Removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams (Environmental)

It’s incredibly gratifying as a company to participate in the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, setting free the pristine Elwha River system on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The controlled deconstruction of the 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam and 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dam has been in the works since Congress agreed in 1992 to full restoration of the Elwha River ecosystem and native anadromous fisheries. The dams were built in 1911 and 1927, respectively, without providing any fish passages. The removal of the two dams increased spawning habitat for five species of salmon from 5 miles to over 70 miles.

The National Park Service hired Barnard to remove the 100-year-old dams and powerhouses so the Elwha River could flow uninterrupted for the first time since 1920s, once again adding sediment to the river’s shores and the Strait of Juan de Fuca where the river meets the Pacific Ocean. To accomplish the demolition, we removed 774.5 CY of hazardous waste from the old powerhouses. We also removed trees, rock, sediment and concrete while carefully monitoring the water quality downstream. The salmon from the Pacific Ocean are now free to migrate upstream along the Elwha River, just as they did hundreds of years ago.

Removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams (Environmental)