Office of Coastal Management

Shoreline Protection Project Underway in St. Charles

A demonstration project aimed at shoreline protection in St. Charles parish is now underway announced Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) coastal officials today. Phase I of construction of the Lake Salvadore Shoreline Protection demonstration project has begun on the north shore of Lake Salvador adjacent to the Lake Salvador Wildlife Management Area, said DNR project manager Kenneth Bahlinger. The project will test four types of innovative shoreline protection structures, Bahlinger reported.

Grated apex, angled timber fence, vinyl sheet pile, and geotextile tubes are the types of structures that will be tested at the site where high wave energy, unstable soils, and eroding shoreline occur. Bahlinger said the work is to be completed in about four months. By obtaining information from this demonstration project, future projects in similar environments may be constructed on a larger scale.

The project is a Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (Breaux Act) restoration project funded by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the state. NMFS project manager Tim Osborn reported the cost of the project to be $1,075,730. The contractor for the shoreline protection project is Bertucci Contracting Co.

For more information on this topic contact Kenneth Bahlinger , DNR's Coastal Restoration Division Project Manager at (504) 342-7362 or call Tim Osborn, NMFS Project Manager at (301) 713-0174.

Editors: For more information on this topic, please contact the DNR Public Information Office at (504) 342-8955.