To ensure that Summer Steelhead and Spring Chinook Salmon survive in the Upper Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked rivers, Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation (joint owners) determined that a selective water withdrawal and fish bypass structure was necessary at the Round Butte Dam located roughly 90 miles southeast of Portland, Oregon, on and adjacent to the Warm Springs Reservation. Barnard Construction was part of a team drawn together to address the challenging nature of this three-year project. Barnard served as General Contractor, providing overall management, cost and schedule controls, deep-water rock excavation, and the drilling and grouting of 11 piles 50 feet into the lake bottom, 320 feet below the water's surface. Barnard also provided all on-shore construction.

Although the Round Butte Dam was originally constructed with fish passage facilities in the early 1960s, the downstream system failed to work properly. Part of the problem arose from unusual currents in Lake Billy Chinook. This new structure has been designed to draw water in a more natural fashion, attracting fish which are screened and released downstream en route to the Pacific Ocean. The project involved fabricating and assembling three large steel structures: a Selective Water Bottom Structure (SWB), a 40-foot-diameter vertical steel conduit (VFC), and a Selective Water Top Structure (SWT). The SWB was submerged to 270 feet deep and attached to the existing powerhouse intake. The floating fish screen structure (SWT) was positioned directly above the SWB. The VFC connects the submerged SWB and the floating SWT.