Everything about Reversing Falls Rapids totally explained
The
Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the
Saint John River located in
Saint John, New Brunswick where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the
Bay of Fundy.
The diurnal
tides of the bay force the flow of water to reverse against the prevailing current at this location when the tide is high (a
tidal bore), although in the spring
freshet, this is frequently surpassed by the downstream volume of water. The rapids, or "falls", are created by a series of underwater ledges which roil the water in either direction, causing a significant navigation hazard, despite the depth of water. As a result, vessels wishing to enter or exit from the river must wait for "slack tide".
The Reversing Falls has also been an important industrial site for over a century. The
Canadian Pacific Railway constructed the
Reversing Falls Railway Bridge in
1885 and this structure was replaced in 1922; it's currently used by the
New Brunswick Southern Railway. The railway bridge crosses the gorge immediately downstream from the falls, parallel to the
Reversing Falls Road Bridge.
The location of the falls was the site of a
foundry and other light industrial operations on the east side of the gorge, while a large
pulp mill on the west side.
J.D. Irving, the company which has operated the pulp mill since purchasing it in the late
1940s, has encountered some criticism in recent decades for maintaining the facility at what is viewed as one of Saint John's prime tourism locations. This criticism became most pronounced during the
1980s and
1990s when the city government created
Falls View Park on the former industrial foundry lands on the east side of the gorge.
During the late
1990s a tourist business was established, offering
jet boat rides on the river in the vicinity of the falls; however the boats don't operate in the roughest areas which experience a 3-metre drop in water level over a very short distance. The operators tend to stay in the choppy waters immediately downstream and attempt to soak passengers by driving through small whirlpools at the base of the railway bridge. Another more recent development at the Reversing Falls has been its growing use as a
whitewater kayaking location, made unique by the changes in formation of the rapids during incoming or outgoing tides.
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