Construction workers contracted by the Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance work on Sullivan Run in Alameda Park Tuesday. The project is designed to recreate a fish habitat.

BUTLER TWP — A children's fishing area could be added next year to the attractions at Alameda Park.

The Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance on Tuesday began a two-week project to install fish habitat improvement devices in 1,400 feet of Sullivan Run in the park.

That work, being done in a section of the creek near the Carousel Shelter, will connect with a 3,000-foot section of the creek where, last summer, the CWA placed woody debris cut from trees along the creek into the water to create a fish habitat.

Combined, the habitat created in the 4,000 feet of Sullivan Run also will help protect the banks of the stream from erosion and flooding, said Dave Andrews, CWA president.“Eventually, this will be a place where we can stock some trout. We want to create fishing places for kids,” Andrews said.The CWA, which funded the $100,000 project, is working with the county, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy on the project.Fourteen log cross vanes and a number of mud sills, multi-log deflectors and root wads will be built or placed in the stream over the next two weeks. Project materials include 160 hemlock logs, 200 tons of limestone rocks called riprap and 1,500 feet of rebar cut into 4-foot-long stakes. The CWA hired a contractor to do the work.The initial work focused on installing log cross vanes, which consist of two logs staked into the streambed across the creek and wing logs that are staked to the cross longs and laid parallel to the stream bank.

The area between the wing logs and stream bank will be backfilled with the riprap, covered with dirt and planted with native trees and shrubs, Andrews said.The wing logs direct the water flow into the creek channel. The cross logs will create small waterfalls that will scour 2-feet-deep holes for fish, and the holes also slow the flow of the water, which will help reduce flooding from storm water, he said. The wing logs, riprap and plantings will help protect the stream bank and prevent erosion. Fish can also hide from predators under the logs, he added.The planting will include native grass, shrubs, live stakes and rooted cuttings. The live stakes will include willow, dogwood and elderberry, Andrews said.Hemlock logs were selected because the wood doesn't rot in water as quickly as some other kinds of wood. The structures are intended to last 20 years, he said.Andrews and officials from the Fish and Boat Commission and county walked along the creek to select the places to add the habitat improvement devices. Bends in the creek and other areas where storm water can erode the bank were targeted, he said.

Sullivan Run creek restoration project.

Construction workers contracted by the Connoquenessing River Alliance work on Sullivan Run in Alemeda Park Tuesday. The project -- a joint effort between the county, the alliance and the PA Fish and Game department-- is designed to recreate fish habitat in the stream.