Belle Isle State Park
The Belle Isle State Park Visitor Center Living Shoreline project was a design build project by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES) for Virginia’s Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), it stabilizes/protects the shoreline behind DCR’s Belle Isle State Park Visitor Center.
The living shoreline design consisted of offshore rock structures acting as breakwaters, reducing wave energy, erosion, and sediment loss. Behind the structures, a tidal marsh was established and planted with 12,000 tidal grass plugs. The vertical bank slopes were graded to a gentle slope and planted with tidal shrubs, grasses, and forbs. Uplands impacted by construction were planted with a beneficial pollinator meadow mix. The project’s design safeguards for resiliency during large storm events and accommodates current estimates of sea level rise.
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Elizabeth River Project
The Louis & Pru Ryan Resilience Lab of the Elizabeth River Project is currently being built along Knitting Mill Creek. This $8 million living laboratory will serve as a global model for urban coastal living that protects the ecosystem and people as sea levels rise.
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Tangier Island & Living Shorelines
A living shoreline project – comprised of oyster beds – is proposed to protect Tangier Island from erosion. If approved, the project would be funded from an $11 million grant, part of the 2021 Federal Infrastructure Law.
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The Roebuck Apartments
Consortium member Clancy and Theys was the contractor for The Roebuck Apartments, which redeveloped the historic Security Storage and Safe Deposit Co. on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk. The overall project included the preservation, renovation and conversion of the existing four-story concrete warehouse and included the following adaptation and resilience measures: elevation of the first-floor slab to meet FEMA requirements, wet flood proofing and elevation of electrical components.
This project received the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate’s (HRACRE) Award of Merit for Best Renovated or Historic Rehabilitation Project and the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. Virginia Chapter’s Honor Award of Excellence in the Historic Restoration category.
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Occohannock Creek Living Shoreline
Ready Reef, Inc designed and built a living shoreline for a private owner on Occohannock Creek on the Eastern Shore of VA. The living shoreline will stabilize the shoreline, preventing erosion, improve water quality, provide habitat and increase biodiversity.
The project used ReadyReef oyster reefs as the sill, backed by a standard living shoreline, and further backed by an Envirolok Bag Living Wall. Earth Systems Management, LLC (ESM )supported the project using a hydro drone with sonar bathymetric mapping and autonomous drones. The design and construction process for the living shoreline is documented by ESM and can be found here: Documentary – Building a Living Shoreline On the Chesapeake Bay.
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Flood Modeling and Mapping Tool
Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc (VHB) is developing a regional PC-SWMM mapping tool model to track the impact of 2, 10, 100 and 500-year storm event elevations at the Old Dominion University campus and adjacent neighborhoods. The model will allow the university to properly prepare and renovate infrastructure ‘at-risk’ of flooding, and properly plan for future development on the campus.
Old Dominion university is situated on over 200-acres of low-lying land, between the Elizabeth and Lafayette Rivers. Campus elevations are low compared to sea level. Groundwater is typically only a few feet below the surface of campus, and the soils are clay and do not infiltrate runoff. All of these challenges lead to recurring ponding around campus today. When you consider projected Sea Level Rise, and regulatory constraints for buildings related to flood control, the final model will give ODU the tools to be resilient and ready for the future.
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Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden is planning the “Garden of Tomorrow,” which includes a parking garden and sustainable architecture. The old asphalt-and-concrete parking lot is being replaced and expanded with a previous pavement surface, which will filter rainwater and nourish the garden. The parking garden will also have shade trees and a water collection pond.
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Hermitage Museum & Gardens
In 2006, the Hermitage Museum & Gardens in Norfolk embarked on a large-scale wetlands restoration project. Since then, more than 5,000 native marsh grasses have been planted, creating a half acre Living Shoreline on the east end of the museum grounds.
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