This park became the first breakwaters, freshwater, and rural project to achieve WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) Verification.
Home to six miles of natural lake shoreline and over 4,000 acres of public park, Illinois Beach State Park faces chronic erosion from Lake Michigan waves and evolving climate change impacts. With portions of the site eroding away at over 100 feet per year, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Capital Development with design-build team lead Moffatt & Nichol, set into motion the Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project. In December 2023, this park became the first breakwaters, freshwater, and rural project to achieve WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) Verification, and the first to complete its WEDG Verification using the new WEDG V3.0.
WEDG is a national rating system and gold standard for resilient, ecological, and accessible waterfront design. External specialists in engineering, architecture, and landscape architecture determined that the project exceeded the requirements for WEDG Verification, earning 146 out of 250 possible points in the standard (130 are needed to pass). In October 2023, the standard expanded to include inland rivers and lakes.
The project team devised an environmentally balanced approach to stabilize, renourish, and protect Illinois Beach State Park. This undertaking is a part of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan intended to reinvest in the state’s infrastructure. Illinois Beach State Park received $73 million for the construction of shoreline stabilization structures across three locations in the park. The result of this investment will transform the beach into an ecologically thriving environment and maintain a lasting crucial resource for parkgoers.
Renourishing & Protecting the Shoreline
To protect the beach from the threat of ongoing erosion, the project team designed 22 stone breakwaters. These breakwaters will reduce transmission of wake energy before it reaches the shoreline and upland habitat. The resilient structures will also help maintain about 2.2 miles of sandy beachfront. Construction of the Kellogg Creek groin will ensure that cobbles and stone are retained, and sand is deposited at the mouth of the creek when water level rises. In turn, sand will be cleared and drained into the lake, reducing upstream flooding and restoring upland wetlands.
The project team was conscious of the park user’s experience, purposefully arranging the breakwaters to allow for unobstructed waterfront views between the structures and choosing stone material for a more natural appearance. The widened beach also restored an eroded trail connection along Burnett Avenue, improving pedestrian pathways.
Building for Habitation
With an overarching goal to restore habitat, the project team integrated under and over water habitat elements into the breakwaters’ design. The rough surfaces of the stone breakwaters will provide aquatic habitats for mudpuppies and yellow perch. One breakwater will host nests for Caspian and common terns with incorporated predator deterrent components to encourage colonial nesting behavior. The newly stabilized beach will also increase connectivity between the beach and internationally significant and rare wetland, which will support nesting habitat for federally endangered Great Lakes piping plovers.
Breakwater Section. Credit: Living Habitats
Repurposing Site Materials
To minimize construction debris disposal, enhance biodiversity, and protect habitat creation during construction, the project team tactically reused site materials. Salvaged concrete ecoblocks will be repurposed into vegetated blocks that will promote root structure among plant species, provide refuge for juvenile fish, and encourage vegetation growth. Repurposed driftwood and cut trees create natural windrows along the edge of the beach fill template to create a natural barrier between the beach activities and wetland habitats.
The renourishment, resilience, and ecology of Illinois Beach State Park will allow parkgoers to enjoy a flourishing natural lake shoreline and direct connection to Lake Michigan for years to come. This project demonstrates that the leading principles of WEDG are not only possible to incorporate on freshwater sites, but imperative, too.
The Project Team
The collaborative efforts between the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Capital Development Board with design-build team lead Moffatt & Nichol have led to the WEDG Verification of the Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project. Other project partners included:
- American Surveying/Engineering: surveying
- Carmona Strategic Solutions: stakeholder outreach
- Collins Engineering: construction quality and site civil design
- Living Habitats LLC: habitat design and landscape architecture
- Michels Construction, Inc.: contractor, design-build team lead
- Moffatt & Nichol: coastal design, design team lead
- SmithGroup: bridging document design, owner’s engineer
- Wang Engineering: geotechnical site investigation
- Edgewater Resources: design work in a previous phase of the project
Waterfront Alliance congratulates the whole team in its endeavor to protect Illinois Beach State Park and looks forward to the project’s anticipated completion in spring 2024. View the official project case study.
Questions about the WEDG Verification process can be directed to Joseph Sutkowi, Chief Waterfront Design Officer at Waterfront Alliance, at [email protected].
