Engineering
April 8, 2019
U.S. Highway 101 is world-renowned as a scenic marvel situated close to the Oregon coast, wending its way some 300 miles between the north and south boundaries of Oregon. But that scenic beauty comes at a cost: 101 crosses at least 14 coastal river estuaries on fill, not bridges, disrupting salmon runs, bird migration, and natural water flow.
Five students, led by professor Cara Poor, are teaming up with The Nature Conservancy, an international nonprofit with a local office in Oregon, to study solutions to this problem as part of the senior capstone design project. Students were tasked with improving the connectivity of the Salmon River estuary under Highway 101 near Otis, Oregon. “Within the estuary is a mile-long portion of Highway 101 built on fill,” explains team member Bailey Smithline ’19. “It acts as a dike and restricts the mixing of fresh and salt water, which disrupts the distribution of important nutrients.”
Working with The Nature Conservancy’s Oregon coast ecologist, Debbie Pickering, the team studied four possible solutions: building an elevated roadway, a floating bridge, or multiple culverts under the roadway; or moving the highway out of the estuary. “We defined the scope of work, researched environmental characteristics of the estuary, and evaluated environmental, technical, and economic benefits and costs of each alternative,” adds Alyssa Lau ’19.
The team chose moving Highway 101 away from the estuary. The students are now working on designs. They are aiming to meet the needs of highway transportation while allowing unrestricted tidal flow of water and sediment for the estuary.
This project is a clear example of how external partnerships offer hands-on experience beyond the classroom. “It exposes us to real-world engineering with real-world constraints,” says Mustaf Mohamed ’19. “It’s a great learning experience for the work we plan to do in the future.”
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