All culverts will be removed and replaced by 2025.
(WSDOT photo)
A multi-year project that will correct six culverts under U.S. 101 in Washington — Jefferson and Clallam counties — to improve fish passage and migration in the area is under way as crews have removed and installed the first new barrier at Eagle Creek on the Olympic Peninsula.
Construction crews are taking on this $110 million project that is expected to finish in late 2025. The first removal and installation took crews just five days total of around-the-clock work to complete.
The work is part of WSDOT's ongoing effort to remove barriers to fish under state highways. The work removes items such as too-small culverts under roadways to allow fish to move more freely through the area during migration, which helps protect and restore salmon runs, the landscape and the economy.
Eagle Creek is the first of six streams or tributaries that crews will be correcting during the next two years.
"We have so many fish barrier removal locations on the Olympic Peninsula, we've grouped several into bundled projects," WSDOT's Doug Adamson said in a statement. "This work near Gardiner [Eagle Creek] was one culvert in a project that has six locations. They are located over a 10-mile section of U.S. 101 in both Clallam and Jefferson counties.
"Each culvert location is different," Adamson added. "This includes right-of-way limitations, topography to nearby infrastructure and riparian habitat. There are many items considered when determining if a one-lane or two-lane bypass road will be used around the work zone. Another consideration is a signed detour.
"Eagle Creek was a tough location because of a nearby secondary culvert that is not known to have fish," Adamson added. "The secondary culvert would have been impacted by construction. The tough decision was made to keep the bypass at one-lane, which meant crews used the accelerated ‘get in, get out' approach."
The other locations that will be corrected as part of this project include:
- Milepost 267.1 — Johnson Creek;
- Milepost 268.5 —Unnamed Tributary to Sequim Bay (Discovery Creek);
- Milepost 271.8 —Unnamed Tributary to Sequim Bay 2;
- Milepost 271.9 —Chicken Coop Creek;
- Milepost 277.9 — Contractors Creek.
Subcontracting activities included aggregate supply, asphalt paving, cable fence supply and installation, concrete, civil work, cold plane AC, concrete barrier, concrete pigmented sealing, concrete precast materials (arch, boxes and girders), construction survey, crane, dewatering, diversion pumps, drilling, erosion control, environmental BMP's, fencing, furnish and install rebar, geotextile, girder hauling, green waste grinding, guardrail, landscaping, large woody material, logging, pipe supply, pumping concrete, quality control/quality assurance, sawcutting, shoring systems, signing/striping, site security, traffic control, trucking, wall supply, waterproofing and welding.
The second of six fish passage projects in the Sequim area is expected to begin Sept. 5.
"We have some more work to do," Adamson wrote. "It mostly involves rebuilding the streambed to benefit all life cycles of fish. While we'll still need some overnight one-way alternating traffic, major construction that affects travel is complete. Everyone working together helped ease some of the construction disruption."
Project Necessity
A fish passage barrier is anything that hinders fish from moving upstream or downstream. Culverts allow water to flow but may not allow fish to swim through. Culverts may block fish migration because the water flow is too swift, too shallow or has a waterfall into or out of the culvert.
Crews correct fish barriers on state highways to help salmon recovery and comply with state laws. Since WSDOT created a dedicated fish passage program in 1991, it has corrected hundreds of barriers that have restored access to more than 1,000 mi. of fish habitat. In addition to its ongoing work to correct statewide barriers, a 2013 federal court injunction required the state to correct barrier culverts to salmon and steelhead within the injunction area in western Washington.
Opening habitat allows more salmon and steelhead at all life stages to access important spawning and rearing habitat, including areas that have been inaccessible for years. Installing structures like bridges and culverts that allow for natural stream processes help protect and restore salmon runs, ultimately benefiting both the Pacific Northwest landscape and economy.
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