Documentation
Coastal Stabilization Proof of Concept
The full proof-of-concept package prepared with Basalt International: documented Great Lakes case studies, the five-stage recovery process, the permitting pathway and independent engineering validation. Click any page to read it full size.
18 pages. Use the arrows or your keyboard to move between pages.
Download the document (PDF)Documented Great Lakes case studies
Grand Haven, Michigan
Before June 1986 · After August 1999
Federal harbour adjacent beach and dune restoration
Six layers of failed seawall were removed before the recovery system was installed. The site is now a vegetated dune, and the undercurrent stabilizers that reversed the erosion are buried beneath the sand they captured.
Manistee, Michigan
Before 19 December 1993 · After 11 August 1999
State project north of the federal harbour
Undercurrent stabilizers installed north of Scotland Yard Cottages. The project reversed beach erosion north of Orchard Beach State Park.
Lakeside, Michigan
Before 1987 · After June 2000
Aerial before-and-after documentation
A narrow beach with limited dune width recovered to substantial beach widening and vegetative growth, with an improved dune and beach profile.
Muskegon County, Michigan
Before November 1985 · After August 1999
Meinert Park and Duck Lake, public beach and dune restoration
Visible improvement in dune grass, beach width and shoreline condition. At Duck Lake, severe erosion beside a rock revetment was reversed after the stabilizer system was installed.
Douglas, Michigan
Before and after, dates as recorded on site
Vanderplas beach restoration, Lake Michigan
Shoreline reinforced to reduce erosion and protect the bluff, restoring a stable, usable beach with improved access.
Independent engineering validation
25 July 2003 — Ronald J. Kadelski, P.E., Senior Project Manager, Progressive Architecture Engineering
“The shoreline has expanded, the beach has elevated and vegetation on the slope has been re-established.”
- Licensed civil engineer on the 1988 Lakeshore Drive Study in Allegan County, Michigan, where the undercurrent stabilizer technology was recommended as the preferred solution.
- Documented surveys by WBDC, Inc. and Dr. Straw at Western Michigan University indicated the system was a success in 1990 and 1991.
- Repeat personal observation confirmed the system performed as predicted over time.