Restrooms for a Riverfront Fireworks Crowd in Louisville

Planning for a date that can move

A show that can be moved or cancelled needs a restroom plan that can be held, changed or collected without leaving units stranded on the riverfront.

The organiser's date is the starting point, but a river event can move. A plan drawn for one date is held in the office with its alternate, and the crew is told which set of units is live. Units already placed are collected the same day if the show is cancelled.

A cancelled show is a cost the organiser has to carry, and a plan that collects units promptly keeps that cost to what has been used.

The flood line and the riverfront ground

Units are placed above the flood line the organiser gives and off the low ground the river reaches first, so a rising river does not carry a unit away or leave it standing in water.

Riverfront ground is often low and soft, and the flood line is not always the one people remember. The plan records the high-water mark for the chosen site and places units above it, with a firm pad and a clear route out.

Where a flood is forecast, the units are moved to higher ground or collected, and the decision is made with the organiser before the crowd arrives.

• Units above the recorded flood line
• Firm pads on the higher ground
• A clear route out for the truck
• A decision point set with the organiser

The walk back and the exit

The crowd leaves in minutes after the finish, so the units nearest the exit are sized and placed for the walk back, and the truck is kept clear of the exit route.

A fireworks finish sends the crowd toward the exits at once. Units near the exit fill with people who are leaving, and a unit set on the exit route becomes a barrier. The blocks sit to one side of the route, and the walk to them is lit.

The servicing truck waits until the walkways are clear before it moves, and the close-out crew is briefed on the route before the show ends.

What the plan does not promise

This plan does not give a crowd count for any show, because the attendance figures for the show are contested and the projections are not counts, so the layout is set from the organiser's own estimate for the date.

A reported figure for a past show, a state guard caption or an organiser's projection can each be a reason to plan more units, but none is a count to publish. The plan uses the organiser's figure for the confirmed date and says where it came from.

Where the organiser's estimate is uncertain the plan states a range and the reason for the number it chose.

Keeping the crew safe on a wet riverbank

A crew placing units on a wet bank works with a second person, keeps its footing on boards and does not reach over the edge to set a unit.

A wet bank is slippery, and a unit being pushed on soft ground can pull a worker toward the edge. The crew works in pairs, uses boards for footing and sets each unit from the firm side.

Lifting gear is kept back from the edge, and the crew does not stand between a unit and the water while it is being moved.

Crowd flow on a riverfront walk

A riverfront walk carries the crowd in both directions at the start and the end of a show, so the units are placed off the walk and out of the path of the outflow.

At the start of a show the crowd walks toward the river, and at the end it walks away from it. Units set on the walk are in the way of both flows. They are placed off the walk on the side streets, reached by a short side path.

The supervisor watches the outflow after the finish and calls for a pump-out if a block fills while the crowd is leaving.