When the LSU Center for River Studies opens on the Water Campus in downtown Baton Rouge at the end of this year, researchers and visitors will get to see 179 miles of the lower Mississippi River come to life.
The $18 million project—funded by the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority—will be operated by LSU and open for public tours, 225 reports in a feature from the November issue.
“It’s this combination of science and a working laboratory as well as public outreach,” says project manager Rudy Simoneaux. “We’re in the midst of a coastal crisis, and there are some people who don’t think there’s anything being done about it. So we can use this to show people we’ve been busy, we plan to get busier, and here’s why.”
While the model is based on the latest information about Louisiana’s coastal terrain, officials acknowledge it’s an ever-changing landscape. Tests can show where new land is developing, but not necessarily where land is slipping into the Gulf—though they can adjust water levels to match sea level rise.
The model is made of 216 individual panels, and some can be replaced eventually if there’s a drastic change on the coast. The model also can create multiple scenarios, like what happens when the river is high and engineers are forced to open a diversion canal, to see how one scenario might impact multiple projects.
“We try to think of it as three tools: the people out in the field—out collecting data and studying what’s happening to the river—then numerical modeling with computers, and then this physical model,” Simoneaux says. “All three can provide even stronger evidence.”
