Bayha Island Remote Sensing

River Design Group (RDG) provided planning, design, survey and construction administration services to The Freshwater Trust (TFT) and Idaho Power Company (IPC) during the recent completion of an island enhancement project on the mainstem Snake River near Walters Ferry, Idaho. The intent of the project is to increase water velocity, scour, and depth in the Snake River by expanding the existing footprint of Bayha Island. The project is expected to benefit native species including the endangered Snake River physa snail.

In addition to providing survey and design services for the project elements, RDG used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) to provide construction support surveys by capturing georeferenced aerial imagery during project implementation and by using Structure from Motion (SfM) to create high resolution digital surface models of nearby resource areas. RDG and IPC then used the resulting surface models to estimate the available fill quantities located on site to be placed for the expansion of the island footprint.