9.5.2 Swamp Canal The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway passes through the natural harbor of the Elizabeth River and enters the Swamp Canal along the edge of the Dismal Swamp southwest of Norfolk. The swamp is a place of subversive history, a ground for the Atlantic white cedar that once supplied the shipyards of Norfolk and Portsmouth, a perennial source of fresh water in the Elizabeth, and a survivor of numerous efforts to destroy it.
CRANEY
ISLAND
From the intertwining and collective stands of vertical cedars the Intracoastal Canal transitions to the vast horizontal fill of dredge spoils that have extended Craney Island at the mouth of the Elizabeth, constructing a gradient from a field of pins anchored in a resilient web to a consolidating fill of displaced soil.
PORTSMOUTH
Elizabeth River + Swamp Canal
Figure 9.31: South Frontier
DEEP CREEK LOCK
FEEDER
CANAL
LAKE DRUMMOND
Figure 9.30: Swamp Canal Frontier
159 SCR Phase 1: Context, Site, and Vulnerability Analysis February 2014
GREAT DISMAL SWAMP
FILLED
PINNED
EDGE
AUTONOMY
STRATA
STANDS
TRANSPLANTS
A DULT OYST ER
LATE R SPLAT
E ARLY SPLAT
PE DI V E LIG ER
VE LIG ER
TROCHO PHORE LA RVAE
FE RT ILIZ ED EGG
UN FE RTI LI ZED EGG
S H I P P I N G CO N TA I N E RS
SWA M P CU LT I VAT I O N
DREDGING
SOIL
CEDAR
Figure 9.32: Swamp Canal Gradient: Operational, Material, Temporal, Spatial, and Ecological
09 Norfolk and Hampton Roads, Virginia 160
Off-Sites: Elizabeth River and Portsmouth Voids Between the Dismal Swamp and Craney Island are numerous voids—cracks in a city’s fabric with a potential and opportunity to begin something new. These voids tend to be adjacent to infrastructural lines of rail and road that crisscross the region, perpendicular to waterways. The part of these voids that interests us are those that extend from the estuarine waters of the Elizabeth River that have suffered the loss of numerous animal and plant communities, deep inland into neighborhoods of Portsmouth and Chesapeake where economically weaker communities are often trapped by the backing up of rain. We propose raising the ground of these voids to construct new gradients between land and sea, accommodating the needs of communities at both ends, working with the dredged soil of Craney Island which we see becoming a remediating ground and working park, and plots of cedar cultivation and conservation in the Dismal Swamp.
CRANEY ISLAND
NORFOLK
PORTSMOUTH
ELIZABETH RIVER
RT
16
4
CRADDO
CK
DISMAL SWAMP CANAL
Figure 9.34: Swamp Canal Voids
Figure 9.33: Swamp Canal Research Plot
161 SCR Phase 1: Context, Site, and Vulnerability Analysis February 2014
A B C
Figure 9.35: Craddock
Figure 9.37: Craney Island Dredge Facility—Material Placement, Sorting, Remediation, Soil Transfer
D E
F
ELIZABETH RIVER MIDDLE REACH
Figure 9.38: High Ground: Craddock—Oyster Reef/Wetland Biofilter, Access Berm/Water Retention, Upland Planting/ Slope Stabilization, Raised Berm/Shelter-in-Place
G
CRADDOCK
Figure 9.39: Cultivation: Dismal Swamp—Cedar Plots/Soil Transfer, Swamp Canal
Figure 9.36: Craddock Plan
09 Norfolk and Hampton Roads, Virginia 162
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Figure 9.40: Swamp Canal Horizons: Elizabeth River and Voids 1 2 3 4
Craney Island Craney Island Future Eastward Expansion Port of Norfolk Elizabeth River
163 SCR Phase 1: Context, Site, and Vulnerability Analysis February 2014
5 6 7 8
Paradise Creek Park Deep Creek Lock Dismal Swamp Canal To Lake Drummond
Figure 9.41: Typological Sections A Settling Basin Dredging Channel B Outflow Polishing Soil Remediation C Soil Mining Jetty Stepped Berms D Cedar Planting Oyster Stands Rail Line E Pinned/Filled Ground Stands Raised Berm F Shoals Raised Berm/Housing G Dismal Swamp Canal Cedar Lots
SECTION A SETTLING BASIN
DREDGING CHANNEL
SECTION B SOIL REMEDIATION OUTFLOW POLISHING
SECTION C SOIL MINING
JETTY
SECTION D STEPPED BERMS
CEDAR PLANTING OYSTER STANDS
SECTION E
RAIL
PINNED / FILLED GROUND
STANDS
SECTION F
RAISED BERM / HOUSING
SHOALS
DISMAL SWAMP CANAL
SECTION G
CEDAR LOTS
Figure 9.42: Project Gradients
09 Norfolk and Hampton Roads, Virginia 164