Our team was retained under two separate contracts for the restoration of more than 1.5 miles of Spring Brook Creek running through both the Blackwell Forest Preserve and the St. James Farm Forest Preserve. The project’s goal was to reduce bank erosion and improve the water quality and habitat along the creek as well as the overall visitor experience at both forest preserve properties. The restoration work included meandering the creek and adding features such as riffles, pools, glides, point bars, rock vanes, cobble and boulder placement, root wad, and snag installations. Engineering objectives focused on reconnecting the stream to the historic floodplain to improve its ability to absorb larger volumes of water and dissipate energy in major storm events. This project won the Illinois ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (less than $5 million).