At a Glance
A newly stabilized, living shoreline enhances a historic property’s aesthetic and ecological value, more effectively manages stormwater entering the Passaic River, and facilitates engagement with the river through Nereid’s crew program.
Project Description
The Nereid Boat Club, established in 1866, was reconstructed in the 1990s with a wooden bulkhead along a contaminated portion of the Passaic River shoreline. Not long after its construction, the bulkhead began to deteriorate. During that period, severe flooding occurred in the area on a more frequent basis than it had in the past. Rather than simply reconstructing the failing bulkhead with a steel bulkhead, Biohabitats was brought on to design a more cost-effective and ecologically sound alternative.
After a thorough site analysis, which included studies of soil, sediment, and the remaining wooden bulkhead below-ground, Biohabitats discovered that upland stormwater forces, rather than river forces, were compromising the bulkhead. Using living shoreline techniques which included native plantings, the remaining below-ground wooden bulkhead and strategic grading, Biohabitats designed, constructed, and installed a living shoreline to replace the dilapidated bulkhead. To resolve the site’s stormwater management problems, Biohabitats designed a natural system featuring a rain garden and a living shoreline. The new shoreline, coupled with green infrastructure features, simultaneously prevents further erosion, enhances stormwater management and local ecology, and restores the river bank to a more natural state.