KINSGTON — Kitsap County will build two bridges on South Kingston Road this summer.
The first will be a temporary span to keep cars moving while crews construct the real goal — a 70-foot long bridge to replace the culvert at the mouth of Carpenter Creek.
The project is intended to restore a natural exchange of water between Appletree Cove and the estuary. It will also improve habitat for salmon and other marine species.
A groundbreaking celebration will be held June 23 for the bridge, officially named the Stillwaters Fish Passage in honor of the advocacy work of Stillwaters Environmental Education Center. Project information will be presented at several other community events (see box).
County Engineer Jon Brand said work will continue through the summer and into the fall. The project must be completed by January 2012.
The county awarded the $2 million bridge contract to SB Structures of Seattle, choosing the firm from about nine competitors, Brand said.
SB’s first step will be to build a temporary bridge on the estuary side of the culvert to maintain both lanes of South Kingston Road during construction. A 10-foot passage will allow water to flow into the estuary and the stream will be diverted.
SB will assemble the main bridge from concrete sections. The sweeping new span will replace a 10-foot-wide culvert, allowing tidewater to flow more naturally into the estuary. (See full plans online at KingstonCommunityNews.com.)
The county and North Kitsap proponents have planned the the bridge project since 2001. A design was drafted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but the project was postponed several times as funding fell through or bad weather canceled work.
Finally, the Legislature the project in the 2010 state budget. The bridge was part of a Puget Sound Partnership funding package
While construction plans were finalized, environmental groups were studying the Carpenter Estuary and watershed. Stillwaters and crews from the Suquamish Tribe have taken regular beach seining samples on both sides of the Carpenter Creek culvert. The results have
been surprising, Stillwaters Administrative Director Naomi Maasberg said.
Along with a host of shoreline fish, the crews have found several species of salmon.
“We’re getting some good numbers and the variety using the estuary, and they’re probably there all the time,” Maasberg said.
Upstream, the Wild Fish Conservancy has been charting the reaches of the Carpenter watershed, funded by a Salmon Recovery Board Grant. The group’s goal is to check the accuracy of the state’s official maps and record what fish are utilizing the streams.
Data from its surveys and the beach seining work can be compared to future surveys of Carpenter Creek to gauge the success of the culvert replacement.
“That’s a very important tool to be able to quantify the impact from a project,” said Jamie Glasgow, director of science for Wild Fish Conservancy.
“If we can’t quantify what we’ve gained from what we’ve invested, we’ll lose the support of the public for this type of work.”
Bridge building
June 18: Stillwaters will host an information booth at the Kingston Farmers Market.
June 23: A groundbreaking celebration will be held 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Arness County Park.
