Side Mounted Gate - fish passage animation

Side-mounted gates are a somewhat more fish-friendly design. Unlike top-mounted gates, these gates are oriented like a door. However, like top-mounted gates, side-mounted gates require a higher water level inside the gate than outside the gate to open. They also have a closed resting position. The key difference between these gate types is that side-mounted gates require significantly less water level difference to open. These gates are also made of much lighter materials such as aluminium, this means these gates swing open wider, for longer, and more often than top-mounted gates. These gates do not create flows as fast as top-mounted gates do either, making it easier for fish to pass through once the gate opens. The gates close when water levels in the river rise, protecting the communities and land behind the dike.

This animation was created in collaboration between Watershed Watch Salmon Society and Resilient Waters. It was begun by volunteer animation creators, Nathan Ross and Paul Pajot and finished by Kerel Alaas, as well as many advisors who provided feedback during its development.
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Nathan Ross is a landscape architect who was studying at UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture's Coastal Adaptation Lab who helped to kick off the original design.

Kerel Alaas is a Vancouver based animator and ECUAD graduate who grew up among turkic nomads in Siberia. Alaas' role was funded through the Canada Summer Jobs Program (via Watershed Watch Salmon Society).