Levee Levee A levee (), dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwest and Deep South), use the word "levee", from the French word "levée" (from the feminine past participle of the French verb "lever", "to raise"). It originated in New Orleans a few years after the city's founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The
English Embankment English Embankment The English Embankment (; "Angliyskaya Naberezhnaya") or English Quay is a street along the left bank of the Bolshaya Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg. It has been historically one of the most fashionable streets in Saint Petersburg, and in the 19th century was called by the French term, "Promenade des Anglais". It was from the English Embankment that at 2 AM on October 25, 1917, the gunshot from the "Aurora" sent the signal to storm the Winter Palace during Russian Revolution. The English Embankment runs perpendicular to the south end of the Annunciation Bridge and spans between