Date:  Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Contact:
Dave Chesson, WSDOT communications, 360-661-7829 (Burlington)

Crews to install fish-friendly culvert

BLAINE – Crews will close all lanes of State Route 548 for 18 days to install a fish-friendly culvert beneath the highway starting next week.

The highway, locally known as Grandview Road, will close at 6 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 15, and reopen on Thursday, Sept. 1. The closure extends between Kickerville and Northstar roads. Detour signs will be in place to help the 4,400 daily drivers around the closure.

During the 18-day closure, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will dig down 20 feet below the road to remove the existing 132-foot long round culvert and replace it with a much larger fish-friendly box culvert.

The culvert in place today blocks fish from passing through. When Terrell Creek is flowing swiftly, the culvert pumps water like a firehose, too fast for migrating fish. When the creek is running slowly, the culvert has a large drop-off.

The new culvert will be much larger – 10 feet tall, 25 feet wide and 88 feet long – and will be filled with sand, gravel and rocks to mimic a natural streambed. The new culvert will reconnect fish with their upstream spawning grounds.

In recent years, there has been a push by community groups, state agencies and local businesses to restore Terrell Creek and its surrounding watershed. For more information, visit the project website.

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