Art and science combine to virtually restore lost rivers through digital maps, sculpture and intersecting tales of ecosystem destruction and restoration.

The Project: Miles Lost/Miles Gained

Miles Lost / Miles Gained (MLMG) is a public art and historic interpretation project by Seattle based engineer and artist Zachary Corum.  Celebrating the restoration of the Elwha River, “a river lost for a century,” this project investigates other lost rivers of Puget Sound. Through placement of a series of sculptural river mile markers along the paths of the “missing rivers”, the goal is to allow viewers to gather insights into the scale and pace of the transformations that have taken place and the importance of maintaining and restoring natural systems. While the meanders of the lost rivers are unlikely to reappear through the sea of asphalt that replaced them, their former majesty can be virtually restored through art and historic interpretation. MORE...

The Structures: Mile Markers

The mile markers will consist of concrete monoliths placed to resemble the mile marker symbol commonly found on the modern United States Geological Survey 7.5 minute quadrangle maps to demarcate the distance along a river channel from its mouth. The monuments will consist of concrete rubble generated from removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams to restore the pristine Elwha River, which flows out of the rainforests of Olympic National Park to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Where possible, large, visually arresting pieces will be cut down to create the monoliths. In other cases, welded wire baskets will be used to form the monoliths from smaller pieces of dam rubble. All monuments will be capped with an etched metal plate that tells the intertwined tales of the virtually restored river (miles lost) and the permanently restored Elwha river (miles gained). At the center of each mile marker, a brass survey monument will be mounted in concrete, at the estimated location of the historic river mile. The monument will be installed to meet the specifications of a permanent survey control point, surveyed professionally, and a record of the survey will be filed with the State of Washington. In addition, a request will be filed to classify the monument as a historic landmark. MORE...