AbstractsGeography &GIS

"Vast sums each year are expended on flood control projects on the Mississippi river and its tributaries. Millions of acres that were formerly subject to annual inundation caused by overflows, have been reclaimed for agricultural purposes, and each year, an increasing amount of this sort of work must be done as quicker run off and an increased volume caused by the clearing of land and drainage of natural storage, results in higher flood stages. Of course the greatest work of this kind has been done along the Mississippi river, where great levees on each side from Missouri to its mouth protect millions of acres and thousands of people from destruction and death each year. But on many of the smaller tributaries, very interesting problems of this nature are found. An especially interesting problem of this kind presented itself at Newport, Arkansas, and it was solved by the construction of a system of earth and concrete levees entirely surrounding the city" – [Introduction], p. 2.