By examining an old crevasse along Bayou Lafourche, a precursor of the Mississippi River, the researchers found that mud can build enough land to keep up with sea level rise if the diversion flows into
existing vegetated areas protected from marine forces.
Part of the decision was based on what would work structurally with the
existing building roof, so the lightest weight
vegetated systems were placed where the roof could only support the lighter weight, and deeper, heavier
vegetated assemblies were then placed in other
areas where there was additional support capacity.