Goodfellow Bros. Washington Region was a part of a unique Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) project called Loutsis Creek Fish Passage last year that was the first of its kind on the West Coast.
We are proud to announce that the project has received a Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (LOCEA) in the category of Outstanding Structures Project, by the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE).
This project used an innovative composite-arch structure to remove a fish barrier where SR 203 crosses Loutsis Creek, south of Duvall, WA. This is the first use of the composite-arch on the West Coast. Before this project, Loutsis Creek flowed through a five‐foot diameter concrete pipe that was buried 40 feet under the highway. Water traveled too swiftly through the pipe for salmon and other fish to continue upstream. This project removes the concrete pipe and replaces it with a 50‐foot‐wide arch, allowing Loutsis Creek to flow freely underneath. The new creek bed gives access to about 3.1 miles of additional upstream habitat and spawning grounds for Coho salmon, steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout and resident fish like trout and lamprey.
The arch was furnished by AIT Bridges and used 12 one‐foot diameter arched fiberglass tubes to form its frame. After the tubes were erected, they were covered with corrugated plates and filled with cement grout. Crews then constructed structural earth headwalls and wing walls, backfilled the arch and repaved the highway. This pilot project demonstrated the effectiveness and viability of this type of construction, which reduced the time and cost of the project compared to alternative structure types.
About The Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Awards (LOCEA)
The LOCEA Awards recognize projects that have improved the quality of life and contributed to the economic development of the local community, area, or region. These projects represent the successful combination of multiple engineering objectives, including design innovation and excellence, environmental sustainability, cost effectiveness, the effective use of materials, and aesthetics. Each year, the Seattle Section recognizes the award winners at a formal presentation.
