WEEK 1 -- ALLEN ROAD LIVING SHORELINE POST CONSTRUCTION REPORT

5:00 PM Sunday May 1^st the living shoreline was completed with the goose netting installed around the entire perimeter. All that remained to be done was to plant about 9 more flats of spartina alterniflora that was left over.

That evening the beach was subjected to strong 20 knot winds from the south and east. The biologs held but the splashing over the top deposited about 6 inches of sand on a 6 ft. x 20 ft. section on the north end. There was additional sand deposited from the splashing on the south end but only about a third of what was deposited on the north end. Additionally, there was sand creeping in under the logs at the seams in two or three places.

Monday evening it was decided that we had to place sandbags along the first row of biologs in order to save our project.

Tuesday evening the shoreline was battered with even stronger winds and waves from the southeast. Bill Grochowicz, Fred Bekarian, Bill and Marion McGrath immediately placed 100 sandbags along and on top of the logs for about 40 ft. of the north section and about 30 ft. of the south section.

Photo taken May 5, 2011

On Wednesday we noted that a 4 ft. section of the end of a biolog gave way about 60 or 70 feet from the south end. We also noted that the front row of logs actually sank in places. In some places the logs sunk as much as 12 inches. In the area where the biolog failed we noticed that 4 to 6 inches of sand washed out from under the matting taking the previously planted spartina with it. This left the staples partially exposed. The area amounted to a 6 ft. x 12 ft. section. We immediately placed another 100 sand bags along the failed area and added more bags on the north and south end. We used the sand that splashed over the logs to fill the bags. This seemed to work quite well but, it was noted that we would need more sandbags to stop the sand from splashing in and to fortify the front row of logs for any major storm. 

Saturday morning Bill and Marion McGrath returned to bang down the staples that were exposed and planted two additional flats of spartina to fill in the empty spaces.

Submitted by

BSHCA member

William E. McGrath, PLS

Riparian Consultant