Hungrill weir fish pass before work began
The Hungrill Weir fish pass is now complete! The fish passage, or easement has been specially designed to enable fish migration and improve habitat connectivity.
Hungrill Weir is a substantial structure built on Hungrill Beck, which is a tributary of Skirden Beck. The concrete weir stands at 1.6 meter high, is 6 meters wide and 10.3 meters long, and the overall gradient is 15%.
The four vertical steps of the weir have very shallow depths beneath each step, which makes fish passage very difficult, if not impossible, especially in low to moderate flows. Hence why the weir has been addressed as part of the Ribble Life Together project.
Hungrill weir fish pass during alteration work, the wooden baffles are clearly visible
The weir was originally constructed to be used as a causeway to enable local farmers to gain access over Hungrill Beck, although no longer used for accessing the weir does support a ford where the newer access road crosses the beck.
After conducting an options appraisal, it was agreed that the weir could not be completely removed. However, the options appraisal concluded that the best way to increase fish passage on the weir was to add in notched baffles over the existing weir and construct a rock ramp at the bottom of the weir. This option will allow fish to ascend the weir in stages, whilst not affecting the ford, river hydrology, or increasing flood risk.
The completed fish pass at Hungrill weir which will improve the upstream reach of migratory fish