americanUrban

industrial canals

a field guide

thanks

to my advisor and critic Peter

Waldman, my advisor Kristina

Hill and mentor Elizabeth Mey-

er, my partner Erin Putalik, my

comrades Hans Hesselein, Andrew

Nicholas, Jenn Richey, Erik Mar-

tig, David Moses, John Donnelly,

Gena Wirth, Rob Holmes, Brett

Milligan, Stephen Becker, Laura

Stedenfeld, the good people at

grassroots mapping, Andy Simons

and the Gowanus Canal Conser-

vancy, Kirsten Ostberg, Jenn

Richey, Jorg Sieweke

Contents

field guide to field manuals

history of urban american industrial canals

Lexicon: signs and significations

Ecologies: objects and relations

vacancy: borderlands of intentionality

hydrology: bathing in the ether

sediments: here comes everything

toxicity: eccentric substances

transportation: the wall of sound

Taxonomies: the instrumentality of things

structures: delineations and subdelineations

instruments: belts, buckets, houses and hoses

organisms: plants, animals, mycorrhiza

Operations: tactics and strategies

a field guide to field manuals

US Census Office Guide to New Orleans- 1887 The Haynes Auto Manual- begun in 1965

US Department of Agriculture Soil Science Field Book

Charles Sprague Sargent’s tree manual- 1905

US Navy Manual- begun in 1902

US Airforce Parachute Rigger’s Manual

In considering the city it is important not only to inves-tigate urban processes and kinds of organization, but also to re-evaluate the meth-odologies by which we under-stand and intervene in urban systems and spaces. For this, it may be that an often-ig-nored tool may be of greater use: the maintenance manual.

The maintenance manual, like all tools, has a history. Early examples of the mod-ern American manual include the Chicago Manual of Style (1891) and the US Navy Blue-jacket’s Manual (1902). The maintenance manual rose to prominence with the special-ization of labor and the pro-liferation of consumer prod-ucts in the 20th century.

The form of the manual of-fers the opportunity for new kinds of urban engagement. The maintenance manual can be used to describe procedures and reactions to be performed in response to shifting urban conditions. In this sense, the maintenance manual of-fers an opportunity to expand agency in shaping the city to anyone who can read, inter-pret, and apply the instruc-tions found within the manual.

We believe that this potential can be drawn out by hybrid-izing the maintenance manual with another popular literary genre whose history parallels that of the maintenance man-ual- the field guide. Like the manual, the first guides were published in the late 19th century and were typi-cally small and light-weight which made it easy to carry. But where the maintenance manual focused on machines and new consumer products, the field guide tended to focus on objects and phenom-ena related to the “natural realm”, and so was geographi-cally associated with rural and suburban locales. Both, however, were alike in ex-tending specialized knowledge to enthusiasts through a fo-cus on utility, accessibil-ity, and nurturing curiosity.

In the context of the city, hybridization of the field guide with the maintenance manual immediately suggests a blending of readings: both the city as machine and the city as natural phenomenon. Combining emphases on iden-tification, diagnosis, edu-cation, and instruction, a new genre might arise which would point a way forward for the urbanist of the fu-ture: the field manual.

urban american industrial canals: a history

the Nazca constructed asystem of irrigation canals for agriculture and urbanism in the highlands of Peru

the industrial canal age was defined by two things:- standardization - proliferation

Standardization in construction, including width and bulkhead technology, was necessary because the same ships were moving the same cargoes between different places

Proliferation of canals occured because water-borne transportation of cargo was orders of magnitude cheaper than the overland transportation available at the time, such as the horse cart.

The introduction of the railroads 3 decades later meant that the early industrial canals, only 40’ wide, were obsolete, being unable to compete with their economy of speed; in many American countries, this meant that the early canals such as the Erie Canal had a useful life of less than 20 years, such as the Chicago River, which was constructed in the 1850’s and was shut down in 1871.

Trucks and highways meant a new role for canals; canalization of rivers by Army Corps of Engineers expanded the network to a continental scale; many war-time constructions such as the Houston Shipping Channel or in-tracoastal waterway are repurposed for super large ocean-going vessels; smaller canals that could not be easily expanded, such as those in urban areas whose expansion was limited by existing urban construction, saw decreased use and many were abandoned or turned over to sewage disposal

miles of canals in the united states

4,500 miles

2,500 miles

1850

1880erie canal completed

1831

1784

1908

1959

2,000 mi

railroad age

22,000 mi

Canals are fundamentally urban, enabling the rise of the first cities which relied on them for irrigation- plants, people, and fountains- and for drainage. They immediately enabled the generation of new forms and patterns of set-tlement, from cosmological glyphs to urban metropolises.

the first known canals were constructed in Upper Egypt cerca 4000 BCE

the industrial canal in the united states

the original canals were irrigation canals. to create canals for navigation a leap in scale was necessary; based on the scale of the hu-man body and a vessel that could carry it, the earliest navigation canals probably appeared in China around 500 BCE.

There are three typologies of navigation ca-nals: 1. City Network 2. Industrial 3. Defense

industrial canals are a subset of navigation canals, defined by this guide as those which are concerned with the transportation of large amounts of raw material- gravel, coal, wheat, or garbage.

this study excludes the large intrabasin canals such as the Suez and the Panama Canal; though they are industrial canals, their scale and geography requires a different study

industrial

city network

canal histories canal typologies canal methodologies

channelization

canalization

dredging

concentric incan irrigation canals in the highlands of bolivia

irrigation agriculture in modern-day libya the kanawha canal in richmond, virginia, begun in 1785, immediately after independence in the US

large scale industrial canals have been reintegrated as regional and continental container shipping networks

a connected transportation system, meant for everyday civilian use; often maintained for recreation or cultural heritage significance

example: Venice, Amsterdam

entails the cutting of a new course, often parallel or adja-cent to an existing water body; structures such as bulkheads are often used to define the edges of the new channel

if industrial canals are not abandoned and filled in once obsolete, they are of-ten repurposed as open sew-ers and sewer overflow sys-tems for the adjacent urban area

many canals are left in an abandoned, derelict state, prompting speculation on their future use and devel-opment. often times these attract certain agents- boaters, birders, photog-raphers, musicians, black locusts, birds, and skate-boarders who are looking for a place to work, live and play that is outside of the normal operations of a city

Independence was critical to the development of canal systems; most colony economies operated as landscapes of extraction, the colonial power had little impe-tus to develop industrial capac-ity

our study is based on three case studies

river rouge

gowanus canal

riachuelo canal

Detroit, USA

Brooklyn, USA

Buenos Aires, Argentina

making an existing watercourse more suitable for industrial, defense, or civilian transporta-tion

making an existing channel deep-er by mechanical excavation

* most canals are constructed through some combination of all three methods

a teleological logistics platform for moving manufactured goods and raw materials; often abandoned once obsolete

example: the Scheldt, Houston Shipping Channel

defensible redundancy for maintaining movement of goods and people considered critical during times of war; often maintained for recreation or cultural heritage significance

example: intercoastal waterway, Rideau Canal

defense

Lexicon

A useful list of terms for understanding the canal ecologies, taxonomies, and topographies

Canal Lexicon: Signs and significations

a useful list of terms and their definitions for understanding the particular ecologies, and taxonomies common to american industri-al canals, as well as the operations that might take place there

a flat bottomed boat, built to serve as a mobile logistics platform for moving

materials or heavy equiment. along rivers and canals; many barges are not self-

propelled and need to be tugged or pushed

a retaining wall meant to define and reinforce the separation between water and

land, can take any type of form or structure; some variation typically lines all

canals

a constructed water channel; can be of three types- irrigation, drainage, and

navigation; see pullout page

a method for making a canal which involves regulating, widening or deepening an

already existing waterway; for example, straightening a small river

a method for canal making invollving cutting a new channel for water where one

did not previously exist; this is often done to shorten a navegation route, or

to avert a troublesome spot

any impurity in a given material that is undesirable; can be toxic, such as

lead, or may refer to impurities in a production process, such making steel, or

brewing beer

in many american ciities household waste and stormwater runoff pour into the

same sewer lines which go to sewage treatment plants; rain events often pour too

much water in to the system for the plant to handle; in this case, the raw sew-

age pours through a CSO, usually into a river, harbor, or old industrial canal

a method of research that begins with a theory, states a hypothesis, and then

tests that hypothesis through observation (such as, “I bet apples are green be-

cause they result from photosynthetic process, this red delicious apple should

be green). This is the most popular mode of scientific inquiry, typified by the

“scientific method

an excavation activity that occurs underwater; usually entails scraping or suck-

ing sediments from the bottom and depositing them elsewhere; is used to maintain

navigable channels, build islands or replenish beaches

Barge

Bulkhead

Canal

Canalization

Channeliza-tion

Contamination

Combined Sew-er Outlet (CSO)

Deduction

Dredging

the associations and relationships between any set of actors and agents

the mechanical action of digging into the earth

a method of research that attempts to begin with specific observations and at-

tempts to construct a general theory of operation or function (this apple is

green, the color of apples must be green)

pertaining to productive labor, this term especially signifies the productive me-

chanical operations that enabled the modern industrial revolution

american independence assumes a post-colonial situation of extractive landscapes,

europhilia, and a retardation of industrial development

refers to the changes in human settlement and living patterns that take place

when industrialization occurs; fundamental to this phenomenon is an environmental

perspective that considers it resources

power to operate or produce effects; efficacy, force. A particular form or kind

of activity; an active process: the discharge of a function.

a type of deep foundation, long poles or sheets of material with high tensile

strength- usually wood, steel or reinforced concrete- are driven deep into the

ground to provide lateral stability to a construction,

a term that means any undesirable, non-human agent in a given environment, usu-

ally present in excess; for instance light, smoke, heavy metals, oil can all be

considered pollution ; it is a fundamentally pollitical term

a systematic classification of a particular object, organism, instrument or set

of these things, and their operational aspects

a method of inquiry that begins with a specific case studies and tests these with

specific cases (this apple is green, I wonder if that apple is also green)

a substance that is immediately harmful to the health of living organisms

Ecology

Excavation

Induction

Industrial

Independence

Modernization

Operations

Pilings

Pollution

Taxonomy

Transduction

Toxic

Canal ecologies

a mapping of mouse activity across a computer screen during manual assembly on 4/27/2011

Canal Ecologies: Objects and Relations

Immediate comparisons between different amer-ican industrial canals seem preposterous and are difficult to conjure- they vary wildly in scale, geography and contemporary economic con-text. The canal fragments, their various in-struments and structures and the communities that find footholds here seem to be a kind of eddy in the city, existing outside of the turbulent currents of the city. This ecologi-cal study begins with an examination of three American industrial canals- the River Rouge in Detroit, the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, and the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires

Yet nothing is as thoroughly modern as the industrial canal. Beyond the fact that they are waterways of some kind, urban American in-dustrial canals do have two paradoxical char-acteristics in common: a prominent place in the mythology of American industrial centers, and an ambiguous, eccentric situation at the metaphorical edge of the city. Precisely be-cause of these three aspects they have always attracted new agents- economic, biological, and social- offering them operating space and serv-ing as a generator for new urban possibilities. This study of six canal ecologies aims to exam-ine the different objects and organisms of the canal, and to study the relations between them. It is hoped that this will stimulate insight that is helpful for understanding the paradoxi-cal situation of the American industrial canal.

If one wants to explore an american industrial canal and attempts to walk along its banks, they are likely to find that their way is frequently fenced off. Because of this, the best way to explore the canal is by canoe, as one can move freely up and down, experience the water firsthand, and get out to explore the shore should some-thing catch your attention. But why is it that vacancy, especially boarded up and walled off vacancy, is so prevalent along industrial canals? And what can we make of it, in terms of our effort to un-derstand the generative capacity of the canal landscape within the city?

We should first acknowledge two much larger, more prevalent, and readily understandable trends: vacancy is fundamental to the con-cept of real estate in general, and much industry in the Americas has been shifted to Asia in recent decades. But we won’t dwell too much on those. What is about the American industrial canal that makes it particularly susceptible to vacancy, and what does this ecology of vacancy mean? It is there for two reasons: one seen, and one unseen.

The unseen we know a bit about- the toxic ecologies of the canals drive away people. Who wants to pay top dollar for a city apartment on top of an open sewer? Who wants to worry that their kids are be-ing exposed to damaging amounts of chromium or pcb’s? But the seen- the old factory, the coal silo, the conveyor system rusted still- is something that we might dwell on for a minute.

The canals were constructed according to the logistical needs of modern industry, and the great “bodies” of modern industry immedi-ately sprang up at its edges. In the Americas, this happened quick-ly; if industrial development was limited until independence, the floodgates burst open soon after and a flurry of factories and mills were built. These were built intentionally, for specific purposes at a moment in time. Compared to other forms of city building they did not evolve- they were instant. Great boxes and cylinders and trusses of brick and wood and steel were constructed at impressive scales. When the canals were no longer the primary platform for industrial traffic- having been replaced by interstates- companies left the canal banks for cheaper rents in the suburbs or anywhere along the highway. The old factories, storage yards, conveyance systems, and silos were left.

Vacancy: Borderlands of Intentionality

the department of sanitation “salt lot” along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY, USA located at the end of 2nd Avenue, with the Kentile Floors sign in the background. Front shovels for scraping ice covered roads are aligned along the edge, the ground is completely salted and sterilized from the road salt that is stored here 3 months of the year. The runoff from this lot increases the salinity of the canal. Historically this lot was the site of storehouses for grain and building materials.

Some of these were knocked down, but many of the well-built ones were left standing precisely because it is expensive to demolish something that is well-built. Today we are left with an ecology of vacancy along industrial canals that is a mix of rubble strewn lots and abandoned brick factories and warehouses that have been left to slowly decay.

Demolishing a building leaves a property utterly exposed; there is no shelter either for plants or animals or people. The entire lot tends to be covered in several inches of rubble as the primary method of building demolition on these sites is the to bring in the wrecking ball. This rubble is then simply spread out over the site as this is much cheaper than paying someone to cart it away. These places are sometimes repurposed as salt storage lot for departments of transportation or they mutate into some local initiative- a com-munity garden or local tree nursery. But mostly these places stay unused, coated in the destroyed rubble of their former utility, colonized by only a few of the hardiest weeds and insects.

The other vacant lots are perhaps more interesting for our pur-poses, those where the buildings and facilities still stand. Their walls create shade and shadowy places, areas that are protected from wind, perches for birds and protection from lines of site from the streets. Weedy trees and grasses spring from the protected cracks attracting kestrels and nighthawks, offering beetles protection and shade for mycelia, cover for rodents. Some of the buildings are reused by punk artists. The building known as the Bat Cave along the Gowanus Canal, actually an old Con Edison powerhouse, supported a rave scene for years before a leaking roof ultimately drove all of the squatters away. Even now, the lot around it houses a thriv-ing fusion ecology of weedy trees and shrubs and grasses, all munch-ing away at the pavement and rubble below, turning it slowly into a sheltered place for insects, microbes and birds.

This phenomenon brings us to one of the most interesting characters yet on the canal- the mythical form, or the obsolete teleological construction. These mythical forms attract us to them; ahistorical but immediately understandable, strange yet familiar, these forms are from our shared past which is constantly being erased. The old factory or pier, the silo, the concrete bunker- coming across these forms in the city stimulates the mind and attracts new agents, sug-gesting a history while recoiling from revealing itself.

the “bat cave” abandoned building is a former Consolidated Edison powerhouse along the banks of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York, USA. In the mid-90’s and early 2000’s this vacant structure housed a squatter community with a bike shop and rules about drugs and detrimental illegal activity. The bat cave was cleaned out in 2006 after an expose on the community painted it as a community blight that had devolved into a “decadent drug culture consumed with vicious fighting” and serious heroin use. Past uses included a coal-fired power station, a paper mill, lumber yard, an iron junk yard, and auto repair shop. The property now sits vacant again with much of the land it sits on considered toxic because of the likely presence of pcbs and heavy metals.

When operating as a power plant, this building could move 125 tons of coal per hour to power the engine room, sending power out to most of Brooklyn.

Every urban industrial canal must be considered in the context of the larger watershed. Any navigable canal is constructed using some com-bination of three techniques: cutting a new channel, or canalization of an existing waterway. Dredging operations are almost always used during and afterwards in order to maintain the channel and is really a horse of different color. Nonetheless, all three operations have in common their effect on the hydrologic ecology- they regularize it. And they do this in both its route as well as the shape of the water channel itself.

The regularization of the waterway usually means making the route straighter, the sides more vertical, and the bottom flatter. It is important to remember that a hydrological system is a dynamic thing that usually wants to shift and change according to global climatic patterns, a shift in the Earth’s tectonic plates, a particularly high tide, or simply yesterday’s thunderstorm.

This regularization is realized in urban areas with structures known as bulkheads that essentially make a hard, edge between the water and the land. The reasons for this are twofold which we will look at in a bit of detail: canals are made for barge traffic, and the land in cities is expensive. Barges are large floating platforms for the transportation of heavy bulk materials- coal, iron ore, grain, vats of petroleum- this is the stuff that the industrial revolution was made from. These barges are designed to carry tons of this stuff and al-low it to be loaded and unloaded easily and quickly, first by men and mules, later by gantry cranes and conveyors. Of course, this means that they have specific dimensions and maneuvering capabilities which are not very flexible, and so the canal edges had to be designed and constructed so as to allow them to maneuver and dock. This meant no more meandering streams with soft edges and boulders and sand bars in the bottom- the course is straightened, the edge is reinforced, and the bottom is deepened and flattened.

As for the urban canal, the lands adjacent to the waterway were often too valuable to leave as sloped earthen banks. Often factory yards, docks or loading equipment needed to be directly adjacent to the canals in the city because the factories were there and the materials needed to be unloaded. This called for not only a reinforced edge, but a ver-tical one, as more flat usable land could be claimed this way, and the barge could dock right next to the loading yard and equipment.

Hydrology: Bathing in the Ether

The mouth of the Riachuelo River in the Argentine city o f Buenos Aires is canalized as part of the port infra-structure of the city. The canal is part of a much larger hydrology; the river is over 50 miles long and is just downstream from the Rio de la Plata River at the conflu-ence of the Rio Parana and Rio Paraguay

buenos aires and the riachuelo river, on the coast of the rio de la plata, the delta is to the north

north

The effect of these measures on the pre-industrial hydrology can be imagined. The plants, animals, and microbes that rely on a moisture gradient along the banks of the former waterways are all obliterated. An iconic example of this is the Gowanus Oyster of Brooklyn, New York. Once upon a time the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn was once a meandering tidal creek whose brackish waters produced oysters so succulent and sizable they were harvested by the Dutch settlers and shipped back to Europe. In the 18th and 19th century before the advent of the hot dog stand it was oyster carts that dotted the intersections throughout Brooklyn. With the growth of industry and the concomitant population explosion in the middle of the 19th century, the Gowanus Creek was channeled and deepened to create the 1.8 mile-long canal, finished in 1869. This allowed for the bulk industrial materials to be brought into Brooklyn. The Gowanus Oyster disappeared.

The channelization of the banks has further implications regarding the rate of water flow- it increases it. Increased flow rate serves to scour the bottom of the channel, lessening the need for constant dredging. But a canal in an urban setting can also be imagined as a river, with all of the gutters and storm sewers and streets acting as ephemeral streams shooting surface water into the canal during rain events. Many canals are affected by tides and may contain brackish wa-ters. This twice daily ebb and flow and mixing of nutrients and salts can work to stimulate biological communities, flush out chemicals that have accumulated in the canal, and cause metal structures to corrode faster. Because of this, the canals in coastal cities exhibit some of the most drastic change over time, and present great opportunity.

Ultimately the result of urban hydrological regulation is intensi-fied disruptions- storms cause higher rises in water level, faster rates of flow, and a more severe line between what is wet and what is dry. With the passage of time, many of the patterns attempt to reas-sert themselves, pushing down bulkheads, depositing sediments and if constant work is not done to counteract this change, such as the case of a canal no longer used, then the hydrology will begin to alter or destroy the bulkheads depending on their construction, or will deposit sediments into the canal the begin to accumulate. Whatever the state of push and pull between the water and the structures in any given canal, it is the presence of this water- and all of the nutrients and chemicals and sediments in it- and its effects on the surroundings that is responsible for a great deal of the possibility and generative capacity of the landscape.

Detroit, Michigan, USA

watershed: 467 square mipopulation: 1,500,000length: 126 milles

Meets the Detroit River at Zug Island

Buenos Aires, Argentina

watershed: 2.7 square mipopulation: 5,000,000length: 55 miles

Meets the Rio de la Plata at the Petrochemical Dock at the center of the metropoli-tan area

Brooklyn, New York, USA

watershed: 864 square mipopulation: 1,000,000length: 1.8 miles

Meets the New York Harbor at the Gowanus Bay just below Red Hook

River Rouge Canal

Riachuelo Canal

Gowanus Canal

Sediments: Here Comes EverythingThe sedimentation process is one of deposition and accumulation and occurs in places where the current slows down. In a pre-industrial river the main sediments are bits of clay and sand and pebbles from upstream that form beautiful sandbars and oxbows and influence the river’s course over time. In an industrial river- one that has been canalized and is dredged and used for barge traffic- these pre-industrial sediments are mixed up and smashed together with all the industrial materials and wastes, as well as the runoff and suspended solids from the street gutters and sewer system of the surrounding city. All of these substances tend to settle out along the bottom of the canal and have to be regularly dredged in order to keep the channel clear for barges and boats.

Dredging operations ceased for many canals sometime in the mid-twentieth century, usually around 1950, when the size of ocean going traffic became much larger and the canals weren’t able to easily be widened because of the constructions along their banks. As the sediments piled up, the capacity of the water channel for moving water was seriously reduced and in some cases flooding problems are exacerbated as is the case in the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires.

Continually dredging a canal where industrial operations have all but ceased is a difficult expense to justify when municipal budgets are tight, despite the flooding and environmental issues. Once the canal begins to silt up, it becomes impossible for the neighboring water dependent and water enhanced industries to use it; once all of the neighbors have turned their back on the canal, the falloff in water quality is precipitous. This suggests that, whenever pos-sible, new uses for canals that require a navigable channel would improve water quality and might help reduce flooding and environmen-tal problems.

Sediments on industrial canals inevitably contain serious substances that are harmful to many organisms, incluing humans. For that rea-son they are often left “down there” below the surface of the water, where no one has to worry about them too much, unless you happen to live nearby. Companies and governments usually have politically expedient reasons for not dredging the sediments- they are highly contaminated with toxic substances.

In addition to stirring up the pcb’s and heavy metals and tars that are mixed in on the bottom of the canal, the sediments that are dredged cannot be disposed cheaply- hazardous waste dump sites are incredibly expensive. In reality, they shouldn’t ever be disposed of, as that just moves a toxic substance to another place. Ideally the substances would be excavated and taken to a facility where the toxic chemical are broken down or made inert.

The sedimentation process occurs on the banks of canals as well, where tides, flood waters, street runoff, as well as human agents deposit all sorts of jetsam and flotsam. This material is most often considered a nuisance- shopping carts are deposited at street ends, plastic bottles and old wood scraps find their way into the chain link fencing that edges many places along the canal. While this material is mainly a nuisance and it is rather difficult to think of a possible reuse for it other than simply cleaning it up, the deposits are evidence of material eddies in the city. The con-temporary urban environment is like a highly regulated waste stream, with food and water and consumer goods coming in, being consumed, and then deposited and whisked out of the city- the municipal solid waste system. Appropriate mobilization and management of this sys-tem is perhaps the key catalyst to any urban project. The biologi-cal capacities of canals to consume human waste when properly man-aged, and their tendency to accumulate the trash that escapes the waste stream suggests they should be an area of focus for sanitation departments in cities.

Lastly, the fact that pattern that is evident in the sedimenta-tion process could be strategically utilized- the canal is an eddy in the urban ecology of waste, transportation, and use. They of-fer an alternative to the highly programmed recreational park, the commercial shopping mall, or the office park. It is something of a no man’s land, and by providing simple access around the border and across its width and offering finding a way to reduce the exposure to the toxic substances, entire ecosystems of local populations of plants and animals including humans would spring up along its banks. Indeed, to a limited degree this already occurs and need only be en-couraged in the lightest possible way to generate a fecund alterna-tive to the overly programmed recreation park, the commercial shop-ping mall or street, and the office tower. People and things might come here and sit out the rushing city currents for a while, being sedimented.

Road sediments and urban gar-bage in the Gowanus Canal

These are most often seen as a problem and often need to be removed and piled somewhere else.

New port faciilities are constructed in Buenos Aires from construction rubble cre-ated from highway projects. This poldering system is then filled in by the sediments deposited by currents of the river creating new lands for the city

zug island at the mouth of the River Rouge canal is the site of waste, industrial, and hydrological sediments

This is a tricky theme regarding the subject of canals, and industrial cities in general. There are many ambiguous terms such as pollution, contamination, degradation, sewage, and landfills as well as a num-ber of euphemisms such as brownfields. For the most part these leave people confused, with vague sentiments resembling “that doesn’t sound too bad, but I don’t want to live near it” or “it’s fine as long as it stays over there”. By being specific about certain substances, we may be able to avoid this conundrum.

Toxicity relates to any substance which impedes the normal biological functioning of an organism. A couple of keys to remember about toxic-ity is that it is almost always in relation to exposure. That is, most substances considered toxic are not harmful until exposure reaches a certain level, be it nuclear radiation or road salt. Toxicity in urban industrial canals comes from two main sources: the stormwater and sewage from the surrounding city, and industrial sources such as factories and storage yards along the banks of the canal. The first is directly a result of the hydrological patterns of the city; as the canal is usually in a low point, all of the brake dust and motor oil and estrogen and caffeine that is contained in our sewers or lining our streets dumps into the canals during a storm. This is because the canals are usually the output for sewers, which become taxed by the extra water flower through the system during a storm. The toxic inputs from these sources are usually ongoing. In fact, one of the primary uses of canals after their industrial life was to turn them over to waste transport systems. In the case of the Chicago River, a canal connecting Lake Michigan to the upper reaches of the Mississippi, it was said to “run black” on the day that industrial operations stopped because the canal began carrying sewage overflow from the city out to Lake Michigan.

The second source of toxicity- the historical industrial usage of its banks- is a bit more insidious. The list of industries is long and re-markably consistent from city to city: manufactured gas plants, tan-neries, chemical manufacturers, liquid gas storage, concrete plants, slaughterhouses, grain storage, steel production, glue factories, food warehouses, road salt storage and junkyards. The reason for this remarkable consistency is complicated, but it has to do with the technologies of the time period, and the role of the canal in indus-trialization.

Coke production diagram

Toxic byproducts of the in-dustrial process include par-ticulate matter (PM), poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pah), methane, ammonia, car-bon monoxide (CO), hydroben sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, and sulfure oxides (SO) and benzene

manufactured gas productiion diagram

Toxic byproducts include phe-nols and cresols (such as cre-osote for treating lumber and aquatic piles, monocyclical aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, xylene, duocyclical aromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene, polycyclic aro-matic hydrocarbons such as coat tars, cyanide, sulfur, arsenic, chromium, lead

Toxicity: Eccentric Substances

polychlorinated biphenyl (pcb)

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah)

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah)

benzene

The most important use of the canal was the transport of bulk materi-als that were fundamental to the industrial processes of modernizing American cities. Massive quantities of grain, building stone, coal, cow hides, and road salt from the hinterlands as well as other cities was vital to these expanding economies, and industrial canals became widespread in the Americas at a time when the only overland option for transport were horse carts. The railroad did not come into widespread use until several decades after the canal boom had commenced.

Many of the burgeoning industries including the manufacturing gas-works located themselves along the canals where they could receive daily shipments of coal. It was also common to use the canals to dump the wastes and byproducts resulting from the tanning of hides, the drawing of candles, or the stamping of rivets. Writer Thomas Wolfe, writing in the 1920’s, noted of the Gowanus in Brooklyn:

And what is that you smell? Oh, that! Well, you see, he shares impartially with his neighbors a piece of public property in the vicinity; it belongs to all of them in common, and it gives to South Brooklyn its own distinctive atmosphere. It is the old Gowa-nus Canal, and that aroma you speak of is nothing but the huge symphonic stink of it, cunningly compacted of unnum-bered separate putrefactions. It is interesting sometimes to try to count them. There is in it not only the noisome stenches of a stagnant sewer, but also the smells of melted glue, burned rubber, and smoldering rages, the odors of a boneyard horse, long dead, the incence of putrefying offal, the fragrance of deceased, decaying cats, old tomatoes, rot-ten cabbage, and prehistoric eggs.

Toxic substances and the perceptions and assumptions that accompany them are responsible for some of the magic of these canals. Because they are often considered outside of the normal operations of the city people, plants and animals that also feel outside of normal are able to find purchase here. One can image easily that it is the homeless, the prostitutes, the teenagers skipping school that spend time here. And they do sometimes. But you also have many people from adjacent neighborhoods drifting here looking for a quiet place.

Combined sewer overflow sys-tem

In many american cities the wastewater from houses and of-fices (blackwater) goes into the same system as the water from the storm drains in the streets which all goes to a treatment plant. Because of the surge in water through the system during rain events, a series of outlets throughout the city to dump overflow raw sewage directly into adjacent water bodies.

Industrial byproducts

Many wastes from industrial processes, be they particles and microscopic molecules or rusting hulls, end up in in-dustrial canals, especially once they are no longer main-tained for navigation pur-poses.

Staten Island’s Industrial Evolution | Junk Yards | Brian Davis

UVA / LAR 7380 / Regenerative Technologies / Fall 2010 / page

DisposalHow does disposal work at a junk yard?

vehiclecar/truck/bus

parts

consumerwaste disposal site

hazardous materials

remains of vehicle

shredder/smelter

1a1b References1. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-crusher3.htm

2. http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8810.html

2b

3b

2c

3c

4

5

6

2a

3a

10

1a. The car is brought to the junk yard by wrecker.

1b. The wrecker parks.

2a. The car is stripped of all working parts. For example, a car may have a cracked engine block, but the radiator is still fine. Most parts of the car can be resold so they are stripped, cleaned, and stored.

2b. Hazardous materials are removed: the battery is pulled out, the gas tank, anti-freeze, and other fluids are drained. These are required to be registered, catalogued and stored until removed and disposed of by an approved handler according to NYS DEC regulations.

2c. The remains of the vehicle- the chassis, body parts, and damaged parts- are moved into the junkyard and stored until it can be crushed. The wait period is typically a few days but can be months.

3a. Working parts are sold to customers who come to the junkyard or order them online or via telephone, similar to any retail operation.

3b. Hazardous materials are removed and an annual report is submitted to the NYC DEC detailing the han-dling of these fluids from their reception, through their transport, to their disposal.

3c. The operator drives the crusher to the site and sets it up. The crusher is a hydraulic machine that uses fluid, not weight, to crush the vehicles. Crushers use a claw or a magnet to lift the cars onto the crushing bed. The final size of the car depends on the vehicle and the type of crusher being used- baler crushers can reduce a car to a brick of metal that is 3 1/2’ x 2’ x 5’.

THIS PROCESS IS FAST, LOUD, AND INTERMITTENT> Granutech’s big MAC portable crusher needs about 45 seconds per car. Some can crush 6 cars at a time, or buses.

4. Cars may then be stored until they are shipped to a shredder/smelter.

5. A barge or flatbed truck is brought to the junkyard. The crushed cars are loaded and sent to a shredder/smelter.

New York City junkyard flow diagram

Canoe clubs set up shop in small shacks along their banks, birders come to watch the nighthawks, and rogue gardeners starved for a patch of land for experimentation.

Many of the toxic substances in these places such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) and polycholorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) still persist in the canal sediments. Concentrations of solvents and oils are often leaked into the canals from the surrounding bus depots, and heavy metals including cadmium and lead from industrial processes tend to concentrate in the sediments and along the banks. Sometimes, when the currents change, releases of oil from the soil cause slicks. In addition, sewage overflow and stormwater runoff into these canals from the adjacent combined sewer outlets and city streets continually add to the nitrogen and phosphate loads in the water. Lastly the innocuous-seeming domestic chemicals, from cleaners and solvents we use to wash dishes to the estrogen and caffeine we use in our bodies can concentrate here.

But some of these substances offer hope to certain organisms. In particular, the nutrients from the combined sewer overflows are prized by certain aquatic plants that establish along the banks of the canal.

AN EXAMPLE- JUNK YARDS

1a. The car is brought to the junk yard by the wrecker

1b. The wrecker parks and sets up

2a. The car is stripped of all working parts. For example a car may have a cracked engine block, but the radiator is still fine. Most parts of the car can be resold so they are stripped, cleaned, and stored.

2b. Hazardous materials are removed: the battery is pulled out, the gas tank, anti-freeze, and other fluids are drained. These are required to be registered, catalogued and stored until removed and disposed of by an approved handler according regulations.

2c. The remains of the vehicle- the chassis, body parts, and damaged parts- are moved into the junkyard and stored until it can be crushed. The wait period is typically a few days but can be months.

3a. Working parts are sold to customers who come to the junkyard or order them, similar to any retail operation

3b. Hazardous materials are removed and an annual report is submitted to the NYC DEC detailing the handling of these fluids from their reception, through their transport, to their disposal

3c. The operator drives the crusher to the site and sets it up. The crusher is a hydraulic machine that uses fluid, not weight, to crush the vehicles. Crushers use a claw or a magnet to lift the cars onto the crushing bed. The final size of the car depends on the vehicle and the type of crusher being used- baler crushers can reduce a car to a brick of metal that is 3’x2’x5’

THIS PROCESS IS FAST, LOUD, AND INTERMITTENT> Granutech’s big MAC portable crusher needs about 45 seconds per car. Some can crush 6 cars at a time

4. Cars may then be stored until they are shipped to a shredder/smelter

5. A barge or flatbed truck is brought to the junkyard. The crushed cars are loaded and sent to a shredder/smelter

Transportation in American cities is supposedly all about the car. The automobile does dominate our perception on the street- horns honking, engines humming, brakes squealing- but it is not so impor-tant in the history of industrial canals. Canals had their heyday in the mid-1800’s, well before the Model T got rolling. While some canals initially had the jump on the railroads and so were used to span great distances such as the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, or most famously the Eerie Canal, the majority were quickly turned into a complimentary component of a sophisticated mash-up of an industrial transportation system made up of local roads, docks, and regional rail roads. In fact, two of our examples- the River Rouge and the Riacheulo- continue to function today in just such a capacity.

In the case of the River Rouge, the canal is now surrounded by bands of regional highways and railroads. Zug Island, located right at the mouth where the canalized River Rouge meets the larger Detroit River, is traversed by a major rail line and accessed by a single road. The island was once a marshy peninsula on the edge of town unfit for settlement. A new channel was cut through to create a straighter shipping route, and Zug Island was the byproduct. It was purchased and reconstructed as a giant landscape factory for steel production and now receives loads of coal via dock to refine into coke for the steel-making operations which then gets shipped out via rail line. However, the rest of the canal is ribboned with the freeways and highways that serve the number one export of the car capital of the twentieth century.

In Buenos Aires the Canal Sarandi serves the main receiving docks of the petrochemical port in the city as a spur off of the Riachuelo River. This area of town is a prime location for the port because of the canal and its proximity to the railroad and Autopista al Sur connecting to the rest of the country without having to cut across the central city. A hundred and fifty years ago when the canal was first being constructed the port was on the southern edge of the city, a fortuitous occurrence that kept the industrial factories and pollution segregated from the city proper. Of course, as the city population grew from 1 million in 1850 to 13 million in 2000 the city reoriented itself around the river and the port, drawn by the cheaper lands to the south and the economic

Transportation: The Wall of Sound

new york city subway map

engine of the port and its concomitant industries. This southern part of Buenos Aires has grown up around the freeways and railways that serve the port, the local municipal grids filling in around the lines of infrastructure, sometimes in an unplanned ad hoc way.

The freight rails, passenger trains, and commercial highways, and local street grids that are brought together at the industrial canals is a pattern that holds even for canals that are no lon-ger used. The abandoned canals, with their large vacant tracts and adjacent industrial zones were prime candidates for interstate freeways when the great highway projects of the 50’s and 60’s came through. The effect today can be a wall of sound, especially in the evening as cars pour out of the city and into the suburbs. But this wall is different than being in the rush hour traffic on Broadway. This is because an effect of displacement occurs when one is along an old industrial canal. And this displacement effect can be one of the special aspects of a canal.

While a canal in the city attracts the great, hulking commercial infrastructures of transit such rails and highways they serve to sever the local municipal street grid- the roads, the bus routes, and the sidewalk end here. As a result the local traffic is usu-ally at a minimum, while the commercial and regional traffic is loud and at a distance. The effect can be magical- a quiet forgotten place in the city with privileged access to the great humming and rumblings of the modern city. In Brooklyn the Gowanus Canal main-tains just this attraction. It is a sublime landscape with the old ruined factories and rubble heaps and scrap yards interspersed among garages and warehouses. The F/G trains and the Gowanus Expressway cross overhead and at night the little lights in the subway cars are beautiful. If you go there on the right night and watch the sub-way crawl along the tracks and see the distant skyline of Brooklyn and Manhattan, if you notice the bats diving for insects against the dark silhouettes of the strange warehouses and factories around you will feel that New York City is the place for you; that despite our propensity for creating ugliness, beauty is bigger than us.

Detroit bus map

The radial pattern of public transportation from downtown keeps the river rouge canal at an eccentriic position in the city

Buenos Aires subway map

The radial pattern of public transportation from downtown keeps the riachuelo canal at an eccentriic position in the perception of the city

taxonomies

Canal Taxonomies: The instrumentality of things.

Along American urban industrial ca-nals certain dimensions, properties and techniques manifest themselves consistently in the forms and scales of equipment, materials, and construc-tions. This is due to the fact that almost all of these canals were built between 1850- 1950.

Constructed at similar times for spe-cific, similar purposes, a taxonomy of key structures and instruments reveals a remarkably similar grouping of ob-jects that shape the canals, and take shape along them.

drawing by Ernst Haeckel; “Art Forms in Nature”

+ This system was not re-

inforced with steel, rely-

ing instead on the mass of

the concrete to retain the

earth.

+ the high compression

strength enabled industrial

equipment such as cranes to

operate on top at the wa-

ter’s edge

+ piles are used in the bot-

tom to anchor the bulkhead

+ most commonly used in

channel canals that are cut

into the terrain, such as

urban sections of the Erie

Canal.

+ the textured surface pro-

vides an opportunity for

micro-organisms

1. adjacent ground

2. stone veneer, usually cemented on to concrete wall behind, not always included

3. massive concrete wall

4. high water mark (tide)

5. low water mark (tide)

6. wood or steel pilings for additional lateral stabil-ity, anchoring the wall to the earth

7. canal bottom

8. steel sheet pile at base, to prevent undercutting of wall

Canal wall at a lock outside of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Canted Concrete Wall

+ This system was reinforced

with steel, utilizing a more

complex structural system

and less mass.

+ the verticle face enables

ships to pull up directly

adjacent

+ piles are used in the bot-

tom to anchor the bulkhead,

sheet piling on either face

to minimize underscoring

+ vertical ribs are spaced

at twice the height of the

wall

+ the textured and porous

surface of the stone or

concrete provides an oppor-

tunity for micro-organisms

to inhabit them, but little

opportunity for most plant

life

Canal wall along Newtown Creek in New York City, between Brooklyn and Queens

1. adjacent ground

2. stone veneer, usually cemented on to concrete wall behind, not always included

3. massive concrete wall

4. high water mark (tide)

5. low water mark (tide)

6. canal bottom

7. foundation plate attached to structural steel or wood pilings

8. wood or steel pilings for additional lateral stabil-ity, anchoring the wall to the earth

Vertical Concrete Wall

1. adjacent ground

2. precast concrete wall

4. high water mark (tide)

5. concrete anchor pilings

6. low water mark (tide)

7. canal bottom

8. steel sheet pile at base, to prevent undercutting of wall

precast wall along the newtown creek canal in Queens, New York City

Precast Concrete Canal Wall

+ This system was made off-

site and installed along the

canal.

+ often smaller in size due

to need to transport the

structure

+ the concrete was often of

higher quality and compres-

sive strength; often used

where specification for

mooring of boats were more

stringent

+ piles are used in the bot-

tom to anchor the bulkhead,

sheet piling on either face

to minimize underscoring

+ the textured and porous

surface of the stone or

concrete provides an oppor-

tunity for micro-organisms

to inhabit them, but little

opportunity for most plant

life

1. Steel corrugated sheet pile

2. adjacent ground, back-filled material

3. high water mark (tide)

3. steel tieback anchored into backfilled earth

5. low water mark (tide)

6. canal bottom

7. foundation plate attached to structural steel or wood pilings

Canal wall along Newtown Creek in New York City, between Brooklyn and Queens

1. adjacent ground

3. concrete wall

4. high water mark (tide)

5. low water mark (tide)

6. wood or steel pilings for additional lateral stabil-ity, anchoring the wall to the earth

7. canal bottom

Canal wall at a lock outside of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

+ This was the most popular

bulkhead system due to the

relatively inexpensive cost

of construction

+ more maintenance was re-

quired because the wood even

when treated was not as du-

rable to the fluctations in

water level and the indus-

trial operations

+ this construction method,

and the practice of using

pressure treated wood often

likely contributed more tox-

ic substances to the canal

waters than forms of masonry

construction

+ the wooden slats could

break and crack, absorb

water and hold material,

providing a potentially rich

biological niche and mate-

rial easy to change

2. high water mark

1. adjacent ground

2. steel tie back with ten-sion bolts

3. duck bill anchor

5. low water mark

6. wooden dimensioned pali-sades (rough lumber)

7. canal bottom

8. vertical pilings

Canal wall along Newtown Creek in New York City, between Brooklyn and Queens

+ This system was often used

in suburban areas where ad-

jacent land might be cheap-

er,

+ Allowed for human access

to the water for purposes

such as recreation

+ the gently sloped face is

a much cheaper construction

both in materials and labor

because excavation was often

less sever

+ the sloped walls also al-

lowed for increased water

volume in the canal

+ the textured and porous

surface of the stone pro-

vides an opportunity for

micro-organisms

1. adjacent ground

2. interlocking stones or poured concrete surface

3. excavation and back fill

4. high water mark

5. low water mark

6. slope reinforcement

7. reinforced canal bot-tom

Canal dike in the Florida Everglades near Clewiston, Florida

+ This system was a less

permanent option used to

combat scouring along the

edges and bottom of canals

+ Was most often used with

armored training dike con-

struction and needed to be

monitored occasionally

+ Usually used in river ca-

nals (as opposed to tidal or

harbor canals) where cur-

rents causing scouring was a

bigger concern

+ The brush would usually

not rot as long as it re-

mained completely submerged

underwater

+ Brush rolls could vary

wildly in size, from the

scale of what a single per-

son could carry to a size

requiring a group of ten or

more to transport it

1. woody branches

2. bracing frame

3. construction platform

4. tightening chains

5. stones for ballast

Brush rolls being prepared for canal edge stabilization

Stone-filled Brush

+ The bucket can vary in

size in order to optimize

payload (the amound of mate-

rial that can be grabbed and

ported) in different types

of soil, many clamshell

dredges today have 50 cy

buckets for use in harbors

typically; canal dredges

historically had a payload

closer to 5 cy

+ the dredge mixture is

typically 50% sediment, 50%

water

+ offers great precision,

minimizes amount of material

to be handled, minimizes

resuspension of solids- all

of these are important when

working with contaminated

sediments or in cities

+ can operate with a closed

lid to minimize spillage of

material

+ A hydraulic dredge, these

were originally developed to

cut through packed alluvial

material and even soft rock

+ Pumps a slurry that is

typically 4 parts water, 1

part solids through a hose

up to 15 miles to upland

disposal sites or along the

edges of the dredge site

+ The cutterhead rotates,

and the pipe swings from

side to side during op-

eration; speed of cutting

depends on horsepower avail-

able and the material to be

cut into

+ A dredge with a 16” pipe

should produce between 240

and 875 cy of dredged sedi-

ments per hour; a 24” pipe

should produce between 515

and 1615 cy

+ The dipper dredge typi-

cally has a capacity of 8 to

12 cy per bucket, and can

achieve between 30 and 60

scoops per hour

+ Best use for a dipper is

for excavating compacted

sediments and rock that have

been loosened after blasting

+ can be used in any sedi-

ment type where there is a

significant vertical incline

but the violence of this op-

eration can cause resuspen-

sion of solids

+ Creates high levels of

sediment resuspension

+ Offers great precision

and is rugged, can be used

near foundations and docks,

or for deconstructing these

structures

antique dipper drege

+ This is a mechanical

dredge, and offers better

precision, needs less room

for maneuvering

+ Despite being a mechanical

dredge, this method often

leads to higher amounts of

resuspended solids, making

them unsuitable for envi-

ronments with contaminated

sediments

+ Can remove material at a

comparable rate to the clam-

shell dredge

+ Detail work is difficult

+ Can be used where access

is difficult and depths are

up to 100 feet.

1. extension truss

2. water

3. dragline

4. anchor spud

5. bucket

6. canal bottom

dragline drege mounted on tracks working on a dike

dustpan dredge

+ The bucket-ladder dredge

allows for a continuous ex-

cavation process

+ Buckets discharge contents

onto vibrating screens, usu-

ally on an adjacent barge,

which sift gravel and sand

return the water to the

channel

+ The entire dredge swings

from side to side with the

use of anchors and mooring

lines

+ The edge of the bucket of-

fers increased cutting abil-

ity using the metal edge of

the buckets

+ Is not very precise, but

moves a lot of material, for

this reason it was used a

lot for gold mining, less so

for construction or environ-

mental remediation

multi-bucket dredge at work in harbor

+ Is a hydraulic dredge,

suction pipes called

dragarms pump sediments

up to the hopper and out

through the hose

+ Most effective on loose

sediments

+ Do not need a tug to help

them operate as they have

their own propellers

+ Can move large amounts of

sediment in a slurry; the

ration is typically 5:1 wa-

ter to sediment

+ these move massive amounts

of material (up to 300 dump

truck loads per hour) and

can operate in rough waters;

as such they are usually

used to replenish beaches

and clear sandbars from in

front of ports; rarely are

they used in industrial ca-

nals

1. hopper

2. hose

3. water

4. engine and naviga-tion propellers

5. dragarm

6. canal floor

trailing suction dredge in Jamaica Bay, Queens, New York

+ This system, a backhoe

mounted on a barge or ad-

jacent dike, offers power

to dig through any type of

material, including decon-

structing existing piers and

foundations, they also have

great precision and manuever-

ability

+ Use anchor spuds when on a

barge, and often deposit sed-

iments on an adjacent barge

+ Can be equipped with a

watertight bucket to mini-

mize resuspension of solids

and disturbance of sediments

in the case of contaminated

sediments

+ Are not able to move the

high volumen that the suction

hopper dredges move

1. backhoe

2. deposit barge

3. water

4. anchor spud

5. canal bottom

backhoe dredge at work in new york harbor

+ Consists of pulleys and a

continuous loop of material

that has teeth to grab the

material; they are direc-

tional and linear

+ power is supplied to ro-

tate the driving pulley and

pull the belts along

+ used to transport bulk ma-

terials continuously

+ belts travel in a straight

line, can traverse distances

up to 100 kilometers

+ can go over and down to-

pography without serious is-

sues, the angle must be such

that the material does not

slide off or down the belt

+ curved conveyor belts are

now available using tapered

rollers

a 9 mile long conveyor belt in california for a gravel mining operation

+ conveyor hubs are the

critical components in

systems of automated sort-

ing and distribution of bulk

materials such as gravel or

salt

+ Often these hubs have

screens and sieves that al-

low them to be combined in

specific mixtures to create

concrete mixes, for example

a gravel crushing operation is a hub of conveyors, sorting different size aggregates

+ used to allow for packag-

ing and processing of the

bulk materials

+ provides a staging ground

for workers or machines to

access the bulk materials

such as meat

+ allowed for work in a pro-

tected environment such as a

refrigerated room or protec-

tion from rain

+ also allows for immediate

recovery of certain materi-

als or byproducts that tend

to fall off of the conveyor

belt

+ used on a much smaller

scale than long belt convey-

ors

housing of frozen meat conveyor along the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires

+ the truss is important

to conveyor systems allow-

ing for spans and heightened

inclines

+ allows for rotational belt

systems

+ is a rigid, linear system

that is cheap and movable

mobile conveyor truss is used to sort piles of soil types in Oregon

current range of distribu-tion of the water hyacinth in the Americas

operations

stream bank stabilization using biodegradable coconut mats and live stakes

Operations: Tactics and Strategies

By considering landscape in terms of specific operations instead of forms or flows we can tap into the material-semi-otic aspects of specific agents and their associations.

This allows a conception of work across scales- temporal, spatial, economic. This means that the project can start with the smallest amount of money and effort- building a bird house- and grow towards large scale integration with ma-jor capital projects.

These operations are meant as suggestions of possibilities for implementation, rather than a set of step-by-step in-structions. Implementation may require consultation with an architect, engi-neer, arborist, or electrician, depend-ing on the scale and the field situation.

size: smallest: a single 4’ x 10’ plot; largest: va-cant lot

time: continuous care re-quired

cost: $20 per 4’ x 10’ plot

related operations: small construction, composting, water recycling, fencing

The community gardening op-eration is open to anyone, and encouraged in any ac-cessible area with a water supply.

This operation can be used to grow food, cut flowers for the home, and experimen-tal plots for testing new types and combinations of plants.

VEGETABLES FOR EATNG SHOULD BE PLANTED IN RAISED BEDS TO AVOID CONTAMINATION.

Steps of Operation:

1 Open ground is located

2 Construct the soil; this may entail importing com-post or topsoil, tilling up existing compacted soils; if the soil may be contaminated (a safe bet near industrial canals) then the planting area should be raised to keep the roots out of the contaminated soil

3 Plant desired seedlings or seeds at the proper depth in the soil

4 Keep the plants watered with an adjacent water sup-ply; this can be from cap-tured stormwater, a nearby fire hydrant, or water spigot

5 Keep the weeds from grow-ing by pulling them every week

6 Harvest vegetables or flowers when you want

Community Gardens

a community garden in havanna, cuba

consistent water supply

cut flowers, vegetables, or environmental remedia-tion plants

growing medium

roots above contaminated ground if vegetables are grown for consumption

raised bed

existing ground

size: smallest- single household deposits, largest- restaurant and school waste

time: 1 hour

cost: $0

related: community gar-dening, fencing, build-ing, tree planting

Organic compost operations will consist of stations that are set up in vacant lot locations. It provides a useful way to grow fer-tile soil from organic waste (yard clippings, vegetable kitchen waste).

Compost must be aerated and kept moist to keep the decomposition processes ac-tive. If done properly, all food and yard waste from the neighborhood can be com-posted and used to enrich further planting efforts for trees or community gardens.

organic material (kitchen greens, garden waste, mushrooms coir logs)

heaped compost; keep moist (55% moisture level)

rotate hedgrows of com-post to keep aerated, material will compress, keep moist

if organic material is contaminated, compost should go through chemi-cal extraction process to recover heavy metals

utilize clean compost in new tree pits or garden plantings

Steps of Operation:

1 collect compostable mate-rial; this could be garden waste and clippings, kitchen waste, chipped wood

2 heap organic material together, maintain aera-tion and moisture so that bacterial decomposition can occur; compost pile should heat up to about 155 de-grees- organic content is slowly cooking

3 keep piles rotated, aer-ated, and moist

4 if organic material is contaminated, for instance if the plants are hyperac-cumulators such as water hyacinth or sunflowers, the compost should be chemically processed to extract heavy metals

5 compost can be added to mineral soil, dredge spoils, accumulated settlements to enrich growing medium and help it support normal bio-logical function

Organic Compost

compost hedgerows at an industrial composting center, rows are managed with backhoes

size: smallest- 100 square feet, largest- 2000 square feet

time: daily watering

cost: $50 - $2000

related: community gardening, tree planting, composting, water recycling, small construction, wetlands

This opeartion can be start-ed for as little as $50 and is vital to establish new seedlings for:

+ city forest+ community gardens+ wetlands

The hoop house is used to protect the seedlings during cold months and to control irrigation.

Partnerships with private enterprise- plant nurseries- will help to keep costs down and gain necessary expertise to construct and maintain the house intitially.

Hoop House

a hoop house in new jersey with potted shrubs ready for sale

protection from wind, rain, and excessive sun

agricultural plastic or netting

structural metal ribbing

climate control with fans if necessary

irrigation

existing ground

planting

footing or concrete slab to support structure

Steps of Operation:

1 this operation must start at the ground; small concrete footings must be poured to support the struc-tural ribs

2 the ribs should be pre-formed and then bolted to the concrete footings

3 a water supply is needed to keep the plants irrigated

4 agricultural netting or plastic should be stretched over the frame

5 plantings should be spaced to allow for a walk-ing aisle in the center, and so each plant can get appro-priate irrigation

6 a fan can be used in either end to maintain air movement in the hoop house if it is covered with plas-tic

Wetlands

constructed chinampas wetlands in mexico use willows to build land over time

Steps of Operation:

1 identify ideal location for constructed wetlands; considerations include sun and contamination exposure, high traffic zones, water access

2 identify or at least es-timate the toxic substances that will have to be con-tended with

3 identify user groups to target with constructed wi-etlands- birds, shellfish, school kids

4 identify the appropriate plants for the chosen loca-tion and other above consid-erations

5 construct a supporting structure for the growing medium and plants, includ-ing one that can protect the plants and organisms un-til they become established and can filter pollutants; include floating buoys if needed to support the struc-ture and growing medium

rain water gets absorbed

stormwater is filtered as it runs through

provides habitat for lo-cal birds and insects

plant material (should be chosen for tolerance of salt, heavy metals, and petroleum contaminants

root network

growing medium (can be floating or can be exist-ing soil)

uptake of nutrients from the soil

size: smallest- 100 square feet, largest- 100 acres

time: 1 day - decades

cost: $50 sf related: community garden-ing, tree planting, water recycling, small construc-tion, wetlands

The wetlands operation is a communal effort that brings together technical exper-tise, private donations, and embodied knowledge to begin reestablishing biological environmental processes.

Wetlands are installed slow-ly over time, in conjunction with earth moving, and tree planting

Wetlands are one of the most productive areas and will be managed for scientific monitoring and educational enterprises with the city universities.

Earth Moving

bobcat at work with medium scale earth moving operations

Steps of Operation:

1 constant earth moving can be undertaken as a cultural practice, especially in a terrain that is constantly changing due to hydrological and sedimentary processes

2 with a single machine this practice can be con-stantly undertaken to con-struct and compact new lands from deposited spoils

3 the earth moving should take place in layers and ac-cording to sections, growing incrementally

4 each layer should be com-pacted every 6 inches that are put down; running over the newly deposited sedi-ments can be done with the bobcat; if the scale is extremely small then the operation can be untertaken with hand tampers

5 compacted soils can sta-bilize the terrain so that it can be used for newly prgrammed purposes

excavation or dredge spoils (can be transport-ed by conveyors)

existing high ground

earth moving machine (such as backhoe, bobcat, wheelbarrow)

newly constructed ground

existing topography

size: smallest- compost moving, largest- road build-ing

time: 1/2 day to season long effort

cost: $50 per half day (do-nation in kind can be re-quested)

related: small con-struction, composting, water recycling, fencing, road building

The earth moving equipment can be procured for only a half day. While expensive, this can be highly effec-tive for excavation for a new wall, new paving, roads, large-scale plantings or composting.

Smaller scale earth moving operations can be carried out with wheelbarrows and shovels.

Multiple operations can be coordinated to reduce the cost and relationships should be built with local rental centers and contrac-tors.

Agricultural Netting

Steps of Operation:

1 this operation is ex-tremely cheap and easy to form protected zones for plants, organisms, and so-cial spaces

2 identify organisms to be protected and the area of shade cloth needed

3 erect support structure if necessary; scaffolding structure is an extreme-ley inexpensive and useful possibility but any wooden posts, a nearby tree, or attachement to an existing structure such as a building can be used

4 string up shade cloth with plastic ties, cou-plings, or other more perma-nent attachement

protection from sun ex-posure

protection from excess rain for delicate plants (for tight weaves of shade cloth only)

agricultural netting (shade cloth)

connection to structure (hoop house ribs, adja-cent trees, scaffolding system)

existing ground

footing or anchor if at-taching to hoop house or scaffolding system

size: smallest- 50 sf, largest- 1000 sf

time: 1 hour

cost: $40 (donations in kind)

related: community garden, tree planting, fencing, man-agement, community market, hoop house, goat herd

The netting operation is used to create habitable zones near other operations.

Shade cloth can be used to protect young plants that are being established as part of the city forest or that are being grown for future wetlands or community gardens.

The netting operation also offers an ephemeral, in-expensive opportunity to demarcate festival space and play areas.

bobcat at work with medium scale earth moving operations

Construction Fencing

Steps of Operation:

1 site to limit access or create social space should be identified

2 attach fencing to fence post or scaffolding struc-ture with zip ties as needed

construction fencing used to demarcate space

fencing structure

inhabitant

existing ground

below ground structure

enclosure

fence structure

construction fencing

fence post

newly installed wetlands or other area to limit access

existng ground

construction fencing demarcating construction site

size: smallest- garden plot, largest- new pine plantation

time: 1 day

cost: $50 per 100 feet of fencing

The fencing operation pro-vides a visual signal and physical barrier, protecting new plantings and installa-tion and demarcating zones of programming, for in-stance:

+ territory of goat herd grazing+ childrens play zones+ new forest plantings+ wetland installations+ community gardens+ festival areas

In addition, the construc-tion fencing can be strung between scaffolding struc-tures to create a cheap, easy, and beautiful screen for temporary structures.

a bare root pine seedling taking root with the help of mycelium

bare root planting

root ball planting

size: smallest- a single tree, largest- 10 acre plan-tation on 5’ x 5’ staggered pattern

time: seasonal employment, 1 volunteer day

cost: $1 per tree

related: fencing, bird habitat

Tree planting is a primary operation, a major joint ef-fort between agencies, uni-versities, communities, and companies

The trees can form the framework for new pubic programming, and eventually provide horticultural mate-rial for reforesting the city, or constructing board-walks in the city parks

Tree Planting

Steps of Operation:

1 identify location for tree plantings; consider sun exposure, amount of water, desired climate, soil type

2 consider if trees will be individual tree pits or en-tire gridded plantations

3 tree excavation should be done with spades or shov-els, not more than 1.5 times deeper than the root ball

4 often along canals trees can be worked in to steep banks or rubble areas; for steep banks they should be planted as vertical as pos-sible and the depth should be measure from the low side; for rubble areas the largest area possible should be excavated and amended with topsoil and compost

5 trees will need irriga-tion for at least the first year after planting; this can vary depending on the location, the species, and soil type

small spade pit

bare root seedlings

existing ground

compost

pit excavation

root ball (remove burlap wrapping or plastic bucket)

medium size tree

backfilled soil

saucer to retain water

Tree Pruning, Harvesting

Steps of Operation:

1 identify the trees to be thinned (for habitat or ma-terial purposes, or to open up spaces for social gather-ing or working areas)

2 prune the canopy of the trees to be thinned; organic material (leaves) can be composted; branches can be used for wetlands construc-tion or put through a wood chipper to make mulch

3 using a saw fell the tree trunk and saw into sections that are movable; use guide ropes to make sure that it doesn’t fall on remaining trees

4 saw logs can be sent to mill to shape into boards and lumber to be used for constructions along the ca-nal

5 remaining trees should fill out further

tree being cut

canopy is pruned, mulched, and compos-ted

remaining tree

felled tree

existing ground

size: single lot milling operation, can be outsourced to private enterprise

time: full-time temporary work

cost: PROFIT

related: tree planting, house raising, management

The tree pruning and thin-ning operation is used to manage an urban forest at high productivity producing habitat, mulch material, and construction material for other operations

It can be undertaken by vol-unteers as well as utilized by artists and craftsmen

stacked saw logs ready for milling for use in construction

Bird Habitat

Steps of Operation:

1 build bird house from lumber scraps or milled lum-ber from forest

2 bird house should be painted or sealed

3 attach pole coupler to bottom of bird house and scaffolding pole

4 mix concrete in five gal-lon bucket

5 cast scaffolding pole into concrete bucket

6 choose location for bird-house, ideally with nearby habitat (shrubs and trees and grasses to provide food and nesting material)

7 excavate pit to for con-crete bucket in birdhouse location

8 backfill around bucket to stabilize bucket footing

bird house protects birds from precipi-tation, wind, and exposure

bird house is con-nected to top of scaffolding pole

scaffolding pole

concrete-filled 5 gallon bucket to an-chor birdhouse

excavate birdhouse pit

existing ground

bird houses installed along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn

size: a single birdhouse, tree house

time: 1/2 day - 1 season

cost: $10 - $500

related: material recy-cling, scaffolding, tree planting, wetlands, painting

The bird habitat operation is a method for reusing non-structural recycled material including scrap wood, plas-tics, and textiles from the neighborhood to attract and provide for bird species.

Birds act as keystone spe-cies as indicators of urban ecosystem health.

Birds help to manage insect populations and keep down pests such as mosquitoes.

Birds and their behaviorial habits serve as a strong at-tractor for people from the neighborhood.

Scaffolding

Steps of Operation:

1 make sure that ground where scaffolding is being constructed is stabillized with compaction, paving, or a footing

2 assemble scaffolding mem-bers

3 secure cross bracing

4 attach netting or fencing as necessary

scaffolding members

mechanical attach-ments at corners

ground to use for attachment/stabiliza-tion

scaffolding bracing

size: smallest- community booth, largest- institution-al station

time: 1 day- 2 weeks

cost: $70 - $2000 (dona-tions in-kind)

related: garden, community market, bird habitat, net-ting, material recycling, light installation

The scaffolding operation is an modular system that can be utilized to create com-munity market bays, festival installation, construction support

Because the scaffolding is modular, they can be col-lected over time and used in increasingly sophisticated ways.

As workers and community members become accustomed to working with the scaffold-ing system, the scaffolding will be used as large scale installations as well as in-stitutional support.

an exhbition and performance space made from scaffolding in Portland, Oregon

for profit recycling

material reuse

Material Recycling

Steps of Operation:

1 collection areas are established so that house-holds, communities, and in-dustries can bring material wastes to a site

2 materials are gathered and sorted

3 materials to be reused are stored until they can be used by the appropriate ac-tors

4 materials to be recycled for profit are sent to the smelters or recycling plants by barge or truck

size: smallest- local bot-tle dropoff, largest- reuse of construction refuse

time: 30 minutes - 2 hours for collection and dropoff

cost: PROFIT

related: small con-struction, scaffolding

Material recycling is of-ten ideal for canals because they already have large store yards and many waste streams.

Material recycling at a large scale can produce an income stream especially for metals.

Many other materials can be reused in future small scale and temporary constructions such as bottles as bricks and plastic bottles as buoys for suspended wetlands.

S

object pyramid made from recycled garbage

rain water

storage barrel

dispersal hose

Water Recycling

Steps of Operation:

1 identify existing hori-zontal surfaces that can be used to funnel rain water to collection points

2 a simple system of gut-ters can be used to direct rain water to storage bar-rels, cisterns, or collec-tion pools

3 the water to be stored needs to have a pump or be kept above the use elevation or else to take advantage of gravity flow

4 recycling water through wetlands, for agriculture, or using them to water trees can reduce the amount of mechanical plumbing infra-structure needed

object pyramid made from recycled garbage

size: smallest- rain bar-rel, largest- site based water detention

time: 1 hour or 1 work day

cost: $5 - $2000

related: community gar-dening, wetland, hoop house, tree planting

Water recycling operations are begun simply with rain barrels that catch water from the gutters of existing structures.

Water detention will im-mediately have an impact as local flooding from rain events is lessened.

Reusing this resource before it drains into the sewers will reduce the stress on the city’s water system and reduce the costs for the growing operations.

Painting

Steps of Operation:

1 identify the zone to paint and the symbols to be used for painting

2 choose the colors, con-sider DOT standards and ex-terior paint for the correct material

3 if painting where there will be vehicular traffic work with the local DOT to use their highway paint; painting the road or within the right of way is the pur-view of the local department of transportation and any major effort should be coor-dinated with them so as not to cause traffic hazards.

size: walls, pavements

time: 1 hour - 1 week

cost: $20 per can, road striping equipment

related: road building, small construction, scaf-folding, bird habitat, fenc-ing, lighting

The painting operation can be undertaken entirely by community groups to desig-nate paved areas, construc-tions, and structures as community places for spe-cific types of recreation or operations such as com-munity market, bird habitat structures, lighting instal-lations, new walls, making clear the presence of social intention and care.

Systems of signs can be cre-ated and elaborated over time to help signify pro-gramming such as murals, and community market zones.

painting on the pavement in the road bed in Times Square in Manhattan

Landscape Maintenance and Monitoring

Steps of Operation:

1 the landscape mainte-nance and monitoring opera-tion should be specifically identified and a manual de-veloped for each individual canal

2 this is a scientific and craftsman position and will need specific equipment for monitoring environmental effects including testing for toxicity, horticultural operations inluding amending soil

3 can also be the point person to coordinate the other operations with more specialized workers or less skilled community members

size: n/a

time: full time position

cost: $5000 - $25,000

related: community gardening, tree planting, composting, water recycling, wetlands, recycling, manu-facturing

Management operations will develop over time, first beginning in year five and becoming more prominent as the forest develops.

The maintenance of the roads and the management of the storage facilities will eventually require a full or part-time position to be established.

This position will include monitoring, trash removal, planting, pruning, installa-tion of fencing and netting and other ephemeral struc-tures to achieve specific environmental performance levels.

an equipped maintenance truck/ mobile laboratory

size: smallest- single goat, largest- 20 goats

time: 30 minutes daily

cost: $0 (subsidized by the municipal government).

related: community garden, fencing, management

The goat herd offers a low-cost, low effort method for weed control and improving soil fertility in vacant or fallow lots.

Their four-chambered stom-achs can fully break down most weed seeds

They are used frequently in cities as low-cost alterna-tives to mowers.

They often provide a social benefit for free, acting as attractors in the urban environment, especially for children interested in their wanderings

Goat Herd

Steps of Operation:

stage 1- vegetative growth dominates the site before goats are introduced

stage 2- the goat herd feeds on the vegetation and enriches the soil with their droppings

stage 3- the site is cleared and the soil is enriched, the goats move on to a didifferent site

a goat eating weeds on an urban lot in Portland, Oregon

size: N/A

time: 2 days

cost: $100

related: scaffolding, goat herd, hoop house, community market, small construction, manufacturing

Light installation for both permanent and ephemeral installations can be under-taken with high pressure sodium, metal halide and led lights.

Permanent light will be incorporated into the hoop houses and main pathways in the hub.

Temporary lighting may be utilized for the community market, celebration pro-grams, and art installa-tions to allow for events to continue into the night and increase the perception of safety in the neighborhood.

Light Installation

light installation in abandoned factory in Beacon, New York

size: N/A

time: 1 hour

cost: $10

related: nursery, hoop house, tree planting, organ-ic compost, netting

Mycological remediation re-fers to the use of specific mycelium to filter organic solids, particulate matter, to break down toxic sub-stances such as polychlori-nated binphenyls

Mycelium can also be used to form mycorrhizal asso-ciations that increase the biological efficiency of the plant communities in com-pacted, rubble soils.

This operation is undertaken by innoculating a medium such as wood chips, soil, or coconut fiber with my-celium spores which can be purchased from remediation nurseries.

Mycological Remediation

Steps of Operation:

1 Choose location; consider presence of toxic substances (refer to the book “Mycelium Running “ for a simple chart paring mycelium with toxic substances); also consider wind and sun exposure as mushrooms prefer dark, moist areas

2 choose growing medium; mycelium prefer lignin as a food source, wood chips and mulch are preferred

3 make sure that mycelium have a shady spot to run, either on a protected side of a building, or under a grove of trees; if neither of these are available a shade cloth structure is a cheap and fast shelter for any location

4 test soils or growing medium for contaminants- a partnership with a local labratory is necessary

5 continue to monitor over time and replinish the grow-ing medium as the mycelium break it down; mushrooms fruits should be tested, confined, and composted separately as they accumu-late heavy metals

mycorrhizal associations of Saccharomonospora viridis, a mycelium

sun exposure

precipitation

shade cloth (or tree canopy or building)

existing ground

growing medium

mycelium fruits (mushrooms)

toxic substances

Aerial Mapping

Steps of Operation:

1 Identify the place to map and the time period

2 get a small camera cradle that is padded with foam and will allow for a small digi-tal camera to focus down on the ground when suspended

3 insert the camera and set it to take digital photos every 10 seconds

4 afix the camera and cradle to the balloon

5 tether the helium bal-loons to the ground so that you can retrieve them and the camera after it has taken the photos.

6 release the balloons and leave it up for as long as you camera will take photos

7 retrieve the camera and balloons with the tether; the photos can now be down-loaded

* winds must be considered in this operation; for more control over the photography in windy situations a kite can be used instead of a balloon

size: N/A

time: 4 hours

cost: $100

related: tree planting, road, goat herd, landscape maintenance,

Aerial mapping is an op-eration meant to increase agency for local communities with high quality aerial photography that is highly specific both temporally and spatially.

A specific zone can be tar-geted- such as a development lot or the street salting operations of a city agency, and they can be photographed at extremely high resolution during different, specific times of the day and year.

specific information can be found at www.grassrootsmapping.org

aerial balloon mapping of salt lot operations along the gowanus canal; by grassrootsmapping.org

helium balloon (or kite)

camera cradle

automatic digital camera

tether

landscape being mapped