Use of Wood Structures in Living Shorelines
Wood structures and habitat features have been used for years in the stream restoration field but have not been heavily utilized within living shoreline designs. Incorporating wood into living shorelines provides an opportunity for stabilization and shoreline protection as a more natural alternative to conventional riprap structures while being more robust than other bioengineering approaches. Wood features also can provide habitat benefits and beneficially re-use woody vegetation removed during bank grading. This presentation will provide a brief overview of some successful wood structure types within the stream restoration context, discuss some of the potential ways these structures may be useful in shoreline stabilization, and show the wood toe stabilization and habitat log features that have been added to recent VDOT living shoreline projects at York River State Park and Pipsico Scout Reservation, either for shoreline stabilization purposes or purely as habitat features.
Author Bio
Andrew Tiefenback is a graduate of Old Dominion University with a degree in Civil Engineering. A native of Coastal Virginia, Andrew has a lifelong interest in preserving coastal habitats. In his time at Stantec he has focused on living shorelines, stream restoration, and stormwater BMP design. Joe Parfitt has been working as a project manager with VDOT Environmental’s TMDL program since 2017. In that time, he has managed many projects including stream restorations, BMP retrofits, shoreline stabilizations, reforestations, and others. Joe has over 13 years’ experience working on construction, maintenance, and environmental projects for VDOT and prior to that many more years working in Cultural Resource management for The Louis Berger Group. In his work to help VDOT meet their obligations for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL he aims to create multiple benefits with the projects he manages including reducing maintenance costs and creating a better, cleaner environment for the Commonwealth.
