Project Specifics

Swimming is a good way to determine the overall accessibility of our rivers because it involves aspects of all river activities: desirability, feasibility, and hazards. I identified a number of indicators believed to determine the current state of each of these three aspects. This data should be useful for other people interested in fishing, boating, hangin out and waterfront development.

I used an outboard boat to document 50 miles of shoreline along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers of Pittsburgh. I tried to find every existing and potential swimming point within this area. Locations were judged based on access to the river. Some places would not be accessible to everyone if they required climbing ropes or scaling steep slopes but I included them because they do provide access for some. I recorded a GPS point, a photo and an evaluation of indicators for desirability, feasibility and hazards. It was not possible to swim at every location because there are so many; instead, I chose a range of places to swim and used my years of experience to judge the others.

I interviewed a number of people from a range of perspectives to understand the different perspectives associated with the rivers. The range included people who had never been near the rivers, those who grew up near the rivers, those who have rarely visited the river, fishers, boaters, people just walking near the rivers, young and old. Between the recorded data, the interviews and my own experiences with the river I was able to crack into the current state of swimming in the rivers.

The recorded data was linked to the GPS points and photos through GIS software. GIS generates maps to show the data layered spatially which helps to find trends and locations of interest. I produced a website and a printed equivalent. The website has a full report of the different factors affecting swimming in the rivers as well as maps that outline each of the 3 main aspects. Probably the most important product on the website is the dynamic map which lets users search all the sites I recorded for features that they find attractive and view photos for each.

Understanding the indicators used to evaluate points of access:

Feasibility
These are the physical factors that aid or prevent access to the water.

Berm and Bank Materials
Surface materials can hinder access and can also make the space very nice. There is no rules as to which do what. For instance cement can make a great access ramp but in some places it is just dumped making the area very difficult to traverse.

Berm and Bank Angles
Flood planes and flood walls can have a great effect on the accessibility of a site. Steep banks can be difficult both going up and down however combined with some access structure such as stairs the angle is a non-factor.

Structure
Most of the sites found in the study do not have constructed access infrastructure which is what makes this study different from others. It is not necessary to have a structure but they can greatly increase the accessibility of the river.

Difficulty
There is no one indicator that shows if a site is easily accessed or not however a combination of a few indicators is very accurate. The values assigned to each site were determined based on the other indicators.

Desirability
This aspect is the most overlooked. The river is naturally an attractive place but there are many factors that determine a specific locations attractiveness.

Setting
The character of a site is largely based on what objects are present. This indicator classifies the overall set of objects present.

Activity
What type of swimming that can take place a spot can change they way it is viewed. An activity such as cliff jumping would not be as attractive to older people as it would the kids.

Background
The space outside of the access point can affect the way people feel within the space.

Campsite
A campsite adds a more lasting and homey aspect.

Waste
Unfortunately many generations of people have left things they no longer need at the river and we have not cared enough to clean up.

Description
Each site has something unique.

Usage
In some cases I have been around a site enough to know how often it is used but for the most part one can tell based on what was left behind.

Hazards
The river environment has a number of general hazards just as any place does. Some access points have hazards beyond those of the whole river.

Water
Water moving too fast is a danger, but water moving too slowly can become stagnant and unhealthy.

Waste
Some things left behind are not just unpleasant, they are dangerous.

Ecoli Indicators
Our sewage system regularly overflows into the river. The sewage will wash away but at some times it is not pretty. Ecoli is often tested for and used as an indicator for those things that are harmful to humans.