Fish screens are a set and forget infrastructure component of fish hatcheries. They last for years/decades and represent a significant investment in time and production/acquisition resources. The goal of screens are to allow the maximum water flow possible while confining the reared fish.
Dale Hollow has 233 active aluminum screens with a couple dozen spares. Many of these screens are showing signs of end-of-life degradation beyond repair where the aluminum frames are showing ever more pitting from corrosion.
This year, staff spent 12+ days using up the newly purchased screen material to replace the most degraded units. The old screens have to be drilled and pried apart due to the use of steel instead of aluminum fasteners during construction. Some of the 1” aluminum strap is reused, and all of the frames remain in rotation.
Screen maintenance plans:
- Planning for the purchase of 10% worth of screen material next year
- Planning for the purchase of 10% worth of aluminum 2” angle and 1” strap to start building an inventory of new screens to be ready to retire the corroded units as they fail
- We have a welder to build the frames and staff with expertise to provide quality fabrication services