Initiatives | Shoreline Management | Stabilization
Alternative Shoreline Stabilization Methods
This hybrid shoreline stabilization structure uses marsh plantings and low rock sills to stabilize eroding banks. The rock sills are a breakwater to protect the vegetation from strong wave action.
Even with the best planning and regulatory programs, some type of shoreline stabilization is often needed when eroding shorelines threaten waterfront development. To restore, protect, and enhance the natural shoreline environment, "soft" or "non-structural" stabilization techniques that rely on vegetative plantings and sand fill, or "hybrid" techniques that combine vegetative planting with low rock sills, can be effective alternatives to hard stabilization structures such as bulkheads, rip rap or groins. These alternative "soft" and "hybrid" approaches are often collectively referred to as "living shorelines" since they help to preserve the natural, living shoreline.
In Depth: The benefits and drawbacks of living shorelines.
NOAA's Restoration Center, which funds and provides technical assistance on many living shorelines projects, has developed a Restoration Clearinghouse. To find out more about soft and hybrid shoreline stabilization methods, visit the Living Shorelines section of the Clearinghouse. Specifically, the section:
- Describes what living shorelines are.
- Outlines the planning and implementation steps needed to install a living shoreline erosion control structure.
- Discusses what type of living shoreline treatments would be most appropriate given the type of shoreline.
- Provides case studies of several NOAA Restoration funded living shorelines projects.
- Lists Federal and state statutes, regulations and permits that living shorelines projects must adhere to.
- Includes many publications and resources related to living shorelines, including websites, brochures, new articles, restoration publications and guidance documents.