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SHORELINE REHABILITATION AT GROSSE ILE NATURE AREA The Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy is an independent, non-profit corporation founded in 1993 by Island residents to preserve in perpetuity significant land and water resources within the community. In the summer of 2003 the Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy, in partnership with the Greater Detroit American Heritage River (AHR) Initiative, rehabilitated 280 feet of shoreline at the Grosse Ile Nature Area using soft engineering techniques. The shoreline is part of the old Nike Missile base and is located in Gibraltar Bay. The missile base was created in the 1950s by filling in a shallow section of the Detroit River. The base was closed in the early 1960s and was dismantled in the early 1990s. Since the shoreline has not been natural for some time, exotic plants species such as Phragmytes and purple loosestrife have colonized it. Nativescapes, Inc. designed the new shoreline. This new technology utilizes biodegradable plastic tubes (fibersock or Soil Sock) placed at the edge of the shoreline. Clean-composted recycled yard waste and small stone is pneumatically pumped into the tubes along with a mixture of native emergent plant seeds. The fibersock was then placed along the shoreline edge and anchored in place. The compost mixture was back filled into the space between the tube and the old shoreline creating a new aquatic shelf. A geofabric blanket was then placed over this back fill to stabilize the area until the plants grew. A group of Grosse Ile high school students planted about 1,400 emergent plant roots in the resulting aquatic shelf. Over time, there will be a deposition of material in front of the fibersock. The fibersock will degrade and will result in a new natural shoreline with native emergent plants. This technique has generated great interest and has many potential applications. It was first used for stream bank stabilization in the south. By blowing the compost material into stone riprap, the plant seeds will took root and vegetated the riprap creating a more natural shoreline. The second phase of this project involves completing the remaining Detroit River shoreline at the Grosse Ile Nature Area using this soft engineering technique. It is planned for 2004. Estimated cost of completing the shoreline is $80,000.

 

Region 3, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1 Federal Drive BHW Federal Building Fort Snelling, MN 55111 E-Mail Us! R3 External Affairs

Dr. John H. Hartig, Refuge Manager Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Large Lakes Research Station 9311 Groh Road Grosse Ile, MI 48138 Phone: 734-692-7608 Fax: 734-692-7603 E-mail: john_hartig@fws.gov