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.