Location
United States / Americas
Project record
United States Duke Marine Lab marsh-sill living shoreline
- Participation
- Not assessed
- Project facts checked
Restoration completed in 2002; NOAA reports stable sill geometry through a 2025 resurvey and long-term marsh monitoring.
The 2002 Duke Marine Lab project replaced a hardened shoreline with sand fill, marsh vegetation and an 80 m granite sill. NOAA's monitoring summary reports stable stonework but marsh-zone elevation gains below local sea-level rise. Future maintenance depends on both structural condition and position in the tidal frame.
Photo credit: Duke Marine Lab shortly after construction and planting; restoration completed in 2002, exact photograph date unspecified.
Source: NOAA NCCOS, Site Report: Duke Marine Lab, Figure 2 (p. 2). Historical photograph shortly after construction and planting; restoration completed in 2002, exact photo date unspecified. NOAA NCCOS (institutional source) / Original source. NOAA material reuse and credit conditions: NOAA source-use policy.
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Segment
Living shoreline sill and intertidal marsh
Phase
Completed / Confirmed
Last checked
4 November 2026
Coverage
Related sectors
Living shoreline sill and intertidal marsh is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.
Subject index
Related subjects
These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.
Project anatomy
Contract scope and delivery roles
- Client / authority
- Duke University Marine Lab and North Carolina Coastal Federation; original restoration funded by NOAA's Community Based Restoration Program
- Delivery parties
- Construction contractor unspecified in the cited NOAA site report.
- Contract route
- Historical collaborative restoration supported by NOAA funding. Current works participation is unassessed.
- Execution window
- Original restoration completed in 2002. Surface elevation table observations began in 2004 and vegetation observations in 2008. NOAA's archive-page span is 12 October 2004-10 April 2025. The site report compares original and 2025 sill surveys; its marsh and sea-level averages cover 2004-24.
- Works package
- Removal of the previous seawall and cement fish pens; placement of clean sand fill graded to 8%; construction of an 80 m granite sill and an approximately 2 ft sand berm at the upland transition; low- and high-marsh planting. Two 6 ft sill depressions, approximately 1 ft below the other crest sections, provide fish access in NOAA's site description.
- Marine interfaces
- The western Pivers Island shoreline lies in a small basin, with maximum fetch reported below 1 km and average waves of 10-15 cm. The sill crest and lowered sections affect inundation and habitat access. NOAA reports wave attenuation of 45% on average and 88% at maximum from gauges on either side of the sill.
- Commercial evidence boundary
- Stable stonework and declining marsh elevation relative to water lead to different maintenance scopes. Common-datum crest and marsh surveys help the owner distinguish structural repair from intervention in the marsh or sill level. Current repair budget, contract and payment terms are unknown.
Evidence gap
What remains unverified
Outstanding evidence
- Current common-datum crest, marsh-zone and local water-level surveys
- Performance thresholds and any issued maintenance design
- Water exchange and habitat effects of changes to the sill or marsh level
Reporting status
- Project phase
- Completed
- Evidence confidence
- Confirmed
- Last checked
- 4 November 2026
- Cited sources
- 4
Sources and related records
Project changes Methodology Email a correction Project tracker
Source collections
Project sources 4
- Site Report: Duke Marine Lab Living Shoreline, pages 1-5 Davis, Walker, Puckett, LeClaire, Bost and Giannelli; NOAA NCCOS, Undated posted version, including 2025 surveys; accessed 4 November 2026
- Duke Marine Lab Sill monitoring archive, NCEI Accession 0306220 NOAA NCCOS, 30 April 2026; observations 12 October 2004-10 April 2025
- Living Shorelines: Coastal Resilience with a Blue Carbon Benefit Davis et al.; PLOS ONE 10(11), e0142595, 16 November 2015; site identity and methods, pages 3-5
- Evaluating Nature-Based Solution Performance NOAA NCCOS, Undated programme page; accessed 4 November 2026