Birmingham fights Rouge River erosion with new initiative

metromode, 9/28/2009

Birmingham's Booth Park is getting a little bit of river bank restoration love this fall, thanks to a new city improvement project.

The city is focusing on the prevention of river erosion on the Rouge River at the point where it enters the 4-acre park, just north of downtown. A sharp bend in the river causes the western bank to erode with the river's current. To remedy this problem, city staff are trying to straighten out the river and reinforce a city seawall already in place.

"That's in there to prevent North Old Woodward from sliding into the river," says Brendan Cousino, assistant city engineer for Birmingham.

To help prevent this, workers are clearing out some space for flooding and native plantings to soak up some of the water that rushes through. They are also placing some rock structures in the river bed to help center the river flow.

The project is expected to wrap up in October.

Source: Brendan Cousino, assistant city engineer for Birmingham
Writer: Jon Zemke

Birmingham