SURF CITY, N.C. (WITN) - The Town of Surf City, in a partnership with the Sandbar Oyster Company and the North Carolina Coastal Federation, is creating a living shoreline to reduce sound-side erosion and maintain important fisheries habitat.
The town tells WITN the project will be placed along a 200-foot stretch shoreline at Soundside Park on Roland Avenue in Surf City.
Kyle Breuer with the town says living shorelines use nature-based features like oyster reefs and saltmarsh plants to protect shorelines from erosion and offer long-term safety from rising sea levels.
Breuer says the planned living shoreline will be made up of an oyster reef sill created using two different shapes of Sandbar’s biodegradable hardscape called Oyster Catcher. Within one to two years of its installation, oyster growth will fill in the void space of the scaffold with shells of the growing oysters, creating a dense and resilient oyster reef.
“The Surf City Living Shoreline Project is a great collaboration between our company (Sandbar Oyster Company) the North Carolina Coastal Federation, and the Town of Surf City. Our innovative ‘Oyster Catcher™' design provides excellent stabilization for eroding shorelines, and a unique structure to maximize oyster attachment. In turn, the restored oyster reef creates habitat for many estuarine and aquatic animals who need these areas to survive,” Neils Lindquist of Sandbar says.
Breuer shares that the project is supporting the town with proactive measures in the protection of the shoreline and it is being funded through money given from the state General Assembly to the North Carolina Coastal Federation.
“The Surf City Living Shoreline Project reflects the support of the NC General Assembly in furthering the coastwide adoption of living shoreline techniques,” Tracy Skrabal with the North Carolina Coastal Federation says. “Partnerships and projects such as these provide successful, cost-effective alternatives to traditional hardening approaches such as bulkheads. It is a true win-win for our communities and the health of our estuaries.”
The Town of Surf City says the construction for the project is scheduled for Aug. 15 and will take several days to complete.
More information on the project can be found here and more information on living shorelines can be found here.
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