What on Earth is a Levee?

Levees, also called dikes, are large embankments built along rivers to control floods by keeping floodwaters from rushing through homes and businesses. They are made by placing and compacting tons of earth and other fill material into a watertight earthen dam, with grass sod planted on the slopes to prevent erosion and stone riprap added on the river side where currents may wear the levee away. Successful levee design depends on the river’s path, foundation conditions, construction materials, needed armoring, and such factors as the severity of local flooding, costs, and environmental impacts, so levees vary in height. Along the Susquehanna River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, built the first levees in the late 1930s after the Wyoming Valley’s devastating 1936 flood, and Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972 led the Corps to enlarge them and add new ones. Although their primary purpose is flood protection, levees also often provide places for walking, jogging, biking, and bird-watching.

Forty Fort, Pennsylvania · United States