U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model, Hydraulic engineering museum in Sausalito, United States.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model is a hydraulic engineering museum in Sausalito that occupies two acres and holds a physical reproduction of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The facility demonstrates in detail how water moves through the region's waterways and river systems.
Authorized by Section 110 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1950, the model was completed in 1957 to test John Reber's plan for two dams in San Francisco Bay. The tests showed the Reber Plan was not viable and it was abandoned. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta section was added between 1966 and 1969, expanding the model to two acres.
The model's name comes from the agency that built it, and its purpose shifted from research to public education. Visitors today see the Reber Plan story: in the late 1940s John Reber proposed two dams across San Francisco Bay for freshwater and transport links, and the model's tests showed the scheme was not viable. Educational exhibits on Bay hydrology accompany the working model.
The museum is located in Sausalito near the waterfront and has free admission for all visitors. It is a good idea to allow several hours to explore the models and learn from the displays at your own pace.
The model's vertical scale is exaggerated tenfold over the horizontal one (1:100 against 1:1000), a deliberate distortion that keeps water flowing correctly over tidal flats and shallows. Copper strips set into the surface are adjusted during calibration to correct the extra hydraulic efficiency this creates.
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