The Intercoastal waterway continues westward from New Orleans after crossing the Mississippi through a series of locks. On the eastbank the locks are at the Industrial Canal. On the westbank the locks are just south of Algiers.

The ICWW also called GIWW (Gulf Intercoastal Waterway) angles southwest from the city on its way to the oilfields in Texas. Within a few miles it is joined by the Harvey canal, passes Lake Salvadore and heads out into the marsh.

The BNOB Infrastructure Levees committee recognized the threat to the city posed by the western half of the ICWW and recommended flood control gates be installed past the junction with the Harvey Canal at the Hero Canal. This is just southwest of Alvin Callendar Naval Air Station. This structure with a one mile levee would provide security for Algiers and nearby communities in west Jefferson Parish.