Bond Street Living Canal

Durable, modular floating wetlands add ecological function and environmental education to a busy, urban waterfront once fringed by marsh.

Prior to European settlement, the Baltimore Harbor was fringed with tidal marsh. Over the course of the city’s development, however, the Harbor was dredged, tidal wetlands were filled in, and vertical seawalls were installed to support maritime activities. With the disappearance of tidal wetlands came the loss of their important ecological functions, such as processing nutrients, providing wildlife, and trapping sediment and debris.

Several members of Baltimore’s waterfront community have made efforts to restore and draw attention to some of those ecological functions through innovative pilot projects. One project is located alongside a wharf that was once a major maritime hub and is now home to the investment firm Brown Advisory. A key partner in the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore’s Healthy Harbor Initiative–an effort to make the Inner Harbor swimmable and fishable – Brown Advisory was eager to enhance waterfront ecology and pay homage to the tidal wetlands that once existed along the water’s edge.

Biohabitats collaborated with Clearwater Mills, LLC to develop a durable, modular floating wetland in a vacant canal next to the wharf, designed to withstand the Harbor’s punishing wind, weather, and waves. The media, fabricated by Floating Wetland Solutions, was planted by local students and Brown Advisory staff members.

Deployed in 2017, the wetland endured heavy wave action, winds, herbivory pressure and ice. Biohabitats and team provided maintenance through 2018, further calibrating an understanding of the natural and anthropogenic forces challenging the integrity and durability of these novel ecologically engineered ecosystems.

TAGS

• Design
• Ecomimicry