'Home safe and well' isn’t just for motorists - we’re also helping fish

We’ve teamed up with the Environment Agency and Westcountry Rivers to fund a £168,000 improvement scheme to modify a culvert under the A38, near Newton Abbot. The work has been completed in time for the autumn salmon migration season.

Following studies by the Environment Agency and environmental charity Westcountry Rivers Trust, it was found that fish were unable to navigate the culvert to reach their traditional spawning grounds.

We worked closely with the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust, Kier, Fishtek Consulting, ID Verde and Castleford Engineering to come up with a solution. The scheme involved some low-cost, low-maintenance solutions – the installation of large oak baffles and the creation of small pools – to help bigger fish and eels to navigate the sloped culvert, in sections.

It also includes measures to reduce the speed of the flowing water, making it easier for more fish to move upstream, as well as multiple depths and surfaces to give a wider variety of species the capability of passing through the culvert.

This project provides a vital contribution towards unblocking the whole river for migratory fish and eels, and will significantly improve the status of fish populations.

A further scheme is planned at  the nearby Ashburn Check Weirs.