DESCRIPTION
This project is to remove 5 fish passage barrier culverts on Sand Creek and replace them with structures that are fully passable to all aquatic species and life stages. Together they will open a total of 8.67 miles of excellent spawning and rearing habitat for 5 species of salmon. Design and permitting have been completed under SRFB Grant #16-1327; this application is for construction funds only.
This project is located approximately 4 miles southwest of McCleary, Washington, on Sand Creek Road. Five fish passage barrier culvert crossings were replaced with structures that are fully passable to all aquatic species and life stages. Together these projects opened 8.67 miles of excellent spawning and rearing habitat for 5 species of salmonids. Design and permitting was completed under SRFB Grant #16-1327 so this project was construction only. The 5 crossings included 4 concrete bridges and 1 bottomless arch steel culvert. The sites were numbered 1 through 5 with number 1 located at the end of Sand Creek Road, which is the crossing furthest downstream. All the bridges were set on 12-inch H piling. Pile driving started in mid-June of 2018 and was finished in early July of that year. The bridge installations started in mid-July and ended in early September. Each bridge took approximately 3 weeks to complete, with asphalting and guard rails being completed in early October. The culvert installation was the last instream structure located at site 5 and took roughly 2 weeks to complete. All instream work was completed by the end of September, the end of the state allowed hydraulic work window for streams. Shrub and tree planting took place at the end of January, 2019 by the Aberdeen Stream Team, a local volunteer group.
A brief description of the new installations at each site:
Site # 1 is a 47 feet long concrete bridge, 20 feet wide, with a 3-foot poured-in-place 32-inches high guard rail. This bridge is at the end of the county road, providing access to a main forest road, so the standard county road width of 32.5 feet was not necessary. Several trees had to be removed and their root wads were placed downstream of the new bridge installation. The bridge replaced a 5-foot diameter concrete culvert that the stream overtopped each year. No bypass road was require for this site because it was the end of the road and the timber companies were not active during the construction time period.
Site #2 is a 44 feet long concrete bridge 32.5 feet wide with a poured-in-place 32-inches high concrete guard rail, plus steel guard rail extensions added to all 4 corners to accommodate WSDOT requirements. A bypass for traffic was installed using a steel bridge 50 feet long and 16 feet wide. The bypass was removed once the concrete bridge was in place. Minimal stream work was required with only 1 piece of large woody debris on the up-stream side. There is much beaver activity in this location and several dams had to be removed to lower water levels to remove the existing double 5-foot diameter concrete pipes. This site also had the stream overtopping the road each year during high water events.
Site #3 is another 44 feet long by 32.5 feet wide concrete bridge with poured-in-place 32-inches high concrete guard rails and steel guard rail extensions on each of the 4 corners to comply with state DOT requirements. This site required a bridge by-pass road to accommodate local traffic. This bridge replaced a 4-foot diameter concrete culvert that caused the stream to overtop the road each year during high water events.
Site #4 is a 35 feet long concrete bride 32.5 feet wide with poured-in-place 32-inches high guard rails and with the steel guard rail extensions at each corner of the bridge, as with the Sites #2 and #3. This bridge was installed at a skew to reduce bridge length and accommodate the angle of the stream passing under the road. The stream would flow over the top of the road at this location during high water events.
Site #5 is a bottomless arch, deep corrugated, galvanized steel culvert installed based on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Stream Simulation criteria. The span is 20 feet, the rise is 10 feet high and the length is 40 feet. It replaced a 4-foot diameter concrete pipe that caused the stream to overtop the road each year during high water events.
The contractor for this project was Brad Davis Construction out of Chehalis Washington. Engineering was by Becker Engineering located in Montesano, in cooperation with the Grays Harbor County engineering and survey crew. The Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force sponsored the project and contracted Lonnie Crumley and Brett DeMond, owners/managers of Streamworks Consulting to manage the project implementation, construction and permitting, as well as providing technical input in the design process. This project benefitted primarily coho and cutthroat trout, and also other juvenile salmonids such as Chinook, steelhead and chum salmon. A Pacific Lamprey was found during the fish removal process at site 2