Fish passage

For hundreds of years, harnessing the water from our rivers to power mills has formed a part of our industrial heritage. The construction of weirs and barriers typically alter the flow characteristics of the water, resulting in an extreme change in water depth and geomorphology.

The long-term effects of weirs on our rivers and ecosystems is becoming more prominent as research is completed and more focused on the quality of our waterways and the species that call them home. These barriers affect both the population of migratory fish as well as restricting the natural sediment transport and deposition processes which would usually take place within a river.

We understand the need to be flexible when exploring the most suitable method of enabling fish passage. The factors which affect these are variations to flood risk, species for migration, environmental constraints, potential erosion, access and services.

Our involvement often begins at the optioneering stage, collaborating with some of the most talented design teams in the country to provide buildability assessments and budget cost analysis.

We work directly with tier 1 contractors, the Environment Agency, local authorities and rivers trusts. Our vast experience covers full weir removal, partial removal, bypass channels and in situ weir modifications and we are fortunate to have worked on some of the most high-profile fish passage improvement schemes undertaken throughout the UK.