Northbank Civil & Marine Inc. has received a $15.2 million contract from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to build a fish passage tunnel at Cle Elum Dam.
The earthfill dam, in Washington, was built in 1933 and did not have fish passage facilities. The dam is 165 feet high and forms a reservoir with an active capacity of 436,900 acre-feet.
Work under this contract involves construction a 1,250-foot-long tunnel from a previously constructed secant pile shaft to the downstream stilling basin. The secant shaft is an underground vault that will eventually house the juvenile fish passage structure, allowing young salmon to safely bypass the dam to the Cle Elum River below, Reclamation says.
Construction activity will begin in mid-October 2017 and be completed in August 2020, according to a press release.
This fish passage facility is a component of the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan, which focuses on water conservation, irrigation needs, fisheries and watershed health. “The fish passage project is a vital partnership with the Yakima Nation and the State of Washington,” said Reclamation Acting Commissioner Alan Mikkelsen.
HydroWorld reported in August 2015 about the commemoration of a $100 million fish passage package being installed at Cle Elum Dam. The program is intended to allow salmon access to historic habitat and restore biodiversity and the natural production of anadromous salmonids in the upper Cle Elum subbasin.
Construction of fish passage facilities at this dam was actually approved in September 2011.
Northbank Civil & Marine is a small business contractor primarily focused on government-related contracts.
Reclamation is the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the U.S.
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