"A levee, levée (/ˈlɛviː/; French: [ləˈve]), dike (or dyke), embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels." wikipedia.

There would have been one in any sea or river port: particularly where Mississippi steamboats would put in: whence it is, famously, where it will be great to be waiting by with Kate for the Robert E Lee.

(Waiting For The Robert E. Lee is an American popular song composed in 1912 by Lewis F. Muir and L. Wolfe Gilbert. The title refers to the steamboat of that name.

~M~