Gales Creek Bank Stabilization and Enhancement

Project Description

Biohabitats Construction helped Clean Water Services and a private property owner enhance habitat and restore severely eroding banks along Gales Creek, a tributary to the Tualatin River that is utilized by several fish species, including federally listed Upper Willamette River winter steelhead and chinook.

To restore nearly 300 feet of stream bank, some of which had eroded, leaving a 15 foot vertical bank and threatening a historic dance hall on the property, Biohabitats Construction turned to bioengineering techniques. The crew began by safely diverting water from the channel, salvaging fish and aquatic wildlife and creating an equipment access route to enable the restoration to occur. The team then used large wood and coir fabric-wrapped soil lifts to stabilize and improve habitat along the eroding bank and installed engineered log structures to increase habitat diversity. Following construction, the Biohabitats crew seeded native riparian grasses to stabilize the bank. The property owner, who was fully engaged throughout each phase of the project, has continued to install native plantings, and the Biohabitats Construction crew frequently visits the site to monitor its progression.