchfill revetment at Hogpoint

Construction of Trenchfill Revetment at Hogpoint

Revetment construction at Hogpoint

Revetment construction at Hogpoint near Angola, LA

Trenchfill revetment at Hogpoint

Trenchfill Revetment at Hogpoint between river miles 294 and 299

Revetment construction at Hogpoint

Revetment construction at Hogpoint

 

Contact

CEMVN-ED-LC
504-862-2952