NATCHEZ — Efforts to build a sand wall to protect Silver Street from up to 70 feet of the rising Mississippi River were momentarily setback Friday, but crews worked into the night and will continue today making progress.

The Mississippi River at Natchez stood 53.9 feet at approximately 4 p.m. Friday in Natchez.

The river rose 0.57 feet since Thursday, according to the Jackson National Weather Service.

The river is expected to crest at 64 feet May 22.

The NWS is monitoring a weather system in mid-Mississippi Saturday and Sunday that could produce rainfall, senior meteorologist Mike Edmonston said.

Dozier Construction workers along with friends and family of Silver Street property owners worked into the Friday night on a protective wall to withstand floodwaters up to 70 feet.

Early Friday, it became clear that approximately 25 of the Hesco Bastion containers were falling over due to the soft ground beneath them.

The construction was stalled when crews realized the weight of the Hesco Bastion containers filled with sand was too heavy for a particular section of ground along the south edge of the Isle of Capri Office to hold, said Denton Biglane, who’s family owns land Under-the-Hill.

Biglane said land in the section where the problem containers were located contained fill dirt from decades ago as a result of flooding, and the surface was too soft to support the heavy containers.

City Engineer David Gardner helped direct a reconfiguration of the structure of the containers in a way in which the ground could support them, Biglane said.

The containers in the problem area were stacked in a pyramid formation, which is the same configuration used on beach sand, he said.

Biglane said Dozier Inc. construction crews, along with his family and friends, started over in the problem area with new containers.

“It’s been fine; it’s never pleasant to do the same work twice, ever,” Biglane said.

Gardner, as well as representatives from Hesco Bastion, were on site parts of Friday overseeing the project.

Biglane said the construction of the wall might face challenges when they lose use of D.A. Biglane Steet due to flooding, but that they would press on until the wall is built.

Barrett Nobile, who owns property Under-the-Hill, said the wall would be completed along the side of the Isle of Capri office to reach Silver Street before today, and that crews would work through the weekend. Water was seeping Friday through sandbags at the lowest point on Silver Street, just south of the Isle of Capri ramp. A two-inch pump and four-inch pump were used Friday to push water back into the river in hopes of keeping the street clear.