| Abstract |
The 23-ft high tremont dam located in West Wareham is currently blocking the herring and shad fish migration upstream which affects their spawning. Not only does this affect the fish, but it is also against environmental codes and standards. Due to Tremont’s dam obstruction to the seasonal fish migration, a simplified fish passage must be designed and implemented at that location. The Marine Renewable Energy Collaboration had some requirements that this project must meet. The designed fish lift mechanism must ensure fish safety. Another design requirement specifies that the design must be powered through renewable energy sources only, meaning that the hydro-power offered by the river must be utilized to power up the fish lift. This will ensure that the city will not have to keep paying recurring bills to power the fish lift. The final design requirements suggest that any designed mechanism should be seasonal, meaning it could easily be removed at any point throughout the year. This is due to the severe weather conditions and intense overflow conditions in the winter time where the lift could be damaged. The team is only required to build a 1 ft prototype to demonstrate the physicality and plausibility of the design. The prototype must be one foot because the water flume is only capable of testing equipment up to one foot high. Various designs were developed, assessed and tested. Finally, the double-helix archimedes screw, that is self powered by the water flow, was chosen as the final fish transportation design. |
