Session C5- Designing the Sedgeunkedunk Stream Rock Ramp
Location
UMass Amherst
Start Date
28-6-2011 2:35 PM
End Date
28-6-2011 2:55 PM
Description
In 2008, a dam on Maine’s Sedgeunkedunk Stream was removed and replaced with a rock ramp fishway to restore anadromous alewives to Fields Pond. The design of the rock ramp fish way had to address many challenges, including the maintenance of a minimum pond elevation upstream to protect wetland habitat and a meandering stream profile. Other design challenges included the maintenance of acceptable depth and velocities for fish passage throughout a wide range of stream flows, and the stability of rock ramp features such as boulder weirs. The rock ramp included some elements such as a concrete core w-all and impervious membrane not typically used in rock ramp design. The project highlighted the importance of continued monitoring and maintenance of nature-like fish ways, and illustrated how the use of natural materials challenges the construction of rock ramp fish ways to exact design specifications.
Session C5- Designing the Sedgeunkedunk Stream Rock Ramp
UMass Amherst
In 2008, a dam on Maine’s Sedgeunkedunk Stream was removed and replaced with a rock ramp fishway to restore anadromous alewives to Fields Pond. The design of the rock ramp fish way had to address many challenges, including the maintenance of a minimum pond elevation upstream to protect wetland habitat and a meandering stream profile. Other design challenges included the maintenance of acceptable depth and velocities for fish passage throughout a wide range of stream flows, and the stability of rock ramp features such as boulder weirs. The rock ramp included some elements such as a concrete core w-all and impervious membrane not typically used in rock ramp design. The project highlighted the importance of continued monitoring and maintenance of nature-like fish ways, and illustrated how the use of natural materials challenges the construction of rock ramp fish ways to exact design specifications.
Comments
Matthew Bernier, P.E. is a civil engineer with the NOAA Restoration Center, based in Orono, Maine. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Prior to joining the NOAA Restoration Center, Matt worked for nearly two decades for a consulting firm, Kleinschmidt Associates, where he specialized in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling and design for hydropower, fish passage and fish protection projects. His fish passage experience includes the design of stream restorations, technical fish ways, rock ramps and dam removals. In 2007 through 2008 he was the project manager and lead designer of a rock ramp on Maine's Sedgeunkedunk Stream, which is a tributary of the Penobscot River. Since joining the Restoration Center he has managed a diverse array of projects funded by NOAA in Maine, including fishways, dam removals and culvert replacements.