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Coming April 1: The new headgates
New structure, fish screens on schedule
By DYLAN DARLING
Slayden Construction of Stayton, the general contractor on the A Canal headgates and fish screens, is nearing completion of the project's major features.
The old headgates, dating to 1907, were removed last fall.
Most of the new headgate structure and trash rack is complete, and the V-shaped fish screen is in place.
Soon crews will be done with the mechanical screen cleaners, fish pump, fish bypass pipe, automated garbage trap rake and the headgates themselves, said Jeff Wall, Slayden site superintendent.
Even after the waters are flowing into the A Canal the contractors will need to finish the secondary bypass pipe, which will lead underground to a spot on the Link River below the dam, he said. So far 950 of the 2,360 feet of pipe has been put in.
There will also be a lot of finish work, like paving and finishing the interiors of buildings, left to be done over the summer, said Jim Bryant, operations manager for the Bureau's Klamath area office.
Everything on track
"Everything is on track," he said.
He said the Bureau and the contractors will start testing the fish screens around March 19 and have water flowing through the screens by the end of March.
"The headgates are going to be fully operation by the April 1, or even before," he said.
The irrigation season normally starts on April 1.
Though the old headgates were still functional, they weren't designed to screen fish, Bryant said.
Bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken said the project is part of the Bureau's effort to improve lake conditions for endangered shortnose and Lost River suckers.
"This was a plan that was in the works a number of years ago," he said.
Despite the massive concrete and steel structure surrounding them, the new headgates for the canal are essentially the same size as the old headgates. Bryant said the new headgates, which will be opened and closed by electric motors, will make things a lot easier to operate.
Not the first fish screens
The new fish screens will not be the first time the A Canal has had screens at its entrance.
Bryant said when the old headgates were first built in 1907 there were screens, but they weren't designed to protect fish.
"They were really wide screens designed for trash if anything else," he said.
The original screens were removed from the old headgates about 70 years ago, Bryant said.
Construction crews have been working seven days a week since last fall in a race to get the fish screen and new headgates ready for water to flow come April. He said on any given day 60 to 70 people work on the project.
Wall said his crews have poured about 6000 cubic yards of concrete since October.
"The main challenge with the job is the time constraint," he said.
Experienced company
Wall said the company has built a lot of water treatment facilities, and this project tied in with the company's experience.
"This isn't much different than a treatment plant of sorts because it has to do with containing water," he said.
The steel grating, thick concrete walls and 30-inch fish bypass tube are all look like things you might see at a treatment plant.
Wall said the pump that will push the water, and fish, through the bypass tube up into the examination building is the same type the company puts in water treatment centers, only more powerful. The pump has a 50-horsepower electric motor.
Once the fish are looked at by biologists in the examination center they will continue down an underground and underwater pipe that leads them back into Upper Klamath Lake.
System to be monitored
Bryant said the Bureau will monitor the screen and bypass system over the next three years.
"We have pretty good confidence that this will work," he said.
Next year the Bureau plans to build a fish ladder on Link River Dam to give suckers access back to the lake, Bryant said.
"We've got to make sure that we take care of this fish, and that will be done," he said.
To restore sucker populations, many habitat, fish protection and water quality projects are needed, with the fish screen being one of these projects.
"Now will it fully recover the species by itself?" he said. "No, of course not - but it will sure help."
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
By DYLAN DARLING
Slayden Construction of Stayton, the general contractor on the A Canal headgates and fish screens, is nearing completion of the project's major features.
The old headgates, dating to 1907, were removed last fall.
Most of the new headgate structure and trash rack is complete, and the V-shaped fish screen is in place.
Soon crews will be done with the mechanical screen cleaners, fish pump, fish bypass pipe, automated garbage trap rake and the headgates themselves, said Jeff Wall, Slayden site superintendent.
Even after the waters are flowing into the A Canal the contractors will need to finish the secondary bypass pipe, which will lead underground to a spot on the Link River below the dam, he said. So far 950 of the 2,360 feet of pipe has been put in.
There will also be a lot of finish work, like paving and finishing the interiors of buildings, left to be done over the summer, said Jim Bryant, operations manager for the Bureau's Klamath area office.
Everything on track
"Everything is on track," he said.
He said the Bureau and the contractors will start testing the fish screens around March 19 and have water flowing through the screens by the end of March.
"The headgates are going to be fully operation by the April 1, or even before," he said.
The irrigation season normally starts on April 1.
Though the old headgates were still functional, they weren't designed to screen fish, Bryant said.
Bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken said the project is part of the Bureau's effort to improve lake conditions for endangered shortnose and Lost River suckers.
"This was a plan that was in the works a number of years ago," he said.
Despite the massive concrete and steel structure surrounding them, the new headgates for the canal are essentially the same size as the old headgates. Bryant said the new headgates, which will be opened and closed by electric motors, will make things a lot easier to operate.
Not the first fish screens
The new fish screens will not be the first time the A Canal has had screens at its entrance.
Bryant said when the old headgates were first built in 1907 there were screens, but they weren't designed to protect fish.
"They were really wide screens designed for trash if anything else," he said.
The original screens were removed from the old headgates about 70 years ago, Bryant said.
Construction crews have been working seven days a week since last fall in a race to get the fish screen and new headgates ready for water to flow come April. He said on any given day 60 to 70 people work on the project.
Wall said his crews have poured about 6000 cubic yards of concrete since October.
"The main challenge with the job is the time constraint," he said.
Experienced company
Wall said the company has built a lot of water treatment facilities, and this project tied in with the company's experience.
"This isn't much different than a treatment plant of sorts because it has to do with containing water," he said.
The steel grating, thick concrete walls and 30-inch fish bypass tube are all look like things you might see at a treatment plant.
Wall said the pump that will push the water, and fish, through the bypass tube up into the examination building is the same type the company puts in water treatment centers, only more powerful. The pump has a 50-horsepower electric motor.
Once the fish are looked at by biologists in the examination center they will continue down an underground and underwater pipe that leads them back into Upper Klamath Lake.
System to be monitored
Bryant said the Bureau will monitor the screen and bypass system over the next three years.
"We have pretty good confidence that this will work," he said.
Next year the Bureau plans to build a fish ladder on Link River Dam to give suckers access back to the lake, Bryant said.
"We've got to make sure that we take care of this fish, and that will be done," he said.
To restore sucker populations, many habitat, fish protection and water quality projects are needed, with the fish screen being one of these projects.
"Now will it fully recover the species by itself?" he said. "No, of course not - but it will sure help."
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
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