Road-Stream Crossing Policy and Design Resources
Stream crossings, where roads and railroads cross rivers and streams, are frequently unseen barriers to the movement of fish and other species. The most common culprits are culverts, pipes that serve as conduits for rivers under roads and railroads.
Culverts often become barriers because they are perched above the riverbed, or they have flow that is too shallow or too swift for fish movement. American Rivers focuses on policy efforts to improve culvert installation and replacement across the country.
This Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) Implementation Guide (Guide) from the Federal Highway Administration supports transformative practices for waterway-transportation crossing design for successful removals of AOP barriers. This Guide does not present a single approach, as there are many approaches. Instead, it provides general principles for successful application allowing flexibility to meet site-specific goals, context, and constraints.
Example Road-Stream Crossing State Policies that Support Aquatic Organism Passage
Vermont Flood Ready Roads and Culverts
Massachusetts Stream Crossings Handbook (MA Division of Ecological Restoration 2018)
Stream Smart Resource Library (Maine Audubon)
