Bayswater Point State Park

Dirtworks, in collaboration with the Great Ecology and Rippled Waters Engineering provided ecological and design services for the Bayswater Point State Park Living Shoreline Project, located in Far Rockaway, NY.

The 17-acre park includes salt marsh, intertidal flats, freshwater wetlands, and one of the few remaining parcels of coastal/maritime forest in New York City, as well the remains of an historic mansion, the home of banker Louis A. Heinsheimer. Careful removal of invasive species will restore the coastal forest to a healthy ecosystem.

Using a constellation of living shoreline strategies, including ecoconcrete tide pools, tetrapods, and expanded marsh, the project restores a mosaic of wildlife habitat across the site, including the entire gradient encompassing intertidal and supratidal zones. The project will promote spatial heterogeneity of plant communities to increase biodiversity and resilience of the restored areas.

Location
Queens, NY

Completion
2025

Size
8 acres

Collaborators
Great Ecology
Rippled Waters Engineering
NY State Parks
Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks
Conservancy

The design includes the construction of a new fishing pier. Through restoration of intertidal marsh habitat, the design will enhance ecological functions of the marsh, promote ecological resiliency, and improve water quality within the Jamaica Bay Estuary. A net benefit to fisheries is anticipated as a result of project implementation through the enhancement of nursery and forage habitat for prey/forage species (e.g., mummichogs, killifish, silversides. etc.) as well as the young-of-year of marsh-dependent transient fishes and macroinvertebrates.