The Slab - Tularosa Crossing - Before

Flood events washed out the material around this concrete low-water crossing on the Tularosa River in the Gila National Forest in southwest New Mexico, creating an apron that land managers called “The Slab.” This worn infrastructure divided the critical habitat of the endangered loach minnow, a tiny desert fish, so U.S. Forest Service’s National Stream and Aquatic Ecology Center got to work on a replacement, involving the Federal Highway Administration the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Fish Passage Program. A new crossing was developed, and is made from articulated concrete mats, which are more flexible and provide a more controlled velocity better suited for loach minnow.