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(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

(Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Each August, an army of men and women, well over 300, begin four months on the Mississippi River in an annual effort to maintain the riverbanks for levee protection and to provide a safe navigation channel.

The mat sinking unit from the U.S. Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District places hundreds of thousands of articulated concrete squares, also known as revetment, along the Mississippi River to protect flood control works, prevent riverbank erosion and provide navigable waterways for commercial transportation. The crews work 10-hour shifts and 12-consecutive-day-work periods while on the unit. The mat sinking unit has been on the east bank of the river north of downtown working this week.

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