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USACE - Memphis District
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Levees are earthen embankments whose primary purpose is to furnish flood
protection from seasonal high water for a few days or weeks a year. Levees are broadly
classified as either urban or agricultural because of the different requirements for each.
Urban levees provide protection from flooding in communities; including their industrial,
commercial, and residential facilities. Agricultural levees provide protection from flooding
in lands used for agricultural purposes. There are five main types of levees:
- Mainline and Tributary levees: generally parallel the main channel and/or its
tributaries.
- Ring levees: completely encircle or "ring" an area from all directions.
- Setback levees : generally built as a backup to an existing levee that has become
endangered due to such actions as river migration.
- Sublevees: constructed for the purpose of underseepage control. Sublevees encircle areas
landward of the main levee that are flooded, generally by capturing seepage water, during
high-water stages thus counterbalancing the hydrostatic pressures beneath the top stratum.
- Spur levees: project from the main levee and provide protection to the main levee by directing
erosive river currents riverward.
On the main stem of the Mississippi River, there are approximately 1,602 miles of levee
in place. The sketch below is a typical cross-section for Mainline Levees within the Memphis
District. In many instances this typical section is modified to include features such as berms,
relief wells or cutoff trenches.
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Mississippi River
and Tributaries Project |
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USACE - Memphis District
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| US Army Corps of Engineers |
| Memphis District |
| 167 North Main, B202 |
| Memphis, TN 38103-1894 |
| Local: (901) 544-3005 |
| Fax: (901) 544-3786 |
| Toll Free: (800) 317-4156 |
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