Smith-Root
 

Smith-Root Engineers Pursue Renewable Energy Alternative for Chicago 2A Fish Barrier

Orionlxweb

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

In mid-September, 2011 Smith-Root installed a weather station at the Chicago 2A Fish Barrier located on the Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal (CSSC).  This busy shipping channel connects the Mississippi River system with the Great Lakes and is a likely path for invasive Asian Carp to follow to enter the Great Lakes.  To prevent this migration, which would devastate the native fisheries throughout the Great Lakes, Smith-Root was awarded a Federal Contract to supply and install its proprietary fish guidance technology on the CSSC preventing Asian Carp passage.

The weather station, an Orion 420 designated KILROMEO7 from Columbia Weather Systems in Hillsboro, Oregon, provides real time measurements of average wind speed, wind gusts, wind direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, and solar radiation intensity.  All of this data can be viewed on the KILROMEO7 page on Weather Underground.

The primary use of the weather station is to gather wind and solar data for the purpose of evaluating the site for suitability of renewable energy production.  As a conservation company, Smith-Root is not only interested in conserving the fish stock, but all our natural resources. By promoting the use of renewable energy in our projects, we act as true conservationists and can be proud of the work we do. The hope is that the CSSC site can generate electricity that is used by the fish barrier through the installation of wind turbines and/or photovoltaic panels.

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About Smith-Root

Founded in 1964, Smith-Root has long been a respected member of the aquatic resource conservation community. We have supplied fish researchers, managers and hatchery personnel with quality fisheries sampling technologies and products over several decades. With on-site manufacturing facilities, Smith-Root produces a full-line of electrofishing, fish guidance, and electroanesthesia equipment to aid in fish restoration and recovery operations in various aquatic settings.

Posted by John Gielen at 1:34 PM December 21, 2011 in Company News