Cross Carrington Canal
+1m Sea Level
University Of Newcastle, Australia
We’ve just wrap up presentations for the end of semester and although this project was comprised of much shorter spans of work with less time dedicated to prepare drawings, I was really pleased with the amount of time spent on the idea, and the freedom of scope we where allowed to explore. below is a recap and reflection on the final stage of the project, titled ‘cross Carrington canals’
In a world of seemingly immediate or short term solutions to our generations greatest existential threat, we had a deep desire to focus on endurance, acceptance and symbiosis. There’s a special atmosphere that comes with the space between infrastructure and water, the desire to control what inevitably, we can not, to curate a naturally kinetic spirit and ultimately to mark the moment in time where a priority shifted.
In particular, its this shift in priority that we wanted to flesh out. Today, most infrastructure associated with water aims to control, direct and inevitably fight what can quickly become a ferocious force. The point of departure for this project was to flip this thinking, accept that water and moving water, has a mind of its own, accept that in Australia, our relationship to the amenity of water is more and more one of feast or famine, and accept the inevitably of change associated with sea level rise on our existing urban condition.
The site, Carrington, is a small peninsular neighbourhood in Newcastle, NSW. Built over a mangrove swamp and extended with ballast from around the world, today its a mixture of low scale dense housing with a hard industrial fridge dedicated to exporting coal from the valley beyond. Within the city of Newcastle, this is the place perhaps most at risk to climate change. The low lying island sits just 1m to 2m above sea level.
Whats really special about this place through is its positioning at the intersection of so many larger systems. The Hunter river meets the Tasman sea, the train lines that stretch through the valley and before that the wool and wheat belt of NSW meet the harbour, and finally, where to the south a band of sandstone providing the foundation for much of Sydney, meets a younger version of itself in the dunes and estuaries of Port Stephens to the north.
The end of the sandstone belt is critical because it encapsulates the seams of coal that then run through the valley. Seems that, upon European settlement, where mined and now remain as a gridded void under the city. The intersection of these systems is the projects catalyst, a landscape prone to increasing occupation by the sea, an infrastructure stretching far into the valley beyond and an underground void half the size of the cities major water source.
Conceptual Flow:
Capture water using the tide as sea level rises
Store water in the void below city
In times of drought, extract and transport via train to the valley beyond.
Key Question
How can the surface level infrastructure enable this flow?
Diagram 1- Light to Dark
White = Existing water line
Light grey = low lying area
Dark grey = higher land
Diagram 2 - Rising Tide
White = 1m sea level rise (localised inundation)
light grey = 2m sea level rise (wide spread inundation)
Dark grey = remaining islands above 2m
Red cross = potential links between remaining islands
Evolution
Diagram two shows that the area of initial / localised risk to the rising tide (white) overlaps with the intersection of two existing streets. We proposed these streets could be excavated in time, to make way for a canal system to contain the water, and that as the level rose, the bridges either side of the road (that would eventually connect the islands) could act as side walls up to 1m of rise. after this the water would be entering the landscape from multiple points, and therefor, become to challenging to manage in the long term.
Long Term Objective:
Capture, filter and desalinate water. There also exits an opportunity for the project to take its form in a series of bridges that connect what will remain of Carrington.
Short term Possibilities:
Delay inundation & act as a warning sign.
Diagram 3 - Cross configuration & long term flow of system
Water enters system (left hand side green arrows) and is captured in troughs and flows into void space below. large particle filtration occurs between surface level and mine void below
Water is pumped out of system slowly and filtered through a natural reed system to filter out smaller particles (shown dark blue)
Water flows into train carriages where on route to its final destination its desalinated further through UV systems.
Diagram 4 - A rising footpath
Diagram 5 - Sketch Axonometric of developed solution Circa +1m
