In his poem "The Dry Salvages," T.S. Eliot described the river
as "a strong brown god," a powerful force that, while often
patient and nurturing, frequently proves itself untamable and
merciless. The greatest cities in human history have risen up on
the banks of rivers and by the seaside, but in doing so, their
builders chose to live in close confines with an unruly force.
Rivers have surged to wash away whole communities or changed
course to abandon prosperous kingdoms to the dust. Even today,
ocean storms threaten to decimate centuries' worth of human
endeavor. Humans have attempted to conquer the problems of
changing water levels for thousands of years. One of the oldest
weapons they've wielded against the rivers and oceans is the
levee, also known as a dike. A levee is simply a man-made
embankment built to keep a river from overflowing its banks or
to prevent ocean waves from washing into undesired areas. In New
Orleans, the levees attempt to perform dual duties: On one side
of the city, levees protect ag