Environmental Enhancement of Infrastructure
Ashtabula Harbor Breakwater Tern Nesting Habitat Ashtabula, Ohio, United States
This demonstration project utilized design features built into Ashtabula Harbor Breakwater—a rubble mound structure used to protect the Ashtabula Harbor—to create nesting habitat for a state-listed endangered bird species, the common tern. The design features were initially incorporated during the first phase of the project, which was implemented in 2013. Toe blocks were cast with deep recesses in the top; the recesses, when filled with gravel, created an area that the tern would use for nesting. In 2014, a second phase of construction was completed that doubled the size of the nesting area. The project broadened the benefits provided by the breakwater and demonstrated that options can be economically employed during maintenance activities that increase infrastructure benefits consistent with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature (EWN) principles. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and the USACE Dredging Operations and Environmental Research (DOER) program sponsored the development of the nesting habitat site, which was constructed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in coordination with USACE Buffalo District (LRB).
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