The Post Conference technical tour will begin at 8 am and visit some of the very interesting sites along the San Francisco waterfront. Descriptions of the sites are given below. These have been especially selected because they have been enjoyed by previous visitors to San Francisco. The tour will return from the Bay Model via a ferry ride across San Francisco Bay. Prof. Robert L. Wiegel, University of California, Berkeley, will narrate the tour with George Domurat, Corps of Engineers and Lesley Ewing, California Coastal Commission.
The San Francisco Bay Model is a three-dimensional representation of San Francisco Bay and the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers capable of simulating tides, currents, river inflow and other variables affecting water quality and the movement of water in the estuary. The model, operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, spreads over 1.5 acres and is built out of 286 five-ton concrete slabs.
The model is a scientific hydraulic tool used by engineers, scientists, and planners to analyze problems that cannot be solved by using textbooks, experience or mathematical models alone. The model allows the engineer to examine, in a laboratory setting, the effects of change on the physical tidal forces of the bay and delta region.
The model is a one and one-half acre tidal hydraulic model once capable of reproducing existing and planned conditions of San Francisco Bay and Estuary. Issues of effluent dispersion, salt/fresh water mixing, dredging, shoaling, and solid barrier construction were studied. The Visitor Center provides programming via public and school tours, special events, workshops, and seminars on the environmental, cultural, and historical issues of the Bay Area.
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