Acorn was retained by the Town of Scarborough to provide civil engineering and permitting services for the restoration of the Phillips Brook corridor adjacent to the Scarborough laydown yard. The project’s primary objective was to reestablish the historical floodplain which has been lost due to encroaching fill from the nearby laydown yard and additional erosion and stream incising. Acorn performed a full fluvial geomorphology assessment of existing conditions, including the existing thalweg profiles and proposed cross-section profiles on plans.
Once the floodplain was renewed, the project proposed several methods to stabilize the stream corridor including natural in-stream structures, root-wad bank stabilization, and native plantings within a designated buffer zone between the stream and the existing laydown yard. Additional benefits from the restoration included the removal of existing non-native species which previously overwhelmed the stream banks and an improved habitat for native aquatic species, such as Brook Trout and American Eel populations.
