Project Armor Program Update
Extracted from the Kick-Off to Summer 2025 Newsletter
Written by Skip Short, LLA Board Member and Project Armor Coordinator
Project Armor is well underway we are happy to report. If you have been at Port Royale or boating by it, you may have seen the work being done on the island across from Pelican Pete’s. The white sign, thanking our sponsors and partners, was placed there before Memorial Day weekend and is hard to miss.
Project Armor is a Lake Lanier Association project to rip rap the shoreline on Lake Lanier. This project will protect (“Armor”) areas from erosion due to numerous factors and the goal of Project Armor is to protect one mile during the 2024-2025 timeframe. This is not the first effort by LLA to protect shoreline as there are numerous areas that have been protected in the past. Three Sisters Islands were part of those early efforts.
Project Armor was initiated to combat wave erosion. There are many factors contributing to this erosion including boat traffic and wind which create waves that erode the banks. In turn, trees and vegetation typically falls onto the shoreline and ends up in the water. For anyone that has been on Lake Lanier on a summer weekend, we are sure you have noticed the robust boat traffic (likely an understatement) and that boats have not gotten any smaller. This results in some rather aggressive wave action.
We are excited to report, even with the high-water levels which we are fortunate to have, that progress is going well and the installation contractor will be moving north of Browns Bridge to complete the last four of the sixteen locations. These four final four locations for this phase of Project Armor are at the convergence of the Chattahoochee and Chestatee Rivers (the “tail end” of Squirrel Island).
I again would personally like to thank the many that made this possible: Forsyth, Gwinnett and Hall Counties (funding), Marine Specialties (installation), Martin Marietta (rip rap), Simpson Trucking (rip rap hauling) and your generous support to LLA.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about Project Armor and please assist us in our efforts and donate to the success of Project Armor. Have a great Summer 2025 and hope to see you on the water or at one of the local restaurants.
