The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection project, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, restored 42 acres of wetland, stream and salt marsh habitat to the Hackensack River in northeast New Jersey, providing new habitats for several species of birds and fish and providing coastline support against climate change. The tidal marsh, which was originally designed to offset damage from a 1990 oil spill in the Arthur Kill channel, has been incorporated into the 270-acre Lincoln Park in Jersey City and includes walking trails and recreational space.
The Lincoln Park design team, made up of primarily CJF and CJR personnel, working for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created a design to return half of this blighted section of Jersey City back to a fully functional tidal marsh. The other half is being developed by the Hudson County Improvement Authority into a nine-hole public golf course. The wetland restoration included clearing illegally-dumped debris, excavation of over 250,000 cubic yards of material to restore the correct marsh elevations, adding 4,000 feet of new inter-tidal channels and connecting the pond to the Hackensack River, which will restore the tidal flushing to the pond.
The project is an integral piece of a larger ecological recovery effort launched by a partnership of the Department of Environmental Protection, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and local agencies in Hudson County, N.J. LBG conducted the entire design package, including environmental sampling and data evaluation, geotechnical investigations for the proposed walkway and bridge, acquisition of all necessary permits, development of draft and final design plans and specifications, cost estimates, bid packages, a site specific health and safety plan and full construction oversight.
The project team received a 2010 Project Merit Award from the Environmental Business Journal for innovative tidal reconstruction work. LBG will continue to perform post-construction monitoring and adaptive management until August of 2013.