AMI Consulting Engineers, PA provide coastal, marine civil, and bio engineering design solutions for 200 feet of eroding trail along the St. Louis Estuary. AMI performed an initial site survey of the shoreline, coastal infrastructure, and near shore bathymetry to determine the extents of the shoreline damage and document any unique coastal features. A coastal engineer/certified drone pilot took photos of the existing shoreline and documented damaged areas. AMI documented several potential wetlands along the shoreline and future construction area, so AMI performed a wetland delineation to determine the extents of the types of wetlands along the shoreline.

Following the topographic surveying, AMI provided several preliminary design solutions ranging from harder armoring to softer stabilization techniques to restore the land lost due to erosion and protect the restored section of shoreline from future erosion. Each design solution was presented with preliminary renderings, estimated construction costs, and expected life span. Designs included coir logs, brush bundles, live facines, live stakes, rootwads, vegetated walls, vegetated mechanically stabilized earth walls, stone sills, and armor stone revetments. A hybrid design was selected that included an armored toe, vegetated slope, vegetated riprap and coir logs. AMI performed wave runup and overtopping calculations to determine the maximum height of the armoring and where native vegetation would be enough to stabilize the slope.