Base PDH

Living Shorelines: Monitoring, Adaptive Management, and Emerging Practice

Sustainability

Last Updated: April 19, 2026

PDH_CREDITS
1 Hours
PRICE
$10.00

Summary

This course covers the monitoring, inspection, and adaptive management of living shorelines projects, drawing on engineering guidance developed for coastal practitioners in alignment with ASCE MoP 130 and New Jersey regulatory frameworks. The course addresses the three-part triad inspection approach — structural stability, ecological viability, and performance — including condition rating systems, baseline and routine inspection schedules, levels of effort, and structure-type-specific assessment considerations for marsh sills, breakwaters, beach nourishment, and coir installations. Students will also examine urban and developed shoreline applications, current knowledge gaps in climate adaptation and design, and the regulatory and valuation barriers facing wider adoption of nature-based shoreline stabilization.

Learning Objectives

  1. Describe the triad monitoring framework for living shorelines and explain how structural, performance, and ecological assessments differ from traditional waterfront inspection methodologies, including the role of quantifiable target metrics in defining project success.

  2. Apply condition rating systems and inspection frequency schedules to assign appropriate baseline and routine inspection intervals based on condition ratings, consequence of failure, and the results of Level I, II, and III assessment efforts.

  3. Identify structure-type-specific inspection parameters for marsh sill, breakwater, beach nourishment, and coir log installations, and select appropriate assessment methods for structural, performance, and ecological components at each level of effort.

  4. Evaluate current knowledge and design gaps in living shoreline practice, including climate change and sea level rise impacts, adaptive design strategies, urban shoreline applications such as enhanced concrete and ecologically enhanced bulkheads, and regulatory and valuation barriers to broader adoption.

Notice: Our courses do not yet qualify for PDH credit for engineers licensed in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. Check your state requirements for details.

Course Reading Material

Living Shorelines: Monitoring, Adaptive Management, and Emerging Practice

BasePDH  |  Course No. 010  |  1 PDH

Source: NJDEP Living Shorelines Guidance

Publisher: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Division of Land Resource Protection
Supporting references: USACE Coastal Engineering Manual (2002), NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Chesapeake Bay Foundation living shorelines guidance

Inspection & Monitoring Methodology for Living Shorelines Projects

Overview

Monitoring of living shorelines projects is critical for determining project success, improving project design, understanding maintenance needs, and implementing adaptive management actions. The bodies of literature on both the ecological monitoring of coastal habitats and the engineering assessment of coastal structures are fairly robust; however, little guidance exists at the nexus of these two approaches which is where living shoreline projects fall.

For a project to be a success as a living shoreline, a project must 'engineer with nature' to create ecological enhancement and meet or exceed specific engineering performance metrics. Consequently, an engineering assessment of these projects is inherently more complex than traditional structures where inspections are intended to monitor structural stability. In this vein, the guidance provided herein defines a three-tiered approach for project monitoring. Monitoring is defined as the combination of the triad approach: Assessment of Structural Stability, Ecological Viability, and Performance.

Structural stability of engineered waterfront structures is well studied and defined. The presentation herein is intended to leverage the existing body of knowledge and supplement or modify where the specific aspects of living shorelines projects warrant.

Introduction

Inspections are necessary for the maintenance and management of all waterfront infrastructure, living shoreline projects included. Regular, periodic inspections play an important role in maintaining reliable performance, ecological benefit, and structural stability for the life of the project. While technical guidance defining inspection methodologies and rating systems are well documented for waterfront structures using traditional engineering materials (e.g., timber, concrete, and steel), living shorelines have distinct requirements with unique materials, performance needs, and ecological benefits.

The guidance herein is intended to be a supplement to existing literature and where appropriate, provide guidance where the needs of living shoreline projects require fundamental shifts in the engineering inspection methodology.

Types of Inspection

The scope of engineering inspections varies with the intended objective. Broadly speaking, defined methodologies exist for the following eight engineering inspection types:

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