Support Discovery Bay Local Business!

The store and restaurant owners along Discovery Bay have been very understanding of the construction work that is taking place in their vicinity. During this time, NOSC is doing as much as we can to avoid impacting business. If you are in Discovery Bay this next month, please stop by and enjoy a juicy burger from Fat Smitty's (great for after a hike in the Olympics) or shop any of the many stores in the area. Let them know you are a friend of the salmon!

Do you wonder what is going on alonside Highway 101 in Discovery Bay?! Here is your Answer!

Our Project Manager, Kevin Long, has been busy supervising the installment of the Discovery Bay waterline. It may not look like salmon habitat restoration but it is! It is the first phase towards the restoration of 21 acres of nearshore and estuary habitat in Discovery Bay.

Left: The 12 inch waterline casing is delivered along the side of highway 20. This will be fused together into a single pipeline that will go under Salmon Creek. Right: The waterline casing is fused. The drill will hook on to the end of this pipe and pull the pipe into the shaft that has been bored previously. 

Left: The drill uses water and bentonite to lubricate the bore. The water, bentonite and bore cuttings are received at either end of the bore. The water and bentonite are reused by the drill and the other materials are hauled off-site as clean fill. Right: Drilling fluid is returned to the reclaimer for recycling. While the process appears messy, a well thought out system of pits and erosion control devices ensure no soil or silt leave the site or enter the nearby creeks or wetlands.

Left: The fused pipe laid out alongside of the highway is attached to the drill head with a swivel and pulled into the bore. Right: The horizontal drilling rig pulls the 12 inch pipe from the ground. The pipe extends away from the machine and comes up on the other side of Salmon Creek 620 feet away. The pipe is installed 26 feet under the bed of Salmon Creek. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

Local company awarded waterline relocation contract

Excavators broke ground at Discovery Bay this week, in the first segment of a multi-year, multi-million dollar restoration project. NOSC has awarded Seton Construction a $785,000 contract to relocate a waterline out of critical nearshore habitat and onto an upland location along Highway 101. "Once [the waterline is] completed, restoration work will begin to improve habitat conditions along the shoreline northeast of the railroad cars," said Kevin Long, NOSC's Discovery Bay Project manager.

The Port Hadlock Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crew has been involved with the project, as well. The crew spent a couple days at the site last month salvaging sheet metal roofing from an old mill building and pulling invasive Scotch broom and ivy. Check out their blog for great photos and commentary.

This project would not have been possible without the support of many funders (a complete list of project partners is listed to the left). Stay tuned to the blog for updates on the progress of the project!