Dewatering Niagara Falls: A Classic Attempt at Controlling Nature

hello everybody welcome back to another episode of side projects this time the time they took all the water out to niagara falls pretty incredible let's just jump in [Music] the second half of 1969 was indeed a busy one hosting a handful of historic events including one you might have heard of the moon landing with neil armstrong there was also of course the vietnam war protest in washington and the niagara falls dewatering project and various others that we're not going to get into because they know what this video is about the niagara falls dewatering project was one of the most interesting events of the year but somehow it flew under the radar and couldn't make the pages of history maybe something to do with the whole moon landing thing spanning the border between new york and ontario niagara falls is listed among the seven natural wonders of the world it consists of three waterfalls horseshoe falls american falls and bridal veil falls the horseshoe falls straddles the border between the united states and canada and is the largest among the trio on the other hand the american falls and the bridal veil falls are far smaller and exclusively located in the united states niagara falls is famed not just for the majestic beauty of its cascading waters but also for its value as a source of hydroelectric power however since the start of the 19th century striking a balance between its recreational commercial and industrial uses has been a challenge for its stewards one of the most significant events in the history of niagara falls began in june 1965 when a newspaper the gazette launched a campaign informing citizens and local authorities of the presence of large unsightly rocks that had over the years piled up at the base of the american falls indeed the american fools had experienced three major rockfalls in 1931 1954 and 1959 accumulating over a hundred and thirty thousand cubic yards of rocks on its riverbed these rocks had essentially cut the height of the waterfall by half and threatened to turn it into rapids the american falls was also eroding at an alarming rate and locals feared that if this was not stemmed immediately the waterfall whose beauty had already been marred might completely disappear into the nearby lake erie plus a series of meetings and initial studies were launched from 1965 to 1967 by the international joint commission ijc a union in charge of the shared waters the aim was to determine the level of damages that the american falls had suffered and how feasible it would be to remove the rocks and repair the erosion afterwards the ijc established the american falls study board and tasked them with developing a means of getting rid of those rocks and preserving the waterfall's future the american falls study board comprised representatives from the u.s army corps of engineers environment canada and respectable landscape architects ultimately it was agreed that the best way to fully understand the situation of the american falls and save it would be to de-water it shutting down the american falls was intended to be temporary and while the waterfall remained inactive the engineers would clear out the unwanted rocks and earth from the riverbed [Music] dewatering the american falls seemed like a good idea but how could this be achieved theoretically the idea is simple stop the flow of water over the american falls and the river beneath would be pumped dry practically though not that simple note that niagara falls can reach a maximum speed of 40 kilometers an hour or 25 miles per hour to successfully stop the flow of water over the american falls the water course running over the brink of the falls would have to be diverted however manipulating nature comes with some pretty big risks if the engineers failed to reroute the flow along the right path there could be severe flooding in the neighboring islands and worse the american fools might be soon gone forever a lot sooner than expected knowing all of this the united states army corps of engineers was called up to take on the task of dewatering the falls thus on the 9th of june 1969 over 1 500 trucks loaded with rocks and earth hit the road that led the american falls in a bid to bring its mighty showers down to mere trickles so did the engineers succeed well actually kind of surprisingly yes this was achieved by building a structure that's known as a cofferdam a cofferdam is simply an enclosure built across a water body so that the enclosed part can be pumped dry for the american falls the cofferdam consisted of over 27 000 tons of rocks on earth its length stretched to 183 meters 600 feet and it ran from the mainland to the head of goat island effectively blockading the water passage to the falls this blockage enabled the engineers to divert the american falls channel into horseshoe falls after three days of working 11 hour shifts the american falls known for the deafening roars of its tumbling waters was brought to silence afterward the river underneath was pumped dry paving the way for the floor to be seen however while the engineers had set out to inspect the nature of the rocks the american falls had accumulated the waterfall had a few more interesting things to reveal one stripped of its aggressive waters the 34 metre high 110 feet precipice unveiled cobbles and boulders of astonishing shapes and sizes these rock fragments also known as towers deposits covered a depth of 6 to 15 meters contrary to what was expected there was a surge in tourist visits to the american fools clearly an active waterfall was something anyone could see at any time a dry waterfall on the other hand could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity indeed i'd love to see that that would be cool i've seen niagara falls i've been on that little boat the misty thing that goes out and you get really wet if you don't wear the jacket which i didn't and i'd love to see it dry that would be cool during the first weekend of the dewatering over a hundred thousand people visited to witness the unprecedented sight of the waterfall's craggy floor some of the visitors were able to take home some memories as they found thousands of coins tucked underneath the drying cobbles but also during this time two human bodies were found in between the rocks one was a brown head man aged 25 he'd been seen jumping into the water a few days earlier the other one was a woman she wore a red striped dress and a gold wedding band that had the inscription forget-me-not nobody knew how she'd ended up there the only plausible explanation for both corpses was suicide indeed the niagara falls had always been a spot for daredevils and suicidal folks since 1850 over 5 000 people have gone over its edges interestingly only about 16 have reportedly survived defeat since 1901. the american pools remained dry for about five months during this time geologists closely studied the base of the waterfall and workers removed the loose rocks to inspect the face of the american falls workers were sent down the cliff in safety cages using cranes on the 25th of november 1969 after enough studies had been made the cofferdam was removed with a backhoe and thus american falls came back to life the next few years would be spent deliberating on whether to remove the talus deposits or not in 1974 the ijc convinced the united states and canadian governments to leave the rocks intact according to their report clearing the rocks and artificially fixing the erosion was risky business because the waterfall was sufficiently unstable in several areas also removing the rocks would be quite expensive costing upwards of 24 million dollars furthermore while the dewatering project was going on over 5 000 prepaid cards were returned and over 70 000 public responses were received apparently the public didn't want the waterfall to be altered in any way while the ultimate aim of the dewatering project was not achieved it wasn't all for nothing on the bright side the project gave the world a rare inside view of the mysteries that lay beneath the cascading white waters of the american falls also during the dewatering the american falls was stabilized to some extent using bolts anchors and cables the engineers used the opportunity to install electronic rock-side sensors in critical areas that way they would easily detect rock movements in the future it has been reported that the rate of erosion across niagara falls has significantly reduced over the years however it continues to recede at a speed of about 0.3 metres per year and it has been predicted that in 50 000 years niagara falls will have vanished completely into lake erie [Music] in 2016 the new york senate government announced its plans to repeat the watering process in the coming years this time the aim is to replace a pair of 120 year old bridges that convey tourists from the mainland of new york to goat island while the purpose is different the strategy is going to remain the same the second project was slated to begin in 2019 but has yet to commence due to monetary limitations the funding needed is estimated to be about 30 million if the funds do ever get released the world would see niagara falls go dry once again and i do hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below do not forget to subscribe brand new videos just like this several days a week if you've got a suggestion for future side projects you know what to do leave it in the comments and thank you for watching [Music] you

Channel: Sideprojects

Views: 132,102

Keywords: megaprojects, construction, engineering, projects

Id: 2EdCAHkL4c0

Length: 9min 13sec (553 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 19 2020