Swimming Performance and Morphology of Utah Fishes: Critical Information for Culvert Design in Utah Streams

Details

• Creators:
  Aedo, John ; Bell, Mark ; Hotchkiss, Rollin H.
• Corporate Creators:
  Brigham Young University. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Utah. Dept. of Transportation. Division of Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Culverts
  • Design
  • Fishes
  • Morphology
  • Bridges and other structures
  • Design
  • Highways
  • I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure
• Publication/ Report Number:
  UT- 09.12
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Utah ; United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Utah. Dept. of Transportation. Research Division
• Abstract:
  This study provides burst and prolonged swimming performance information for 10 species of Utah fish to aid in culvert design. Additionally the authors explore the possibility of predicting swimming performance in Utah fishes based on similarities in habitat use and body shape. Unfortunately, habitat use and body shape appear to be weak predictors of swimming performance. Body size was the strongest predictor of swimming speed. With the exception of salmonids, most species were capable of swimming at comparable velocities for each size class. These results indicate that culvert design based on the relatively similar values of swimming performance for non-salmonids (approximately 1.3 ft/sec prolonged speed and 2.4 ft/sec burst speed for juveniles; 1.5 ft/sec prolonged speed and 3.3 ft/sec burst speed for mean-sizes; 1.9 ft/sec prolonged speed and 4.3 ft/sec burst speed for large individuals) will ensure that all species are able to traverse in-stream culverts. Salmonid-based estimates of swimming performance for culvert design may inhibit fish passage in the majority of native stream fishes by predicting swimming velocities well above their physical ability.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  08-9117
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/38138/dot_38138_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.95 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d66e91b28150a6f05fd940b05ccbc7d8bdf9eb062b7175996486ab61b29f5755