DESCRIPTION
The project will restore full tidal function to 113 acres and remove 10 fish barrier culverts that block fish access to tidal wetlands. Pilings will also be removed from the main Hoquiam channel at the mouth of the largest channel to be reopened. The tidal openings are in three areas, the Northern Tributaries, the Southern Loop wetland and the Northern Loop wetland. Three culverts will be removed from the Northern Tributaries and one site filled back in to focus tidal flows to the two streams there. There's one main tidal channel that will be opened at the Southern Loop and three openings for the Northern Loop including one very large excavation to reopen the mouth of that channel. All these tidal culverts and channels will be opened to match the channel size and we'll excavate adjacent tidal benches to facilitate full tidal function. Other sections of the railroad berm will be left intact. Three other non-tidal fish barrier culverts will be opened between the Northern Tributaries and the Northern Loop area.
The Middle Fork Hoquiam Tidal Restoration Project was successfully implemented during the summer of 2021, resulting in the restoration of 153 acres of tidal habitat and removal of barriers to 3.5 miles of salmon bearing streams. The site was previously a railroad log dump and the construction of it had resulted in barriers to fish passage and tidal function in this important area for salmon rearing. The construction contractor, Brumfield Construction, completed excavation at 10 sites resulting in permanent removal of 9 barriers, with the remaining site being purposefully plugged after culvert removal to realign tidal flow through one of the other culvert removal sites nearby. One of the sites was an upland forest road fill on a small stream. The other 8 sites have at least some tidal connection and four of those were in major tidal channels. Altogether over one mile of tidal channels were restored to full fish access and tidal function. at least 40,320 CY of material was excavated from these sites and placed in stable locations at the base of ridge points where the railroad line had cut through, rebuilding the natural topography.
The largest excavation site was the Main Breach site where dredge spoils had filled across a 100ft wide tidal channel where it entered the Middle Fork Hoquiam River. This site was also where the railroad ran on piles over the river to dump logs off the train cars for transport to the lumber mills by rafts pulled by tug boats. The project cleared 706 piling from the channel opening using a large, land-based crane with a vibratory pile puller.
The contractor installed a temporary tide gate in a ditch that was the only inlet/outlet to the orphaned 100ft tidal channel. This allowed the contractor to lower water levels across the main breach and impounded wetland breach sites. The tidegate was removed at the end of the project and the ditch was plugged to focus tidal flows through the newly restored tidal channel.
The main breach was completed in late September 2021, completing all tidal reconnections.
The Conservation District completed planting of the site with Sitka spruce. All of the areas accessible by boat were planted. We did not complete the alder thinning portion of the project due to a lack of available thinning contractors for this type of work.
