Canal and River Connection

[wschnitt]

I was reading about the high priority of connecting the river and the canal. The problem that I see is the great water level height difference. There is an underpass just west of Lincoln by the Cheasapeak Boathouse for this.

So my bet would be that it will be more of a terminal/ exchange as opposed to a direct link.

Any ideas?


http://newsok.com/oklahoma-river-dev...#ixzz1DrIhyl3i

[Snowman]

They will not actually meet, their is a 17 food difference in heights of the river and canal, at one point a lock was considered so riding the taxis all the way would be an option but is at least as of now not part of the plan. It will allow people to get off the taxi walk down and get on one of the Devon boats which will be able to turn around their. Also probably more importantly it allows walking from the taxis or bricktown to boathouse row, since they already have several large events and will be biding for more.

[Patrick]

Yeah, there won't be an actual link. But there are plans to either extend the canal to where it's closer to the river link, or to use sidewalks and landscaping to connect the two.

[Kerry]

17 feet is enough to do this.

[Midtowner]

Could always install a lock.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/murky/5730799/

[Jesseda]

I like kerrys idea lol

[CuatrodeMayo]

Could always install a lock.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/murky/5730799/

or one of these:

[Kerry]

This +100

X 5

That is freaking awesome!!! Where is that?

on edit: here is how it works

[ljbab728]

Some of these issue have been brought up previously in other threads. The problem with locks is that the canal is not a river or stream. It does not have a steadily replinishing source of water. As I have mentioned before about the youtube depiction, I hope I never see a monstrosity like that along our river.

[bombermwc]

And as mentioned a million times before on here...the canal is a closed system while the river is not.

[Kerry]

The Falkirk Wheel puts just as much water back in as it takes out. There would be no loss of water from the canal.

[kevinpate]

nope, but one is river water, and one is old city water. Not sure how much difference that would make to critters in either, but probably some.

[lasomeday]

Another problem is the 8 lane highway that intersects them.

[metro]

If your talking about the new highway, it's 10 lane

[Kerry]

nope, but one is river water, and one is old city water. Not sure how much difference that would make to critters in either, but probably some.

If the City wanted to do it there is a way (after all they are doing it in Scotland from a canal to a river) . I'm not sure how big a deal mixing a small amount of river water and a small amount of canal water is anyhow as the canal is drained every year. The canal is filled with water from fire hydrants, where does that water come from?

As for the new highway - it doesn't matter if it is 20 lanes wide - they already built the bridge for it. You can see it here under the heading 'Canal Bridge'.

http://www.40forward.com/

[SkyWestOKC]

Another problem is the 8 lane highway that intersects them.

There's a bridge under the new highway, as well as a canal extension which will extend the canal under that bridge to stop near the inlet of Regatta Park.

[Jesseda]

that wheel thing is so cool, i want to ride it!!! bring it to okc lol

[jonno]

There's a bridge under the new highway, as well as a canal extension which will extend the canal under that bridge to stop near the inlet of Regatta Park.

Actually it will be reversed. An extension of the Regatta Park inlet will extend under the highway with its terminus near the current S. end of the canal.

[SkyWestOKC]

Actually it will be reversed. An extension of the Regatta Park inlet will extend under the highway with its terminus near the current S. end of the canal.

Ah ok, that makes sense. Couldn't remember which way it was supposed to go for sure.

[ljbab728]

The Falkirk Wheel puts just as much water back in as it takes out. There would be no loss of water from the canal.

It's still a monstrosity which would be totally out of place along our river.

[Larry OKC]

17 feet is enough to do this.

Exactly what I have been suggesting for years now. make the Canal a circular path and turn it into this!

Possibly use those side channels as dual water slides. Sell the naming rights to Frontier City/Whitewater Bay.

[Kerry]

It's still a monstrosity which would be totally out of place along our river.

It doesn't have to look exactly like that. I can imagine some pretty cool ways to move boats 17 feet vertically. There has to be more than one way to build an aquavator or aqualator.

[Snowman]

It doesn't have to look exactly like that. I can imagine some pretty cool ways to move boats 17 feet vertically. There has to be more than one way to build an aquavator or aqualator.

Hopefully they planned enough room that something might be able to be added later.

[shane453]

1) Bricktown canal is treated with some chemicals since it is a closed system, wouldn't want to mingle river and canal water for that reason. You would have to keep retreating the canal constantly and you'd be getting chemicals in the river.

2) How well do you think one of the Watertaxis would do on a windy day in a waterway 20x wider than the boat? Trust me, it would be an exciting ride.

[Snowman]

1) Bricktown canal is treated with some chemicals since it is a closed system, wouldn't want to mingle river and canal water for that reason. You would have to keep retreating the canal constantly and you'd be getting chemicals in the river.

2) How well do you think one of the Watertaxis would do on a windy day in a waterway 20x wider than the boat? Trust me, it would be an exciting ride.

1) If that is a major concert and the benefits of having a connection outweigh the costs, a system could be designed to transfer little or no water along with the taxi.

2) The banks of the river are high enough that it would be fine most days, certainly on days which would have the most traffic between the two where their would be events on the river that are affected by wind that may be postponed or canceled.