SLC was awarded the Beaver Creek Dam Fish Passage Project by the City of La Grande in March 2017. Construction began in June of 2017 and is expected to be completed in October 2017.
The goal of the project was to create upstream and downstream fish passage to the City of La Grande’s Reservoir located in the Beaver Creek area. Historically fish have been unable to migrate into the reservoir because there is a dam blocking their path. The project removed the dam and the placement of 70 precast vaults in a series of incremental steps created the path the fish need to reach the reservoir. Each vault weighed more than 10 tons and was trucked up to the site in pairs on a dirt road. Each trip took approximately three hours round trip. The location of the site made the project challenging but not impossible.
The final stage of the project involved construction of a concrete spillway just below the reservoir to connect the reservoir to the fish ladder.
In addition to the initial dam, another diversion upstream of the reservoir was preventing fish from migrating. This diversion was reconfigured to allow fish to pass at that location as well.
