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When homes began to be threatened on Taylor's Island on the coast of Delaware Bay, it became clear something had to be done about the shore erosion that had been occuring for decades. A narrow stretch at the tip of Taylor's Island had lost an estimated 200 ft. to erosion since the 1980s, threatening a handful of homes.

Plans had been made to stabilize the shoreline since 2000, with federal funding finally approved in 2007. The Army Corps of Engineers financed 75% of the project, with Dorchester County funding the remaining 25%.

Shoreline Design, Edgewater, MD, was awarded the bid on the $1.5 million project and began work in July 2007. Company owner Wes Matheu previously worked as a project manager for the Army Corps, as well as with several marine contractors, before starting his own company in 2003. He was already familiar with the situation on Taylor's Island.

"I actually looked at this project when I worked for the Corps about 12 years ago and the people out there were trying to get something done," Matheu notes. "The Corps will spend federal dollars on a project as long as it's protecting a federal roadway or public infrastructure."

Over the years, Matheu had seen the erosion the Delaware Bay tides were causing in the area. He also witnessed the efforts to mitigate the erosion while funding was pending. The existing shoreline stabilization material "was kind of haphazardly dumped and it was maybe a couple of feet over the high tide at best," he recalls. "The tide ranges about 2 to 3 ft. in this location, and it's not just the tides. The wind kicks up and the fetch - which is the distance the wind blows across the water to form a wave - is very wide here."