Islands in the stream: The extraordinary homemade dams holding back the Mississippi.

this is addressed to all those claiming I am speculating or making assumptions which you are ALL hypocritically doing yourselves.

as i said before DIRT and heavy Equipment was my Job, then SOILS Inspection to include water runoff engineering foundation compactions anything to do with the dirt I do it.

you want all the little pieces of obvious work done by professionals -


- piles or Rock and dirt left over from dump trucks bringing dirt in... Rock for a base decomposed granite over that.

- the apparent tracks and wheel rolling marks used to compact the berm and slope into a solid wall.

- I live on a farm they do not have dozers as they are not needed, dozers are for moving dirt fast they also have very large shops to keep their equipment in.

you are all speculating on the values of the homes I can tell that first house might be a doublewide if it has a basement that is a potentially 4000sq' house it may look modest BUT its on FARMLAND as you have said which is NOT cheap.

the main reason I KNOW the homeowners did not do this themselves, you cannot move that much dirt with one tractor in the time that they have had you need a CREW.

again to repeat myself from an earlier post I am not speculating I started shoveling dirt all day every day then worked my way up from drill rigs, bobcats, dozers, scrapers, backhoes, etc. then onto Soils Inspection I know Dirt.

the title says extraordinary homemade dams these dams are in no way homemade sorry.

Wow, you really are a know-it-all aren't you.

If you live in the sticks in cajun country, you probably know someone with a tractor. I myself know several, and I live in the city. Oh and you will find no basements down here. Go ahead and dig a few feet into the ground, all you'll find is water. Your just going to have to admit that what you are preaching here is your opinion, nothing more. And it's a real messed up attitude to take on right now, considering that people are trying to help themselves instead of expecting someone else to help them. And I'm sorry, but there's not many "wealthy" people living in the areas that got flooded. These are mostly poor communities, and farmers.

reply to post by i am just saying


Rain perhaps?
2nd

I'm surprised at the amount of people who are looking for the negatives here. The OP hit the nail on the head, this is what happens when hard working "realistic" Americans pull together and make the best out of a bad situation. Everyone loves to talk doom and gloom on this website, well here you have it, you can sit around with your thumb up your @$$ waiting for Uncle Sam, or you can pick up a shovel and get to work. The U.S. was built by the blood, sweat, and tears of hardworking individuals looking to create a better life. And it is blood, sweat, and tears that will keep this country together in the years to come...

Stars and Flags to the OP for posting these inspiring pictures!

I think a lot of people on this thread are missing the point of the OP. It does not matter what equipment or man power built these levees, it does not matter if the labor was volunteer or paid, and it does not matter if one individual saves his own home or of a town comes together to save their own city; what matters is that these are people taking action to preserve their property in the face of overwhelming adversity.

I remember back in the second or third grade learning about how the Egyptians used the flooding of the Nile river every year to plant their crops. I know there is a term for this but I don't remember what it is. But the portion of the land around the Nile that got flooded was known as the "flood plain." I remember reading that they didn't build houses in the "flood plain."

If the Mississippi floods every year, or every other year, or every five years to a certain area, which is obviously the case, because almost every year, or every other year we see about it flooding on the news (which must be like when the Nile flooded, because it is natural for rivers to increase in size during spring runoff, when a lot of the winter snow melts) wouldn't it be sound to not build homes inside the flood plain. Or am I wrong about this?

Originally posted by i am just saying

Originally posted by -W1LL
its cool to see but sadly I dont see a home owner doing any work except for spending cash to build those Dykes,

A crew was paid to come in and build those berms might only take a day or 2 with trucks bringing dirt in.

its sad that our tax dollars are so misspent that private citizens must spend their own money to fix an easily solved problem that is anything but new...

seriously?
that is what you got from this?

Yeah I did too. Not until I saw the pictures. These are all people that had the money to have those made. Or at least rent the equipment to do it.

This was not American ingenuity, blood sweat and tears of old. These were people that had enough money to do it.

Originally posted by -W1LL
this is addressed to all those claiming I am speculating or making assumptions which you are ALL hypocritically doing yourselves.

Wrong.

It is possible that both sides are correct. It is impossible to accurately reach a correct conclusion, that summarizes each and every residence, from only looking at aerial photographs.

Here is the way I see it-
It is very likely that some, possibly even many, of these dams and/or levees were built by a paid crew. That does not mean all of them were. Those few, that got out there, and did it themselves, do not deserve to be bad-mouthed by someone who just wants to show his anger, and pretend that he knows everything.

Even if only ONE man did it himself, then that ONE man deserves to be praised, and not belittled by you, or anyone else, that chooses to look down upon them, without knowing all of the details.

reply to post by Calender
you are somewhat correct except this particular spillway was man made to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans, most of the land you see flooding probably wouldn't have flooded had the Mississippi been left to its own devices.

Wow! You know we people from The Netherlands know a thing or two about building dikes but this rocks bigtime!
Great pictures of the great spirit of some of the local home owners. I hope the water will go down asap and people can get back to normal. Hold on everybody, better times will come!
Peace

reply to post by Calender


People keep doing this , building on flood plains, and it happens all over the world. The need for space is for some reason, considered more important than how long lived a dwelling or structure would be, when placed in such an area.
I think that in modern society, and specificaly in space limited nations like mine, the answer to building towns and or cities on flood plains should be simple. When a new building is put up , all its doors and windows should be presure sealable , and the bulding should be built with air nozzles and pumps in the attic to pump in air from above, and re circulate the air inside the property.

Furthermore, buildings in these locations should be built in the geodesic method, which would render the building stronger and less likely to be torn off its moorings by the flood. Of course , speaking of foundations, these would have to be deeper than a philosophy lecture taken by Socrates and the Buddha, heavier than a Metallica concert , and very strong, but these things are not beyond the bounds of possibility. Crucialy, if a way cannot be found to combine these structural requirements affordably , then new builds in these locations should be banned.

reply to post by TrueBrit

this
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by i am just saying

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by i am just saying

 

2 out of the 4 are most definitely built by a dozer, you can see the tracks.

Also, if it were there own tractors that built the dam, they would have left it inside the walls with them, as they make for a very good escape vehicle if need be, or if they needed to patch up the wall.

i give up...i just....sigh

It's a law of nature. Just when you find some little bright spot in a day filled gloom and doom and despair, someone always comes along and craps in the cornflakes.

S & F; I'm for anybody who can take matters into their own hands while flying the fickle finger at the feds.

reply to post by -W1LL


All Farmers own heavy machinery.........

reply to post by i am just saying



This is what sets apart man from beast.

Human being have the inherit ability to adapt quickly and get creative, sadly most of us have lost this and now can hardly fend for themselves.

This is sadly why I almost feel its necessary for catastrophes to strike. It keeps us on our toes so to speak, and forces us to "roll up our sleeves," rather than just sitting on the couch with eyes glazed over, watching our butts get bigger.

Originally posted by dreams n chains
reply to post by i am just saying

 

If I lived there... I would not be able to afford to buy a bulldozer/labor and have the land rights to pull up earth surrounding my little parcel of home. That does not make me any weaker or less ingenious than those that can afford such things. It only makes me a health-care worker that gets paid poorly in America.

Be proud of your fellow Americans... but not just those with money and means.

I noticed that too. Those were some pretty expensive homes there, no doubt the home owner would do everything to save it. Not saying it isn't an incredible feat against nature, it is. But OP, there are other perspectives to the same images.

Looks like it did around here a couple of weeks ago. It's flooded twice here so far. Not much of a big deal really it happens every year.

Great article! I am used to seeing a lot of negative stuff on this site or people/beliefs being down right attacked. It is good to see and read an article about the every day man just doing what he can to save his home and family.

Some one will make a lot of money selling boats.
or boat taxies.
and they could sue the government for flooding them.

I would love a island of my own.
give it time and they will have good fishing.
well until the water is gone.
IF it goes.

It certainly is inspiring to see people being able to persevere in the worst of conditions. =)