Palisades Creek
Smith-Root designed and constructed a permanent barrier to divert upstream-migrating fish into a bypass fish trap.- Location: Irwin, Idaho
- Commissioned: 2009
- Type: Waterway
Project description
Idaho Fish and Game operates a continuing program to protect native cutthroat trout from non-native rainbow habitat and possible crossbreeding pressures. One part of this effort involves intercepting all upstream-migrating fish in particular streams so that the rainbow can be removed. A pilot installation of a temporary Smith-Root fabric barrier at a diversion weir on Palisades Creek, a tributary of the Snake River, proved successful in 2007. Smith-Root designed and constructed a permanent barrier at the same site. This involved removing the existing weir deck and rebuilding the deck and sidewall liners with Insulcrete™ containing slots for five steel U-shaped flat bar electrodes.
A big issue with this stream is the high bedload carried during spring run-off. This has led to several modifications to the electrodes to mitigate damage.
Services provided
- Coordination with Idaho Fish and Game
- Civil and structural design of barriers
- Electrical and electronic design of the pulsators and power supply systems
- Construction of the barrier
- Regular maintenance
- Electrode modifications for improved resistance to bedload
Site characteristics
- Pulsators: 1.5kVA POW
- Pulsator Qty: 3
- Power Output: 4.5 kW max.
- Water Depth: 6 feet
- Waterway Width: 43 feet
- Water Velocity: 8 ft./s
- Conductivity: 200 µs/cm max.