The Bonnet Carre Spillway will be opened on Monday, May 9 around 8 a.m. to divert water from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain.
Water levels at the Carrollton Guage are currently approaching 15 feet.
The announcement comes after huge storm systems moved through the middle of the country in the past weeks causing a sudden rise in the river, according to Mike Stack Jr., chief of emergency operations at the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District.
Spillway Road closed on Tuesday night due to flooding and the risk of hydroplaning.
The spillway underwent an operational test on April 5 and everything went smoothly, said Chris Brantley, project manager at the spillway.
The last time the spillway was opened was in 2008 from April 11 through May 8 when the river crested at 16.69 feet. There are a total of 350 bays in the spillway, but only 160 were opened three years ago.
This will be the ninth time the spillway has been opened since it was created in 1932. It was built after the 1927 flood and is designed to divert 250,000 cubic feet of water per second into Lake Pontchartrain.
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