2026
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Pacific Northwest • Tillamook County, Oregon
Mill Creek Fish Passage
River Design Group, now part of SWCA, provided design and construction oversight for a fish passage culvert replacement on Mill Creek near Tillamook, improving access for salmon on a key stream.
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Corvallis
435 NW 5th St.
Suite B
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
Suite B
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
Details
Completion
2024
Client
Nestucca, Neskowin & Sand Lake Watersheds Council and Tillamook Public Works Department
Office
Description
River Design Group (RDG), now part of SWCA, worked with the Nestucca, Neskowin & Sand Lake Watersheds Council and the Tillamook County Public Works Department to provide fish passage design and construction oversight on Mill Creek, part of the Salmon Superhighway. The existing culvert was a fish passage hindrance at most flows and was located on a significant salmon bearing stream near Tillamook. A streambed simulation design was developed and RDG helped manage the bidding and construction administration on behalf of the Tillamook County Public Works.
The project came in on schedule and budget using a local construction contractor. Monitoring of the culvert during the subsequent year found a pair of chinook salmon spawning within the culvert barrel proving the design was sound.
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Meet the Experts
Strategic Growth Director
Scott Wright, PE, PMP, BC.WRE
Scott has been the engineer of record for over 100 river restoration projects where he has performed the design and been on site for construction. His expertise includes alternatives development, watershed restoration planning, project prioritization, design, and construction oversight.
Principal Restoration Engineering Team Lead
Russell Bartlett, PE
Russell Bartlett, a licensed Professional Engineer in Oregon and Idaho, has over 17 years of experience leading dam removal, fish passage, and river restoration projects across the Pacific Northwest. He supports all phases of project planning and design, including project management, client coordination, field data collection (bathymetric and topographic surveys), terrain modeling using AutoCAD Civil 3D, and both 1D and 2D hydraulic modeling. He makes extensive use of hydraulic models to evaluate how habitat enhancements affect site-specific hydraulic conditions. His restoration work spans Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, and Idaho.
