NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — The City of Norfolk will pursue a natural solution to fighting erosion and rising flood waters by building a 'living shoreline' along the Lafayette River behind Lindenwood Elementary School and Barraud Park.
City environmental engineer Justin Shafer said the Lindenwood area is one of the places throughout the city where the shoreline is quickly eroding away.
"We have water everywhere so we have a lot of shorelines that can use work," Shafer said.
Norfolk is matching a $1.2 million grant awarded by the National Coastal Resilience Fund to complete the project.
“We obviously want to protect the city’s infrastructure," Shafer said. "Our space, our buildings, our roads. We want to make sure that the erosion and waves coming off the water don't cause that infrastructure to go away.”
City engineers and the public works department have completed living shorelines before. The 47th street rain garden and area by the Haven Creek Boat Ramp are two examples.
Shafer said the plan will add wetlands and bring back more habitable land for wildlife.
“We'll put some rock offshore, backfill with sand, raise the elevation a bit and change the slope so that the shoreline that we’re installing will survive longer than the shoreline that was there previously," he said.
Shafer said Lindenwood teachers are excited about a built-in field trip opportunity right behind the school. Members of the civic league said they hope to have more access to the water after the living shoreline is completed. Construction could start in 2019.
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