Long Live the Kings (LLTK), a US-based non-profit salmon recovery organization, has selected Kleinschmidt Associates to provide engineering services as part of the Hood Canal Bridge Fish Passage Project.
Kleinschmidt will be involved in Phase 4 of this ongoing project to provide fish guidance structures on a floating bridge located on the Hood Canal in Washington stat. The fish guidance structures will be used as part of a study program to determine if fish passage can be improved at the bridge, which currently sees a mortality rate of approximately 50% for out-migrating juvenile steelhead salmon. During this phase, LLTK has requested that Kleinschmidt finish the design effort, produce a for-bid set of plans and special provisions for the fish guidance structure developed, and provide bidding support.
“This is a unique and challenging project from a biological and engineering standpoint. Although this is still in the assessment and testing phase, the project has the potential to make a huge impact in the region in the future,” said Brad Johnson, P.E., S.E. Kleinschmidt’s project manager.
“Up to 50% of juvenile steelhead that makes it to the bridge will not survive beyond it, and other salmon species are also impacted,” added Jacques White, executive director of Long Live the Kings. “This mortality rate is approximately the same as all eight dams and reservoirs on the Lower Snake and Columbia Rivers combined, making this one of the most significant barriers to recovering threatened Hood Canal salmon and steelhead.”
The project began in May 2022, with an estimated completion date of June 2023.
