Stream Restoration for Stabilization of At-Risk Utilities
Mary Beth Berkes, PE, MS
GAI Consultants, Inc (GAI)
Pittsburgh, PA
Authors:
-- Mary Beth Berkes, MS, PE, Restoration Practice Lead, GAI, Pittsburgh, PA
-- Claire Abele, EIT, Senior Engineer-in-Training, GAI, Pittsburgh, PA
This presentation will highlight the benefits of using natural channel design to protect utilities located in or adjacent to streams subject to erosion. The goals include creating a stable, natural channel through at-risk areas, such as a utility right-of-way, promoting the transport of sediment, and providing fish habitat, resulting in improved water quality and ecological uplift in addition to utility protection. Project challenges and lessons learned for a variety of stream types and topographic constraints will be presented. Attention will be given to how each presented measure can be applied to different landscapes and where each measure was found to be the most effective.
The presentation will exhibit common issues across utility rights-of-way resulting from stream bed and bank erosion. Project photos from a variety of locations, stream types, landscapes, and topographic conditions will be shown and discussed. The presentation will continue by showcasing several solutions for utility protection. The focus will be on pipelines within or adjacent to streambeds, but a variety of utility types and locations will be briefly covered. The solutions will include incorporation of natural channel design methodologies, the use of in-stream structures for grade control, and ways to vary the amount of cover over the utility. Solutions presented will include both utility crossings, which are perpendicular or angled under the stream bed and bank stabilization for utilities that parallel a stream. High-level design concepts and pre- and post-construction photos will be presented to make the solutions relatable and understandable. Projects having varying levels of effectiveness will be presented. The presentation will conclude by presenting common construction challenges, typical failure causes, lessons learned, and benefits of successful projects. The benefits will cover environmental uplift through the promotion of sediment transport, revegetation with native species, and increasing aquatic habitat, all while maintaining utility protection.
About Mary Beth Berkes, PE, MS
Ms. Berkes is GAI’s Engineering Lead for Stream and Wetland Mitigation Design, and she also manages a team of experienced and junior staff focused on water resources engineering. She has over 15 years of design experience, specializing in hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and modeling, inundation studies and investigations, geomorphic surveys and field assessments, natural channel design, and stream restoration and bank stabilization for protection of utilities, property, and resources. Her experience also includes coastal and ocean engineering, dam design and hydraulic analysis, and design of hydraulic structures.
Ms. Berkes is a licensed PE in six states. She has completed the Rosgen Levels I through IV courses and her training resume also includes formal courses relating to multi-dimensional hydraulic modeling for stream restoration, advanced HEC-RAS modeling and scour analysis, and hydrologic and hydraulic permitting and procedures. She received her MS in Civil Engineering with a Concentration in Coastal and Ocean Engineering from Oregon State University, and a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-beth-berkes-pe-715ab688/