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Relocation and Stabilization - Anderson Creek

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Project Summary

In order to expand its Anderson Creek Quarry to access additional rock reserves, a national mining company hired Resource to relocate approximately 1,700 feet of Anderson Creek.  The project required obtaining permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to relocate the creek 300 feet closer to the property boundary. The project was reviewed and approved with conditions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) and the Virginia Department of Mining, Minerals, and Energy (DMME).

Strategy and Services

Resource International’s approach and services included:

  • An extensive hydrologic study.
  • Surveying of cross sections of the existing creek and flood plain.
  • Reproduction of the dimension, pattern, profile of the abandoned channel in the relocated channel.
  • Providing benthic and fish habitat within the new channel with the placement of structures and inoculating the new stream with material from the existing stream.
  • Bioengineering techniques in stabilizing the new creek channel to the extent practicable.  

The Rosgen Method of stream channel design was used to reproduce the dimension, pattern and profile on approximately 2,150 linear feet of relocated stream.  Temporary and permanent stream stabilization techniques employed included but were not limited to:  coir mesh, brush mattresses, woody plants, stream meanders, and rock weirs.

Results

  • The project took 24 months to design and permit.  It provided the quarry with approximately 20 to 50 more years of life.
  • The environmental team completed a 5 year environmental monitoring program that demonstrated the effectiveness of the relocation stability of design, construction methods, and habitat produced.
  • The monitoring was able to document the success of the project and Resource and our client were awarded accolades by industry organizations and journals.