Wenatchee - Migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead should have a better chance for success thanks to completion the 4,600 ft, 7-foot diameter, $17 million juvenile fish bypass system at Rocky Reach dam.

Completed in early March, the steel bypass pipe passes through the dam's forebay, traverses along the backside of the powerhouse and across the face of the spillway. Once past the spillway, the detour then transitions into a concrete piping system that runs approximately 1/3 of a mile along the east shore of the Columbia River. The bypass then converts back to a steel pipe and extends into the Columbia river where the juvenile fish are released.

Dix Corporation of Spokane was primary contractor for the project for Chelan County PUD Number 1, and Coffman Engineers, also of Spokane provided contractor staff augmentation.