The fish that inspired a billion-dollar project near the U.S. Great Lakes

Lina Portman3 days ago

0 2 minutes read

There are countless good reasons to build something: lack of housing, upgrading outdated infrastructure, repairing damage, to name a few. And now we have to add “invasive fish” to that short list, as the U.S. state of Illinois, the U.S. federal government and the state of Michigan have agreed to fund a $1.15 billion construction project that will help curb the carp invasion in the Great Lakes.

2D rendering of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project in Joliet, Illinois, USA. (Image: US Army Corps of Engineers)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Rock Island District, is managing the project, which has been officially approved – after decades of discussion.

Called the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, the project aims to install a layered system or “gantlet” at a key pinch point of the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago, and an estuary into Lake Michigan (one of five connected Great Lakes in the upper Midwest).

The gantlet system would prevent silver and bighead carp (both undesirable species) from swimming upstream and entering the vast network of freshwater lakes that stretches over 244,000 square kilometres.²).

Environmentalists and outdoor recreation groups say the two species, native to Asia, have few natural predators in the Great Lakes and can disrupt the lakes' ecosystems as well as the multi-billion dollar fishing and boating industries.

At a lock and dam in Joliet, infrastructure for an acoustic deterrent device and an underwater “air curtain” will serve as an initial deterrent. Fish that breach the curtain will encounter an artificial channel that will include additional acoustic barriers and an electric barrier, with the carp eventually being sent downstream via a flush dock.

When will work on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project begin?

A trio of silver carp. These fish, invasive in the United States, have inspired a billion-dollar project to limit their spread. (Image: Adobe Stock)

Once the agreement is signed, contracts for fabrication, design and bedrock removal are expected to be signed in the coming weeks, USACE said.

Illinois officials expect construction to begin in 2025.

The federal government is expected to pay 90% of the costs associated with construction as well as 90% of the operating and maintenance costs after construction.