Oyster reef development project

The US$3.6m project, which is in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers, will restore essential oyster habitat which has made the Elizabeth River and Hoffler Creek one of the largest oyster populations in Hampton Roads.

Heather Wood, environmental director, VPA, said: “This project is a component of the largest environmental project ever undertaken for the Elizabeth River and its surrounding tributaries. It’s a ten year multi-project plan that carries the support of the Army Corps and some of the region’s most important environmental organisations.”

A “landscape approach” will be used to complete the project. Sixteen acres of subacqueous habitat will be covered with shell, which at port-construction will settle to a thickness of 12 to 16 inches. This layer will serve as the new reef bed.

This part of the project is phase 2 of a US$63m 411-acre environmental restoration project. Phase 1 was the creation of an 11-acre wetland creation project at Paradise Creek Park in Portsmouth last year.

VPA’s container terminal expansion project called Craney Island Eastward should increase the Port of Virginia’s capacity from 5m teu up to 10m.