Brandenburg Park Shoreline and Habitat Restoration
Design Enhances Natural Environment and Provides Enriched Educational Opportunities for Recreational Users
Brandenburg Park, located on the shore of Lake St. Clair in Chesterfield Township, Michigan, is an important regional fishing destination, boat launch and waterfront recreation facility for its surrounding Great Lakes system communities. The area has always been and continues to be an ecologically significant habitat for fish and wildlife in the region.
For decades, increasing industrial, agricultural and residential development has degraded the park’s 750-foot seawall and eroded the soils behind it—destabilizing the structure, fragmenting the natural habitat and reducing safe access for park users to lakefront recreation. Through collaboration with the Great Lakes Commission and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Chesterfield Township partnered with OHM Advisors to complete a shoreline and habitat restoration design at Brandenburg Park.
Our experts assessed and studied 740 linear feet of shoreline and 1.5 acres of shoreline and aquatic habitat and designed a plan that included seawall removal and the implementation of bioengineered shoreline stabilization methods combined with habitat structure designs to support native populations of fish, amphibians, macro-invertebrates, herpetofauna and migratory birds. The design also included the construction of rock sills along 200 feet of shoreline to create wetland pockets and increase habitat complexity. Our team handled permitting, Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPP) production and reporting and coordinated efforts between multiple entities at the federal, state, and local levels in order to deliver a successful project on schedule and budget and to the specifications of the project needs.
The result of this shoreline and habitat restoration design is an enhanced natural environment supporting native populations of biodiversity and providing recreational users enriched educational opportunities and renewed connections to functioning ecosystems.
Project Highlights: environmental engineering, engineering design, structural evaluation, ADA compliance, public engagement, survey, state and federal regulatory compliance
Before this project, no one walked by the shoreline—they would look at it and keep moving. One creative solution was turning the construction access road into a multi-use path, and we see people biking and walking on it throughout the day. Stepping stones and other new features bring people to the water's edge and enhances the experience for park visitors.
