| ODFW applauds bridges as bat and salmon habitat |
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| ODFW applauds bridges as bat and salmon habitat |
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Townsend's big-eared bat will roost under bridges
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Bats and salmon aren’t the only ones happy about ODOT’s work on the McKenzie River bridges. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is very pleased with the bridges on their behalf, because the species will roost and spawn more freely due to environmental enhancements on the bridges.
ODFW recently recognized ODOT and its subcontractors—Oregon Bridge Delivery Partners, Hamilton Construction Co. and David Evans and Associates—with a letter commending them for this work. The team exceeded compliance with environmental goals by building bat habitat under the bridges and tearing out rocky impediments that obstruct the free flow of the river and the migration of salmon.
“These are well-executed bridges that improve conditions for Townsend’s big-eared bats and spring chinook salmon,” said Ron Anglin, ODFW Wildlife Division administrator. “Working with individuals who exhibit the level of dedication and concern for wildlife that Hamilton Construction does is gratifying.”
During a pre-demolition inspection, inspectors found colonies of Townsend’s big-eared bats in both bridges. The bat is a state sensitive species and a federal species of concern that uses cavernous spaces such as the old McKenzie River bridges for habitat. Because the new bridge design lacked open cavernous spaces, ODFW staff members were concerned that the bats would likely abandon the site.
To address the concern and come up with a cost-effective solution, ODOT’s construction project manager, Tim Dodson, pulled together a team comprising the Wildlife Services division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal Health Monitoring & Surveillance, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ODFW, DEA, Hamilton and OBDP.
Together, the team members designed and approved an inexpensive, innovative bat box design for use between the I-beams of the new bridges; ODOT agreed to monitor these boxes to determine the amount and type of bat use.
If successful, these efforts will not only maintain a valuable roost site for Townsend’s big-eared bats but also result in a bat box design that can be used on other bridges across the state.
“Hamilton and its engineering partner, David Evans and Associates, did an outstanding job of working with environmental regulators to come up with many inventive solutions,” said Dodson.
In addition to the bat boxes, Hamilton proposed an environmental enhancement to protect spring chinook salmon, native to the McKenzie River and listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The company removed 800 yards of riprap—hard rock used to protect the stream bed from erosion—from around the existing bridge foundations. This action will allow the stream to move naturally within the floodplain under the bridge and improve rearing conditions for fish. It is well above the requirement to meet the fluvial performance standards of the new bridge design, whose foundations require no additional protection from stream bed erosion.
“This is a pretty river and it makes sense to take good care of it,” said Con O’Connor, construction manager for Hamilton. “This has been a successful project because of a bunch of people working together to make a lot of good decisions.”
Townsend’s big-eared bat is identified as a species in need of help in the Oregon Conservation Strategy.
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