Corps employees develop device for safer fish passage at Little Goose Dam

WALLA WALLA-Two U.S. Army Corps employees at Little Goose Lock and Dam created a device that removed debris blockages within the dam.

Mechanical Engineering Technician Jay Haugen and Maintenance Worker Kreg Buryta combined their talents in 2019 to design and fabricate a tool that could be used to remove debris from orifices (openings) within the dam.

Logs, trash, and other debris adversely affected the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed salmon and steelhead along the Snake River.

Successfully clearing the debris not only prevented fish mortality but also boosted energy production as well.

The device dubbed the "orifice debris plunger" successfully removed a very difficult blockage from an orifice in the dam on its first use on May 5, after hours of trying various other tools and methods.

The design utilized a pneumatic cylinder leftover from the electronic fish tag system along with sections of scrap aluminum. Haugen drew up the design, and Buryta created the fabrication. Work Leader Ronald Ashley, who has since retired, Maintenance Worker Matthew Hutchens, and Engineering Technician Matthew Flanagan also assisted with design, fabrication, and testing.

"The orifice debris plunger is a valuable tool that reduces the risk of injury, reduces forced outages of turbine units and related generation revenue and has the potential to prevent ESA listed fish mortality events." Scott St John, Supervisory Fish Biologist at Little Goose, said.