January 27, 2025

Highway/Transportation $5 million to $15 million

Photo courtesy of Faber Construction

Faber’s previous experience with skewed culvert designs led to an engineered redesign installing a MESA block wall in place of the bag walls/shotcrete planned.

SR-9 Fish Passages

Skagit County

Faber Construction

Faber Construction installed two fish passages on Washington State Route 9 from milepost 39.96 to milepost 41.19. Initial plans called for jet grouting to stabilize soils under both culvert sites and install bag/shotcrete walls for the Norway Park structure. Upon evaluation of the project’s existing site conditions, Faber worked with WSDOT to provide a value-engineered solution to address the geotechnical situation.

This involved utilizing rigid inclusions at the Lake Creek fish passage and over-excavation at the Norway Park fish passage. Furthermore, Faber’s previous experience with skewed culvert designs led to an engineered redesign that offered the installation of a MESA block wall in place of the bag walls/shotcrete. These innovative design modifications offered cost savings to WSDOT and subsequently, WSDOT has changed standard designs to offer block wall wing walls for future projects.

Another project issue which led to Faber offering innovative solutions was reflected in a bypass roadway design. Initial plans provided design for a bypass roadway to be built at the Lake Creek fish passage in order to minimize closures along SR-9. When Faber modeled this design, utilizing CAD software, it was clear that the bypass roadway would encroach on the proposed culvert’s excavation area. As WSDOT was limited to available easements and wetland restrictions, the bypass roadway could not be moved. Faber offered a solution to build up an engineered Redi-Rock wall roadway to allow for the installation of the bypass route without encroaching within the roadway. This quick solution allowed for the continuation of the project within the allotted WDFW fish window.

The above-mentioned items are a few cases in which Faber’s ability to look ahead and offer ingenuity were showcased; however, this project had several similar instances along the way. These instances stemmed from working around existing utilities, navigating unforeseen site conditions, building meaningful relationships with the surrounding neighbors/community, and navigating force majeure issues such as wildfires along the pass and roadway accidents.

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