Title supplied by cataloger. For many years the Los Angeles River was the subject of many jokes because of its dry riverbed. Originally an alluvial river that ran freely across a flood plain, the Los Angeles River's path was unstable and unpredictable with the mouth of the river moving frequently from one place to the other. The river was prone to bursting its banks with devastating affects, a problem that plagued the local area well into the 1930s. This situation ultimately lead to an outcry for flood control measures. The Army Corps of Engineers began an ambitious project of completely encasing the river's bed and banks in concrete leaving only a trickle of water flowing down its middle. Today, this intermittent river flows for most of its 51 miles through a narrow concrete channel. This photo was taken from the middle of the Los Angeles River basin, pre-1938 cementing, looking north from the 7th Street Viaduct. The photographer's note at the bottom of the photo reads: "During the 'rainy' season, when the earth is saturated with water, a part of the Los Angeles River emerges and flows above the surface".
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Remnant vegetation--California--Los Angeles River channels--California--Los Angeles Bridges--California--Los Angeles Rivers--California, Southern Los Angeles River (Calif.)
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