Fish Passage Restoration for the Paskamanset River Aaron B
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Digital WPI Major Qualifying Projects (All Years) Major Qualifying Projects April 2013 Fish Passage Restoration for the Paskamanset River Aaron B. Sabbs Worcester Polytechnic Institute Nathaniel Allan Eames Worcester Polytechnic Institute Richard Raymond Breault Worcester Polytechnic Institute Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/mqp-all Repository Citation Sabbs, A. B., Eames, N. A., & Breault, R. R. (2013). Fish Passage Restoration for the Paskamanset River. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/mqp-all/1724 This Unrestricted is brought to you for free and open access by the Major Qualifying Projects at Digital WPI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Major Qualifying Projects (All Years) by an authorized administrator of Digital WPI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract River obstructions are contributors to the decline in the population of river herring in Massachusetts. Creating bypasses will benefit the herring by allowing them to migrate upstream to suitable spawning grounds. Two obstructions, Russells Mills Dam and Smith Mills Dam, were assessed to determine the possibility of fish passage restoration. To determine the feasibility of passage restoration, hydraulic and structural analyses were performed. Designs for new construction were prepared. Lastly, environmental assessments of the sites were completed. Page 2 of 132 Authorship and Acknowledgements The project was completed by two civil engineering majors and one environmental studies major, Nathaniel Eames, Aaron Sabbs, and Richard Breault, respectively. It was completed during A, B and C terms of the 2012-2013 academic year. Research and writing involving dams, fish ladders, and environmental constraints were done by Richard Breault. Site conditions, hydraulics, and structural aspects were researched by Nathaniel Eames and Aaron Sabbs. Additional writing was completed collaboratively as a group effort. Further contributions were made by Lauren Mickelson in the area of data collection. The advisors for the project were Professors Leonard Albano and Paul Mathisen. Professor Albano provided guidance in terms of the structural aspects of the project, while Professor Mathisen focused on the hydraulic and hydrological characteristics. Additionally, we would like to thank Mr. Bradford Chase of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and Michael O’Reilly, the Town of Dartmouth Environmental Affairs Coordinator. Mr. Chase and Mr. O’Reilly both provided valuable information regarding past surveys, site layouts, and herring characteristics. Page 3 of 132 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... 2 AUTHORSHIP AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................... 3 LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ 8 GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................... 9 CIVIL ENGINEERING CAPSTONE DESIGN ........................................................................ 9 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES CORE....................................... 10 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 11 2 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................ 14 2.2 SITE HISTORY ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 PURPOSES OF DAMS ................................................................................................................ 16 2.4 TYPES OF DAMS ...................................................................................................................... 17 2.5 FISH LADDERS ........................................................................................................................ 18 2.5.1 HISTORY OF FISH LADDERS................................................................................................... 19 2.5.2 IMPORTANCE OF FISH LADDERS ............................................................................................ 19 2.5.3 WEIR-POOL PASSAGES .......................................................................................................... 21 2.5.4 DENIL PASSAGES................................................................................................................... 21 2.5.5 VERTICAL SLOT PASSAGES ................................................................................................... 22 2.5.6 STEEPPASS PASSAGES ........................................................................................................... 22 2.5.7 NATURE-MIMICKING ............................................................................................................ 22 2.6 HYDRAULICS ........................................................................................................................... 23 2.7 FISH CONSTRAINTS ................................................................................................................. 24 2.7.1 RIVER HERRING .................................................................................................................... 28 2.7.3 AMERICAN EEL ..................................................................................................................... 31 2.8 SITE CONDITIONS ................................................................................................................... 32 2.8.1 RUSSELLS MILLS DAM .......................................................................................................... 32 2.8.2 SMITH MILLS DAM ................................................................................................................ 34 2.10 STRUCTURAL DESIGN ........................................................................................................... 35 Page 4 of 132 2.10.1 CONCRETE MIX ................................................................................................................... 35 2.10.2 REINFORCEMENT ................................................................................................................. 36 2.10.3 CRACKING ........................................................................................................................... 36 2.11 UNITED STATES FISHERY HISTORY ..................................................................................... 37 2.12 LAWS AND REGULATIONS .................................................................................................... 38 2.13 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ................................................................................................... 39 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 41 3.1 DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................ 41 3.2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................. 41 3.3 ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING CONDITIONS ............................................................................... 42 3.3.1 SITE VISITS ........................................................................................................................... 42 3.3.2 3D MODELING ...................................................................................................................... 42 3.3.3 STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS .................................................................................................... 43 3.3.4 HYDRAULIC AND HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 43 3.4 DESIGN OF FISH PASSAGE ...................................................................................................... 48 3.4.1 HYDRAULIC FORCES ............................................................................................................. 48 3.4.2 STRUCTURAL DESIGN............................................................................................................ 49 3.5 ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS........................................................................................... 55 3.6 DELIVERABLES ....................................................................................................................... 56 4 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 57 4.1 RIVER HERRING ..................................................................................................................... 57 4.2 SITE INFORMATION ................................................................................................................ 57 4.2.1 SITE PLANS ..........................................................................................................................