Stream Bank Erosion

The area below Heron Ridge Bridge and just upstream from the bridge, has had some extreme erosion in the past few years.  The photo above was taken yesterday.  The “cube” seen in the photo is one square yard and gives a perspective about how bad the erosion is.  If you are standing on the Heron Ridge Street Bridge and look downstream you can see it.

The picture above shows the other side of this area.  Gee Creek takes a long meander and comes back to this side.  Both sides have had   increasing erosion in the past few years.  The trees I’ve planted have some value in preventing erosion.  However, they need 5 to 10 years to be effective.   Here the bank is almost vertical, and trees will not be able to prevent erosion.  Some of the trees I had planted on both sides have fallen into the creek.    If nothing is done here, then it is likely that this entire meander may be lost.  This is the case downstream as well where some of the meanders have already been lost.  Gee Creek is wider, deeper, and straighter than in the past and it’s all due to stream bank erosion.   The cause is changes in flows due to development of the watershed.