The
Tidal Basin is a partially man-made
inletAn inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an...
adjacent to the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles . In terms of area, this makes the Potomac River the fourth largest river along the...
in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
It is part of
West Potomac ParkThe West Potomac Park is a U.S. national park in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the National Mall. It includes the parkland that extends south of the Reflecting Pool, from the Lincoln Memorial to the grounds of the Washington Monument...
and is surrounded by the
Jefferson MemorialThe Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States....
and the
Franklin Delano Roosevelt MemorialThe Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is a presidential memorial dedicated to the memory of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and to the era he represents.-FDR Memorial:...
. The basin covers an area of about and is deep.
The concept of the Tidal Basin originated in the 1880s to serve both as a visual centerpiece and as a means for flushing the
Washington ChannelThe Washington Channel parallels the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It is about three miles long and joins the Anacostia River near Hains Point at its south end to connect to the Potomac River. The north end receives outflow from the Tidal Basin. The channel is located between the Southwest...
, a harbor separated from the Potomac River by fill lands where
East Potomac ParkEast Potomac Park is a park in Washington, D.C., located south of the Jefferson Memorial and the 14th Street Bridge. Located between the Washington Channel and the Potomac River, the park is home to the East Potomac Golf Course, a mini-golf course, a large public pool , and the East Potomac Tennis...
is situated.
The
Tidal Basin is a partially man-made
inletAn inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an...
adjacent to the
Potomac RiverThe Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately 383 statute miles long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles . In terms of area, this makes the Potomac River the fourth largest river along the...
in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
It is part of
West Potomac ParkThe West Potomac Park is a U.S. national park in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the National Mall. It includes the parkland that extends south of the Reflecting Pool, from the Lincoln Memorial to the grounds of the Washington Monument...
and is surrounded by the
Jefferson MemorialThe Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States....
and the
Franklin Delano Roosevelt MemorialThe Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is a presidential memorial dedicated to the memory of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and to the era he represents.-FDR Memorial:...
. The basin covers an area of about and is deep.
The concept of the Tidal Basin originated in the 1880s to serve both as a visual centerpiece and as a means for flushing the
Washington ChannelThe Washington Channel parallels the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It is about three miles long and joins the Anacostia River near Hains Point at its south end to connect to the Potomac River. The north end receives outflow from the Tidal Basin. The channel is located between the Southwest...
, a harbor separated from the Potomac River by fill lands where
East Potomac ParkEast Potomac Park is a park in Washington, D.C., located south of the Jefferson Memorial and the 14th Street Bridge. Located between the Washington Channel and the Potomac River, the park is home to the East Potomac Golf Course, a mini-golf course, a large public pool , and the East Potomac Tennis...
is situated.
Peter Conover HainsPeter Conover Hains was a brigadier general in the United States Army, and a veteran of the American Civil War, Spanish-American War, and the First World War...
, an engineering
officerAn officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
in the U.S. Army, oversaw the design and construction.
The basin is designed to release 250 million
gallonA gallon is a measure of volume of approximately four litres. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use. These are the U.S. liquid gallon and the lesser used U.S...
s of water captured at
high tideTides are the rises and falls of sea level caused by the combined effect of rotation of the Earth and the gravitation of the Moon and the Sun. The tides occur with a period of approximately 12 and a half hours and are influenced by the shape of the near-shore bottom.Most coastal areas experience...
twice a day. The inlet gates, located on the Potomac side of the basin, allow water to enter the basin during high tide. During this time, the outlet gates, on the Washington Channel side, close to store incoming water and block the flow of water and
sedimentSediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow, and which eventually is deposited.Sediments are most often transported by water transported by wind and glaciers...
into the channel. As the tide begins to ebb, the general outflow of water from the basin forces the inlet gates to close. This same force is applied to the outlet gates, which open into the channel.
SiltSilt is soil or rock derived granular material of a grain size between sand and clay. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
build up is swept away by the extra force of water running from the Tidal Basin through the channel. The gates are maintained as navigable by the
U.S. Army Corps of EngineersThe United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
, which has recently completed a project to restore the functioning of the gates.
The Tidal Basin was the scene of a scandalous drunken incident involving the Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, Democratic Congressman
Wilbur MillsWilbur Daigh Mills , was a powerful Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Arkansas...
. On October 7, 1974, Mills' car, with an Argentine stripper known as
Fanne FoxeFanne Foxe was a dancer best known for being involved in a 1974 sex scandal surrounding Arkansas Congressman Wilbur Mills, in what is reputed to be one of the most reported political sex scandals of the 1970s...
in the back with Mills and driven by a former Nixon staffer, was stopped by US Park police late at night because the driver had not turned on the headlights. Mills was intoxicated and his face was cut from a scuffle with Foxe. When police approached the car, Foxe leapt from the car and jumped into the nearby Tidal Basin. Despite the scandal, Mills was re-elected to Congress in November 1974 with 60% of the vote, but in December he drunkenly staggered onstage at a Boston strip club where Ms. Foxe was performing. Soon after this second embarrassment Mills was forced to step down from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. Mills eventually acknowledged his alcoholism, sought treatment at the West Palm Beach Institute, and joined Alcoholics Anonymous. He did not seek re-election in 1976.
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