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.

. . . and in "Point Blank" as a location for an assassination by sniper fire.

"Basil Jet" wrote in message
...
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 suspect if you built the road it low enough to be useful as a flood
channel it would then become prohibitively expensive to drain the road for
normal use. You would also be disrupting all the other (natural and
artificial) drainage features that would normally be routed under a new
road. Relatively cheap under-bridges would become expensive over-bridges,
junction designs would probably be an expensive compromise, and railway
bridges (to bring us vaguely on-topic) may well be impossible to accomodate.
The far more likely scenario would be to enclose the flood channel and build
the road on top of it.

The closest example I can think of is the Emabankment in London, which was a
combined road, Underground and sewer project, although I think they built
one of them first and then had to rip it all up and build it all over again.

--
DAS

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)

On 2014\02\23 17:44, Richard J. wrote:

snip

Thanks!

On 23/02/2014 17:44, Richard J. wrote:
[...]
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


I hadn't realised it routinely flooded.

Isn't there some thought of fully closing it to traffic, and turning it
into a pedestrian / cycle way?

Mizter T wrote on 24 February 2014 23:59:55 ...

On 23/02/2014 17:44, Richard J. wrote:
[...]
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


I hadn't realised it routinely flooded.

Isn't there some thought of fully closing it to traffic, and turning it
into a pedestrian / cycle way?

Yes. The Voie Express on the left bank (or at least part of it) has been
reclaimed for pedestrians and cyclists, with some urban landscaping to
make it more attractive as a leisure destination (though the additional
features need to be removable when the river floods). The right bank
has also been partially opened up to pedestrians, necessitating several
light-controlled crossings on the Voie George-Pompidou.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)