I was the project manager for our office when we designed the Brooklawn shoreline stabilization at the end of Timber Boulevard on Big Timber Creek circa 2010. The product we specified is called Cable Concrete and it is made by Bethlehem Precast. It is the most commonly specified product in our area. I suppose Chicklets is an appropriate nickname.
The mats come in 16' x 4' sections and all of the individual blocks are linked with cast in place 5/32" 302 stainless cable. We specified CC-45 which is built with the 45 lb individual blocks. In my discussions with the Army Corps, NJDEP and Bethlehem, they all agreed that the CC-45 was heavy enough for this application given the strong northwest winds coming off the Delaware and the fairly significant tidal range and summer boat traffic. There is only one heavier CC-70 for use where wave action is an issue.
Spec sheet:
https://bethlehemprecast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Cable-Concrete-Specifications.pdf
The prep for the job was the biggest task. The shoreline was covered with more than 100 years' worth of rubble consisting of concrete slabs, asphalt, trees, old pilings and every kind of flotsam and jetsam you could imagine. We wrote into the bid specs that the contractor had to set up a crushing plant onsite and recycle as much concrete as possible and to use it as sub-base for the mats. He brought in a large Cat excavator to rip everything from the banks and fitted the excavator with a breaker to break the slabs and separate the rebar. Some of the rebar was #12 bar which is 12-8ths or 1-1/2" thick. It was brutal work but he did it very efficiently and with a smile on his face. He worked alone most of the time with his dog by his side every day.
We had to hire an archaeologist to review the site and its history before bidding and they found remains of pottery that they linked to an old tavern that was formerly located on the top of the bank. Typical for NJ, there was no funding for any further investigative work or preservation and all we had to do was include an area of additional 18" of fill over the guesstimated area where the tavern might have been. George Washington might have been under there but we shall never know.
The Cable Concrete has been in the ground for 11 years now and every time I'm in town I stop to check it and nothing has moved. The cable is still as shiny as the day it was laid. It is intended to catch windblown soil and sediments from tidal deposition and naturally vegetate over time. We formed a contiguous boat ramp with the mats which has held up very well but it is the most effective trash collector you have ever seen after a hard northwest blow. That day the boat ramp was a disaster area. Sadly, there is usually drug paraphernalia in the debris the that blows in from Philadelphia's storm sewer systems.
The pics below were taken on November 1, 2021 when I was in town and it was actually during a good blow. Look at that boat ramp !!
