The proposed new floodwall will extend 3,050.23 feet from station 0+00 on the west, where it connects to the levee, to station 30+50.23 on the east, where it will re-connect to the levee. The new floodwall alignment will largely conform to the existing one, but the proposed floodwall's footprint exhibits some minor deviations. 

The Caruthersville Floodwall is approximately 3,000 feet long and was originally built in 1917. The floodwall was later rebuilt in 1932 with a gravity design by the Memphis District U.S. Corps of Engineers, with sections of the 1932 floodwall incorporating the older 1917 floodwall into its design. 

The floodwall is significant to Caruthersville's commerce, industry, and residences protection from flooding and collectively significant with the Memphis District's 1931 Levee Program under the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project initiated by the Flood Control Act of 1928 in the early twentieth century. However, much of the historic landscape along the floodwall has changed or disappeared. The Frisco Railroad has been razed, and the northern portion of the landside of the floodwall has a greenline/sidewalk where the railroad once was located.

Large sections of the floodwall's riverside and landside are now vacant, and large grassy lots replace what was once a booming railroad and river town. Today, the ca. 1900 Bunge North America, Inc. facility (north end of the floodwall) and 1995 Lady Luck Casino (south end of the floodwall) are the only buildings directly along the floodwall in Caruthersville. 

From 1932 to 1977, the floodwall remained relatively unchanged until a study determined that the wall was unstable. Study findings prompted USACE to build a slurry trench and clay bucket on the riverside of the wall in 1978. The slurry trench was constructed at 260 feet and approximately 15 to 20 feet below the ground. Due to deterioration, extensive renovations occurred in 1984 that involved repairing expansion joints, concrete spalls, and cementation waterproof coating over any exposed surface of the floodwall. 

The 1931 USACE Levee Program resulted in nearly 12,000 miles of levee/floodwall improvements in urban areas along the Lower Mississippi Valley, making the floodwall in Caruthersville a common type of flood control improvement seen in urban areas where additional right of ways were once impossible. 

Additionally, no ancillary structures (i.e., reservoirs, pumping stations, etc.) were noted on the 1932 engineering plans nor visible during the survey for the Caruthersville Floodwall. For this reason, the Caruthersville Floodwall is not considered to have distinct characteristics for its engineering design. The floodwall-levee systems along the Mississippi River are inspected annually. During recent inspections, cracks and shifting were noted in certain locations along the Caruthersville Floodwall, compromising its structural integrity and weakening its effectiveness to protect against flooding.