The Au Sable River  is a Federally-designated Natural and Scenic River and, in the upper reaches, a State-designated Blue Ribbon Trout Stream. Crapo Creek is a tributary of the North Branch of the Au Sable River located in SE Otsego County.   Alpena NFWCO Partners Coordinator Rawlings has provided Service leadership on a  project to replace an ageing concrete bridge at the Lovells Road/Crapo Creek crossing  with a single-span bottomless aluminum culvert.

The former crossing was a crumbling concrete bridge with a concrete support beam that bisected the creek. This crossing was a low point on the road so precipitation run-off flowed directly into the creek, carrying with it road contaminants and tons of silt each year.  The bridge had a 6 ton weight restriction, and could only accommodate a single lane of traffic. In the interest of public safety, as well as natural resource concerns, a decision was made to replace the bridge with a wider, single-span structure. Conservation partners, by contributing funds to the Otsego Road Commission and Huron Pines, were able to raise this project as a higher work priority for the road commission, and provide a safe and environmentally sound solution.

Replacement of the deteriorated bridge with a 16'(w) x 4'3"(h) x 31.5'(l) aluminum bottomless culvert was completed on October 26, 2007.  In addition to the new structure, road approaches to the bridge were re-graded and paved, and proper ditches and sediment basins were installed. The road was raised two feet at the crossing to direct precipitation run-off to an upland area well away from the creek. These actions should eliminate sediment loading at the road crossing site and, over time, will dramatically improve coldwater fisheries habitat in Crapo Creek. Through natural river processes the riffles and pools that had been previously filled by sediment will be restored as the sediment moves downstream, creating feeding and spawning habitat for the primarily brook trout fishery. Brook trout, a Region 3 priority conservation species, along with other aquatic species and recreational users of the Au Sable River, will benefit from the habitat restoration.

This project involved funding and/or services from Huron Pines, the Headwaters and Vanguard Chapters of Trout Unlimited, Otsego County Road Commission, Au Sable River Watershed Restoration Committee, Otsego Wildlife Legacy Society, North Branch Property Owners Association, and Muskegon Development. This project was made possible because this consortium of partners with different interests but a common goal pooled resources to get the work done. Biologist Rawlings was a key part of the team that identified the problem and a solution, secured necessary funding and implemented the restoration project.