The logs were used to create steps for fish to jump to in order to bypass an 84-inch King County Eastside Interceptor sewer pipeline placed across the creek in 1995. The creek flows into Coal Creek, upstream from Interstate 405. The city reports those weirs are no long passable, preventing fish from accessing 3,000 feet of habitat upstream in Newport Creek.

“When that was constructed, they had to build these fish weirs and they built them out of logs, so fish can jump over them log after log,” said Bruce Jensen, city project engineer for the utilities department. “They’re sort of deteriorating after about 20 years.”

The project, awarded to Mike Clung Construction for $247,500 earlier this month, is cleared to start as early as June 15 and must be completed by Sept. 30 to ensure fish migration isn’t affected, Jensen said. He added the project is not expected to take that long.

“I don’t perceive it disturbing anyone,” Jensen said of the project’s construction. “There will be a small number of trucks turning off of Coal Creek Parkway to bring in logs and stream bed material.”

The roughened channel will cause the overall stream gradient to be lowered and adds new stream gravels, boulders, logs, root wads and a resting pool for fish.

“They’ll be able to get up over the sewer line much easier and it’s going to look much nicer,” Jensen said. “The stream will be bypassed during construction. The contractor will be working in the dry creek bed.”

The city is also in the process of removing a culvert blocking fish passage in Yarrow Creek, near State Route 520 that was put in before the highway replaced the old Lake Washington Boulevard.

“It’s a very steep, corrugated metal pipe,” Jensen said, adding of the culvert’s removal, “It’s going to solve another little fish passage problem there, so it’s nice to kind of knock these little blockages off at a time.”