Saint - Petersburg,  RUSSIA 

Fabric panels suspended horizontally clear of and high above the water level will follow the configuration and width of the changing course of the river, during a period of two consecutive weeks to be selected between mid-July and mid-August (year to be detirmined).

Steel wire cables, anchored on the upper part of the river banks, will cross the river and serve as attachment for the fabric panels.

The woven fabric panels, sewn in advance, with rows of grommets at the edges perpendicular to the river, will create shimmering waves of fabric, 3 to 7 meters (10 to 23 feet) above the river bed. The 10,7 kilometer (6,7 mile) long stream of successive panels, will be interrupted by bridges, rocks, trees, bushes and for esthetic reasons, creating abundant flows of light.

Wide clearance between the banks and the edges of the fabric panels will create a play of contrast allowing sunlight to illuminate the river on both sides. When seen from underneath, standing on the rocks at the edge of the river, at water level or by rafting, the luminous and translucent fabric will highlight the contours of the clouds, the mountains and the vegetation.

As with our previous art projects, Over The River will be entirely financed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, through the sale by C.V.J. Corporation (Jeanne-Claude Christo-Javacheff, President) of Christo’s preparatory drawings, lithographs, collages and early works. As it was done for past projects, most of the materials will be recycled.

In the USA, most of the rivers are born in the Rocky Mountains, some flowing east to the Mississippi River or the Gulf of Mexico, some flowing west to the Pacific Ocean. For the project, a river had to be chosen. That river should have high banks so that steel cables could be suspended, a road running continuously along the river, as well as both white and tranquil waters used for rafting.

During August 1992, '93 and '94, Christo and Jeanne-Claude traveled 22,530 kilometers (14,000 miles) in the United States part of the Rocky Mountains in search of a site for the project with their collaborator-friends: Project director Tom Golden, Project Manager Richard Miller, Construction Manager, O. W. Vince Davenport, Jonita Davenport, Simon Chaput, Anna-Maryke Havekes, Wolfgang and Sylvia Volz, Masa Yanagi, Harrison Rivera-Terreaux, Vladimir Yavachev and John Kaldor.

During those trips the team prospected eighty-nine rivers in the Rocky Mountains, in seven states, and six possible locations were found. After visiting the six sites again during the summer of 1996 the Arkansas River in Colorado was selected.

Vince Davenport and Wolfgang Volz organized life-size prototype tests for Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their technical team during June and September 1997, June 1998 and June 1999.

Tests have been conducted by Scott L. Gamble and Mark A. Hunter of R.W.D.I. Inc. Consulting Engineers in the wind tunnel in Guelph, Canada and at the site of the life-size test in Colorado, for the project’s engineers Vince Davenport and John Thomson.

C. V. J. Corporation has retained the services of: Loren R. Hettinger and Teresa O’Neil of J. F. Sato and Associates, Consulting Engineers, Littleton, Colorado, to prepare the Environmental Assessment; Francis E. Harrison and Mark Juneau of Golder Associates Inc., Lakewood, Colorado to prepare the design engineering; Bryan Law and Richard Mariotti, of Law and Mariotti Consultants Inc., Colorado Springs, to prepare the topographic maps; David Ness and Donald Cleveland, M. J. Harden Inc., Kansas City, to prepare the aerial photography maps.

The road running along the river, and the existing footpaths leading to the water will allow the project to be seen, approached and enjoyed from above by car or bus, and from underneath on foot or by raft or kayak. For a period of two weeks, the temporary work of art Over The River will join the other recreational activities and the natural life of the river.

Specific   dates for Over the River are not yet possible. The permits for the project have not been awarded. This process can take many, many years. 
The Gates took 26 years for permits and permissions.