By Sheila Grissett, The Times -Picayune
February 04, 2010, 6:28PM

nola.com

The fast-rising Mississippi River has triggered restrictions designed to protect levee stability by prohibiting digging, demolition and all types of subsurface construction within 1,500 feet of the levees, unless the Army Corps of Engineers and district levee officials give special, written permission.

The prohibition applies to work on residential, commercial and industrial sites and includes everything from digging ditches, swimming pools and wells to taking soil borings, and driving pilings.

Neither government employees nor contractors doing work under public contracts are exempt from the restriction, which kicked in late Wednesday as the river hit 11 feet at the Carrollton gauge in New Orleans and kept climbing.

The river is expected to crest at 14 1/2 feet on Feb. 12, according to the National Weather Service.

Winter rises are common events, but the water has been higher than normal.

“Throughout December, we were seeing near-historic highs for that time of the year,” said Corps spokesman Ricky Boyett.

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