Richards Creek Substation: Stream Restoration and Culvert Replacement

Facet designed, permitted, and monitored construction of a new culvert at the site entrance of Puget Sound Energy’s newly built Richards Creek Substation in Bellevue. This culvert replaced a pair of ageing and undersized culverts that conveyed a perennial, fish-bearing stream beneath the site access road. The restored adjoining stream sections have a defined channel and floodplain benches, as well as the capacity to convey the predicted 100-year peak flow rate. The meandering channel design—combined with woody debris placement, native revegetation, and riparian wetland enhancements—creates a complex and diverse aquatic habitat that is beneficial for fish and macroinvertebrates. The culvert provides a sediment storage vault within, and its width is consistent with WDFW’s Stream Simulation design methodology.

Location:

Bellevue, WA

Client:

Puget Sound Energy