A two-year/$21
million railroad trestle project is not so big or so important that
it will stop the seasonal migration of steelhead trout up the Grand
River in Lake County.
As part of an
agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to replace the
104-year-old Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle spanning the Grand
River in Painesville City, the construction company building the
1,400-foot-long, 100-foot tall replacement structure has likewise
agreed to crack open a section of the 900-foot-long temporary
approach causeway needed by the job’s heavy equipment.
This “gap” in
the dike and the addition of several large diameter concrete flow
tubing will allow steelhead and other fishes to successfully navigate
the stream.
“As per our
previous correspondence, Norfolk Southern requested an extension for
in water work in the Grand River at Painesville, Ohio. The extension
was granted till last Friday, November 17th.
“Since the
beginning of the project, Great Lakes Construction intended to open
up the causeway to allow greater flow during the winter and spring
months…. Great Lakes Construction excavated and armored an opening
in the causeway last week. This work was completed prior to the end
of the extension.
“Also as part of
this work, additional pipes were installed above the existing pipes
as previously discussed with the Corp of Engineers.,” said Howard
C. Swanson in a letter to an Army Corps official that was sent “Ohio
Outdoor News,” courtesy of Lake Metroparks.
Swanson is the
construction company’s assistant chief engineer.
The gap and
additional flow pipe saw almost immediate action, too. The heavy
rains and Lake Effect snow showers that arrived November 17th
through the 19th swelled the Grand River beyond its flood
stage. This surge of water by-passing the dike prompted some local
residents and steelhead anglers to mistakenly believe that the dike
had been breached rather than being a deliberately engineered
high-water “safety valve.”
Thus, says Swanson,
the gap is “performing as intended (and is) not a blowout.”
Immediately prior to
the mid-November storm event, steelhead anglers were taken full
advantage of the fish which had been stymied in their upstream
migration by the Grand River’s unusually low water.
This fishy traffic
jam caused a stack up of trout from the bridge and downstream several
hundred yards to underneath the Ohio Route 84 bridge and thence to
Lake Metroparks’ 54-acre Beaty Landing Park in Painesville City –
and even further.
However, with the
gap and additional flowage offered by the piping, at least now the
trout will be able to continue their journey to the many and varied
steelhead-fishing honey holes located as far as upstream as Ashtabula
County Metropark’s 53-acre Harpersfield Covered Bridge Park.
The railroad trestle
replacement project should be completed by the end of next year.
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
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