Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Block Island are known and loved around the world as some of the most beautiful islands to live on and to visit. GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. (GZA) is now involved in helping protect some of the most vulnerable locations on these islands from the growing impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels and coastal erosion.

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This stretch of Corn Neck Road on Block Island, R.I., is one of several locations in New England and around the U.S. where GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. Design With Nature Studio professionals are developing "nature-based approaches" to mitigating impacts of storm surge and rising sea levels. Corn Neck Road is the sole north-south corridor on the 9.7-square-mile island, located 12 miles off the Rhode Island coast, and it has experienced significant damage during severe weather events. PHOTO CREDIT: GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc.

GZA’s coastal resiliency professionals and members of its Design With Nature Studio have been retained by the Town of New Shoreham (the official name of Block Island, R.I.) and two leading Massachusetts land-trust non-profits and conservation organizations, The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees) and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, to address uniquely challenged and fragile coastal ecosystems on all three islands. For all three projects, GZA plans to deploy “nature-based” solutions to strengthen the existing coastal barrier dune and marsh systems. This work is critical not only to protect the extraordinary natural resources in these areas, but also to advance best practices for nature-based approaches in similar habitats and ecosystems.

“As a national environmental science and engineering consulting firm with deep roots in New England, it’s a particular honor for so many GZA staff to be engaged to help protect islands we consider some our greatest local treasures,” said GZA President and CEO Patrick Sheehan. “Through this work, we’re also gaining even deeper experience with and insights into coastal resiliency and nature-based techniques that can help protect special waterfront environment throughout our country.”

A closer look at each of the three projects:

• On Nantucket, GZA is working with The Trustees and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation to explore and develop nature-based solutions to bolster the long-term resilience of the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge’s barrier beaches and salt marsh system. Specifically, Coskata Pond and the Haulover Pond have been identified as sites highly vulnerable to coastal erosion. Protecting the areas around Coskata Woods and the Haulover Pond will be critical to the overall resilience and ecological function of the 1,100-acre, four-parcel refuge owned and managed by The Trustees, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. GZA’s work will use technologies including Real-Time Kinematic surveying (RTK) and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) LiDAR analysis of tidal flats to understand local conditions and how sediments move over time. GZA will design a set of potential solutions to stabilize shorelines, increase salt marsh function, and enhance the local ecosystem’s overall resilience.
• On Chappaquiddick Island in Martha’s Vineyard, The Trustees have retained GZA to assess and devise natural and nature-based solutions to enhance the long-term resilience of the 214-acre Chappaquiddick Island salt marsh system around Cape Poge Bay and Poucha Pond. The project aims to preserve and restore critical habitat and improve tidal exchange while, similar to GZA’s work on Nantucket, fortifying the marsh system’s capacity to withstand threats from coastal erosion and rising sea levels. GZA is conducting hydrologic/hydraulic, wave and sediment transport analyses for existing and future sea level rise conditions that will inform the feasibility of deploying nature-based solutions.
• On Block Island, GZA has been retained by the Town to develop nature-based protections for a 6,000-foot stretch of Corn Neck Road, the sole north-south corridor on the island, which is protected only by dunes and has experienced severe flooding and damage in past extreme weather events including Superstorm Sandy. GZA will prioritize the exploration of innovative and environmentally sensitive "hybrid" solutions to protect the road. This approach will emphasize the implementation of nature-based features such as living shorelines and vegetated buffers, while enhancing the protection of the road infrastructure. GZA’s work is focusing on a narrow stretch of land abutting Scotch Beach and Frederick J. Bensen Town Beach. Work to protect Corn Neck Road is helping the town and property owners qualify for discounts under the National Flood Insurance Protection Community Rating System.

“What’s happening on Corn Neck Road on Block Island, in the Vineyard’s Chappaquiddick marsh system, and on Coskata-Coatue Refuge on Nantucket are three leading examples of the challenges our country and world face from climate change and its attendant worsening storms and rising sea levels,’’ Sheehan said. “Helping communities and property owners address and mitigate these impacts is one of the most important–and growing–areas of focus for GZA as a company.”

About GZA

GZA is a multi-disciplinary, employee-owned firm providing Geotechnical, Environmental, Ecological, Water, and Construction Management services. GZA’s more than 700 professionals are based in 32 offices across the United States. Our corporate headquarters is at 249 Vanderbilt Avenue, Norwood, Mass. 02062.

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