#material flows

Riachuelo Landscape as Material Assemblage

This drawing is attempting to illustrate the material networks of the canal landscape along two axes:  clastic detritus and hyacinth.

The clastic detritus, a fancy name for sediment, implicates the entire watershed along the canal corridor.  The design accelerates and concentrates depositional processes at three points- the dredge pit, settling basin, and dredge trough.  These different sites allow for the concentration of differing types of sediment- based on the modeling tests, each element collects different types of sediment in different ways.  The trough and pit collect large sediment (sand), and the settling basin collects mostly silt and clay.

There is also a transfer point and the sediment is barged out to the new 'camalote' confined disposal facility.  The collecting and dewatering of the sediment in the canal after being placed in barges offers a chance for the creation of new bridges, new sights, and new smells.  One area that needs to be resolved is the placement of the concrete batch plant that will use some of the contaminated sediment as fine aggregate.