To stabalize eroding streambanks our designs often employ bioengineering techniques as well as native plantings.
Little Cedar Creek, City of Allentown, PA, 1991
Creative Habitat designed a natural stream edge for Little Cedar Creek, which runs through Allentown's Trexler Park. This project was a streambank stabilization based on the judicious use of coir logs and coir based live roll-sod. As is typical for many urban streams, the stream receives significant amounts of stormwater discharge. The methods employed by Creative Habitat restored an erosion proof toe and reintroduced plantings typical for a small stream. The installation has been noticed publicly for its aesthetic value and nationally by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps was particularly impressed with the hydrological performance of this project, which since it's installation survived a 100-year storm event without sustaining damage (estimated velocities in excess of 20 f/s).
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 The badly eroded banks of Little Cedar Creek prior to restoration. |
 Restored banks were reinforced with plantings and biodegradable erosion control fabrics. |
 Lawns mowed to the water's edge were a contributing factor to these steep eroding banks. |
 Plantings of native vegetation help anchor the banks against floods. |
Fretz Valley Stream, Bedminster, Bucks County, PA, 1996
Severe storms had damaged a small bridge and the Fretz Valley stream was threatening to undermine a rural road in eastern Pennsylvania. Creative Habitat designed and guided PennDOT crews through a streambank stabilization project that used rooted willow cuttings layered between soft gabions covered with coconut fiber mesh bioengineering fabric. The planting has been very successful in protecting the embankment against further erosion.
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 Prior to restoration, serious erosion was posing a threat to the roadway. |
 Just a year after restoration, plantings of native vegetation, including willow, are stabilizing the banks and improving habitat for stream life. |
