And by “straight,” I mean to follow the riverbed through the valley, not cut out 50-mile-long bends. Wouldn’t this devastate the river and prevent commerce? Could it have some use for hydroelectic? And be terrible for almost all situations?
What if a large, winding river was dredged straight to the ocean without meanders?
r/whatif
Comments
Yes, they did it in Florida, now changing it back.
The Hudson River is pretty much a straight shot out to the ocean.
Rome did it in a number of ports, to move stuff to towns/cities further inland. In places canals, but in Rome IIRC, they shaped the river itself to speed up shipping into the city. Rivers were the highways of the day.
https://preview.redd.it/b5kolx1zyhre1.png?width=825&format=png&auto=webp&s=abddfa7def6f2416a628084522346cf20ecef1f4
No, I mean like a big river! This would destroy ecosystems I think and barges would have a tough time.
Ha. Plenty of real rivers like that. In times not that long past when sea levels were lower, river floors were lower, and many rivers have retained that deeper floor.
It certainly wouldn’t prevent commerce or be terrible. The idea of using it for hydro power is laughable.
They spend billions doing this to the Mississippi River every year. The river always tries to or goes back to its original flow.
It’s almost impossible to "engineer" a curry river straight.
[removed]
Oh wow, okay, like that would be super intense! You’d probably mess up the whole ecosystem there. Meanders in rivers naturally slow down the flow and create habitats for different species of plants and animals. If you dredge it straight to the ocean, you’d likely increase the flow speed massively, which might mess with stuff downstream like fish spawning grounds. Some species rely on certain flow rates or sediment deposition. When I was living in Oregon for a bit and did lots of hiking around rivers, I’d see these river bends teaming with life, and it made me appreciate how everything’s connected, ya know?
Also, when you talk about hydroelectric potential, having a consistently fast flow can be good, but thinking about it, a straight river might miss out on creating enough elevation change for proper dams. It might work, but not at its best, and you’d miss out on all the nutrient-rich silt deposits that meanders bring, which are super important for farming communities alongside them.
And commerce? I think barges would struggle because they’re designed to handle those bends, and a faster current could make navigation a nightmare. It could literally be dangerous. You know what makes me think of? That time I tried one of those e-scooters in San Francisco and ended up going much faster than expected. Same energy, different stakes. Also, you’d probably end up spending so much on maintaining banks and dealing with erosion. It doesn’t seem like a win-win for anyone, really.