The Swift Tract Living Shoreline project in Alabama is now under construction! The first rock was placed on September 30, 2016. This project will install a breakwater to protect the shoreline and provide habitat that was historically present. Construction is expected to continue through the end of the year.
The $5 million project was part of the third phase of early restoration after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It will reduce shoreline erosion along approximately 1.6 miles of eroding shoreline within the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve management area. It will also restore approximately three acres of intertidal oyster reef habitat that was once present in the region.
This project builds off of an existing half-mile living shoreline project constructed by The Nature Conservancy in 2011. Over time, the breakwaters are expected to develop into reefs that support species like shrimp, crabs, and oysters.