Bayou Lafourche ( ), originally called Chetimachas River"Course Of The River , from the Balise to Fort Chartres. Ross, Lieut. 1775" rumsey.geogarage.com or La Fourche des Chetimaches (the fork of the Chitimacha), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed June 20, 2011 bayou in southeastern Louisiana, United States, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. It was formerly a natural distributary of the Mississippi River; its source was sealed from the Mississippi by a dam in 1904, but since 1950 a water pump station has provided flow to the bayou.
The bayou is flanked by Louisiana Highway 1 on the west and Louisiana Highway 308 on the east, and is known as "the longest Main Street in the world." It flows through parts of Ascension, Assumption, and Lafourche parishes. Today, approximately 300,000 Louisiana residents drink water drawn from the bayou.
History The name Lafourche is from the French for "the fork", and alludes to the bayou's large outflow of Mississippi River water. The first settlements of Acadians in southern Louisiana were near Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Écores, which led to a close association of the bayou with Cajun culture.
It was formerly a Mississippi River outlet (distributary), but was dammed at Donaldsonville in 1904. The dam cut off nourishment and replenishment of a huge wetland area of central Louisiana. It changed the formerly flowing bayou into a stagnant ditch.
The Bollinger Shipyards, founded by Donald G. Bollinger, was launched on Bayou Lafourche in 1946.
On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Lafourche parish. Dam walls at the end of the bayou were closed to prevent a storm surge of salt water from entering.
On July 27, 2024, a 3-mile stretch of the bayou in Raceland faced an oil spill breach. The leak was caused by a valve failure at a Crescent Midstream crude oil facility and the resulting discharge travelled into the bayou from a storm drain. The spill was contained by parish officials and the community's drinking water was not affected.
Mississippi River reintroduction
In 1950, a water pumping station was constructed at the bayou's source at the Mississippi River.
A long-term project to revitalize Bayou Lafourche with an increased flow of fresh water from the Mississippi River and halt the accelerated loss of land down the bayou is currently in progress.
In 2016, Bayou Lafourche was dredged from Donaldsonville to Napoleonville of vegetation and sediment that constricted the surface area of the water. In Lockport, a water gate was constructed on Bayou Lafourche to mitigate the amount of salt water invading the bayou during periods of low tide. In 2021, a weir was removed in Thibodaux, allowing recreational boating passage through the entire bayou.
By 2027, a $230 million pumping station is set to be completed in Donaldsonville, next to the original that was constructed in 1950.AP staff. (23 October 2022). "Work Begins on New Pump Station on Bayou Lafourche". US New & World Report website Retrieved 23 October 2022. The new station will be able to pump three times the amount of fresh water from the Mississippi River than the original and, in turn, return the flow of water throughout the bayou during low tides.
Crossings From north to south, the following roads and railroads cross the bayou (almost all connecting LA 1 to LA 308): LA 3089 (Albert Street) in Donaldsonville Union Pacific Railroad Livonia Subdivision in Donaldsonville Rondinaud Road in Donaldsonville LA 943 LA 998 at Belle Rose LA 70 LA 403 at Paincourtville LA 70 Spur Bridge Street at Plattenville LA 402, Hospital Rd. at Napoleonville former Texas and Pacific Railway (now open to non-motorized traffic) LA 1008 at Napoleonville LA 1010 at Ingleside LA 1011 at Supreme LA 1247 at Labadieville St. John Bridge LA 3185 Tiger Drive (Replaced in 2014) former railroad in Thibodaux LA 20 (St. Patrick Street) in Thibodaux Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux (To be replaced in 2027) Banker Drive (no motor vehicles) in Thibodaux Audubon Avenue in Thibodaux LA 648 Near Bayou Country Club Lafourche Crossing, BNSF Railway/Union Pacific Railroad Lafayette Subdivision at Lafourche LA 649 (St. Charles Swing Bridge) at St. Charles Raceland Lift Span Bridge LA 182 (Raceland Lift Bridge) at Raceland US 90 former LA 364 LA 654 (Champagne-Harrelson Memorial Bridge) LA 655 (Rita Bridge) at Lockport LA 3220 (Bollinger Bridge) Valentine Bridge at Valentine T-Bois Bridge Former LA 310 Pontoon Bridge at Larose LA 657 Vertical Lift Bridge at Larose Le Pont D'or Bridge at Larose Cote Blanche Bridge at Cut Off LA 3162 (South Lafourche Bridge) at Galliano Galliano Pontoon Bridge at Galliano Airport Rd in Galliano (newest bridge opened in 2026) LA 308 (Golden Meadow Lift Bridge) in Golden Meadow LA 1 (Gateway to the Gulf Expressway) at Leeville
In popular culture The film Southern Comfort is set on Bayou Lafourche.
At the end of the novel Post Office by Charles Bukowski, protagonist Henry Chinaski quits his job at the Los Angeles post office to "pick up 10 or 20 grand for 3 months trapping at Bayou La Fourche. [...] Muskrats, nutria, mink, otter... coon. All I need is a pirogue."
In The CW Network's supernatural-fantasy series, The Originals, the Bayou Lafourche is a major setting and has acted as the home of the Werewolf encampments for decades after the Vampires exiled them from the city of New Orleans.
In the film Hard Target, the lead character Chance Boudreaux, played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Cajun from Bayou Lafourche in Southern Louisiana.
See also
Nicholls State University Battle of LaFourche Crossing
References