RAE 2012 | Tampa, FL
Poster #PP-1
A Database on Living Shorelines with Breakwaters:
Did We Miss Your Project?
1
Buhring ,
T., B. M.
1
Webb ,
S. L.
1
Douglass ,
Abstract
S.
1,2
Powers ,
S.
3
Scyphers ,
and R. J.
What is a Living Shoreline?
Living shorelines are becoming an important tool for the use of
coastal managers and designers that can serve as an alternative to
bulkheads, seawalls, and other “hard” solutions. Combining structural
elements, planted marsh grasses, and restorative sand fills, these
projects can serve to improve the health of local coastlines by a variety
of physical and biological processes. As part of a larger decision
support toolkit, a national database of living shoreline projects is
under development. This is a database of existing “living shoreline”
projects around the United States. This database:
•  How flexible is the
term?
•  Are engineered
beaches or breakwateronly systems “living
shorelines”?
• How do you define
“living shoreline”?
The database is being built in concert
with the Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and
Rivers Institute (COPRI) Living
Shoreline Subcommittee (members
listed to the right) and is stored on the
subcommittee’s website:
livingshorelines.mycopri.org
1University
For more
information
about the toolkit,
please visit
Poster #STP-14
(Webb, Bret M.).
•  impacts of the structures on the study area;
•  the viability of coastal wetland habitat in the lee
of structures;
•  expected ecological benefits of the structures;
•  and the socioeconomic impacts of the living
shoreline project.
Site Information
livingshorelines.mycopri.org
Living shoreline designers and professionals interested in
contributing to this database should contact a team member with
information regarding known projects. The current points-of-contact
for submission of projects are the author(s) of this poster and
members of the COPRI Living Shorelines Subcommittee.
This national living shorelines database collects information on
individual living shoreline projects and classifies them along a series
of qualifications including:
Little Bay Marsh Restoration
(Courtesy Alabama DCNR)
•  Location
•  Pre-Project Conditions
•  Coastal and Environmental
Considerations
•  Design Considerations
•  Structural Elements
•  Non-Structural Elements
•  Project Performance
Robert A. Walker, Chair
Bonnie M. Bendell
Scott L. Douglass
Billy Edge
Orville T. Magoon
Spencer M. Rogers Jr.
Joseph J. Tanski
Louise A. Wallendorf
This database is part of larger effort to research and produce a
decision support toolkit for the design of structural elements in
living shoreline projects. The toolkit will allow end-users to
identify and describe :
A shoreline management practice that
provides erosion control benefits; protects,
restores, or enhances natural shoreline
habitat; and maintains coastal processes
through the strategic placement of plants,
stone, sand fill, and other structural organic
materials (e.g. biologs, oyster reefs, etc).”.
Database
Users will be able to search for projects
containing specific elements for the
purposes of comparing their design
conditions with those of previous sites.
Decision Support Toolkit
NOAA Shoreline Glossary
•  lists and maps the locations of individual projects and
includes information on various project aspects;
•  is intended to be a resource for coastal managers and
engineers in the design of, and research on, living
shorelines;
•  adopts the NOAA definition of “living shoreline;”
•  focuses on living shoreline projects which include some
form of structure.
Project List
1
Allen
Project Locations
Project Greenshores
(Courtesy NW Florida DEP)
Acknowledgments
This poster was made possible through support provided by the U.S.
Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration through The University of Southern Mississippi under the
terms of Agreement No. NA10OAR4170078. The opinions expressed
herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration or The University of Southern Mississippi.
Background photo courtesy of Carl Ferraro, ADCNR: EDRP Habitat
Restoration Project at Little Bay, Alabama.
Individual Project Information
of South Alabama; 2Dauphin Island Sea Lab; 3Northeastern University
Sweetwater Project
(Courtesy Galveston Bay Foundation)
Thomas (Beau) Buhring – Phone: (251) 295-2426
[email protected]
Special thanks are extended
to the COPRI Living Shorelines
Subcommittee.
Database Website:
livingshorelines.mycopri.org