Auteur : Ramesh Kalvakaalva, Charles McDuff, Rohit Kalvakaalva, Eric Webb, Neelu Inc.
Description : This study was done on a ecosystem restoration project that consists of restoring important riverine habitats for transient and migratory fish, bird and wildlife on a stretch of 6 700 linear feet of concrete channel dated from the 1960s and 2 600 linear feet of natural substrates experiencing bank erosion.
Project challenges and constraints included long lead times for critical equipment, preservation of native species, restoration of instream habitat diversity and hydraulics, prevention of potential future flooding, sustainable growth, operational considerations.
The objective of the study was to improve on functions as well as avoid unnecessary costs in order to keep the project within budget. VE resulted in cost avoidance recommendations along with qualitative adjustments that may aid in project delivery.
The VE Team focused on retaining the planned ecosystem restoration as much as possible while making best use of natural surroundings and innovations implemented on other similar projects around the United States.