Steve Fisher

I wanted to drop you a note to bring you up to date on the various ways that we have been able to utilize your Water Structures®.

As you know, our work restoring aquatic ecosystems usually requires work in flowing stream channels. Without a means of controlling project induced turbidity we simply can not do our job. For years we employed hay bale and plastic structures, gravel dikes, and most other types of coffer dam techniques with limited success, at best. After work was completed we always had a bunch of soggy trash to remove and to dispose of. Also, in many cases, as we removed the coffer dam it was impossible to keep a good portion of it from washing downstream. What a mess!

Now, with the advent of your Water Structures®, we are able to complete our work without adding foreign material to the aquatic system. Also, once the job is complete, the entire structure can be easily removed. Not only that, but we even reuse the Water Structure®, in most cases. We have a couple units that have been used three or four times.

The following list describes only a couple of the projects we have completed using your Water Structures®.

Big Wood River Rip-rap Re-construction, Ketchum, Idaho – We used a four-foot and a three-foot Water Structure® to divert the entire river so that we could re-build a 350 foot section of failing rip-rap. The original project had been built in flowing water and it did not work. We recognized this fact and set forth a plan that required working with no flow. Further more, the various permitting agencies stipulated that we trap any muddy water flowing from the work site. We used another three foot Water Structure® covered with filter cloth downstream of the project for that purpose. The project was finished in the Fall of 1995 on time and under budget.

Trail Creek Diversion, Sun Valley, Idaho – Our client needed a way to remove accumulated sediment from and on-channel reservoirs without violating water quality standards. We designed a bypass pipe system to dry the lake bed and route the creek’s flow through the project area. We utilized a three foot Water Structure to direct the flow into that pipe. This Water Structure will also be re-used when ever it is necessary to dredge the lake.

Grove Creek/Punkin Center Road Culvert Installation – In this project, we provided and maintained containment coffer dams so that the Blaine County Road and Bridge Department could replace a bridge over this tributary to world-famous Silver Creek without water quality impacts. We installed two recycled Water Structures around the upstream and downstream portions of the project. The project was completed without damage to the sensitive spring creek ecosystem.

As you can see, the sensitive nature of our projects require the best means of resource protection available. We feel that your Water Structures are the best method of addressing that need.