Riprap & Living Shoreline on Barnegat Bay, NJ
Most of Barnegat Bay's waterfront is dredged lagoon, and those hard-edged lots stay bulkheaded. But the bay also has open shoreline and marsh edge where a vertical wall is not the best answer, and there a softer approach holds better and increasingly permits easier. Barnegat Bay Bulkhead builds riprap revetments and living shorelines as well as walls.
What a Living Shoreline Is
A living shoreline stops erosion with graded stone, sand, and marsh grass instead of a bulkhead. We build a low rock sill just off the bank, place sand behind it, and plant native marsh in the sand. The sill and the marsh absorb wave and wake energy and hold the edge, and the marsh keeps growing and repairing itself. On the open bay it adds back the marsh habitat the dredging and the bulkheads took away, and it filters the water instead of reflecting energy onto the next lot.
Riprap for the Harder Edges
Where a bank takes steady wave and boat wake, a riprap revetment, a graded rock slope keyed into the bank over filter fabric, is the durable answer, and it can be combined with marsh plantings behind it. Riprap absorbs wave energy instead of reflecting it, drains freely, and has no anchors or sheathing to fail. We size the stone and the slope to the energy the shoreline actually takes.
Lagoon or Open Shoreline
The method has to match the edge. A dredged lagoon lot with neighbors' walls on both sides is a bulkhead, full stop. An open-bay or marsh-edge lot, or a larger natural shoreline, is where a living shoreline or a riprap sill belongs. We read your edge and the wave energy on it, and recommend the approach that holds, not the one that is easiest to sell.
Built to the NJDEP Permit
Shoreline stabilization on the bay runs through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and living shorelines have their own permit pathways that the state has worked to streamline. We design to what is permittable and prepare the application for the work we build, whether that is a wall, riprap, a living shoreline, or a hybrid.
Watching your bay edge wash away? Call (732) 555-0164 and we will tell you whether your shoreline wants a wall, rock, marsh, or a mix.
What is a living shoreline on the bay?
It is erosion control that uses graded stone, sand, and marsh grass instead of a vertical wall. A low rock sill is built just off the bank, sand is placed behind it, and native marsh grass is planted in the sand. The marsh and the sill absorb wave and wake energy and hold the edge, and the marsh keeps growing and self-repairing. On the open, marshy shoreline of Barnegat Bay, away from the dredged lagoons, it can hold a bank better than a wall and it adds the habitat the bay has lost.
Can a living shoreline work on my lot, or do I need a bulkhead?
It depends on the shoreline. The dredged lagoon lots have hard edges and neighbors' walls on both sides, so they almost always stay bulkheaded. The open-bay and marsh-edge lots, and larger natural shorelines, are where a living shoreline or a riprap sill fits. We read your edge, the wave and wake it takes, and what the NJDEP will approve, and recommend the one that will actually hold.
Is riprap allowed on Barnegat Bay?
Yes, in the right place and with the right permit. A riprap revetment, a graded rock slope keyed into the bank over filter fabric, is a recognized shoreline treatment through the NJDEP, and on a bank taking real wave energy it is durable and drains freely with no anchors or sheathing to fail. On the more natural bay shorelines it is often combined with marsh plantings for a living shoreline that also armors the toe.
Is a living shoreline cheaper than a bulkhead?
On a suitable open shoreline it can be, and the state increasingly favors it, which can ease the permit. A rock sill and plantings can cost less than a driven vinyl wall and have nothing to fail later. The trade is that it needs the right, lower-energy site and a season or two for the marsh to establish. On a hard lagoon lot a bulkhead is still the answer; on an open marsh edge the living shoreline is often the better value.