Excerpt
An innovative shoreline protection project, including construction of a breakwater and establishment of a marsh grass planting, has been successfully initiated at the U.S. Naval Station on the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland. The project is of interest because of the interagency cooperation it involved as well as the biotechnical solution used.
As a federal landholder, the U.S. Navy has an obligation to maintain the value of its real estate. The Department of Defense has also made commitments to the Chesapeake Bay agreements to reduce sedimentation into the bay and its tributaries and to create tidal wetlands wherever possible to increase natural filtration of pollutants.
Research findings
Recent field research in the Chesapeake Bay region found that reestablishing a marsh grass fringe for estuarine shoreline erosion control is an accepted alternative to construction of bulkheads, revetments, and groins (1). Average fetch exposure, shore geometry, and shore orientation proved to be significant factors in successful shoreline plantings. In a low energy regime (fetch less than 0.5 nautical miles), exposure to sunlight and boat wakes appeared to be more critical. Where wave energy is medium to high (equivalent fetch ≥ 3.0 nautical miles), offshore breakwaters were recommended to …
Footnotes
Jeri Berc is a soil conservationist for the Department of the Navy, Chesapeake Division Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Building 212, Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C. 20002. Stephen Ailstock is a faculty member of the Environmental Center, Anne Arundel Community College. 101 College Parkway, Arnold, Maryland, 21012
- Copyright 1989 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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