Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Chicago District, with the help of its sister districts in Detroit and Buffalo, hosted a Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Great Lakes Inspection Tour (GLINT) to engage local, state and federal senior leaders and develop strategic partnerships with a focus on improving Great Lakes coastal resiliency.
The tour included visits to Greenwood Beach in Evanston, Illinois, Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) Section 1122 beneficial use of dredged material pilot project; Illinois Beach State Park rubble ridge pilot project’s stone placement below lake surface; Kenosha Dunes, Wisconsin, natural and nature based features project; and Milwaukee Harbor for the port’s perspective on infrastructure resiliency and coastal habitat restoration.
“We are here at the Great Lakes Inspection Tour visiting projects and people along the coastline of Lake Michigan in Illinois and Wisconsin, and if there is one word that can sum up what we’re witnessing in these days that is partnership, and we cannot do these important projects without the great teamwork that we have at the federal, tribal, state, and local community levels,” said Scott Katalenich, commander of the USACE Detroit District. “All the way through is that teamwork with collaboration and communication that makes us able to deliver our program for the Great Lakes region.”
The first stop was at Greenwood Beach in Evanston, Illinois, one of only 10 projects nationwide to explore innovative applications of beneficial use of dredged material. The project involves onshore placement of 60,000 cubic yards of material on six municipal beaches within four communities.
Diane Tecic, director of the IDNR Coastal Management Program (CMP), discussed how the Beneficial Use of Dredged Material Pilot Project (section 1122) came together. And that, since 2015, Illinois' Coastal Management Program has been convening and facilitating coastal community leaders and managers, and federal and state staff to discuss shoreline management challenges.
“An important component of this work at the beginning was building knowledge among the communities, and that although each community manages its own lands, all the communities are dealing with a much larger regional lake system, so it is important to work together, as a region,” she said. “The group was informally organized as the Shoreline Management Working Group (SMWG) where members identified challenges and organized into teams to work on specific issues. And one of those issues was to develop concepts for demonstration projects.”
Tecic also explained that the most obvious, short-term concept was to take sand dredged from places where it is a problem (e.g. Waukegan Harbor approach channel) and place it on beaches that need the sand. But this had not been done and four communities wanted the opportunity to explore the challenges and hurdles of doing this.
“When the WRDA Bill that included section 1122 beneficial use of dredged material pilot program was announced, the demonstration project team of the SMWG had already done initial planning, so they were well-positioned to apply for the pilot program,” she said. “This project has been an excellent opportunity to work together with federal agencies and identify the challenges and work through any issues so that eventually this concept can be used for other areas in Illinois and around the Great Lakes.”
The team also visited the Illinois Beach State Park Rubble Ridge Pilot Project in Zion, Illinois, a project that will determine the effectiveness of underwater rubble ridges in breaking waves, reducing shore erosion and improving habitat, executed for the EPA through the Economy Act utilizing Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding.
At Illinois Beach State Park, CMP highlighted another pilot project that is the result of an extensive partnership and innovative thinking. The rubble ridge shoreline protection pilot project was designed by a group of landscape architects working with engineers and basing their design on extensive data collection and monitoring. The rubble ridge structure, unlike a typical large breakwater, is designed to slow wave energy gradually over a longer area, instead of simply stopping the wave energy at a single location.
“It is designed to be more flexible and moveable because it is constructed with smaller stones that initially mimic hardened sand bars,” Tecic said. “The smaller stones also create underwater habitat. The project was funded primarily through GLRI, and as this is a pilot/demonstration project, geologic, hydrologic, and biological monitoring will be done for three to five years to determine the effectiveness of the structure under varying conditions.”
In Wisconsin, the group toured Kenosha Dunes use of Natural and Nature-based Features Project, a project that will beneficially place dredged material in the nearshore area, and Wisconsin’s plans for innovative natural and nature-based features to protect and restore the nature preserve.
At Milwaukee Harbor, the group received an overview of impacts to existing navigation assets from extreme Lake Michigan conditions and efforts to improve infrastructure resiliency and restore coastal habitat within the harbor and estuary.
“It’s been a beautiful day seeing many of our great projects and some of our prospective projects, and I can say with confidence the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and principles with engineering with nature are essential to the future of our environment and quality of life on the Great Lakes,” Lt. Col. Eli Adams, commander of the USACE Buffalo District, said. “We’re especially proud to be a part of several innovative and unique solutions to the environment here on the Great Lakes as well as working with our partners. And so, you know with the commitment and teamwork of our federal, state, and local partners there is no challenge that can’t be overcome.”