GZA’s Third New England “Living Shoreline” Project Nears Completion in Connecticut
May 04 2021 - 4:48AM
Business Wire
Final construction and habitat planting are expected to be
completed within the next month for the Hepburn Preserve Living
Shoreline project in the Borough of Fenwick, an innovative and
nature-based solution to protecting a Long Island Sound property
formerly owned by the estate of actress Katharine Hepburn as well
as a neighboring salt marsh and pond.
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The Hepburn Preserve "living shoreline"
project, nearing completion in Old Saybrook, Conn., is GZA
GeoEnvironmental Inc.'s third New England living shoreline project.
Based on state-of-the-art wind, current, wave, and water-level
modeling, the project features resilient vegetation, edging
technologies, and sills to protect coastal resources from storms
and tidal action with natural and nature-based features. It draws
on earlier GZA living shoreline work in Massachusetts and Rhode
Island. (Photo: Business Wire)
Only the third living shoreline initiative in Connecticut, and
the first supported by the Connecticut Institute for Resilience
& Climate Adaptation (CIRCA), the project was designed for site
owner Lynde Point Land Trust by GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., a
leading multi-disciplinary firm providing geotechnical,
environmental, ecological, water, and construction management
services.
The project is designed to protect the 10-acre Lynde Point Marsh
and a privately owned salt pond and restore natural habitat through
construction of the living shoreline, designed to recover over time
naturally from weather and tidal impacts, as well as a road culvert
as well as relocation of a tidal channel. The small barrier sand
spit at the Hepburn Preserve that projects those resources has been
eroding at the rate of up to several feet annually and faced risk
of being breached by a major storm. Past measures to stabilize the
shoreline had been unsuccessful.
The Hepburn Preserve project is the third living shoreline GZA
has designed in New England. Prior projects included an urban
living shoreline on the Mystic River, in Everett, Mass.,
constructed as part of the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor and
The Rose Larisa Park along the banks of the Providence River in
East Providence, R.I, which was also constructed by SumCo
EcoContracting. The Rose Larissa Park is also a pilot demonstration
project and was initiated and developed by the Rhode Island Coastal
Resources Management Council (CRMC) and The Nature Conservancy
(TNC).
Dan Stapleton, P.E., GZA Senior Principal and lead designer for
the Fenwick project, said, “The Hepburn Preserve Living Shoreline
project provides an opportunity to test the efficacy of living
shorelines in Connecticut's challenging Long Island Sound
environment. GZA's team performed extensive metocean data analysis
and numerical wave modeling along with ecological assessment, civil
and coastal engineering and ecological landscape architecture as
part of the design process. Working closely with Connecticut
environmental regulators and SumCo EcoContracting, the project
contractor, GZA also made several adaptive management measures
during construction."
The Hepburn Preserve Living Shoreline includes a series of
quarry stone rock sills, a new low marsh, a new cobble beach, a
restored dune, and a relocated tidal creek. The project was
designed and permitted by GZA in close coordination with the
Borough of Fenwick, the Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. As part of this project, GZA has also been supporting
CIRCA and DEEP in development of future statewide Connecticut
standards for living shoreline design.
The Hepburn project originated during GZA's completion of a
comprehensive coastal resilience plan for the Town of Old Saybrook.
GZA worked with the Borough and Lynde Point Land Trust to apply for
and receive a project grant from CIRCA and the Long Island Sound
Futures Fund. Subsequent project funding was provided by the Land
Trust and the Connecticut River Conservancy.
More information about GZA’s living shoreline work may be found
at:
https://circa.uconn.edu/fenwick/
https://lyndepointlandtrust.org/
http://www.crmc.ri.gov/habitatrestoration/roselarisapark.html
About GZA
GZA is a multi-disciplinary, employee-owned firm providing
Geotechnical, Environmental, Ecological, Water and Construction
Management services. GZA’s more than 660 professionals are based in
30 offices in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Great Lakes
States. Our corporate headquarters is at 249 Vanderbilt Avenue,
Norwood, MA 02062. www.gza.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210504005498/en/
Media contact: Angela Cincotta, GZA Chief of Marketing and
Communications at 781-278-5777