Beavertail Creek Restored in Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula
A Chippewa County Road Commission crew installs the concrete bridge deck of a new structure over Beavertail Creek, one of three crossings restored on the stream.
Seventeen miles of an Upper Peninsula trout stream are now flowing freely with the restoration of Beavertail Creek in Chippewa County.
Beavertail Creek winds through mostly undeveloped forest wetlands and empties into northern Lake Huron 8 miles east of Cedarville. It is a high quality stream and holds native brook trout, freshwater mussels and many other species of fish and river life.
Coastal Project Manager Amy Nowakowski holds a native brook trout captured during a pre-construction electrofishing survey of Beavertail Creek by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Reconnecting the stream allows brook trout and other river life to access vital upstream habitats.
Undersized culverts at three road crossings were too small for Beavertail Creek to pass naturally through, causing the roadway to flood during spring thaws and heavy rains. Floodwaters send harmful sediment into the river ecosystem and present a significant risk of road failure. Fast-flowing water on the downstream end of these bottlenecks kept native brook trout and other species from reaching important upstream habitats.
These undersized culverts were replaced with a 20-foot concrete span over Beavertail Creek.
Chippewa County Road Commission crewmembers use a crane and muscle to position the concrete deck of a new bridge over Beavertail Creek.
Larger, 16-foot-wide aluminum structures were installed at two of the crossings, and a 20-foot wide bridge was installed using a crane to lower each of the four, 16-ton concrete sections into place in just under one hour (see videos below). All construction work was successfully completed by the Chippewa County Road Commission, restoring the natural river function of Beavertail Creek and resolving ongoing issues with road maintenance.
The new aluminum structure at the northernmost crossing of Beavertail Creek.
Huron Pines has removed more than 150 stream barriers, including undersized culverts and dams, across the Northern Lower Peninsula. The restoration of Beavertail Creek marks our first project in the Eastern Upper Peninsula and supports our ongoing mission to improve and protect the water quality of Lake Huron.
Special thanks to our partners at Chippewa County Road Commission and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for a successful first project. Thanks also to Huron Engineering & Surveying for completing the survey work and engineering designs, and to Three Shores Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area and Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District for conducting an invasive species survey ahead of the project.
Funding for the $644,000 project came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Sustain Our Great Lakes Program, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Michigan DNR, Walters Family Foundation and in-kind equipment and labor from Chippewa County Road Commission.
See videos from the bridge installation below.