Shoreline buffering

[bojans]

We ski on an old quarry with very steep shorelines. As homes have been developed shorelines have become more manicured and with recent high water levels, erosion more of an issue. Not everyone on the lake is a skier and some of the skiers are not as cognizant as they should be about shoreline buffering materials. The ski club owns the lake and has the final say on what can be done or placed on the shore line. Our experience has been that lining the shore with fist to softball size rock does not increase wash back but that may not be sufficient to protect from erosion in some areas. Does anyone have an example of guidelines (or suggestions for guidelines) that our ski club could use that would protect the shoreline and limit wash back?

[Not_The_Pug]

We use filter fabric with 4-6" rip rap on top around our lake with no back wash issues.

[A_B]

Stone quarries call rip rap 1's and 2's. It is the stone size that it refers to.

That will dissipate the waves and protect the shoreline.

My experience is that the range will be 1.5" to about 5" with the bulk of them in the 2.5" to 3.5 " range. These pack pretty well and will prevent water from getting around the stones and damage the banks.

 

 

[RAWSki]

Any photos? @Not_The_Pug how wide is the fabric?

[Not_The_Pug]

I will have to get a picture. The fabric is from a roll, I think 48". It has been down for a long time.

[thompjs]

See https://photos.app.goo.gl/cWCJtckWBuYYZa41A for how we have been doing rock

[thompjs]

We get 12.5ft wide rolls and cut to 4ft or 6ft depending on the area. Usually 4ft

[buoyboy1]

Having owned a lake for the past 18 years I have had better luck with larger (6"-9") rip rap and some slightly smaller to allow it to lock in better. Even it will tend to shift out away from the bank if not stacked deep enough and far enough out. I however only use it on my islands which take the worst beating. I do not use any along the shoreline. You want to make sure the rip rap extends out far enough so the rollers will start to break at the rip rap or you will lose a lot of soil over time. The loss of soil will also make it easier for the rip rap to start sliding out. A wave will want to break when the water depth is about 2/3 to 3/4 of the wave height.

[elr]

Large Bull-rock/Rip Rap makes ingress/egress next to impossible to do safely for people and pets. There are folks at our lakes that wish they never installed it. I would kill the grass back a few feet and use sand.

[Marco]

Here is what we do at our lake. We got 12" minus and added it to the 8"minus we had installed years ago. In front of our homes, we installed small beaches for ease of paddle boarding and water access. Works well. We try to add a load per year to bolster up the weak areas. The water is still coming in and will be in the middle of the rocks when full.