Springbrook Tributary No 2 Meander Project

The project’s primary ecological objectives were to improve habitat, reduce bank erosion and improve water quality within a 1.5-mile channelized stream running through the Springbrook Prairie Nature Preserve.

The project’s 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.

The remeandered stream bed was designed to elevate it to normal entrenchment conditions and saturate hydric soils to form a riparian wetland zone that would absorb floodwaters.

Constructed to mimic a naturally-made stream bed, each bend in the new channel was excavated deeper to create a pool, each crossover was elevated to create a riffle and the stone-lined channel bottom was sloped to follow the water flow.

The stream bank was stabilized using root wads and footer logs in the bends of the newly meandered creek and the top of the bank was stabilized with 10-foot-wide by 1-foot-deep burrito-style wrapped topsoil.

A major project challenge involved building the new channel over the old channel while maintaining stream flows.

All construction, stabilization, seeding restoration and planting were completed by V3.

This project won the Illinois ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (less than $5 million).