Providing design and construction services for repairs to address erosion of the Lake Michigan shoreline on campus

Carthage College Bluff Stabilization

Lake Michigan coastal communities and property owners face constant challenges from shoreline erosion. Cyclical high water levels in Lake Michigan have increased erosion of beaches and lakeside bluffs in Wisconsin, particularly in Racine and Kenosha Counties. With lake levels increasing four feet (1.2 metres) since 2013, high water is eroding beaches and bluffs in multiple properties, causing instability, and putting buildings and properties at risk.

One property at risk is Carthage College, situated on an 80-acre (32 hectare) campus on the shore of Lake Michigan, with several classroom buildings and campus monuments located near the bluffs. An approximate 1,000 foot- (304 metre) long section of bluff is actively eroding from the toe to the top of the bluff, so the College engaged us to provide design and construction services for repairs to address erosion of the shoreline on campus. We conducted an evaluation to develop a recommended design approach for repairing the bluff and allow construction to occur as soon as feasible—with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regulatory permitting timeframes and school programming schedules at top of mind.

Our design approach considered Lake Michigan hydraulics, geotechnical bluff stability, construction costs, and permitting requirements.