In order to combat salt marsh subsidence in the face of coastal erosion and sea level rise, The Nature Conservancy is working with Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council to implement one of the first thin layer deposition project in Rhode Island to raise elevations of 24 acres of salt marsh.

In general, increasing the elevation of these salt marshes consists of placing dredged materials from the Narrow River and placing it on the salt marsh areas. These materials are then spread in order to match desired grades and allow for appropriate drainage off of the salt marsh. Target elevations for the additional fill are established to allow salt marsh vegetative communities to reestablish.

Fuss & O’Neill worked with project partners including TNC, CRMC and USFWS to develop bid documents. These bid documents included both dredging and placement drawings as well as calculations to define the limits of dredging required to generate the fill required in each cell. Performance specifications were also prepared to allow competitive bidding by the State of Rhode Island.