Corps assists park service in protecting parkway from river

By Mr. Patrick J Bloodgood (USACE)June 20, 2013

Sunrise on stabilization
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Contractors use rock to stabilize the York River shoreline along 800 feet of the Colonial National Parkway here June 6, 2013. The area is part of more than four miles of shoreline in need of stabilization due to severe erosion, which is threatening p... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Barging in rock
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption –
Contractors barge in rock to be used in stabilizing the York River shoreline along 800 feet of the Colonial National Parkway here June 6, 2013. The area is part of more than four miles of shoreline that is in need of stabilization due to severe eros... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
VIEW ORIGINAL
Battlefield sun
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Portions of the Yorktown Revolutionary War battlefield are at risk of being washed away due to erosion of the shoreline along the York River here. The Corps of Engineers is working with the National Park Service to stabilize and repair areas at risk ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
New Rock Protection
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Contractors use rock to stabilize the York River shoreline along 800 feet of the Colonial National Parkway here June 6, 2013. The area is part of more than four miles of shoreline in need of stabilization due to severe erosion, which is threatening p... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

YORKTOWN, Va. -- As the York River encroaches on the Colonial Parkway, engineers have found that rocks are part of the answer to fixing critically damaged and eroded shoreline.

That is why contractors, working for the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are using heavy equipment to place large boulders along the edge of the York River to stabilize and strengthen a section of the shoreline.

"We are trying to protect the parkway, which is on the national register of historic places and one of the key elements to the park," said Dorothy Geyer, National Park Service natural resource specialist for Colonial National Historic Park.

Portions of the 23-mile roadway, which connects the site of British Lt. Gen. Lord Cornwallis' surrender to Gen. George Washington ending the Revolutionary War to the site where Capt. John smith and the Virginia Company colonists established the first settlement, are in need of protection from the ever advancing river.

Cara Snydor, Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager, said the last 50 years have taken their toll on the shoreline along the parkway and the work is the first 800 linear feet of more than four miles of shoreline identified to be stabilized along the parkway and Yorktown Battlefield.

According to National Park Service officials, the first section that contractors are working on is the most critically damaged.

"We've had a lot of storms, we've had sea-level rise, and the revetments put in in the 1980's aren't functioning anymore," said Geyer.

Geyer said waves will go over the rock and dig out the back side of the revetments and dig into the hillside.

"The water level has risen enough to make that much worse," she said.

In addition to the parkway, a sloping section of the Revolutionary War battlefield, which the river has begun to claim, is also identified for future shoreline protection. The area is more stable than the area currently under construction -- Geyer said the slopes seem to have stabilized.

Corps and NPS officials say the additional work on the remaining sections of the four miles will be completed in phases and hope to complete the project over the next decade.

We are competing for funding with other parks across the country who are equally in need of construction dollars; it's a competitive process but we remain hopeful that by 2016 we will begin the next phase of work, Geyer said.

Related Links:

USACE News

Norfolk District

Project Web Page

Colonial National Historic Park