Years of marsh loss and subsidence along the seaward side of the back levees of Joshua Marina, located in Buras, Louisiana, compromised the integrity of these back levees, which protect against storm surge to this coastal community. Plaquemines Parish retained Waggoner to design a solution to protect this important infrastructure.

The State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) provided the Parish with matching funding for this $2.4M total project. The CIAP requires living shoreline treatments that do not sever natural processes and connections between uplands and aquatic areas. Therefore, the final design’s major components were a bioengineered artificial oyster reef breakwater and an earthen berm. The artificial reef system was installed inside the marina to protect the surrounding marsh and back levee in this relatively lower wave energy environment. An earthen berm was constructed north and south of the marina entrance to stabilize the remaining marsh in front of the levee.