Come Hell or High Water

Against the savage flow of the water a fleet of luminescent cars struggle their way up the Tyne. Only the tops of the cars remain visible to the passers-by. Day and night they make their weary way, their bright colours declaring their imminent arrival by day, their internal illumination reflecting in the river as darkness falls. The 19th Century hailed the invention of the combustion engine freeing humankind from the tedium of river transportation. Now as the roads fill to capacity are these daring travelers re-appropriating our water based networks? Are new amphibious modes of transport needed as roads flood and rivers expose their beds, cracked and dry? As our journeys become increasingly unpredictable will our ingenious solutions save a short-term crisis to create long-term problems?