Join a guided tour of the Bay Model, a 1.5-acre operating hydraulic model of the SF Bay and Delta. Watch the tides ebb and flood as you learn how the model of the Bay helps us understand the complexity of California water issues past, present and future.

The hydraulic model, the largest of its kind, was used as a scientific research tool from 1958-2000 to evaluate circulation and flow characteristics of the water within the estuary system associated with the geometry or shape of the Bay and related waterways. Assessments could be made regarding the impact of man’s activities such as dredging navigation channels, filling portions of the Bay, diverting water, introducing wastes and oil spills.

The model is approximately 320 feet long in the north-south direction and about 400 feet long in the east-west direction. It is constructed out of 286 five ton concrete slabs joined together like a jigsaw puzzle. Features that affect the water flow of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are reproduced, including ship channels, rivers, creeks, sloughs, the canals in the Delta, fills, major wharfs, piers, slips, dikes, bridges, and breakwaters.