GIWW – Perry Ridge West Bank Stabilization (CS-30)

Settlement plates such as the one pictured here will be used to determine if settling of the structure has occurred. Technicians from NRCS’s Crowley Watershed Office are shown taking baseline elevations before more rock is deposited. Future elevation readings will be taken after the structure is completed.

Location

The project is located along the northern bank of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) between Perry Ridge and the Sabine River in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.

Problems

This section of the GIWW was dredged to allow the use of doublewide barges, and,  consequently, has intensified the occurrence of wake erosion. In addition, the construction of the Calcasieu Ship Channel and the deepening of Sabine Pass have increased the salinity and water currents within the GIWW. These activities have caused the GIWW shoreline to breach, thus impacting the interior marsh of the project area.

Restoration Strategy

Proposed project components involve installation of 9,500 feet of rock riprap along the northern bank of the GIWW from Perry Ridge to its intersection with the Sabine River.
An additional 2,200 feet of rock riprap will be installed from the Sabine/GIWW intersection north along the Sabine River. This proposed work is referred to as “construction unit number 2.” Approximately 22,952 linear feet of terraces will
be constructed in the shallow, open water areas north of the GIWW to reduce fetch (distance a wave can travel) and allow recovery of the interior marshes. Terraces will be
vegetated with 9,400 trade-gallon-sized plantings of California bulrush. This proposed work is referred to as “construction unit number 3.”

Progress to Date

Project construction is complete. The monitoring plan is currently in development and should be finalized in the spring of 2002.

The project is on Priority Project List (PPL) 9.

The Federal Sponsor is Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The Local Sponsor is CPRA.

Approved Date: 2000
Project Area: 1,132 acres
Approved Funds: $2.19 M
Total Est. Cost: $2.20 M
Net Benefit After 20 Years: 83 acres
Status: Completed
Project Type: Shoreline Protection

Black Bayou Hydrologic Restoration (CS-27)

The purposes of the Black Bayou Hydrologic Restoration
project are to (1) restore coastal marsh habitat, and (2) slow
the conversion of wetlands to shallow, open water in the
project area. The project limits the amount of saltwater
intrusion into the surrounding marsh and canals from the
GIWW and reduces erosion caused by wave action from
nearby boats and tides.

A 22,600-foot rock dike was placed on the southern spoil
bank of the GIWW. A barge bay weir (70-foot bottom
width) was constructed in Black Bayou Cutoff Canal. Weirs
with boat bays (10-foot bottom widths) were constructed in
Burton Canal and Block’s Creek. A collapsed weir was
plugged and replaced by a fixed crest steel sheet-pile weir
with a state-of-the-art, self-regulating tidegate. Spoil
material from weir installation and the dredging of access
routes was deposited in nearby open water areas to the
height of marsh elevations. The $3 million construction
contract included installation of 55,000 marsh plants over the
next two planting seasons.

This project, sponsored by the National Marine Fisheries
Service and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources,
is a 25,529 acre wetland located in Cameron and Calcasieu
Parishes, Louisiana. Bordered by the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway (GIWW), Sabine Lake, Black Bayou, and Gum
Cove Ridge, the project area consists of tidally-influenced
intermediate and brackish marshes.

Construction is completed. Installation of vegetative
plantings were completed in April 2002. The monitoring
plan was finalized in March 2000, and monitoring has
begun.

This project is on Priority Project List 6.

Federal Sponsor: NOAA 

Local Sponsor: CPRA