Constructed Landscape: proposal for an ecological park in Baltimore Harbor

Constructed Landscape

proposal for an ecological park in Baltimore Harbor

This thesis is dedicated to Mom and Dad, who have been supporting me in all ways possible.

Tao DuFour and Greg Keeffe, who have been amazingly insightful and encouraging.

Highland Homies, who have made the past ten semesters memorable. God, who always provides!

Constructed Landscape

proposal for an ecological park in Baltimore Harbor

JAEIN LEE ADVISORS

TAO DUFOUR | GREGORY KEEFFE

A THESIS FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE CORNELL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, ART AND PLANNING

MAY 2022

Chesapeake Bay. Sattelite Imagery from ESRI.

Greater Baltimore. Sattelite Imagery from ESRI.

Swan Creek and Sparrows Point

1 | Where Do We Begin?

Introduction

Research Question

Sediment and Dredging

“All landscapes are constructed. Garden, forest, city, and wilderness are shaped by rivers and rain, plants

and

animals, human hands and minds. They are phenomena of nature and products of culture.“

Constructing Nature - Ann Whiston Spirn from Uncommon Ground

Introduction

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been implementing a number of programs for the past decade to ensure pollution control measures needed to fully restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers by 2025. Assuming that the Bay is fully restored by 2025, what will happen next?

Chesapeake bay is the final destination for a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers across New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. However, the water that flows into the bay contains excessive amounts of Nitrogen from the fertilizers used in agricultural regions the waters pass through. This activates abnormal algae growth that later depletes the oxygen in the waters - causing the death of marine organisms and deranges the livelihood of nearby fishing communities. Among many endangered marine organisms, the disappearing oysters accelerate hypoxia since these oysters are the largest filtering agents in the Bay ecosystem. Built on the assumption that the EPA’s measures restore Chesapeake Bay, this thesis will propose an ecological park designed around oyster reefs as a rehabilitation and water quality maintenance strategy for Chesapeake Bay’s dead waters.

This will be designed as a reparative landscape that connects the existing yet severed green edge around the waters of Baltimore harbor.

How can a barren post-industrial landscape be transformed into a civic space that gives back to the community? How will it be shaped by nature and man over time?

the industrial landscape

the industrial landscape

the industrial landscape

the industrial landscape

the ecological landscape

the ecological landscape

the ecological landscape

the ecological landscape

Edge condition diagram. Full drawing in Section 3.

Research Question

The Baltimore harborfront has a rather harsh divide between the industrial landscape and the ecological landscape. This thesis proposes a strategy to soften the hard divide and instead implement a green edge that can be used as a commons for the residents in the neighborhood. Like sunlight, nature is something that is made to be equal to all. I want this post-industrial waterfront, which is currently inaccessible to all people to become a meeting ground. People from all backgrounds can experience nature and despite their differences, they will be able to have a shared memory of a common space.

How can a barren post-industrial landscape be transformed into a civic space that gives back to the community? How will it be shaped by nature and man over time?

These are the two main questions that this thesis aims to answer.

Curtis Bay Channel

Brewerton Channel East Extention

Swan Creek

Wetlands

basin

cutter suction dredger sweeps out sediment at the bottom layer of the river, then transports sediment to disposal

water drained through porous barrier

drained sediment is taken to landfills

Craighill Channel

navigation channel

Dredging process diagram. Full drawing in Section 3.

Sediment Movement and Dredging

On March 14th, 2022, a ship was stuck in Baltimore harbor. The ship, named Ever Forward, weighed 220,000 metric tons and needs water at least 43ft deep to move, but it was stuck in an area that was just 25ft deep. The ship required dredging 30,000 cubic meters over the span of six days to take the ship out. During the six days, while the ship was stuck, over 400 vessels were delayed from entering the harbor. This cost a global trade delay of around 8 billion dollars per day.

Dredging is the manual removal of sediment from the bottom of a body of water. Compared to the depth that the large ships require to stay afloat, the natural depth of the Patapsco River is very shallow. Baltimore annually uses 22.85 million dollars to dredge the channels, 1.5 million to remove drift, and uses another 1.4 billion to construct landfills out of the dredged material.

My initial approach to this issue was to trace the movement of sediment, compare shoreline changes over time, and map the current dredging areas and the amount of sediment removed.

Patapsco River Reservoir

Patapsco River South Branch Patapsco River (Demolished) Union Dam

Inner Harbor

Old Road Bay

Chesapeake Bay

Bear Creek

Avalon Dam

Patapsco River Reservoir

Swan Creek Wetlands

Patapsco River

Curtis Creek

(Demolished) Union Dam

Liberty Reservoir and major streams that lead to Patapsco River

Map of Baltimore by USGS. 1953

Map of Baltimore by USGS. 2019

Mosaic of 1953 and 2019 maps

basemap tiled between USGS 7.5 minute record from 1953 and 2019

Water body extent is in accordance to measurements made in 2019

waterbody area in 1953

swamp area in 1953

Shoreline in 1953

Cox Creek

Dredge Material

Containment Facility (DMCF)

The size of cargo ships are getting substantially larger over time.

1980 Panamax

1890 Maryland

Draft Depth

1941 Patrick Henry

1960 Floridian

2022 Triton

After investigating the movement of sediment and its resultant shoreline changes, I came to the conclusion that the natural cycle related to sediment movement was not flawed. As seen through the USGS 1953 and 2019 maps, the net change in shorelines is negligible if the 70 years in between the two maps are taken into consideration.

Instead, the necessity behind dredging was due to the naturally shallow waters of Baltimore Harbor. On the left is a drawing showing the growth in ship size between 1890 and now. The length of the cargo ship nearly tripled, and as a result, the depth of water each ship requires to stay afloat has significantly increased. It is extremely likely that ships will continue to grow, and Baltimore Harbor will need to be dredged deeper and deeper. My projection is that there will be a point in the future when dredging will no longer be a sensible solution because the economic and ecological loss caused by the volume of dredged sediment will outweigh the profit made in Baltimore Harbor.

2 | The Site

Site Context

Swan Creek

Sparrows Point

The Three Scales

the industrial landscape

the industrial landscape

the ecological landscape

the ecological landscape

broken ground solid ground

Diagram showing solid ground and broken ground. Full drawing in Section 3.

Site Context

Baltimore Harbor used to be the center of all cultural and economic activity in Baltimore. However, due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the amount of time that the cargo stays in Baltimore has shortened. This change in the industry decreased the direct economic benefit Baltimore generates from its harbors. Still, Baltimore harbor remains to be the most valuable asset of the city. Through Baltimore Harbor, 37,300 jobs are generated, and it impacts the jobs of 101,880 people. 395 million dollars are generated in state, county, and municipal tax revenues.

The change in harbor management and shift in industries resulted in abandoned land. The previously occupied industrial edge separates the industrial and ecological. The waterfront area of the Patapsco River and other adjacent estuaries have a green edge; flora and fauna have a tendency to propagate near water. However, the previously occupied and now deserted industrial edges draw a hard line between what is ecological and what is industrial because they have a concrete foundation across the land, preventing plant growth and animal inhabitation.

Entrance to Swan Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility. Image from Google Street View.

Swan Creek

Swan Creek is one of the seven existing creeks along the left side of the Baltimore Harbor. Previously a wetland, the municipality of Baltimore built a landfill (Swan Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility) to contain the dredged sediment from the channels in Baltimore Harbor. Currently, the DMCF is half-filled; it has a ring-like structure; the center is still yet to be filled with sediment. This new patch of land built on the river is currently unmaintained and unoccupied. If dredging is no longer continued in Baltimore, what will the rest of the landfill become? Will it stay as it is? Or is there a potential that this man-made edge condition is remediated and given back to the public as a civic space?

Photograph of Sparrows Point before demolition. Photograph from Bloomberg.

Sparrows Point

Sparrows Point was previously occupied by Bethlehem Steel. The first buildings were constructed in1887, and it was financed in partnership with The Bethlehem Iron Company and Pennsylvania Steel Company. Sparrows Point was chosen as the location for the mill because it was close to Baltimore Harbor. In 2001, Bethlehem Steel went bankrupt. Between 2001 and 2012, the workforce diminished and parts of the mill were sold off to different companies. The surrounding area is economically suffering, and the land is mostly unoccupied. Recently, shipping centers of companies such as Amazon and Under Armour partially occupy the site. Yet, the waterfront edge remains deserted.

Proposal to move Baltimore Harbor to deeper waters. Full drawing in Section 3.

The Three Scales | Scale of a City

Drawn from previous research (see page 6-17), my projection is that there will be a point in the future when dredging will no longer be a practical solution because the price will outweigh the benefits. Based on this projection, I am proposing that Baltimore Harbor should move to deeper waters.

The natural depth of the current Baltimore Harbor area is around 20ft. The new location, 25 miles away from the current location, has a natural water depth of 75ft-100ft. If the harbor is moved here, the environmental harms that are related to stirring up the sediment and disturbing the ecosystem can be avoided. Also, the harbor will become a more desirable location for ships because of easier access. This harbor will be a distribution center where larger ships meet smaller ships. The smaller ships will unload the cargo from the larger ships and directly head to their final destination.

The harbor will be positioned in reference to the natural grid and water flow. This will allows sediment to build behind this new port area, creating a landbridge. The region currently is experiencing repetitive flooding, but this landbridge could alleviate that problem as well.

Swan Creek and Sparrows Point. Full drawing in Section 3.

The Three Scales | Scale of a Neighborhood

On this scale, I am proposing a series of public program that invites different audiences to this edge. The proposal will be a park that encompasses activities such as kayaking, swimming, skating, and of course walking. This park will propose several spaces where people and nature can co-exist. There is a slight emphasis on sports and education-related activities since one of the existing problems in Baltimore city is insufficient childcare. The ratio of single-parent households is very high in this neighborhood compared to the rest of Maryland. Single parents are usually busy making a living to economically provide for their children, so teenagers and children do not have access to diverse resources or adequate care. Instead of roaming the streets, the teenagers of Baltimore will be able to engage in afterschool programs held in the area.

By the act of breaking the existing concrete foundation and letting in water, the hard boundary of the industrial edge will be broken. On top of the rubble, oyster reefs will grow and people will be able to inhabit the edge again.

As time goes by and the current Baltimore Harbor area becomes deserted due to undesirable harbor conditions (such as shallow water depths), there will be more deserted post-industrial edges such as Sparrows Point and Swan Creek. This tactic of land remediation and reclamation as a public commons will be able to be adapted to other deserted edges.

Filtration mechanism of oysters. Full drawing in Section 3.

The Three Scales | Scale of an Oyster

The waters flowing into Baltimore harbor contain an excess level of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. This is because the waters pass through agricultural land, and these are the primary ingredients in fertilizers used on farms. However, an excess of these nutrients causes “nutrient pollution.” These nutrients are the cause of abnormal algae growth, which takes away oxygen and adds carbon dioxide to the aquatic environment.

Oysters are a perfect solution for this; oysters feed on nitrogen. Periodic dredging destroyed the historically prolific oyster reefs in the Patapsco River, but rehabilitation of oyster reefs can help filter the waters of the river.

Oyster reefs will be rehabilitated on the broken edge condition; they will be nurtured in nets but gradually form a reef using the rubble as a foundation.

3 | Execution

Scale of a City

Scale of a Neighborhood

Scale of an Oyster

Back to the Scale of a City

A - Scale of a City

Precedent - port moving out to deeper waters in Rotterdam. Image by Gert-Joost Peek.

West Channel

East Channel

West Channel

Seagrit Connecting Channel

Dundalk Connecting Channel

Fort McHenry Channel

Ferry Bar Channel

Curtis Bay Channel

Swan Creek Wetlands

cutter suction dredger sweeps out sediment at the bottom layer of the river, then transports sediment to disposal basin

Brewerton Channel

navigation channel

drained sediment is taken to landfills

water drained through porous barrier

Brewerton Channel East Extention

Craighill Channel

to-scale size of 26052 m^2 of annual dredged sediment from Baltimore Harbor requires annual budget $7,500,000 to dredge and drain sediment

Tolchester Channel

Swan Point

Channel network and dredging mechanism in Baltimore Harbor

Baltimore Harbor logistics at deeper waters

Baltimore Harbor logistics at deeper waters

Baltimore Harbor logistics at deeper waters

B - Scale of a Neighborhood

existing green edge extracted from site.

phased continuation of the green edge condition

Swan Creek

Bay Scallop

Sea Cabbage

Atlantic Croaker

Atlantic Silverside

Double Crested Cormorant Scuba Diver

Oyster Reef

Sparrows Point - Waterfront

Section

American Oystercatcher

Meadow Cordgrass

Seaside Goldenrod

Loblolly Pine

Brown Pelican

Bluebell

Section of Sparrows Point - Wetland

Great Blue Heron

Smooth Cordgrass

Blue Flag Iris

Water Lily

American Black Duck Mangrove

oysters grow between nets in shallow open waters.

Bay Scallop

Atlantic Silverside Double

Oyster Reef

Atlantic Croaker

C - Scale of an Oyster

filteration of water through oysters

spat nurtured in FLUPSY (FLoating UPweller SYstem) to protect them from predation until they are large enough to survive on oyster sanctuaries

rehabilitated oyster colony

broken ground

life cycle of oysters in Baltimore Harbor

Marshes and Wetlands

Beaches and Tidal Flats

Black Crowned Night Heron

American Oystercatcher

Blue Flag Iris

Blueback Herring

Mason Bee

Sanderling

Greater Yellowlegs

Sanderling

Seaside Goldenrod

Brown Pelican

Diamondback Terrapin

Atlantic Ghost Crab

Bald Eagle

Cardinal Flowers

Bald Cypress

American Black Duck

Atlantic Ribbed Mussel

Aquatic Reefs and Open Waters

Flora and fauna on site. Images from Chesapeakebay Bay Program.

Laughing Gull

Kemp’s Ridley Sea

American Coot

Boring Sponge

Ghost Anemone

Blueback Herring

Black Drum

Harbor Seal

Greater Yellowlegs

Eastern Oyster

Black Sea Bass

Atlantic Croaker

Beaches and Tidal Flats

Marshes and Wetlands

Aquatic Reefs and Open Waters

Oyster spat are moved to oyster nets after being cultivated in FLUPSY.

Oyster reefs start to form on rubble from broken ground. Oyster nets become more spaced out as the oysters grow in clusters.

Oyster reefs are formed and are safe to eat. The boats regularly harvest oysters as they check the water quality.

Space Accessible viewing platform Rubble from broken ground Beach Event Venue

Gunpowder River

Chester River

Edgewood

Patapsco River

Baltimore

A - Scale of a City

adaptation to other edge conditions

Susquehanna River

Elk River

Bohemia River

Harve De Grace

Aberdeen

Photographs of Swan Creek and Sparrows Point

Photographs of Swan Creek and Sparrows Point

All photos taken by Jaein Lee.

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