Work to replace 800 feet of rip-rap with salt marsh along the shoreline of inner Cutts Cove will begin this month and continue into June. Algae-covered rock will be repositioned into the cove to build a living shoreline sill to support the new salt marsh. The new salt marsh is designed to be climate-ready, with its lower edge 18 inches above the lower edge of existing marshes in the area to account for higher tides in the future. This innovative restoration work is funded by NHDES aquatic resource mitigation program as part of the mitigation for the DOT replacement of the Route 1 Sarah Mildred Long Bridge. The Coastal Habitat Restoration team at the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory of University of New Hampshire is partnering with UNH civil engineers, NH DOT, City of Portsmouth, NH Coastal Program of DES and federal agencies to advance the project, which lies adjacent to the proposed Portsmouth Gateway Park.
