americanUrban

industrial canals

a field guide

thanks

to my advisor and critic Pe-ter Waldman, my advisor Kris-tina Hill and mentor Eliza-beth Meyer, my partner Erin Putalik, my comrades Hans Hesselein, Andrew Nicholas, Jenn Richey, Erik Martig, 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 Conservancy, 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

Charles Sprague Sargent’s tree manual- 1905

US Navy Manual- begun in 1902

In considering the city it is important not only to in-vestigate urban processes and kinds of organization, but also to re-evaluate the methodologies by which we understand and inter-vene in urban systems and spaces. For this, it may be that an often-ignored tool may be of greater use: the maintenance manual.

The maintenance manual, like all tools, has a his-tory. Early examples of the modern American manual include the Chicago Manual of Style (1891) and the US Navy Bluejacket’s Manual (1902). The maintenance manual rose to prominence with the specialization of labor and the prolif-eration of consumer prod-ucts in the 20th century.

The form of the manual of-fers the opportunity for new kinds of urban en-gagement. The maintenance manual can be used to de-scribe procedures and re-actions to be performed in response to shifting urban conditions. In this sense, the maintenance manual offers an opportu-nity to expand agency in shaping the city to anyone who can read, interpret, and apply the instructions found within the manual.

The Haynes Auto Manual- begun in 1965

US Department of Agriculture Soil Science Field Book

US Airforce Parachute Rigger’s Manual

We believe that this po-tential can be drawn out by hybridizing the mainte-nance manual with anoth-er popular literary genre whose history parallels that of the maintenance manual- the field guide. Like the manual, the first guides were published in the late 19th century and were typically small and light-weight which made it easy to carry. But where the maintenance manual fo-cused on machines and new consumer products, the field guide tended to fo-cus on objects and phenom-ena related to the “nat-ural realm”, and so was geographically associated with rural and suburban lo-cales. Both, however, were alike in extending spe-cialized knowledge to en-thusiasts through a focus on utility, accessibility, and nurturing curiosity.

In the context of the city, hybridization of the field guide with the maintenance manual immediately sug-gests a blending of read-ings: both the city as machine and the city as natural phenomenon. Com-bining emphases on identi-fication, diagnosis, educa-tion, and instruction, a new genre might arise which would point a way forward for the urbanist of the future: the field manual.

urban american industrial

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

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 settlement, from cosmological glyphs to urban metropolises.

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

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 intracoastal 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 exist-ing 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 completed1831

1784

1908

1959

2,000 mi

railroad age

22,000 mi

the industrial canal in the united states

canals: a history

the original canals were irrigation canals. to create canals for navigation a leap in scale was necessary; based on the scale of the human 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 canals: 1. City Network 2. Industrial 3. Defense

industrial canals are a subset of naviga-tion 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 ca-nals 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

concentric incan irrigation ca-nals in the highlands of bolivia

irrigation agriculture in modern-day libya

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

example: Venice, Amsterdam

a teleological logistics platform for mov-ing manufactured goods and raw materials; often abandoned once obsolete

example: the Scheldt, Houston Shipping Channel

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

example: intercoastal waterway, Rideau Ca-nal

defense

canal methodologies

channelization

canalization

dredging

the kanawha canal in virginia, begun in 1785, immediately after independence in the US

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

entails the cutting of a new course, often parallel or ad-jacent to an existing water body; structures such as bulk-heads are often used to define the edges of the new channel

if industrial canals are not abandoned and filled in once obsolete, they are often repurposed as open sewers and sewer overflow systems 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 sys-tems; most colony economies operated as landscapes of ex-traction, the colonial power had little impetus to develop industrial capacity

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 trans-portation

making an existing channel deeper by mechanical excava-tion

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

Lexicon

Canal Lexicon: Signs and significations

a useful list of terms and their defi-nitions for understanding the particu-lar ecologies, and taxonomies common to american industrial 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, drain-age, and navigation; see pullout page

a method for making a canal which involves regulating, widening or deep-ening 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 sewage 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 because they result from photosynthetic process, this red de-licious apple should be green). This is the most popular mode of scien-tific inquiry, typified by the “scientific method

an excavation activity that occurs underwater; usually entails scraping or sucking 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

Contamina-tion

Combined Sewer 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 attempts 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 produc-tive mechanical 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 ten-sile 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, usually 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

Moderniza-tion

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 american industrial canals seem preposter-ous and are difficult to conjure- they vary wildly in scale, geography and contemporary economic context. The canal fragments, their various instruments and structures and the communities that find footholds here seem to be a kind of eddy in the city, ex-isting outside of the turbulent currents of the city. This ecological study begins with an examination of three American in-dustrial canals- the River Rouge in De-troit, 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 industrial canals do have two paradoxical characteristics in common: a prominent place in the mythology of American indus-trial centers, and an ambiguous, eccentric situation at the metaphorical edge of the city. Precisely because of these three aspects they have always attracted new agents- economic, biological, and social- offering them operating space and serving as a generator for new urban possibilities. This study of six canal ecologies aims to examine the different objects and organ-isms of the canal, and to study the rela-tions between them. It is hoped that this will stimulate insight that is helpful for understanding the paradoxical situation of the American industrial canal.

If one wants to explore an american industrial canal and at-tempts 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 something 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 understand 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 concept 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 Ameri-can 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 being exposed to damaging amounts of chro-mium 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 indus-try immediately sprang up at its edges. In the Americas, this happened quickly; 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 inten-tionally, 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, convey-ance 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 warehous-es 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 repur-posed as salt storage lot for departments of transportation or they mutate into some local initiative- a community garden or local tree nursery. But mostly these places stay unused, coated in the destroyed rubble of their former utility, colo-nized by only a few of the hardiest weeds and insects.

The other vacant lots are perhaps more interesting for our purposes, 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 grass-es 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 thriving fusion ecology of weedy trees and shrubs and grasses, all munching 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 char-acters 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 con-stantly being erased. The old factory or pier, the silo, the concrete bunker- coming across these forms in the city stimu-lates the mind and attracts new agents, suggesting 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 ex-pose 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 us-ing some combination of three techniques: cutting a new chan-nel, or canalization of an existing waterway. Dredging opera-tions 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 materi-als- 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 allow 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 re-inforced, 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 fac-tory 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 vertical one, as more flat us-able 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 Riachue-lo River in the Argentine city o f Buenos Aires is canalized as part of the port infrastructure of the city. The canal is part of a much larger hydrol-ogy; the river is over 50 miles long and is just downstream from the Rio de la Plata River at the con-fluence 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 Oys-ter 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 ex-plosion 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 regard-ing 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 waters. This twice daily ebb and flow and mixing of nutrients and salts can work to stimulate bio-logical communities, flush out chemicals that have accumulated in the canal, and cause metal structures to corrode faster. Be-cause 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 in-tensified 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 reassert themselves, pushing down bulkheads, depos-iting 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 depend-ing 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 surround-ings 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 met-ropolitan 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 accumula-tion 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 mate-rials 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 munici-pal budgets are tight, despite the flooding and environmental issues. Once the canal begins to silt up, it becomes impos-sible 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 pre-cipitous. This suggests that, whenever possible, new uses for canals that require a navigable channel would improve water quality and might help reduce flooding and environmental prob-lems.

Sediments on industrial canals inevitably contain serious substances that are harmful to many organisms, incluing hu-mans. For that reason they are often left “down there” be-low 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 sedi-ments that are dredged cannot be disposed cheaply- hazard-ous 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 hu-man agents deposit all sorts of jetsam and flotsam. This mate-rial 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 nui-sance and it is rather difficult to think of a possible reuse for it other than simply cleaning it up, the deposits are evi-dence of material eddies in the city. The contemporary ur-ban 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 munici-pal solid waste system. Appropriate mobilization and manage-ment of this system is perhaps the key catalyst to any urban project. The biological capacities of canals to consume human waste when properly managed, 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 sedimen-tation process could be strategically utilized- the canal is an eddy in the urban ecology of waste, transportation, and use. They offer an alternative to the highly programmed rec-reational 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 of-fering finding a way to reduce the exposure to the toxic sub-stances, entire ecosystems of local populations of plants and animals including humans would spring up along its banks. In-deed, to a limited degree this already occurs and need only be encouraged in the lightest possible way to generate a fecund alternative to the overly programmed recreation park, the com-mercial shopping mall or street, and the office tower. People and things might come here and sit out the rushing city cur-rents for a while, being sedimented.

Road sediments and urban garbage in the Gowanus Ca-nal

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 Ai-res from construction rub-ble created 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 in-dustrial cities in general. There are many ambiguous terms such as pollution, contamination, degradation, sewage, and landfills as well as a number 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 be-ing specific about certain substances, we may be able to avoid this conundrum.

Toxicity relates to any substance which impedes the normal bio-logical functioning of an organism. A couple of keys to remem-ber about toxicity 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 di-rectly 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 on-going. In fact, one of the primary uses of canals after their industrial life was to turn them over to waste transport sys-tems. 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 remarkably consistent from city to city: manufac-tured gas plants, tanneries, 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 industrialization.

Toxicity: Eccentric Substances

polychlorinated biphenyl (pcb)

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah)

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pah)

benzene

Coke production diagram

Toxic byproducts of the industrial process include particulate matter (PM), polycyclic aromatic hy-drocarbons (pah), methane, ammonia, carbon monoxide (CO), hydroben sulfide, hy-drogen cyanide, and sulfure oxides (SO) and benzene

manufactured gas producti-ion diagram

Toxic byproducts include phenols and cresols (such as creosote for treating lumber and aquatic piles, monocyclical aromatic hy-drocarbons such as ben-zene, xylene, duocyclical aromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as coat tars, cyanide, sulfur, arsenic, chromium, lead

The most important use of the canal was the transport of bulk materials 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 hin-terlands as well as other cities was vital to these expand-ing 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 gasworks 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 vicin-ity; it belongs to all of them in common, and it gives to South Brooklyn its own distinctive atmosphere. It is the old Gowanus Canal, and that aroma you speak of is nothing but the huge symphonic stink of it, cunningly compacted of unnumbered 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, rotten cabbage, and prehistoric eggs.

Toxic substances and the perceptions and assumptions that ac-company 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 neigh-borhoods drifting here looking for a quiet place.

Combined sewer overflow system

In many american cities the wastewater from houses and offices (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 wa-ter through the system dur-ing rain events, a series of outlets throughout the city to dump overflow raw sewage directly into adja-cent water bodies.

Industrial byproducts

Many wastes from indus-trial processes, be they particles and microscopic molecules or rusting hulls, end up in industrial ca-nals, especially once they are no longer maintained for navigation purposes.

Canoe clubs set up shop in small shacks along their banks, bird-ers 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 polycy-clic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s) and polycholorinated biphe-nyls (PCB’s) still persist in the canal sediments. Concentra-tions 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 addi-tion, sewage overflow and stormwater runoff into these canals from the adjacent combined sewer outlets and city streets con-tinually 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.

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

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 dam-aged 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 sub-mitted 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 important 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 trans-portation 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 pen-insula on the edge of town unfit for settlement. A new chan-nel was cut through to create a straighter shipping route, and Zug Island was the byproduct. It was purchased and recon-structed 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 receiv-ing docks of the petrochemical port in the city as a spur off of the Riachuelo River. This area of town is a prime loca-tion 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 indus-trial canals is a pattern that holds even for canals that are no longer 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 ef-fect of displacement occurs when one is along an old indus-trial 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 commer-cial 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 lo-cal traffic is usually 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 maintains 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 subway 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 ugli-ness, beauty is bigger than us.

Detroit bus map

The radial pattern of pub-lic transportation from downtown keeps the river rouge canal at an eccen-triic position in the city

Buenos Aires subway map

The radial pattern of pub-lic transportation from downtown keeps the ria-chuelo canal at an eccen-triic position in the per-ception of the city

taxonomies

drawing by Ernst Haeckel; “Art Forms in Nature”

Canal Taxonomies: The instrumen-tality 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 constructions. This is due to the fact that almost all of these ca-nals were built between 1850- 1950.

Constructed at similar times for specific, similar purposes, a tax-onomy of key structures and instru-ments reveals a remarkably similar grouping of objects that shape the canals, and take shape along them.

+ 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 indus-

trial equipment such as

cranes to operate on top

at the water’s edge

+ piles are used in the

bottom to anchor the bulk-

head

+ most commonly used in

channel canals that are

cut into the terrain, such

as urban sections of the

Erie Canal.

+ the textured surface

provides 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 stability, anchoring the wall to the earth

7. canal bottom

8. steel sheet pile at base, to prevent undercut-ting of wall

Canal wall at a lock outside of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Canted Concrete Wall

+ This system was rein-

forced with steel, uti-

lizing a more complex

structural system and less

mass.

+ the verticle face en-

ables ships to pull up

directly adjacent

+ piles are used in the

bottom 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 po-

rous surface of the stone

or concrete provides an

opportunity 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 at-tached to structural steel or wood pilings

8. wood or steel pilings for additional lateral stability, anchoring the wall to the earth

Vertical Concrete Wall

1. adjacent ground

2. precast concrete wall

4. high water mark (tide)

5. concrete anchor pil-ings

6. low water mark (tide)

7. canal bottom

8. steel sheet pile at base, to prevent undercut-ting of wall

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

Precast Concrete Canal Wall

+ This system was made

offsite and installed

along the canal.

+ often smaller in size

due to need to transport

the structure

+ the concrete was often

of higher quality and com-

pressive strength; often

used where specification

for mooring of boats were

more stringent

+ piles are used in the

bottom to anchor the

bulkhead, sheet piling on

either face to minimize

underscoring

+ the textured and po-

rous surface of the stone

or concrete provides an

opportunity 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 at-tached to structural steel or wood pilings

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

Sheet Pile Canal Wall

+ This system was in-

stalled along the canal,

driven into the earth by

pile drivers

+ relies on the tensile

strength of steel to re-

tain the earth; is a cheap

and easily installed al-

ternative to concrete bulk

heads

+ not as suitable for

heavy loads on adjacent

lands

+ the corrugated sheet

piles allow for protected

microecologies that can be

inhabited

+ the steel material is

relatively easy to weld or

puncture

+ the metal itself is

relatively easy to clean

and keep free from paints

1. adjacent ground

3. concrete wall

4. high water mark (tide)

5. low water mark (tide)

6. wood or steel pilings for additional lateral stability, anchoring the wall to the earth

7. canal bottom

Canal wall at a lock outside of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Concrete Wall and Footing

+ used more in situations

where access by barges is

not yet possible or where

large trucks do not have

access

+ to compensate for lower

quality control due to

casting the concrete in

place, the wall was often

more massive than the pre-

cast version

+ the footing allows for

less concrete to be used

than the standard wall

+ piles are used in the

bottom to anchor the bulk-

head

+ the textured and po-

rous surface of the stone

or concrete provides an

opportunity for micro-

organisms to inhabit them,

but little opportunity for

most plant life

+ This was the most popu-

lar bulkhead system due to

the relatively inexpensive

cost of construction

+ more maintenance was

required because the wood

even when treated was not

as durable to the flucta-

tions in water level and

the industrial operations

+ this construction meth-

od, and the practice of

using pressure treated

wood often likely contrib-

uted more toxic substances

to the canal waters than

forms of masonry construc-

tion

+ the wooden slats could

break and crack, absorb

water and hold material,

providing a potentially

rich biological niche and

material easy to change

2. high water mark

1. adjacent ground

2. steel tie back with tension bolts

3. duck bill anchor

5. low water mark

6. wooden dimensioned palisades (rough lumber)

7. canal bottom

8. vertical pilings

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

Anchored Palisade and Sheathing

+ This system was often

used in suburban areas

where adjacent land might

be cheaper,

+ Allowed for human access

to the water for purposes

such as recreation

+ the gently sloped face

is a much cheaper con-

struction both in mate-

rials and labor because

excavation was often less

sever

+ the sloped walls also

allowed for increased wa-

ter 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 sur-face

3. excavation and back fill

4. high water mark

5. low water mark

6. slope reinforcement

7. reinforced canal bottom

Canal dike in the Florida Everglades near Clewiston, Florida

Armored Training Dike

+ 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

canals (as opposed to tid-

al or harbor canals) where

currents causing scouring

was a bigger concern

+ The brush would usu-

ally not rot as long as it

remained completely sub-

merged underwater

+ Brush rolls could vary

wildly in size, from the

scale of what a single

person 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 Rolls

+ The bucket can vary in

size in order to optimize

payload (the amound of ma-

terial that can be grabbed

and ported) in different

types of soil, many clam-

shell 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 preci-

sion, minimizes amount of

material to be handled,

minimizes resuspension of

solids- all of these are

important when working

with contaminated sedi-

ments or in cities

+ can operate with a

closed lid to minimize

spillage of materialClamshell dredge at work with adjacent barge in the New York Harbor

Clamshell Dredge

1. extension truss

2. extension and clos-ing cables

3. clamshell bucket

4. barge

5. water

6. stabilzation spud

7. canal bottom

+ 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 cut-

ting depends on horsepower

available and the material

to be cut into

+ A dredge with a 16” pipe

should produce between

240 and 875 cy of dredged

sediments per hour; a 24”

pipe should produce be-

tween 515 and 1615 cyCutterhead dredge at work in the Louisiana delta

1. pump hose to dis-posal site or barge

2. rigid ladder

3. water

4. position cables

5. suction pipe

6. cutterhead

7. canal bottom

Cutterhead Dredge

+ 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 in-

cline but the violence of

this operation can cause

resuspension of solids

+ Creates high levels of

sediment resuspension

+ Offers great preci-

sion and is rugged, can be

used near foundations and

docks, or for deconstruct-

ing these structures

antique dipper drege

Dipper Dredge

1. power ladder

2. scow barge

3. water

4. stabilzation spud

5. shovel

6. canal bottom

+ This is a mechanical

dredge, and offers better

precision, needs less room

for maneuvering

+ Despite being a mechani-

cal dredge, this method

often leads to higher

amounts of resuspended

solids, making them un-

suitable for environments

with contaminated sedi-

ments

+ Can remove material at

a comparable rate to the

clamshell 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

Dragline Dredge

dustpan dredge

+ A hydraulic dredge, of-

fers less precision uses

water jets for cutting

action, is not as effec-

tive in extremely rocky or

compacted situations

+ For use in water chan-

nels that are primarily

sand and gravel

+ Pumps a slurry that is

typically 4 parts water, 1

part solids through a hose

up to 1000 ft to upland

disposal sites or along

the edges of the dredge

site

+ It is effective only in

sheltered waters because

of the pipeline and rigid

ladder system- it is not

useful in rough waters

+ A typical dustpan Can

excavate about 36oo cy of

sediment per hour

1. rigid ladder

2. pump hose to dis-posal site or barge

3. water

4. positioning cables

5. suction pipe

7. canal bottom

Dustpan Dredge

+ The bucket-ladder dredge

allows for a continuous

excavation process

+ Buckets discharge con-

tents onto vibrating

screens, usually 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

offers increased cutting

ability using the metal

edge of the buckets

+ Is not very precise,

but moves a lot of mate-

rial, for this reason it

was used a lot for gold

mining, less so for con-

struction or environmental

remediationmulti-bucket dredge at work in harbor

1. sand/gravel de-posits

2. full bucket

3. empty bucket

4. water

5. rigid ladder

6. cutting edge

7. canal bottom

Bucket -Ladder Dredge

+ 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 water 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 re-

plenish beaches and clear

sandbars from in front of

ports; rarely are they

used in industrial canals

1. hopper

2. hose

3. water

4. engine and navi-gation propellers

5. dragarm

6. canal floor

trailing suction dredge in Jamaica Bay, Queens, New York

Trailing Suction Dredge

+ 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

manueverability

+ Use anchor spuds when on

a barge, and often deposit

sediments on an adjacent

barge

+ Can be equipped with

a watertight bucket to

minimize resuspension of

solids and disturbance of

sediments in the case of

contaminated sediments

+ Are not able to move the

high volumen that the suc-

tion hopper dredges move

1. backhoe

2. deposit barge

3. water

4. anchor spud

5. canal bottom

backhoe dredge at work in new york harbor

Backhoe Dredge

+ Consists of pulleys and

a continuous loop of ma-

terial that has teeth to

grab the material; they

are directional and linear

+ power is supplied to

rotate the driving pulley

and pull the belts along

+ used to transport bulk

materials continuously

+ belts travel in a

straight line, can tra-

verse distances up to 100

kilometers

+ can go over and down

topography without seri-

ous issues, the angle must

be such that the material

does not slide off or down

the belt

+ curved conveyor belts

are now available using

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

Conveyor Belts

1. bulk material

2. conveyor belt with teeth or texture

3. pulley with drivetrain

4. pulley

+ 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

allow 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

Conveyor Hubs1. conveyor belt with first material

2. conveyor belt with second material

3. sifting sieve or screen

4. combined belt

+ used to allow for pack-

aging and processing of

the bulk materials

+ provides a staging

ground for workers or ma-

chines to access the bulk

materials such as meat

+ allowed for work in a

protected environment such

as a refrigerated room or

protection from rain

+ also allows for immedi-

ate recovery of certain

materials or byproducts

that tend to fall off of

the conveyor belt

+ used on a much smaller

scale than long belt con-

veyors

housing of frozen meat conveyor along the Riachuelo in Buenos Aires

Conveyor Housing

1. protection from heat, wind and rain

2. conveyor housing

3. climate con-trolled room

4. conveyor belt

5. work floor

+ the truss is important

to conveyor systems allow-

ing for spans and height-

ened inclines

+ allows for rotational

belt systems

+ is a rigid, linear sys-

tem that is cheap and mov-

able

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

Conveyor Truss

1. conveyor material

2. metal truss

+ The water hyacinth is

one of the most productive

plants in the world

+ It is a floating aquatic

plant found in fresh water

rivers

+ It’s range is limited

by temperature, needing

subtropical weather and

availability of freshwater

+ It is a serious hyperac-

cumulator of heavy metals

including lead, mercury,

and chromium

+ can absorb organic com-

pounds and heavy metals

+ It is native to the rio

de la plata estuary in

south america

+ can spread rhizomati-

cally from the stolons

Water Hyacinth

1. purple flower

2. leaf

3. water

3. petiole (bulbous, spongy stalk that aids flotation)

4. stolons, plant spreads rhizomatical-ly through branching stolons

5. suspended roots

6. uptake of nutri-ents and contaminants

current range of distri-bution of the water hya-cinth in the Americas

distribution of the water hyacinth in the Americas

+ mycelium are non-photo-

synthetic organisms that

form symbiotic relation-

ships with existing plants

or enzymatically breaks

down environmental sug-

ars, adapting them to take

in specific nutrients and

withstand droughts

+ mycelium are also in-

credible biological agents

for breaking down volatile

organic compounds

+ certain strains can be

used to break down petro-

chemical biproducts such

as polychlorinated biphe-

nyls and polycyclic aro-

matic hydrocarbons

+ can accumulate heavy

metals

+ if not contaminated, can

be used as a food source

Oyster Mushroom

1. mycelium fruit (mushrooms)

2. mycelium hyphae

3. uptake of sugars, nutrients, and chemi-cals from surrounding environment

oyster mushrooms after six weeks in soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls

some common american birds

+ The common nighthawk

is a bird native to the

americas with a range from

buenos aires, argentina to

toronto, canada

+ they are well adapted to

urban environments, pre-

ferring to nest in gravel

beds which are found along

industrial canals

+ feed chiefly on insect

pests such as mosquitos at

dawn and at dusk

+ urban birds in general,

such as the chimney swift

or kestrel, are consid-

ered as keystone species

(indicators of ecological

health)

+ they are ecological net-

work engineers, maintain-

ing insect populations

Common Nighthawk

1. common nighthawk

2. mosquitoes and flying insects (pri-mary food source)

3. gravel pit (used for nesting)

4. canal

midwestern farmers planting black locust hedgerows in 1917

+ black locust is na-

tive to north america and

naturalized on at least 5

continents

+ does best in temperate

climates

+ wood is extremely rot

resistant

+ roots fix nitrogen in the

soil

+ tissues don’’t absorb

toxic substances

+ growth is extremely

vigorous when young, grow

best by root suckers

+ create habitat for birds

and are a valued shade

tree

+ well adapted to nutri-

ent-poor, rocky, dry, com-

pacted soil

1. tree crown

2. been seed pods

3. timber wood

4. ground surface

5. nitrogen-fixing roots

Black Locust Tree

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-semiotic 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 major capital projects.

These operations are meant as sugges-tions of possibilities for implemen-tation, rather than a set of step-by-step instructions. Implementation may require consultation with an ar-chitect, engineer, arborist, or elec-trician, depending on the scale and the field situation.

size: smallest: a sin-gle 4’ x 10’ plot; larg-est: vacant lot

time: continuous care required

cost: $20 per 4’ x 10’ plot

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

The community garden-ing operation is open to anyone, and encouraged in any accessible area with a water supply.

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

VEGETABLES FOR EATNG SHOULD BE PLANTED IN RAISED BEDS TO AVOID CON-TAMINATION.

Community Gardens

a community garden in havanna, cuba

Steps of Operation:

1 Open ground is located

2 Construct the soil; this may entail importing compost or topsoil, till-ing 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 con-taminated soil

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

4 Keep the plants wa-tered with an adjacent water supply; this can be from captured stormwater, a nearby fire hydrant, or water spigot

5 Keep the weeds from growing by pulling them every week

6 Harvest vegetables or flowers when you want

consistent water supply

cut flowers, vegetables, or environmental reme-diation plants

growing medium

roots above contaminat-ed ground if vegetables are grown for consump-tion

raised bed

existing ground

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

time: 1 hour

cost: $0

related: community gardening, fencing, building, tree planting

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

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

Organic Compost

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

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 chem-ical extraction process to recover heavy metals

utilize clean compost in new tree pits or garden plantings

Steps of Operation:

1 collect compostable ma-terial; this could be gar-den 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 degrees- organic con-tent is slowly cooking

3 keep piles rotated, aerated, 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 chemi-cally processed to extract heavy metals

5 compost can be added to mineral soil, dredge spoils, accumulated set-tlements to enrich growing medium and help it support normal biological function

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

time: daily watering

cost: $50 - $2000

related: community gardening, tree planting, composting, water recy-cling, small construction, wetlands

This opeartion can be started for as little as $50 and is vital to estab-lish 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 nurs-eries- will help to keep costs down and gain nec-essary expertise to con-struct 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 rib-bing

climate control with fans if necessary

irrigation

existing ground

planting

footing or concrete slab to support struc-ture

Steps of Operation:

1 this operation must start at the ground; small concrete footings must be poured to support the structural 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 net-ting or plastic should be stretched over the frame

5 plantings should be spaced to allow for a walking aisle in the cen-ter, and so each plant can get appropriate irrigation

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

Wetlands

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

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

time: 1 day - decades

cost: $50 sf related: community gar-dening, tree planting, water recycling, small construction, wetlands

The wetlands operation is a communal effort that brings together techni-cal expertise, private donations, and embodied knowledge to begin re-establishing biological environmental processes.

Wetlands are installed slowly over time, in con-junction with earth mov-ing, and tree planting

Wetlands are one of the most productive areas and will be managed for scien-tific monitoring and edu-cational enterprises with the city universities.

Steps of Operation:

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

2 identify or at least estimate the toxic sub-stances that will have to be contended with

3 identify user groups to target with constructed wietlands- birds, shell-fish, school kids

4 identify the appropri-ate plants for the chosen location and other above considerations

5 construct a supporting structure for the growing medium and plants, includ-ing one that can protect the plants and organisms until they become estab-lished and can filter pol-lutants; include floating buoys if needed to support the structure and growing medium

rain water gets ab-sorbed

stormwater is filtered as it runs through

provides habitat for local birds and insects

plant material (should be chosen for tolerance of salt, heavy metals, and petroleum contami-nants

root network

growing medium (can be floating or can be ex-isting soil)

uptake of nutrients from the soil

Earth Moving

bobcat at work with medium scale earth moving operations

size: smallest- compost moving, largest- road building

time: 1/2 day to season long effort

cost: $50 per half day (donation in kind can be requested)

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

The earth moving equipment can be procured for only a half day. While expen-sive, this can be highly effective for excavation for a new wall, new pav-ing, 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 con-tractors.

Steps of Operation:

1 constant earth mov-ing can be undertaken as a cultural practice, espe-cially in a terrain that is constantly changing due to hydrological and sedi-mentary processes

2 with a single ma-chine this practice can be constantly undertaken to construct and compact new lands from deposited spoils

3 the earth moving should take place in layers and according to sections, growing incrementally

4 each layer should be compacted every 6 inches that are put down; running over the newly deposited sediments can be done with the bobcat; if the scale is extremely small then the operation can be un-tertaken with hand tampers

5 compacted soils can stabilize the terrain so that it can be used for newly prgrammed purposes

excavation or dredge spoils (can be trans-ported by conveyors)

existing high ground

earth moving machine (such as backhoe, bob-cat, wheelbarrow)

newly constructed ground

existing topography

Agricultural Netting

size: smallest- 50 sf, largest- 1000 sf

time: 1 hour

cost: $40 (donations in kind)

related: community gar-den, tree planting, fenc-ing, management, community market, hoop house, goat herd

The netting operation is used to create habitable zones near other opera-tions.

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 commu-nity 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

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 build-ing can be used

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

protection from sun exposure

protection from ex-cess rain for deli-cate 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 attaching to hoop house or scaffolding system

Construction Fencing

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, protect-ing new plantings and in-stallation and demarcating zones of programming, for instance:

+ 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.

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 wet-lands or other area to limit access

existng ground

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

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

time: seasonal employ-ment, 1 volunteer day

cost: $1 per tree

related: fencing, bird habitat

Tree planting is a primary operation, a major joint effort between agencies, universities, communities, and companies

The trees can form the framework for new pubic programming, and eventu-ally provide horticultural material for reforesting the city, or construct-ing boardwalks in the city parks

Tree Planting

bare root planting

root ball 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 entire gridded plantations

3 tree excavation should be done with spades or shovels, 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 ar-eas; for steep banks they should be planted as ver-tical as possible 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

size: single lot milling operation, can be out-sourced to private enter-prise

time: full-time temporary work

cost: PROFIT

related: tree plant-ing, house raising, man-agement

The tree pruning and thin-ning operation is used to manage an urban forest at high productivity produc-ing habitat, mulch mate-rial, and construction material for other opera-tions

It can be undertaken by volunteers as well as utilized by artists and craftsmen

stacked saw logs ready for milling for use in construction

Steps of Operation:

1 identify the trees to be thinned (for habitat or material purposes, or to open up spaces for so-cial gathering or working areas)

2 prune the canopy of the trees to be thinned; organic material (leaves) can be composted; branch-es can be used for wet-lands construction 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 canal

5 remaining trees should fill out further

tree being cut

canopy is pruned, mulched, and com-posted

remaining tree

felled tree

existing ground

Bird Habitat

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, paint-ing

The bird habitat operation is a method for reusing non-structural recycled material including scrap wood, plastics, and tex-tiles from the neighbor-hood to attract and pro-vide for bird species.

Birds act as keystone species as indicators of urban ecosystem health.

Birds help to manage in-sect populations and keep down pests such as mosqui-toes.

Birds and their behav-iorial habits serve as a strong attractor for people from the neighbor-hood.

Steps of Operation:

1 build bird house from lumber scraps or milled lumber 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 gallon bucket

5 cast scaffolding pole into concrete bucket

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

7 excavate pit to for concrete bucket in bird-house location

8 backfill around bucket to stabilize bucket foot-ing

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 anchor birdhouse

excavate birdhouse pit

existing ground

Scaffolding

size: smallest- community booth, largest- institu-tional station

time: 1 day- 2 weeks

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

related: garden, commu-nity market, bird habitat, netting, material recy-cling, light installation

The scaffolding operation is an modular system that can be utilized to cre-ate community market bays, festival installation, construction support

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

As workers and community members become accustomed to working with the scaf-folding system, the scaf-folding will be used as large scale installations as well as institutional support.

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

Steps of Operation:

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

2 assemble scaffolding members

3 secure cross bracing

4 attach netting or fenc-ing as necessary

scaffolding members

mechanical attach-ments at corners

ground to use for attachment/stabili-zation

scaffolding bracing

Material Recycling

size: smallest- local bottle dropoff, larg-est- reuse of construction refuse

time: 30 minutes - 2 hours for collection and dropoff

cost: PROFIT

related: small con-struction, scaffolding

Material recycling is often 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 con-structions such as bottles as bricks and plastic bottles as buoys for sus-pended wetlands.

object pyramid made from recycled garbage

for profit recycling

material reuse

Steps of Operation:

1 collection areas are established so that house-holds, communities, and industries can bring mate-rial 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 actors

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

S

Water Recycling

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 gardening, wetland, hoop house, tree planting

Water recycling operations are begun simply with rain barrels that catch water from the gutters of exist-ing 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.

rain water

storage barrel

dispersal hose

Steps of Operation:

1 identify existing hori-zontal surfaces that can be used to funnel rain wa-ter 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 eleva-tion or else to take ad-vantage of gravity flow

4 recycling water through wetlands, for agricul-ture, or using them to water trees can reduce the amount of mechanical plumbing infrastructure needed

Painting

size: walls, pavements

time: 1 hour - 1 week

cost: $20 per can, road striping equipment

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

The painting operation can be undertaken entirely by community groups to des-ignate paved areas, con-structions, and structures as community places for specific types of recre-ation or operations such as community market, bird habitat structures, light-ing installations, new walls, making clear the presence of social inten-tion and care.

Systems of signs can be created and elaborated over time to help signify programming such as mu-rals, and community market zones.

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

Steps of Operation:

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

2 choose the colors, consider DOT standards and exterior 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 purview of the local department of transporta-tion and any major effort should be coordinated with them so as not to cause traffic hazards.

Landscape Maintenance and Monitoring

size: n/a

time: full time position

cost: $5000 - $25,000

related: community gardening, tree planting, composting, water recy-cling, wetlands, recy-cling, manufacturing

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, instal-lation of fencing and net-ting and other ephemeral structures to achieve spe-cific environmental perfor-mance levels.

an equipped maintenance truck/ mobile laboratory

Steps of Operation:

1 the landscape main-tenance and monitoring operation should be spe-cifically identified and a manual developed for each individual canal

2 this is a scientific and craftsman position and will need specific equip-ment for monitoring envi-ronmental effects includ-ing 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: smallest- single goat, largest- 20 goats

time: 30 minutes daily

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

related: community gar-den, fencing, management

The goat herd offers a low-cost, low effort meth-od 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 al-ternatives to mowers.

They often provide a so-cial benefit for free, act-ing as attractors in the urban environment, espe-cially for children inter-ested in their wanderings

Goat Herd

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

Steps of Operation:

stage 1- vegetative growth domi-nates 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

size: N/A

time: 2 days

cost: $100

related: scaffolding, goat herd, hoop house, community market, small construction, manufactur-ing

Light installation for both permanent and ephem-eral installations can be undertaken with high pres-sure 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 percep-tion 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, or-ganic compost, netting

Mycological remedia-tion refers to the use of specific mycelium to filter organic solids, particu-late matter, to break down toxic substances such as polychlorinated binphenyls

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

This operation is under-taken by innoculating a medium such as wood chips, soil, or coconut fiber with mycelium spores which can be purchased from remedia-tion nurseries.

Mycological Remediation

mycorrhizal associations of Saccharomonospora viridis, a mycelium

Steps of Operation:

1 Choose location; con-sider presence of toxic substances (refer to the book “Mycelium Running “ for a simple chart paring mycelium with toxic sub-stances); 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 growing medium as the mycelium break it down; mushrooms fruits should be tested, confined, and com-posted separately as they accumulate heavy metals

sun exposure

precipitation

shade cloth (or tree canopy or building)

existing ground

growing medium

mycelium fruits (mushrooms)

toxic substances

Aerial Mapping

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 commu-nities with high quality aerial photography that is highly specific both tempo-rally and spatially.

A specific zone can be targeted- such as a devel-opment lot or the street salting operations of a city agency, and they can be photographed at ex-tremely 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 grassrootsmap-

ping.org

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 digital 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 downloaded

* winds must be consid-ered in this operation; for more control over the photography in windy situ-ations a kite can be used instead of a balloon

helium balloon (or kite)

camera cradle

automatic digital camera

tether

landscape being mapped