Joseph Dobrzanski
Physical Geography's Impact on Cities
Storm Drains
The photo below features a storm drain in the bottom left-hand corner of the image.
This was taken on April 20, 2016 in Seattle at the intersection of Elliott St. and Vine
St. beside a green fire hydrant.
It is an additional piece of infrastructure found around Seattle because of the local
climate. The city's proximity to the coast gives it a maritime climate that brings in a
fair bit of precipitation.
The storm drain prevents water from pooling on the impermeable surface of asphalt
and concrete that cities are made of. This makes driving safer by reducing
hydroplaning, the effect that causes a vehicle's wheels to lose their grip on the road.
This in turn makes travel more pleasant and allows faster generally traffic flow on a
rainy day.
Joseph Dobrzanski
Physical Geography's Impact on Cities
Raised Street Height
The snapshot shows the approximate height of Seattle's original elevation (where I
was standing) and the current street level just above the skylight. This was taken on
April 19, 2016, just outside Seattle's Underground bank vault doors.
Raising Seattle's street level several metres was done to stop various sorts of
flooding. Seattle was constructed by tidelands, a place that floods with the tides.
Raising the ground put streets well above the water table and flooding zone, which
improves living conditions considering that roadways no longer flood.
Furthermore, certain restroom patterns seen prior to increasing the street elevation
were no longer needed. This was due to the sewer system depending on gravity to
operate. During high tide, water levels would force sewage to go in back through the
sewers and out of any toilet flushed during that time of day.
Joseph Dobrzanski
Physical Geography's Impact on Cities
Locks
The picture is of the gate of a large lock that is currently closed and holding back a
mass of fresh water. This was taken on April 21, 2016, at the Hiram M. Chittenden
Locks.
The local landscape of the region makes Salmon Bay a higher water body than Puget
Sound, which poses a problem for boats that want to travel safely between the two
locations. Therefore, a lock system was built that acts as an elevator for such
vehicles and enables safe (if not slow) passage through that area.