NORFOLK, Va., Aug. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oysters, river
otters, shore birds, and other wildlife have a new place to call
home along an industrial stretch of the Elizabeth River that
Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) has reclaimed as a living
shoreline.
The innovative sustainability project, completed recently, has
transformed a stretch of severely eroded shoreline at the
railroad's Lamberts Point terminal into a green oasis in an area
where ship repair and port businesses operate. The initiative
advances significant environmental, community, and business
goals.
"This project reflects our long-standing commitment to be a good
community steward," said Josh
Raglin, chief sustainability officer. "We are restoring
habitat that not only beautifies the shoreline and contributes to a
healthy river ecosystem, but also will help protect important
business assets at our terminal. We view it as a sustainability
triple play."
For years, Norfolk Southern has worked closely with the
Elizabeth River Project, a community nonprofit in Hampton Roads whose mission is to restore and
preserve the river. The partnership led to the living shoreline, a
creative business solution that generates environmental benefits
while combatting erosion that in the future could threaten an
access road and tracks at the Lamberts Point terminal. In a region
impacted by rising tides, this natural approach will provide better
long-term protection and is more cost-efficient than hardening the
shoreline with rocks – a common engineering solution of the
past.
"This is one of the region's largest living shorelines created
by a business on the river," said Marjorie
Mayfield Jackson, executive director of the Elizabeth River
Project. "Norfolk Southern's project is entirely voluntary and is a
great example of a corporation giving back to a river it depends
on. For a region that is wrestling with sea-level rise and
adaptation, it's really a great model for others on how you can
bring back a beautiful, vibrant shore and also contain future
erosion."
The restored shoreline site is roughly 9 acres and extends along
the shore at a length of nearly three football fields. Before the
project, broken pilings and pieces of bulkhead poked above
the river, and waves had scoured away the beach, leaving steep,
15-foot-tall cliffs.
Now, the shoreline is restored with more than 2,300 cubic yards
of sand, roughly 200 dump truck loads. A series of small rock
breakwaters installed near the shoreline break the energy of waves
as they roll toward shore. Around 90 cubic yards of recycled oyster
shells are layered on the backside of the breakwaters to create
inviting habitat for oysters, known for their ability to clean and
purify water. To help stabilize the shoreline and enhance the
"living" part of the project, nearly 24,000 plantings of spartina
marsh grass, a native saltwater grass, provides wetlands habitat
for fish and other wildlife. Eventually, the grasses will grow to
be 3- to 5-feet tall.
Norfolk Southern selected Dewberry, a professional services firm
with a Virginia Beach office, as
design engineer and to manage construction of the living shoreline
project. Carolina Marine Structures of Powells Point, North Carolina, constructed the
project.
Norfolk Southern participates in the Elizabeth River Project's
"River Star" program, having
achieved Model Level status, the highest rating for a River Star business partner. NS has gained that
status in large part through environmental projects at the Lamberts
Point facility that conserve water and promote a cleaner river. NS,
for example, has installed a storm water recycling system at the
terminal that collects, treats, and reuses storm water for business
processes, saving the city anywhere from 10 to 15 million gallons
of water annually.
The living shoreline reinforces the community partnership,
Raglin said.
"It's rethinking how we do business and looking at other
options," Raglin explained. "This was an opportunity for a
lower-cost solution that has positive environmental benefits. We
think it's going to be a better option long-term because coastal
environments are very resilient if we can re-establish them
appropriately."
For additional information on Norfolk Southern's living
shoreline, click here.
About Norfolk Southern
Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation's
premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway
Company subsidiary operates approximately 19,500 route miles in 22
states and the District of
Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern
United States, and provides
efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern is a
major transporter of industrial products, including chemicals,
agriculture, and metals and construction materials. In addition,
the railroad operates the most extensive intermodal network in the
East and is a principal carrier of coal, automobiles, and
automotive parts.
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SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation