LD 1725, "the culvert bill", is intended to insure that Maine's culverts are not to be replaced with culverts as they reach the end of their useable lifespan. Nothing is final to date, and MEDOT can still replace with same today if they want or need to.
However in Bremen's Muscongus Brook we have our foot in the door (I think). The Gulf of Maine Council is funding the engineering and design phases of the 2 new MEDOT road crossings where RT32 crosses the brook. This should insure (fingers crossed) that whatever structure replace these old culverts will pass fish....and reptiles, amphibians, aquatic insects and mammals.
Last week Nick Bennett, staff scientist, of NRCM interviewed me on site at my fish ladder. He made a little video that will soon be on their website.... www.nrcm.org I plan on testifying in Augusta later this year to hopefully sway the Army Corp of Engineers to new fish friendly standards. MEDOT will need to answer to the (hopefully new) AC of E's culvert standards.
From what I have seen in Bremen, fish (at least alewife) need more than to simply get up and into a culvert. Never in a natural stream has any fish ever needed to swim upstream through a straight uninterrupted flow for more than say 5 or 10 feet. Our culverts are 40' long. Our brook is 12' wide yet MEDOT installed culverts that are 4' and 5' wide respectively. This forces water to pass through them uninterrupted and at a much faster rate than surrounding waters.
Culverts with their accelerated flow both upstream and mostly downstream contribute to bank erosion adding siltation to the watershed. The constrictions they create also allow debris to become jammed in them necessitating regular costly maintenance by road crews. Culverts are short term cheap yet long term costly for both us and wildlife.
Contributing - David Wilkins
2 comments:
Is the design the boxy concrete type that allow mammals to walk inside along the side? Interested in seeing the designs when/if they are available.
Not sure exactly what to expect for design. Roughly
speaking they should be about 14' wide and use the existing historic stream beds. Could be open arch
culverts even, but I think they will be more like concrete box types. Wider than the stream and natural
stream beds are the key.
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