Piney Branch
| Piney Branch | |
|---|---|
 Construction photo of the16th Street Bridgeover Piney Branch | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Region | Washington, DC |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | |
• location | Rock Creek (Potomac River) |
| Length | 0.75 miles (1.21 km) |
| Basin size | 2,500 acres (10 km2) |
Piney Branchis atributaryofRock CreekinWashington, D.C.It is the largest tributary located entirely within the Washington city limits. It is spanned by the16th Street Bridge,the country's firstparabolic archbridge.
Course
[edit]Located in theNorthwest quadrantof Washington, D.C., the stream flows next to Piney Branch Parkway and empties into Rock Creek near the intersection of the parkway and Beach Drive, insideRock Creek Park.Rock Creek drains to thePotomac River,which empties into theChesapeake Bay.[1]
Piney Branch is afirst orderstream (i.e., no tributaries) with a surface length of 0.75 miles (1.21 km). It is generally about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and 4 inches (10 cm) deep. It is the largest tributary located entirely within the Washington city limits.[2]
Watershed and water quality
[edit]Piney Branch drains awatershedof 0.48 square miles (1.2 km2).[citation needed]About five percent of the watershed consists of forested parkland near its surface stream. The rest of the area is mainly residential, with some light industrial zones.
Fourcombined sewersystems discharge into the stream.
In 2010, the creek was listed as polluted by 10 chemicals and four metals: lead, copper, zinc, and arsenic.[2]
History
[edit]In prehistoric times, the creek's valley was a source ofquartzitecobblesfor toolmaking. One quarry site is located at the bluffs overlooking Piney Branch from the north, about 30 feet below the summit of a southeast-facing hill. Dubbed the "Piney Branch Quarry Site", it was first examined by archeologistWilliam Henry Holmesin 1889 and 1890. Another investigation begin in 2006 revealed quartzitedebitage,whole and broken turtleback “preforms,” and half of a large ax.[3]
In the mid-1800s, the creek's valley was the location of the first road through the area that would become Rock Creek Park. Called Piney Branch Road or 14th Street Road, the narrow country way went north from theMount Pleasantneighborhood down into the valley, across a rickety bridge just west of today's 16th Street Bridge, then climbed up to the present-day neighborhood ofCrestwood.[4]
Funding to build the Piney Branch Parkway, which runs along the creek for most of its length, was "authorized in 1907, but not built until the mid-1930s when funding and workers became available through theNew Deal."[4]
In 2014, theDistrict of Columbia Water and Sewer Authoritybegan design work on the Piney Branch Trunk Sewer Rehabilitation Project, a series of repairs and improvements to the combined sewer system that discharges into the creek. Composed of 8- to 10-foot brick and concrete pipes, the Piney Branch Trunk Sewer is one of the city's major trunk sewers. Project design was slated to start in January 2014 and last one year. As of early 2016, work was to begin in 2017 and last until 2019.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"How D.C. Is Keeping Raw Sewage Out Of Rock Creek By 'Greening' The City".WAMU.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-10-25.Retrieved2023-10-25.
- ^ab"Rock Creek Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP)"(PDF).District Department of the Environment Watershed Protection Division.Government of Washington, D.C. August 2010.RetrievedAugust 29,2015.
- ^Liebertz, John; Kate Ritson & Bill Marzella / EHT Traceries (August 2014)."Rock Creek Park Historic District (Amended Nomination and Boundary Increase)"(PDF).National Register of Historic Places Registration Form.D.C. Government.Archived(PDF)from the original on March 3, 2016.RetrievedSeptember 1,2015.
- ^ab"R is for Roads"(PDF).Rock Creek Park A to Z.Rock Creek Conservancy.Archived(PDF)from the original on September 24, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 1,2015.
- ^"Piney Branch Trunk Sewer Rehabilitation Project"(PDF).DC Water.District of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority. 2015-12-20. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 8, 2015.RetrievedFebruary 19,2016.
External links
[edit]
- Piney Branch watershed photos
- 2009 mapof thecombined sewerthat empties into Piney Branch