Rivers and estuaries represent one of our most important natural resources. They serve many needs including transportation, recreation, irrigation, municipal water supply, and as receiving water for a variety of urban and industrial effluents. Rivers can also be a flood and erosion hazard to development. At the same time, rivers represent critical natural habitat for a range of fish species, birds and mammals. There is a delicate balance between utilizing this resource and preserving the habitat quality.

Maintaining this balance requires a comprehensive understanding of river processes including the flow of water, sediment transport, erosion and sedimentation, water quality, and the dispersion of effluents.

Baird has extensive qualifications and experience in working on a range of river studies and engineering projects. These have included the assessment of and solutions to:

• flooding hazards and management procedures;
• recreational waterfront structures and navigational strutures;
• scour protection for bridge piers and abutments;
• navigation information systems and improvements;
• numerical modeling and design of intakes and outfalls;
• river bed and bank erosion;
• water quality problems;
• sediment stability of contaminated sediments and remedial solutions;
• natural river bank and bed restoration;
• environmental studies to support re-licensing of hydropower projects; and
• the investigation of the movement of fish species including salmon and eels.

Baird provides a full range of river related services, including planning, field investigations, modeling, analysis, system development, design and construction.