Levee

levee (lĕv`ē) [Fr.,=raised], embankment built along a river to prevent flooding by high water. Levees are the oldest and the most extensively used method of flood control. They are constructed by piling earth on a surface that has been cleared of vegetation and leveled. From a broad base the levee narrows to a flat crown, on which sandbags or some other temporary protection may be placed to contain unusually high waters. Levee surfaces are commonly protected from erosion by vegetation, notably Bermuda grass. A banquette, or low terrace of earth, is usually added on the land side of high levees to prevent loss of material from the slope through rain erosion. On the river side, plantings of willows, weighted brush matting, or concrete revetments protect those sections of levee that are exposed to strong waves or currents, while ditches or drainage tiles keep the foundation from becoming waterlogged. Levee systems require careful planning, with sections set back from the river to form a wider channel and with flood valley basins divided by cross levees to prevent inundation of large areas by a single break. The most extensive levee systems in the United States are along the Mississippi and Sacramento rivers and their tributaries. The dikes of Holland are a form of levee, and levee-type embankments are used along the Danube, Vistula, Po, and other European rivers.

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levee¹ US

an embankment alongside a river, produced naturally by sedimentation or constructed by man to prevent flooding

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levee²

1. a formal reception held by a sovereign just after rising from bed

2. (in Britain) a public court reception for men, held in the early afternoon

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levee [′lev·ē]

(civil engineering)

A dike for confining a stream.

A pier along a river.

(geology)

An embankment bordering one or both sides of a sea channel or the low-gradient seaward part of a canyon or valley.

A low ridge sometimes deposited by a stream on its sides.

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Levee 

a hydraulic regulating structure, usually a low earthen dam, designed to protect riparian land from inundation during seasonal or flash flooding of rivers. Levees are built chiefly on the floodplains of rivers. They receive the pressure of the water only periodically, when the level rises above the banks.