In 2017 the year after the I-80 Fish Passage was completed, heavy winter rains blew out the 8-foot metal culvert under Alhambra Valley Road at the Pinole Y.​

Since this culvert is adjacent to EBMUD watershed and the County needed access to the property, they consulted EBMUD during the planning phase to replace the structure.​

The County was determined to replace the culvert in kind with another culvert despite two previous failures of the structure causing significant discharges of sediment and debris to the creek.​

EBMUD provided data to the National Marine Fisheries Service on steelhead presence in the creek and the recent fish passage project downstream and advocated for a bridge to improve fish passage and prevent further blow outs in the creek.​

NMFS convinced the county that a bridge was a better alternative for all involved and for long term stability. This would not have been such an easy sell without the I-80 project completion a year earlier – fortuitous timing!​