Richmond and The James River as seen from the Flood Wall
"The floodwall project was dedicated on October 21, 1994, at an estimated cost of $143 million. The wall is designed to protect those areas located behind it against a flood with an average recurrence interval of 280 years, according to the City of Richmond. The southside portion has an earthen levee, approximately 9,000 feet long; a combination bin wall/levee, approximately 2,000 feet long and a concrete floodwall, approximately 2,000 feet long.
It is one of the largest flood-protection systems in the nation and it opened miles of the James River to public access, with river walks, trails and scenic overlooks. The total length of the Floodwall is 3.2 miles of concrete, steel, earth and rock, with 1.2 miles on the north shore of the James River and two miles on the south bank.
The construction of the Floodwall was spurred by eight major floods in Richmond between 1969 and 1987. Among those were the first-, second-, third- and seventh-worst floods in modern history, with combined damages of more than $140 million.
The Floodwall is designed to protect Richmond from floods of up to 32 feet, which would have stopped all of the recorded floods except Tropical Storm Agnes, which hit 36.5 feet in June 23, 1972. Second worst, flooding reached 30.8 feet on Nov. 7, 1985 and Tropical Storm Camille was the third worst at 28.6 feet on Aug. 22, 1969."
From http:// http://www.richmondoutside.com
Right now the river is low due to lack of snow and rain this winter.
@phil_howcroft And of course it was named for your King James as was our Jamestown, in the Colony of Virginia, settled in 1607, first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
Impressive project! Practical for protection but it also offers a lovely view of the city to photograph. The sky is particularly beautiful in this shot.
February 23rd, 2017
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