Sammamish, Washington

Ebright Creek Fish Passage Culvert Replacement

The replacement of the culverts under East Lake Sammamish Parkway allows for unimpeded access to over one mile of kokanee spawning habitat. Osborn Consulting led this project to replace two 30-inch concrete culvert pipes with a fully fish passable box culvert. By constructing a fish passable culvert, the project restores natural sediment and flood transport processes to the watershed.

Owner

City of Sammamish

EDITED_Ebright Culvert 2023
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Salmon in Ebright Creek Post Construction
Salmon in Ebright Creek Post Construction

Since construction was completed in 2021, Ebright Creek has seen increased returns of kokanee salmon to this reach.

The design was forward thinking in approach to ensure the culvert would be compatible for future road widening for potential pedestrian improvements. The planting design was also strategic to align with the future King County trail replacement work downstream. Plantings that were sufficient for interim erosion control were provided in the areas that were likely to get replaced by the County, and restoration plantings were designed in areas that wouldn’t be affected by the upcoming County work. Design and construction of this project were funded by the Brian Abbot Fish Barrier Removal Board (FBRB) grant.

Award Winning

In 2022, the Ebright Creek Fish Passage Culvert Replacement project received a Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for being an Outstanding Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Project from the ASCE Seattle Section.

Saving the Kokanee

The City of Sammamish, along with the Kokanee Work Group and local tribes, identified voluntary removal of this fish passage barrier to support the goals established by the “Blueprint for the Restoration and Enhancement of Lake Sammamish Kokanee Tributaries,” a strategic plan of priority habitat restoration actions for kokanee population recovery.