CASE STUDY

CORKSCREW SHORES

Florida Lake Community Restores Hurricane Damaged Shoreline

Corkscrew Shores is a breathtaking community in Estero, Florida, located between Fort Myers and Naples. This residential community looks and feels like a vacation destination. Residents enjoy beautifully maintained grounds and state of the art amenities. The most attractive feature of this community is its dazzling 240-acre lake. The lake is central to Corkscrew Shores and the vast majority of homes have been built along its shoreline.

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Unfortunately, the lake was badly damaged by Hurricane Irma in September of 2017. The damage led to an unsafe, unsightly, and non-compliant shoreline. Residents lost large sections of their property to erosion. The community sought a low impact, long-lasting and highly effective shoreline restoration solution.

Dragonfly Pond Works specializes in erosion repair and shoreline restoration. After assessing the Corkscrew Shores Lake, we found that over 9,000 feet of lakefront shoreline required restoration. The shoreline restoration of this lake required a variety of solutions. Our team decided to utilize compact, small equipment so as not to cause any additional damage to the surrounding area during our restoration process.

Most of the lake shoreline is protected by rocks or rip rap. The rip rap acts as armor against shoreline erosion. Irma displaced most of the rip rap and eroded the shoreline through wind, wave action, and heavy rain. We replaced and reinforced rip rap to restore and protect the shoreline from future erosion.

The rip rap along the shoreline of this berm was displaced. A berm is a raised strip of land that provides a necessary barrier during heavy rains. This is a very important feature that helps prevent flooding. We restored the rip rap to the required depth in order to be safe and compliant.

BEFORE / AFTER

There were areas of the shoreline where the top of the bank was damaged. In some of these areas, there was fabric under the rip rap to help secure sediment; this fabric was also damaged. We replaced the fabric and restored the rip rap to the required depth.

BEFORE / AFTER

Another area where fabric and rip rap restoration was necessary.

The hurricane also caused damage to the swale in some areas. A swale is a channel that manages runoff. This shows a damaged swale and a damaged berm. Both of these features are critical in preventing flooding, especially for a lake surrounded by homes.

BEFORE / AFTER

The Dragonfly team utilized stacked geobags to repair the berm and swale. The geobag is made of highly durable geotextile material. Material from the lake bottom is pumped directly into the bag through hydraulic dredging. Once the material dries, the top bag is split open and the material is graded to the desired slope. Sod is then secured over the graded material. In this case, rip rap is placed in the area in front of the sod.

BEFORE / AFTER

This bank was also restored using geobags. The bottom, anchor, geobag is left intact and in place under the sod. The anchor bag is an added protection against future erosion. This is an efficient, cost-effective, and long-lasting solution that results in a natural, protected shoreline.

BEFORE / AFTER

The Corkscrew Shores community enjoys the beauty and peace of their surroundings. Hurricane Irma caused major damage and disruption throughout Florida. We are proud to have been able to provide our water beautification services to restore this incredible lake and bring a bit of normalcy back to this community. Residents are able to once again appreciate their stunning sanctuary. At Dragonfly Pond Works, we create beautiful spaces.

To learn more about our shoreline restoration services, please CLICK HERE.