Category: Barge
Flood Mitigation 2022/23: South Park, Seattle.
One of the locations that I have been shooting for the past decade is the South Park neighborhood in SW Seattle. Part of the reason for photo documenting this neighborhood is that I actually lived in the area for a short time before starting school. Also, it has been a neighborhood in transition for decades; it’s part residential, part light manufacturing and part indigenous heritage. This makes for an interesting mix.
This past winter we had both a very high tide and exceptional rainfall event. The result was that the Duwamish River overflowed its bank by two feet, which caused residential flooding. The city came in with a Laundry Trailer, which is still there, months later. Also, not pictured, is all of the POD units the city brought in for residents to store their non-flooded items. Basements were severely flooded in those houses closest to the river. The sandbags you see ( orange and green) were used to build a three foot wall, unfortunately this was done after the flooding event. The city has left most of the sandbags in place. I’m not sure what the overall plan is, going forward. In all of my years of spending time in this neighborhood I have never seen flood mitigation done on this scale. ( just as an aside- The Duwamish River was the very first EPA Superfund Site. Most of the offending industries have left this area, moving away from the river. However, after 50+ years, it is safe to say the federal government is slow-walking the cleanup. It would take a monumental dredging operation to clean up all of the heavy metals and toxins that have long settled on the river bottom).
I’ve been sitting on these photos and more for months as I just wasn’t sure how to present the after effects of an unusual flood event.
Large Barge
Recently spent a little time around the Duwamish River in South Park, Seattle. This day the river was really high due to runoff in the mountains. The barge looked like an ocean going type, although I’m no barge expert. There are a couple of more steps, in the image, that are usually visible even during high tide.
Note: I used an old, Vivitar wide angle lens on the barge photo.
Duwamish Access IV
Some of the non-commercial traffic on the Duwamish River. It’s interesting that one natural resource can be shared by so many diverse interests; from various wildlife, boaters, fishers, fish and commerce.
Duwamish Access III
Two large barges being moved both up and down river by tugs. A lot of containerized freight is staged up river for transport to Alaska. I know of two large operations, one either side of the river, that specialize in collecting and forwarding freight to Alaska ( one of which I actually did a job interview for about 30 years ago-fortunately I didn’t get the job). It’s not unusual to see vehicles of all types perched on top of a stack of containers heading north. What I found fascinating is that these barges draw little water and leave hardly a noticeable wake in the path. A small speedboat, on the other hand, will create all sorts of noise and a wake that sends the ducks scurrying and bobbing about :-).
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