The first civilizations we have ever heard of were along the banks of mighty rivers like Nile, Euphrates, Indus and Huang. These civilizations developed along rivers as riverfronts provided opportunities for tradeand transportation, fertile land to grow crops, water for drinking, washing, livestock and other domestic uses and food in the form of fish. Gradually, they came to define cities, became a part of identities of people, such as "India" from "Indus," while, providing a sense of place and connecting the populace to nature. Yet rivers have often ended up being abused and neglected in our course towards urbanization. It is this "neglect" that needs to be shunned. The relationship with the rivers needs to be re-forged. To develop a strategy for this shift in attitude, this research has chosen the case of Chesapeake Bay.
Chesapeake Bay is an estuary lying inland from the Atlantic Ocean. It has mainland North America to its west and Delmarva Peninsula on the east. It is the largest Estuary in the United States. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Chesapeake Bay. The estuary provides habitat to several species of wildlife and aquatic life.
Today, this bay faces many issues such as nutrient and sediment pollution, Storm water runoff, lowering of shellfish species etc.
One of the major causes of the polluted bay is storm water runoff. Storm water washes pollution off the roads and other surfaces and takes them to the water. Stormwater is generally more polluted in urban areas than rural areas.
This thesis, attempts to demonstrate what can be done with a typical pixel in the whole mosaic of the bay . The Maine Avenue Fish Market, sitting just upstream to the now being developed Southwest Waterfront, seems a perfect choice for this endeavor. This market, a small urban waterfront space, is ideal for exploring ideas and solutions to avoid water pollution by stormwater, cleaning the quality of water and also, in the process, develop the area in relation to the city and its surroundings.
This thesis aims to establish an ecological and social relationship between the natural resource and the urban life. / Master of Science / Rivers are extremely important to our eco system. They provide fertile land, water, opportunities for trade and transport, support various marine lives, provide an identity to a city or region etc. Inspite of being a vital component of our eco-system, rivers are being neglected and abused in our course towards urbanization. Today, rivers face several issues such as water pollution and lowering of marine life. In urban areas, water washes away pollution off the roads and flows into the river. This water run off from land is one of the major causes of the increasing water pollution.
This thesis attempts to reduce water pollution by the suggesting sustainable methods to treat storm water, improving the quality of water, and also in this process develop the chosen site in respect to the city and revitalize the relation of the river of the city.
The site I chose for this endeavor lies on the Potomac River of Washington DC. The Maine Avenue Fish Market, a small urban waterfront space, sitting just upstream to the now being developed Southwest Waterfront is being taken up to demonstrate possible ideas and solutions to clean the polluted Potomac River and also establish a relationship between the city and the river.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/74989 |
| Date | 09 February 2017 |
| Creators | Singh, Smakshi |
| Contributors | Architecture, Piedmont-Palladino, Susan C., Heavers, Nathan, Morton, Elizabeth |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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