Georgia's 100-mile coastline—anchored by the Golden Isles (St. Simons, Jekyll, Sea Island), Tybee Island near Savannah, and the undeveloped Cumberland Island—faces accelerating erosion from hurricane storm surge, nor'easter wave energy, and sea level rise that is outpacing natural sediment supply. Barrier island shorelines that protected causeway approaches, utility crossings, and coastal roadways are retreating at rates of 5–15 feet per year along the most vulnerable reaches.
The Georgia coast's unique tidal range—among the highest on the U.S. Atlantic coast at 6–9 feet—creates daily tidal current scour that compounds wave erosion. Marsh-backed shorelines that provided natural buffering are converting to open water as sea level rise drowns vegetation root zones. Every foot of shoreline retreat exposes more infrastructure to direct wave attack during the next storm event.
Revetment armors Georgia's barrier island shoreline against wave energy, tidal scour, and storm surge. GSI designs revetment systems calibrated to Georgia's specific coastal conditions—the large tidal range means structures must perform across a wider vertical zone than typical Atlantic coast revetment designs.
Georgia's warm climate and productive coastal ecology make bioengineered solutions particularly effective. Vegetated revetment, oyster reef living shoreline, and planted marsh terrace systems harness natural processes to stabilize shoreline while enhancing habitat—an approach that satisfies both engineering and Georgia DNR environmental permit requirements.
Georgia's barrier island causeways sit on embankments surrounded by tidal marsh and open water. Erosion at embankment toes threatens the structural integrity of these critical access routes. GSI designs toe protection and embankment armoring that withstands tidal current scour and storm surge without disrupting the surrounding marsh ecosystem.
Coastal protection designed for 2-foot tidal ranges fails in Georgia's 6–9 foot tidal environment. GSI engineers for the coast Georgia actually has:
Every storm season accelerates erosion on unprotected shoreline. GSI's coastal engineers design tidal-range-calibrated protection for Georgia's unique barrier island environment.
