The New Orleans District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for flood protection and water resource development in a 30,000-square-mile area covering most of southern Louisiana. Keeping the lower Mississippi River under control has been an ongoing task for the Corps of Engineers since 1803. Some of the Corps' more interesting concrete projects in the New Orleans area include the New Orleans floodwall, producing and laying precast concrete mats, and placing concrete slope pavements on levees.