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Stream Improvements in Michigan
Author(s) -
Clark O. H.
Publication year - 1948
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1945)75[270:siim]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - rubble , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , engineering , geotechnical engineering
When war‐time curtailments of labor and material forced a retrenchment in Michiganˈs stream‐improvement program, greater attention was given to design and testing of new materials and methods applicable to specific improvement problems. In a uniform‐bottomed artificial drain, fishing was improved by installation of 2‐foot‐square concrete blocks, cast at the site at a cost of $2.50 per block. In 5 years, there has been no maintenance cost. In a sand‐ and rubble‐bottomed stream, deflectors were installed made of Wakefield sheet piling jetted in with a portable pump, and so designed as to escape damage from trash, floating ice, or flooding. The cost was $23.05 per unit, and no maintenance has been required after 1 year of operation. High, eroding, sand banks are being protected by planting vegetation and by construction of short wing jetties of Wakefield sheet piling. New fishing areas have been created by restoring flow through old oxbows and bayous by the use of diversion dams, and by creation of small ponds on minor spring‐ fed streams. For 200 earth‐filled log crib deflectors, original cost was $17.45 per structure and maintenance cost over a 4‐year period was $1.38 per structure per year. Experiments are under way to determine the feasibility of lowering stream temperatures by diverting dam overflows directly into the ground water table.