Erosion Control and Shoreline Stabilization

Erosion is a process, and processes have causes. The most common expensive mistake on a Northeast Florida shoreline is treating the visible symptom — the bank that is retreating — without working out what is actually driving it.

Find the cause first

Wave and wake energy. Fetch, prevailing wind, and boat wake. The usual suspect, and the one that points towards a hard structure.

Tidal and current action. Water movement along the shoreline, which can concentrate at particular points depending on shape and what is upstream.

Upland drainage. Frequently overlooked and frequently significant. Stormwater discharging over the bank, downspouts directed at the shoreline, irrigation saturating the soil, or grade that sends runoff to the water’s edge. This one is often the cheapest to fix and is sometimes most of the problem.

Loss of vegetation. Root systems hold soil. Removing shoreline vegetation for a view regularly accelerates erosion at the same property.

A failing structure next door. Water exploits the weakest point along a shoreline, and a failing wall on an adjoining property can scour at the junction and start taking your soil.

A failing structure of your own. Soil leaving through your own bulkhead or seawall looks like erosion from the land side. It is not — it is a wall problem with a different repair.

If the cause is not identified, the intervention is a guess.

Approaches

Hard stabilization

Seawalls and bulkheads. The right answer where exposure is high, where you are losing ground quickly, where structures sit close to the edge, or where the property needs a defined and permanent edge. Most effective and most expensive, with the trade-off that vertical structures reflect wave energy and must be designed with toe protection to avoid undermining themselves.

Softer approaches

Vegetative stabilization and similar methods using plantings and natural materials to hold the bank. Lower cost, and on lower-energy shoreline with room to work they can perform well. Suitability depends on exposure, substrate, depth and the site, and they are not a substitute for a wall on high-energy shoreline. Permitting has its own requirements.

Hybrid approaches

A structural element providing protection with vegetative stabilization behind or around it. Frequently the practical answer on shoreline that is neither high-energy nor benign.

Upland measures

Drainage correction, regrading, redirecting stormwater, and managing runoff before it reaches the bank. Often the cheapest intervention available and sometimes the one that matters most — particularly where the erosion is being fed from your own property.

Shore stabilization plans

A documented assessment of what is happening at your shoreline and what to do about it. This gives you something to act on, to permit against, and to compare bids with — rather than a collection of opinions from whoever happened to be out.

What it covers: the condition of your shoreline and any existing structure, what is driving the erosion, the approaches available for your site, and what is involved in each.

Where soil has already been lost

If the ground behind a wall has been washing out, that is a different repair from shoreline erosion and it needs void filling and soil stabilization — plus sealing the leak path through the wall, or the new fill goes the same way as the old.

Permitting

Shoreline work in Northeast Florida can involve FDEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the St. Johns River Water Management District and local authorities. Different approaches carry different requirements. Rules change — confirm current requirements with the reviewing agency. We handle permitting on the projects we build.

Call (904) 327-3931 or request a free estimate.