wetland restoration
Our lead Engineer, Austin Payne, PE has been planning, designing and managing wetland restoration projects in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 10 years. He brings knowledge & experience from over 35 wetland restoration projects totaling almost 50 square miles of habitat to his work at Upright Engineering. We have experience taking projects from small ideas to large scale construction. Our familiarity navigating the stakeholders in the Bay Area is extensive.
Sears Point
The $18 million tidal restoration project restored 960-acres on subsided Baylands at Sears Point in Sonoma County. The project scope included the design and construction of a 2.5-mile tidal levee on Young Bay Mud to protect SMART rail line and Highway 37, innovative habitat elements (marsh mounds, variable habitat slope on levee), riparian restoration along upland stream corridors, transition zone plantings, interpretive planning and design, access road for the USFWS Refuge Headquarters, and clean-up and demolition of hunt club and farm facilities, including contaminated soils. This project was breached in 2015. Soon after it opened for public use.
EDEN LANDING
This $15 million project restored 675-acres of tidal wetlands and enhanced 400-acres of managed ponds at the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Alameda County. Stakeholders included California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the South Bay Salt Pond Project. The project scope included refining the project goals and permits, managing subcontracts for specialty design elements and biological monitoring, writing design reports and collaborating with project partners. Austin Payne, PE made value engineering recommendations to reduce project costs by 40%. The project was completed in 2016.
MCNABNEY MARSH
The current restoration at McNabney Marsh in Martinez encompasses a 138-acre muted tidal marsh with significant infrastructure constraints on land owned by the Mt. View Sanitary District. The goal of the project is to improve marsh health, water management, community connection and expand use of the marsh. Planned project features replacement of a bridge under an active rail line, water control structures, levees and berms, water conveyance swales, habitat islands, trails, boardwalks, beneficial reuse for marsh plain improvements, trash fencing, and utilizing wastewater for habitat benefits. Design of this project is ongoing.