DESCRIPTION
This project will advance designs developed under project 16-1639 to a final design level and apply for permits for the removal and restoration of an abandoned railroad bridge and adjacent areas. This project will also continue to develop restoration alternatives identified in the design report created under project 16-1639. AASF will continue to work with key property owners to explore and ultimately reach an agreement on restoration options within Al Borlin Park. Restoration options to be explored further include but are not limited to the following: railroad grade breaching with side channels, railroad grade breaching without side channels, ground water fed side channels without railroad grade breaching.
The Adopt-A-Stream Foundation (AASF) and Chinook Engineering initiated permits and complete final designs and the associated design report for the removal of an abandoned railroad bridge spanning lower Woods Creek immediately upstream of Al Borlin Park in Monroe, WA.
Fish production in this reach is limited by low amounts of instream wood, unstable banks, high sediment loading and shallow pools. The creosote preserved timber railroad trestle degrades water quality, disrupts stream processes, and sometimes creates a fish passage barrier when large amounts of debris accumulates on the upstream face of the bridge. Lower Woods Creek is within the Skykomish River floodplain and provides crucial off-channel rearing habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon and steelhead, both are species listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act; for coho salmon, which is a federal species of concern; and for chum and pink salmon. SRFB funded the earlier phase of preliminary design (16-1639).
The final designs developed during this project include the removal of the defunct railroad bridge and restoration of the adjacent areas including the installation of seven engineered logjams and 2,000 sqft of riparian restoration.