Basil Jet wrote on 21 February 2014 15:42:39 ...
Looking at a map of the Jubilee River (The Thames flood channel near
Windsor) it occurs to me that some of it would have made a useful road.
So I'm thinking that quite a few bypasses could have been built
deliberately low and could then operate as roads most of the time but as
flood alleviation channels when required. I'm wondering if this has been
done anywhere. Various films have included car chases in the Los Angeles
River, which I believe is dry most of the time, but they seem not to use
it as a road.

In the centre of Paris, there is a one-way road on the right bank, the
Voie Georges Pompidou. It's at towpath level, several metres below the
riverside streets that adjoin it. When the river is high, which happens
at some time in most winters, the road becomes part of the Seine (and is
closed before that happens). In fact it's only a part-time road for
vehicles anyway, as it's reserved for pedestrians and cyclists on
Sundays, and for a month in July/August it's transformed into a beach
(complete with imported sand and palm trees).

As a bypass road:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...uv re_rwk.JPG

On a Sunday:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...aris%29_01.jpg

As a beach (Paris-Plage):
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/blog/wor...1/08/plage.jpg

As a flood plain:
http://www.paris.fr/viewmultimediado...d=94791&role=2
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)