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County schedules bids for Garlock Road fish-passage work and advances Delameter culvert design with PBS Engineering
Summary
Public Works put a Garlock Road fish-passage construction call for bids on the consent agenda and presented a consultant agreement with PBS Engineering for Delameter Road culvert replacement; both items are funded largely with grant dollars and are intended to open salmon habitat.
Cowlitz County Public Works announced two fish-passage projects to commissioners: a call for construction bids for the Garlock Road Delameter Creek fish-passage project and a consultant agreement to design replacement culverts on Delameter Road.
County Engineer Susan Eugenis said both items were placed on the consent agenda because she would appear online from a conference rather than in person. She described the Garlock Road project as an estimated $2,000,000 engineering estimate that will open roughly 2.5 miles of habitat and will require closing Garlock Road to through traffic during construction; local access will be maintained at either end of the work zone.
“People will still have access. It's just a little different,” Eugenis said, noting the work is constrained by fish-window timing for in-water work and estimating a likely closure in the range of 60 to 80 days, with final duration to be provided by the engineer.
Eugenis also presented a negotiated consultant agreement with PBS Engineering for design on the Delameter Road culvert-replacement project. She said the contract amount for engineering services is $843,071 and that the overall project is estimated at nearly $7,000,000. Both projects are funded with state and grant money (Eugenis said the Garlock project is funded about 85 percent by the Brian Abbott Fishery restoration program/proceeding grant).
Eugenis explained the design approach: replacing undersized box culverts with structures that incorporate a simulated stream channel through the culvert so juvenile fish can migrate year-round. She said simulated stream channels are added where bedrock does not form a natural channel and that the design will generally extend beyond the roadway to tie into the natural stream bed.
The consultant-selection process followed state procurement rules for architects/engineers: the county issued a request for qualifications, interviewed top firms, and negotiated price after ranking qualifications. The contract will use WSDOT form terms and include disadvantaged-business-enterprise (DBE) participation in accordance with the state contract requirement.
Why this matters: both projects are intended to remove fish barriers and restore salmon access to upstream habitat; the county’s capital program and grant commitments are driving road closures and multi-million-dollar construction planning.
Public Works said it will provide commissioners with the engineer’s estimated closure duration and additional specification details on request.
