Shoreline Stabilization
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This is Watersedge Park's shoreline before construction of a shoreline stabilization project. | This is the same shoreline after construction of the stabilization project. |
 | This is the shoreline at the Essex Skypark prior to the stabilization project. |
Shoreline enhancement projects restore eroded shorelines and enhance tidal ecosystems and habitat. Projects include breakwaters, groins, stone revetment, beach and tidal marsh creation, and other non-structural measures to prevent shoreline erosion and degradation
Living Shoreline at Essex Skypark
Construction of a hybrid living shoreline project at Essex Skypark in Back River will begin in June of 2011. This shoreline stabilization will protect and enhance 2,610 linear feet of severely eroded shoreline. Many trees along the shoreline have toppled over exposing the clay soils and causing bank recession. The project will include off-shore stone sills and breakwaters to dissipate wave energy combined with bioengineering and tidal wetland creation. This project will help to achieve sediment and nutrient reduction goals for Back River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. This project will also tie directly into numerous Baltimore County watershed plans and initiatives that have been developed in collaboration with community partners including the Back River Watershed Water Quality Management Plan (1997), Back River Neck Rural Legacy Ecological Assessment Report (2005), and the Tidal Back River Watershed Small Watershed Action Plan (2010). Funding partners for this project include the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Maryland Department of the Environment.
Contact Information
Waterway Improvement Program
Phone: 410-887-2904
Fax: 410-887-4804
Email: watersheds@baltimorecountymd.gov
Revised May 18, 2011
