LIVING LAKESHORE

SAUGATUCK, MICHIGAN

Located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, this residential property has faced the threat of worsening coastal erosion due to persistent wave action, historically high water levels, and more frequent storm events wearing away at an exposed bluff. BLD was commissioned to develop a cost-effective solution to protect, revegetate, and remediate the existing landscape. 

The property is situated on a clay bluff, an uncommon shoreline landform, localized along portions of the Great Lakes. Known for their steep and visually dramatic rises of up to 100 feet, clay bluffs are highly susceptible to erosion from wave action and underlying groundwater. After researching geographical data and conducting reconnaissance, including site measurements as well as land-based and aerial photography, BLD determined that a bioengineered landscaping solution was the ideal ecologically-sensitive solution to stabilize the landscape. 

BLD’s bioengineered solution utilizes natural materials and live-staked plants in order to protect the eroding bluff and provide opportunities to replenish the degraded slope. As they grow, the live-staked plantings will establish root networks and new growth to further protect the slope and to naturally lock sediments in place.

The Living Lakeshore was installed in the fall of 2022 and successfully defended the clay bluff shoreline over the following winter, after several consecutive years of severe erosion. BLD’s bioengineered solution has progressively established itself, and will be even better suited to defend and restore the shoreline in the years ahead. Bioengineering avoids the ecological challenges of harder engineering solutions to shoreline erosion and actively supports surrounding ecologies instead of degrading them. BLD’s innovative bioengineered solution was able to protect the landscape for a fraction of the cost of harder engineering solutions.