Salt Water Barrier (Delaware River)
The Salt Water Barrier was a proposed project on the estuary of the
Description
The location of the impoundment was set by the presence of the eastern terminus of the
The barrier itself was proposed as a low dike built using hydraulic fill, armored against storms with concrete paving. An overflow spillway was to be set in a section of concrete structure, adjacent to four navigation locks that could accommodate vessels of more than 40-foot (12 m) draft.[2]
A 13-foot (4.0 m) diameter tunnel was proposed to carry water from an intake structure near New Castle at a depth of about 400 feet (120 m) for 39,000 feet (12,000 m) in populated areas, or in a cut-and-cover trench in rural areas over 60,000 feet (18,000 m) to Hoopes Reservoir above Wilmington. Costs were projected in 1960 to be about $345,000,000 for the barrier, and between $35,000,000 and $45,000,000 for water tunnels. Costs for an alternative intake from the reservoir behind the existing Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River were estimated to be between $140,000,000 and $170,000,000. Annual costs were estimated in the same proportion as the differences between the projects.[2]
See also
- Reber Plan, a similar proposal for San Francisco Bay