Bioengineered edge
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The bioengineered edge is a stabilized bank which utilizes reinforced soil and native plants to not only hold the shore line in place but also to help clean the water as it runs off into the river. The design uses a sheet pile wall at the bottom to hold the edge in place and then steps back horizontally as it rises above the water level. Each step back incorporates a “geogrid” which is really just a net-like reinforcing filled with soil which keeps the soil in place but allows water to pass through it. The soil is then planted with native plant species such as “sweet pepper,” hydrangea, winterberry, mountain laurel, and arrowwood viburnum.
In different seasons, the bioedge gives a very different feel. Below are three photos: the first a detail of the plants in July, the second looking upriver in early summer and the last from the early spring,
Plants Bioengineered Edge - Detail
Bioengineered Ege looking upriver toward the Key Bridge
Bioengineered Edge Spring 2009
