Fish Passage Hydraulic Flume Active
Many existing upstream and downstream fish passage structure designs (fishways, culverts, screens, downstream bypasses, etc.) function poorly or only for a narrow range of species or environmental conditions. Resource agencies consistently seek new or improved designs that pass a broader range of species with high efficiency and reliability, under a wider range of hydraulic operating conditions, and at less cost.
The S.O. Conte Research Laboratory's Fish Passage Complex allows for innovative multidisciplinary approaches to improving passage structure performance. By integrating engineering design and hydraulics with behavioral experimentation, our scientists are capable of analyzing and developing passage structures with known, measurable performance characteristics to ensure high effectiveness and reliability in field applications. Our research focuses on the evaluation of fish behavior and passage performance in full-scale structures in a unique ecohydraulics research facility purpose-built to test fish passage structures. This 18,000 sq. ft. Fish Passage Complex allows for testing of hydraulic structures and devices (e.g., technical and nature-like fishways, screens, hydropower turbines), and houses three major hydraulic flumes, each over 125 feet long, capable of passing 350 cfs of river water. The facility and staff expertise enables design and quantitative hydraulic and biological evaluation of structures in a controlled and well-instrumented laboratory environment.
Fish Passage Design and Analysis at the S.O. Conte Research Laboratory
Many existing upstream and downstream fish passage structure designs (fishways, culverts, screens, downstream bypasses, etc.) function poorly or only for a narrow range of species or environmental conditions. Resource agencies consistently seek new or improved designs that pass a broader range of species with high efficiency and reliability, under a wider range of hydraulic operating conditions, and at less cost.
The S.O. Conte Research Laboratory's Fish Passage Complex allows for innovative multidisciplinary approaches to improving passage structure performance. By integrating engineering design and hydraulics with behavioral experimentation, our scientists are capable of analyzing and developing passage structures with known, measurable performance characteristics to ensure high effectiveness and reliability in field applications. Our research focuses on the evaluation of fish behavior and passage performance in full-scale structures in a unique ecohydraulics research facility purpose-built to test fish passage structures. This 18,000 sq. ft. Fish Passage Complex allows for testing of hydraulic structures and devices (e.g., technical and nature-like fishways, screens, hydropower turbines), and houses three major hydraulic flumes, each over 125 feet long, capable of passing 350 cfs of river water. The facility and staff expertise enables design and quantitative hydraulic and biological evaluation of structures in a controlled and well-instrumented laboratory environment.