It takes different forms depending on the kind of coastline needing protection. Linear protection is today's most widely used tool for protecting both development and wetlands in the Bay and the confluence of the Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, as well as along the ocean coastline. What it is: Linear protection, such as levees and seawalls, that fix the shoreline in its current place. A barrier that holds back ocean storm surges is not likely to simultaneously function well in the other direction, causing upstream flooding in the freshwater tributaries of the Bay. It also would affect sedimentation, likely making parts of the Bay shallower, while increasing coastal erosion.īarriers may not work. The BCDC's study also found that a barrier would affect the Bay's salinity, sedimentation, wetlands, wildlife and endangered species. Moreover, a barrage would be a far more expensive protection strategy for the Bay than building levees and reconstructing infrastructure.īarriers are also ecologically damaging. 1 The BCDC reported that it is likely that a Golden Gate barrage would be double or triple the cost of a similar structure in China.
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In 2007, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission studied the idea of constructing a tidal barrage, or complete obstruction of the waterway, at the Golden Gate. The Maeslant Barrier was estimated to cost $4 billion, and the famous Three Gorges Dam in China is expected to cost $25 billion when complete. A single, technological fix, particularly if it is at the Golden Gate, protects a huge area of land from flooding with one project.īarriers also protect everyone, and therefore have no social equity issues that might follow a more piecemeal or land use-based strategy in which some places would get protected and others would need to be abandoned.īarriers are expensive to construct. īarriers could protect a large area of land in a single sweep. The Thames Barrier is located downstream of central London. Bay Arc: An idea for a giant net that would fold underwater at the Golden Gate and be raised to prevent major ocean storm surges from entering the Bay.It is expected to be completed in 2012, and to operate as much as 100 times a year.
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#House floating foundation erosion series
Thames Barrier: A series of river gates, it was built in the 1970s to protect vulnerable London from storm surges.Maeslant Barrier: A set of horizontal, pivoting gates on the Rhine River at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, it is expected to be closed about every 10 years to hold off a surge of more than three meters.Alternatively, it could be temporarily deployed just to head off the worst flooding during a storm surge. The barrier could be fixed in place and allow managed flow through a portal for water exchange, tidal function and navigation.
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This strategy could be used at the Golden Gate, or in smaller, strategic parts of the Bay that are somewhat enclosed to begin with. What it is: A large dam, gate, or lock - or a series of them - that manages tidal flows in and out of San Francisco Bay. This article is a supplement to Sea Level Rise and the Future of the Bay Area