Art Info
Public Art Install Date: 2027
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Why this location?
During the 1915 Flood
This is the last place Mill Creek flows underground before emerging into daylight below, across the Bayfront Parkway. With a sharp eye, one can see Mill Creek emerge across the Parkway, still partially encased in a concrete flume.
Today
On average, the Tube is buried 30 feet underground, carrying the waters of Mill Creek and any items washed into Erie's storm drain system, which ties into the Tube.
This water flows into Lake Erie, where both the city of Erie and Millcreek Township pull their municipal water. During the Mill Creek Flood, the average water flow rate was between 15 and 20 miles per hour.
- During a normal water flow day, a leaf would take approximately 12 minutes to flow from the beginning of the Tube to the end.
- On a rainy day, the velocity increases and the flow rate is halved, taking a leaf approximately 6 minutes from the beginning to the end of the Tube.