Technical Specialist Spotlight: Stream Restoration Specialist Troy Barry, P.Eng
Troy Barry, P.Eng has 25 years of experience including fluvial geomorphology with stream ecology and living shorelines. Fluvial geomorphology is the study of the interactions between the physical shapes of rivers, their water, ecology, and sediment transport processes. This is important for effective management, conservation, and rehabilitation of rivers and streams to accommodate multiple, often conflicting, needs of a watercourse.
“I find rivers fascinating; their actions are dictated by form and energy which is determined by physical laws that are so complicated they do not dictate one and only one solution.” – Troy Barry, P.Eng
As a geomorphologist and engineer, he possesses a broad range of science and engineering skills to assess, investigate, and design restoration, enhancement, and recovery solutions for degraded riparian, lake, riverine, and estuary environments. These skills have been used to complete coastal erosion research, coastal and stream resiliency, streambank restoration and stabilization, restoration of natural hydrologic and physical processes, and hydrologic/ hydraulic assessments.
“The passion for the process of assessing, analyzing, planning and designing stream restoration projects is both in the need for me to adapt to each project based on the answers we find in each river itself, and the reward or the goal of creating both system resiliency resulting in ecological uplift in a system that is often found struggling at the beginning of a project,” said Barry.
His projects range from support for evaluation and design of stormwater outfalls, dynamic impacts from road crossing culvert designs, and the innovative use of civil sites utilizing biostabilization. Barry utilizes a function-based framework based on a combination and application of hydrology & hydraulics, fluvial geomorphology, watershed response, and physiochemical processes to complete these projects. He continues to be called upon by our team to provide contemporary approaches to solve watercourse issues for our clients.