Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

"Turbidity barrier" protects lake fish from excessive sediment

When South Carolina Department of Transportation work crews expanded Lake Murray in Lexington County by replacing a causeway with a bridge, they stretched floating and weighted turbidity barriers across the lake on both sides of the construction, leaving space at the bottom for fish to pass underneath. Most of the suspended sediment was trapped by this thick "curtain" and deposited on a small area of the lake bottom. Thanks to the simple device, Lake Murray's bream, crappie, and famed striped bass were protected from potentially damaging sedimentation.

--Apr 25, 2003

Wayne Hall, (803) 737-1872 or halljw@scdot.org

View of Jake Knotts Bridge over Lake Murray

Photo by Rob Thompson, South Carolina Department of Transportat

When the Jake Knotts Bridge was being constructed, a turbidity barrier alongside it protected lake fish

On or Near Bridges - South Carolina