Sign Up. Stay Informed.
Location
Scofield Island is a 2.4-mile long barrier island located between Scofield Bayou and the merger of Bay Coquette and the Gulf of Mexico, west of the active Mississippi River bird’s foot delta in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
Issue Addressed
The island was disappearing. It has experienced substantial impacts from storms, relative sea level rise, and anthropogenic influences. The combined effects have caused landward transgression, island breaching, wetlands loss, and adverse impacts to fisheries.
Project Goals
The project rebuilds a barrier island, creating 238 acres of beach and dune, and 398 acres of marsh. The dune will be 6 feet high and approximately 640 feet wide along 11,400 feet of shoreline. It will mature to approximately 434 acres of barrier island and wetland habitat at year 20 of the project design life.
-
- Approximately 2.1 million cubic yards of material will be cut from a borrow area in the Mississippi River, and transported via a 20-mile pipeline, to provide 1.6 million cubic yards of sand for the dune platform.
-
- Approximately 2.8 million cubic yards of marsh fill material will be cut from a borrow area 3 miles south of the island to provide 1.7 million cubic yards for the marsh platform.
-
- Retention dikes will be gapped to ensure marsh platform tidal exchange. The dune and marsh will be planted with native plants, including black mangroves.
-
- The project uses sand dredged from the Mississippi River, transported via 20 miles of pipeline that crosses two hurricane protection levees, passes under two highways and crosses a 10-mile navigation waterway.
Project Type:
Barrier Island/Headland Restoration
Project Information:
Project number: BA-40
Estimated Total Cost: $$60.8 million
Land Benefited: 234 acres