Art student and amateur hydrologist, Kate Foster, can be seen at work on the River Kelvin this week. Her distinctive sculpture has become a local talking point, designed to complement the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s regular monitoring of the river.

Kate, an Environmental Art student at Glasgow School of Art, has built a device for assessing river depth and flow under the footbridge at the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow’s West End.

The design features 18 discs of wood hanging under the bridge in an arc. The higher the water, the more discs float and the lower the water the more discs hang in the air.

Pedestrians on Queen Margaret Drive have noticed an attractive span of discs hanging in an arc from the footbridge. Closer up, passers by now have a visual guide to the depth of the river: the higher the water, the more discs float, and the lower the water, the more discs hang in the air. If the current is strong, there is tension on the floating discs.

A board nearby displays the day's weather forecast, river depth, and other information from The Herald. Each day, Kate makes a drawing of the river's colour.

"The response has been incredible - people take a lot of interest in the river. I have been asked so many questions and heard new stories - like about the flood in 1994. People see 'art' in the sculpture because the discs make great patterns as they turn in the wind or float on the water. The reflections are beautiful too. There's 'science' in it too - close up people ask themselves why is this woman measuring out lengths of wood and rope? Almost everyone works it out and connects it to the weather, but at first some people thought I might be fishing.

"Of course, I've checked that the work doesn't interfere with the ducks or other wildlife found here. The recent sunshine meant the river went low and became really clear: the discs looked great but personally I think the sculpture works best after rain."

The majority of SEPA’s gauging stations like those on the Kelvin are connected to telephone lines and equipped with telemetry devices so that river levels can be recorded every fifteen minutes and accessed by the Hydrologists at any time.

"We were delighted to help Kate with her interesting project," said Marc Becker, SEPA Hydrologist. "SEPA has three river gauging stations on the River Kelvin. SEPA monitors river flow across Scotland, and the data collected is a vital component in achieving SEPA’s objective of further water quality improvements in Scotland’s rivers.

"The River Kelvin is also prone to flooding at various locations along its course and the measurement of flow during these events also provides information to enable SEPA to provide advice on issues such as development control in the Kelvin valley and flood protection."

NOTES

For picture opportunities and more information contact Kate Foster Tel/Fax 0141 946 2528.