FishPass Enters Final Construction Stretch

FishPass crews have started work on removing the temporary sheet pile from the Boardman River construction site. It’s a key milestone in the $30 million project to replace the Union Street Dam with an experimental new fish-sorting channel and research facility. The sheet pile’s removal by end of September will complete the in-water work, with crews turning their attention over the winter to landscaping/park improvements and the research building construction ahead of a targeted late spring or early summer completion.

Divers entered the Boardman last week (pictured) upstream of the fish-sorting channel to cut off and remove the sheet pile cofferdam. The sheet pile was used to hold back water and create dry sections where crews could safely work in the river. Over the coming weeks, crews will next use a vibratory hammer to remove the remaining sheet pile in the middle of the river and downstream of the fish-sorting channel.

The vibratory hammer work is expected to be active through the end of September. Leah McCallum, a spokesperson for project partner the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), notes that pulling out the sheet pile is “much less disruptive and noisy than pounding it in.” Still, to minimize neighborhood impacts, high-noise construction activities will be limited to 8am-5pm on weekdays, according to the city’s Bay Brief.

More than 20 vibration and settlement monitors are in place and will be “continuously monitored to ensure strict safety thresholds are maintained,” the Bay Brief states. “To date, all monitoring has remained well below construction limits, demonstrating that surrounding infrastructure continues to be protected throughout construction.

According to the city, the 400-foot-long fish-sorting channel is now substantially complete, “including the headworks, channel walls, and all 13 water control gates.” Backfilling has also taken place. Once the sheet pile cofferdam is gone, the “wet” or in-water work will be complete and the focus will turn to “dry” or upland work. While additional work will occur to finish the fish-sorting channel walls and install a new pedestrian bridge, that work can be staged from the riverbank, McCallum says.

Other dry work will include landscaping and park improvements, as well as the construction of the new research facility on the north side of the Boardman. Landscaping plans call for the removal of approximately 61 trees greater than six inches in diameter at breast height, most of which were already removed in earlier phases, according to the city.

However, some remaining tree removal work is planned this fall near Central United Methodist Church to accommodate ADA accessibility improvements, according to the Bay Brief. Pruning of existing trees will also occur soon to “support the long-term health of the urban forest,” the city says.

An estimated 73 native trees will be planted throughout the FishPass site, as well as 371 native shrubs and nearly 2,100 live stakes along the shoreline to “stabilize banks and restore native habitat,” according to the Bay Brief. An additional $20,000 contribution will support 80 additional trees to be planted at other public locations throughout the city.

The goal is to have the FishPass project complete by late spring or early summer of next year, says McCallum. That will be followed by a “commissioning” phase in which different components of the site, notably the fish-sorting channel, are tested before being fully launched. Recreational access to the Boardman is expected to reopen sometime next summer, McCallum says.

The FishPass advisory board will meet in September to begin discussing priorities for initial research projects. A memorandum of understanding between the project partners states that GLFC will spearhead research, the city will be responsible for property operations and maintenance, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will oversee fish management decisions.

Despite initial anticipated delays due to the April flooding, FishPass has remained on schedule during construction, McCallum says. “We’re completely caught up to where we would have been if the flood didn’t happen,” she says. “That’s because of our local crews, Spence Brothers and Team Elmer’s, who treated the site like their own and worked overtime and caught us up.”

The flooding did have one potential impact on the area. During the storm, the riverbank along the alley just north of FishPass sustained damage. That alley area is being considered for improvements that would help connect FishPass with Rotary Square to the north, including a public river overlook. Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members will vote Friday to approve additional engineering work with Progressive Companies to accommodate potential riverbank stabilization plans.

“The potential scope and extent of the stabilization and restoration work remain unsettled, and there are several possible approaches under consideration,” DDA Executive Director Harry Burkholder wrote in a memo. “Depending on the direction ultimately taken, the DDA may need to re-engineer the interface between Rotary Square and the riverbank.” The engineering work, which will not exceed $29,300 and will be covered by Rotary Charities grant funding for the park, will ensure the DDA can stay on track with bidding out Rotary Square improvements this fall, Burkholder wrote.

“Approval of this work does not commit the DDA to eliminating the alley or otherwise modifying the Rotary Square project if the stabilization efforts do not require such changes,” he added.