Project Armor Update: the Completion of 1 Mile of Rip Rap
Extracted from the Fall 2025 Newsletter
PROGRAM UPDATE BY SKIP SHORT, DIRECTOR
I trust you had a great summer and were able to spend a lot of time on the lake. During that time, you may have noticed the large white LLA sign at certain island locations around the lake. This sign designated the island where Project Armor was going on during that time frame. Upon the completion of rip rap at that location, the operation and the sign were moved to the next location. We are excited to report this was done 16 times over the course of 2024 & 2025 equating to a mile of shoreline protected by Project Armor! This brings LLA’s total shoreline protection efforts to 3 miles thus far.
Project Armor’s ambitious effort would not have happened without our key partners which included Hall County, Forsyth County, Gwinnett County, US Army Corps of Engineers, Martin Marietta, Simpson Trucking and Marine Specialties. They made this endeavor possible, and we all worked in concert like a well-oiled machine. It was a testament to everyone’s commitment to Lake Lanier. Project Armor provided rip rap to 16 areas with over 8,000 tons of stone. To put that in perspective, that is around 500 large dump trucks worth of material that would fill an entire football field with two and half feet of stone.
Many selected areas are islands where there is a very high concentration of boat traffic with noticeable erosion. One such high traffic area is the convergence of the Chattahoochee and Chestatee Rivers, also known by some as the tail of Beaver Island. Another location is a small island by Old Federal affectionately called by some as “Cuba”. Without the armoring of that island, it surely would have disappeared into the lake in the near future.
Protecting our shoreline provides stabilization which decreases erosion thus protecting water quality by keeping sediment out of the lake. The rip rap also assists in dissipating wave energy heading back in the opposite direction towards the lake. If you like to fish, rip rap areas are not bad places to search for fish either.
Lake Lanier gets over 12 million visitors a year, which means a lot of wave action, so our job is not done. We continue to monitor and identify areas that need protection. If you see an area of concern, please visit LLA’s website and go to the See Something, Say Something page to report it. Be on the lookout as there is a good chance Project Armor 2.0 could be on the horizon with your generous support.
We only have so much shoreline and we need to protect it. Protecting our shoreline is a high priority of LLA and we will continue efforts to provide a clean, full and safe Lake Lanier. Please continue your support of LLA, which will greatly assist us with our continued efforts in the future.
See you on the water.
Click here to learn more information about Project Armor!
