levee

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levee

levee (lĕvˈē) [Fr.,=raised], embankment built along a river to prevent flooding by high water. Levees are the oldest and the most extensively used method of flood control. They are constructed by piling earth on a surface that has been cleared of vegetation and leveled. From a broad base the levee narrows to a flat crown, on which sandbags or some other temporary protection may be placed to contain unusually high waters. Levee surfaces are commonly protected from erosion by vegetation, notably Bermuda grass. A banquette, or low terrace of earth, is usually added on the land side of high levees to prevent loss of material from the slope through rain erosion. On the river side, plantings of willows, weighted brush matting, or concrete revetments protect those sections of levee that are exposed to strong waves or currents, while ditches or drainage tiles keep the foundation from becoming waterlogged. Levee systems require careful planning, with sections set back from the river to form a wider channel and with flood valley basins divided by cross levees to prevent inundation of large areas by a single break. The most extensive levee systems in the United States are along the Mississippi and Sacramento rivers and their tributaries. The dikes of Holland are a form of levee, and levee-type embankments are used along the Danube, Vistula, Po, and other European rivers.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Levee

a hydraulic regulating structure, usually a low earthen dam, designed to protect riparian land from inundation during seasonal or flash flooding of rivers. Levees are built chiefly on the floodplains of rivers. They receive the pressure of the water only periodically, when the level rises above the banks.

levee

[′lev·ē]

(civil engineering)

A dike for confining a stream.

A pier along a river.

(geology)

An embankment bordering one or both sides of a sea channel or the low-gradient seaward part of a canyon or valley.

A low ridge sometimes deposited by a stream on its sides.

levee

¹ US

an embankment alongside a river, produced naturally by sedimentation or constructed by man to prevent flooding

levee

1. a formal reception held by a sovereign just after rising from bed

2. (in Britain) a public court reception for men, held in the early afternoon

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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References in periodicals archive ?

Critics have pointed to the inadequacy of the levees lining the riverbanks of the Mississippi and its tributaries throughout the Midwest.

A flood of concern: for Midwestern residents, June's devastating floods illustrate the need for better protection standards and infrastructure improvements

Because of the length and the sensitivity of the delta and its levees, Michels made the decision to use HDD hole intersect technology.

Michels uses HDD intersection technology to tackle sensitive water crossings

On the basis of changes in measured apparent resistivity traces places where occur inhomogeneities in examined section of levee can be found.

Detection of inhomogeneities in structure of flood embankments by means of D.C. resistivity, GPR and frequency electromagnetic method measurements--short note

Some of the borings drilled within the levees and the underlying foundation soils encountered loose sand layers.

Seismic risk assessment of levees *

In 2008, the Corps will begin a risk assessment of all 2,000 levees in its inventory for design issues.

122 Ninth Wards? A recent report on levees suggests 122 across the country are in disrepair. And flood risk was already overlooked enough

Levees and dams, considered "hard" flood control, are politically popular, yet approximately one third of all flood disasters in the United States are caused by levee failures.

Before the Deluge

"Plaintiffs are not seeking damages for the failure of the levees or flood projects," he wrote.

Katrina suit against U.S. government moves forward

Meanwhile, Widin said insurers "will be trying very hard to show" the levees breached because flood waters overtopped them--a natural flood excluded by the policy language Duval did not find ambiguous.

Appeals of flood exclusion ruling may linger for years

Scientists have long said that the only way to restore Louisiana's vanishing coastline is to undo the elaborate levee system and divert the river to the sediment-starved marshes below New Orleans to the southeast.

Moving the Mississippi: would changing the river's course help save the vanishing coastline of Louisiana?

Hanson, research leader at the ARS Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit in Stillwater, Oklahoma, uses a water jet pumping at various flow rates to give a rapid determination of the erodibility of soil used in structures like levees.

Ensuring efficacy of New Orleans levees

"[T]here are only two kinds of levees, those that have failed and those that will fail." (1)

Did NEPA drown New Orleans? The levees, the blame game, and the hazards of hindsight

Now comes the re-evaluation of Arkansas' long-neglected levee system, which will surely seek to address at least two big public policy questions: Who should be responsible for the levees?