SSA Environmental is pleased to announce that FlexiBaffle, our flexible retrofit culvert baffle, has been approved for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Qualified Product List (QPL). The approval gives PennDOT engineers, designers, and district staff a vetted, ready-to-specify option for restoring aquatic organism passage (AOP) inside existing culverts.
What the approval covers
FlexiBaffle is now listed in PennDOT Bulletin 15 (Publication 35), under Section MISC — “Baffles for Fish-Friendly Passageways in Culverts,” reference 2026-093Q. The product carries Product Evaluation number 2026-093Q, with an approval date of June 1, 2026.
The listing is currently provisional, pending three Department-witnessed installations. We view that as the final, practical step in a thorough evaluation process — and an opportunity to demonstrate FlexiBaffle in the field alongside PennDOT staff. SSA Environmental is registered with PennDOT under supplier code SSA-115, and a PennDOT CS-4171 Certificate of Compliance is on file.
Why a retrofit culvert baffle matters for fish-passage programs
Across Pennsylvania and much of the country, aging culvert inventories create barriers to fish and other aquatic organisms. Full culvert replacement restores passage but is costly and slow to schedule. In many crossings, a permanent cast-in-place baffle simply isn’t feasible — the pipe is too small, too smooth, or too deteriorated to retrofit conventionally.
FlexiBaffle is built for exactly those situations. It is a flexible baffle designed to create fish-friendly passageways inside culverts that are already in the ground, providing near-term AOP until the structure is fully replaced. That makes it well suited to:
- Small pipe crossings where a rigid baffle can’t be installed
- Deteriorating or rehabilitated culverts
- Smooth plastic (HDPE) and reinforced concrete pipes
- Squashed or flat-bottomed concrete pipes
- Streambed paving and culvert-rehabilitation projects
FlexiBaffle is compatible with round, elliptical, box, and flat-bottomed culverts across concrete, corrugated metal (CMP), and HDPE pipe — the range of structures engineers actually encounter in the field.
Backed by fish-passage expertise
The PennDOT evaluation was supported by a letter of endorsement from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, Division of Environmental Services (dated March 30, 2026), recognizing FlexiBaffle’s value for aquatic organism passage in scenarios where a permanent baffle isn’t practical. For agency engineers weighing near-term passage solutions, that combination — a QPL listing plus resource-agency support — is meant to shorten the path from problem to specification.
What this means if you specify or maintain culverts
If you manage a culvert inventory with known or suspected passage barriers, FlexiBaffle is now an approved tool you can evaluate for retrofit candidates — particularly the crossings that don’t justify, or can’t wait for, full replacement. We’re actively seeking sites for the Department-witnessed installations that will move the listing from provisional to full approval, and we welcome conversations with districts and design teams about fit for specific structures.
Get in touch
To discuss FlexiBaffle for a specific crossing, request product information, or coordinate a demonstration installation, contact:
Shane Scott SSA Environmental Email: shane@ssaenv.com Phone: (360) 601-2391
SSA Environmental designs and manufactures FlexiBaffle in Vancouver, Washington, and is pursuing approvals with additional state DOTs. Follow this blog for updates as the program expands.
