01515182

Component

Since 1991, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has partnered with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to help sustain & restore aquatic ecosystems by improving fish passage & natural stream functions at road crossings through a statewide program for Washington highways. In the past 22 years, WSDOT has transitioned its program from culvert retrofits to total replacement of fish passage barrier culverts. Historically, WSDOT’s culvert projects & retrofits were designed for fish use using the hydraulic method based on the swimming abilities of fish. The collaboration with WDFW has led WSDOT to utilize the “stream simulation” design approach, where feasible, to correct a fish passage barrier. The principle of stream simulation is that if fish can move through a natural channel, they can also move through a man-made crossing that simulates the stream channel. WSDOT has placed motion triggered wildlife cameras near its stream simulation designed culverts around the state and discovered that these newer fish passage structures were very attractive to wildlife, especially deer. Highlighted in this paper are two stream simulation designed culverts on the east & west side of Washington state and also featured is the first WSDOT combination habitat connectivity & fish passage project constructed in this past year in the south central part of the state. The authors' observations from hundreds of camera images are that a combination of dry bank, adequate illumination, shallow water & lower stream velocities through stream simulation structures provide attractive conditions for wildlife to pass through.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADC30 Ecology and Transportation.

01503729

14-2246

English

14p

2014

Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Maps; Photos; References

Culverts; Fish ladders; Simulation; State of the practice; Streams; Wildlife crossings

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Washington State Department of Transportation

Washington (State)

Design; Environment; Highways; I15: Environment; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2014 Paper #14-2246

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 27 2014 2:47PM