Key Contact:
Rich Pfingsten, SPWS
Senior Ecological Restoration Specialist
Email Rich
EA approaches ecosystem design and restoration with a goal of maximizing the benefits of the project in as many areas as possible, including connectivity of habitats, diversity of habitat created, nature-based solutions, and non-point source pollution control, to name a few.
Rich Pfingsten, SPWS
Senior Ecological Restoration Specialist
Email Rich
We often use the phrase integration of science and engineering, and ecosystem restoration truly embodies this ideal. At EA, we make sure to provide our clients with a mix of staff including scientists, engineers, permitting specialists, modelers, construction managers, and program managers to ensure successful project planning and implementation.
Working with Michigan DNR, EA developed restoration design plans and provided construction oversight for over 200 acres of wet-mesic forest within the Detroit River Area of Concern to support the removal of beneficial use impairments as well as re-establish historical hydrologic flow patterns and alleviate stress on native vegetation while helping to control invasive species.
Working closely with the installation and community stakeholders, EA evaluated existing site dynamics and then developed nature-based design concepts to enhance wetland tidal exchange through hydraulic structure modification and restore native dune habitat by removing invasive trees and establishing beneficial native ground covering plants.
In conjunction with EPA GLNPO, Michigan EGLE, and the City of Detroit, EA prepared habitat restoration designs including removal of over 600 linear feet of bulkhead and replacing with 2 wave attenuation/substrate habitat features, creation of two riverfront wetlands totaling over 3 acres, creation of one approximately 1.5-acre pocket wetland along the canal, over 3 acres of upland planting, riparian improvements along the canals, and the creation of a pollinator garden.
EA completed design for sediment remedy and habitat enhancement for a complex multi-year project across approximately 200 acres of upland and in-water areas. The design included a combination sediment remedy and habitat design including planting plans across the site.
