The final barrier, a large perched culvert on Silver Brook Road in the Town of Ashland, was replaced on September 18 & 19, 2007.  This perched culvert was blocking the last 5 miles of spawning/rearing habitat on Trout Brook.  With this culvert replacement, and work done raising the plunge pool level and installing baffles in the concrete culvert the previous August on the Hwy 13 crossing, the entire 42 miles of the watershed for Trout Brook and its tributaries are now accessible for native and anadramous fish. 

Funding for the culvert, a 10’ x 48’ structure, was obtained by the Ashland NFWCO through the Region 3 Fish Passage Program.  The pre-construction survey was conducted by the Ashland NFWCO and Ashland Land Conservation Department (ALCD) and the hydraulic design for the culvert was engineered by ALCD in conjunction with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  The Town of Ashland provided man power and financing to hire the Ashland County Highway Department (ACHD) for the construction phase of the culvert replacement.

The replacement of this culvert was challenging as the old culvert was in very poor shape, with large segments partially rusted out.  Also, the culvert was in one piece, a 12’ x 40’ section, so it required two large excavators to raise the culvert.  Once the old culvert was out, the ACHD re-shaped the slopes on Silver Brook Road to accommodate the new culvert.  The finishing touches on the culvert were completed on the afternoon of the 19^th, with the ACHD spreading a seeded mulch covering over the disturbed areas.  This culvert replacement has made this stretch of Silver Brook Road safer and fish friendly once again.