Along a highly urbanized stretch of the Delaware River, years of industrial use had impacted natural shoreline habitat. The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) saw an opportunity to restore the shore along its wastewater treatment plant. They engaged us to design a living shoreline to help reduce erosion and strengthen bank stability, improve water quality, and create habitat for aquatic and shoreline species.
Working with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, we led the engineering and permitting services to create a more resilient and ecologically sound shoreline. After studying existing conditions and exploring different approaches, our team developed the preferred design, taking it through environmental permitting, developing final plans and specifications, and supporting construction.
Our design brings together natural and engineered features that work as a connected habitat. A series of offshore breakwaters help reduce wave energy, creating calmer conditions needed to sustain sensitive shoreline habitats. Behind them in the subtidal zone, gabion pens filled with recycled shell provides habitat for freshwater mussels, whose natural filtration and nutrient cycling help support water quality. Along the shoreline, sediment accumulates to form low and high marsh zones that were planted with native vegetation. This combination of breakwaters, mussel pens, and marsh zones creates a resilient shoreline that supports aquatic and terrestrial species, while improving water quality and providing erosion protection.
This urban living shoreline project in tidal freshwater is the first of its kind in New Jersey. A living example of CCMUA’s forward-thinking approach to urban shoreline restoration, it demonstrates how using nature-based solutions and recycled materials to restore a shoreline can create habitat, improve water quality, and strengthen resilience to sea level rise.
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