November 20, 2007

In what is certainly a record for Northeast Michigan, the Montmorency County Road Commission has completed six road/stream improvements projects in the past 12 months on headwater tributaries in the Thunder Bay River system.

Road crossings, especially those on gravel or sand roads, can be a direct source of sediment and other road maintenance contaminates, such as salts, oils and chlorides to the river. Sediment was ranked as the number one pollutant in the Thunder Bay Watershed and fixing these sites goes a long way to protect the health of the river system.

More than 64 tons of sediment annually will no longer find its way to the Thunder Bay River Watershed, located in Montmorency and Alpena Counties. The project totaling nearly $190,000 was completed in November 2007. Sites were selected based on a 2000 field inventory which is part of the Thunder Bay River Watershed Management Plan. Priority was given to sites which had large amounts of sediment input (typically from the roadway), degraded stream channel and poor fish passage through the existing culverts.

As part of a watershed improvement project, Huron Pines coordinated the activities and worked closely with the road commission, R.S. Scott and Associates, Northeast Michigan Council of Governments, MI Department of Environmental Quality, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the MI Department of Natural Resources to complete the project. The project included road improvements at each site to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants from entering the river. In addition, four sites received culvert replacements in order to improve flow, fish passage and stream morphology.

“Our watershed is important to our community and wildlife and we are very pleased to be a part of this project to reduce the amount of sediment and other pollutants from entering the Thunder Bay River,” stated Kim Bleech, the Manager for the Montmorency County Road Commission.

The following is a summary of work completed at each site.

Site MO32: Greasy Creek and McIntire Road

Greasy Creek is a small trout stream feeding into Gilchrist creek which eventually drains into the Thunder Bay River. The existing culvert was only 24 inches in diameter and 20 feet long. Over the years to road became wider and was being graded beyond the culvert. That coupled with the very steep approaches was contributing massive amounts of sediment to the creek each year.

In November, 2006 the crossing was improved by installing a 48 inch elliptical culvert which is 38 feet long. The approaches were hardened with crushed limestone aggregate and several diversion outlets were installed to funnel runoff into the ditches and not the river. As a result of the improvements, over 41 tons of sediment per year will no longer be deposited into the river. 

Site MO33: Greasy Creek and Greasy Creek Road
Located a mile downstream from MO32, this site was also receiving large sediment loads and had fish passage problems from an undersized culvert. The original structure was 36 inches wide and 20 feet long which was replaced in November, 2006 by a 45 foot 57 inch arch culvert greatly increasing stream flow and fish passage. The approaches were also hardened, check dams and ditch sediment basins were constructed to reduce runoff and settle any sediment into the itches before reaching the river resulting in an annual sediment reduction of two tons per year.

Completion of these two sites eliminated the major sources of sediment to Greasy Creek!

Site MO02: Stanniger Creek and McCormick Lake Road
Stanniger Creek is a designated trout stream which flows into McCormick Lake where the Thunder Bay River originates. The stream flows parallel to the road and the area has numerous seeps and springs. The old culvert was only 36 inches wide and 16 feet long and was aligned perpendicular to the road forcing the stream to make two 90 degree bends resulting in pool formation, downstream erosion, inlet erosion, and the roadbed became unstabilized dumping sediment directly to the river.

The crossing was completed in November 2007 and included a new larger culvert which was aligned with the stream channel, the approaches were hardened, the embankments were stabilized with field stone and any disturbed areas were seeded and geotextile fiber was installed. As a result of the improvements flow through the culvert has improved and nearly two tons of sediment per year has been eliminated.

Site MO34a: Whiskey Creek and Hunt Creek Road
Whiskey Creek is another small trout nursery and drains directly to Hunt Creek. The original crossing was had a 24 inch by 20 foot culvert which was replaced by 48 foot 57 inch wide elliptical culvert greatly increasing flow and fish passage. It was also realigned to match the stream channel better and the embankments were stabilized using fieldstone. The approaches have a steep 10 degree grade which was hardened with crushed limestone, several check dams were installed and one sediment basin was placed in the ditches. Seeding was spread and geotextile fabric was placed at all disturbed areas. Improvements to this crossing have eliminated nearly three tons of sediment from reaching the stream each year.

Site MO34: Gilchrist Creek and Greasy Creek Road
Gilchrist Creek is a tributary to the Thunder Bay River and this site has historically received a large sediment load for the steep, long approaches. Treatment at this site included hardening the approaches with crushed limestone aggregate, installing a drainage pipe under the road where a seep has caused roadway problems, stabilizing the embankments with fieldstone and the ditches were seeded and stabilized with fabric. Installation of approach best management practices eliminated eight tons of sediment from reaching the river each year.

Site MO06: Thunder Bay River and Hossler Road
Located in the headwaters of the river system this crossing has been a source of sediment loading for many years. Because of the steep, sandy approaches crushed limestone was placed on the roadbed reducing the amount of runoff to the river. Though this site would greatly benefit in the future if the triple culverts were replaced by a bridge, the work completed on the approaches has eliminated nearly ten tons of sediment from entering the river each year.

Funding provided by:
$155,500      Clean Michigan Initiative
$23,000       US Fish and Wildlife Service 
$8,000         Montmorency County Road Commission
$186,500     Total      

This project could not have been completed without the input and assistance from the following partners.

Thank you for your dedication to water quality and habitat improvement in theThunder Bay River Watershed!

Project Partners:
Huron Pines
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Montmorency County Road Commission
Northeast Michigan Council of Governments (NEMCOG)
R.S. Scott and Associates (project engineer)
US Fish and Wildlife Service

Click here to see a map with each crossing location

For more information about road crossing best management practices click here