Posted On: June 18, 2011 by Karen Olson

Engineering Expert On Chesapeake Bay Erosion

U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell thinks he might have an answer to the erosion problems that threaten to wash away Tangier Island: anchor old barges along the shoreline, without any cost to taxpayers. The fishing mecca in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay is losing between 4 and 12 feet a year to rising sea levels, exposure to storms, and sinking land. Scott Hardaway, a coastal engineering expert with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, said the Eastern Shore already has marine vessels acting as breakwaters - concrete ships anchored off Kiptopeke State Park.

Read more: hamptonroads.com.