Moffatt & Nichol's reputation for excellence in coastal engineering was built on years of experience with challenging waterfront projects. Building on this experience, the firm today offers clients a professional and knowledgeable staff of engineers, planners and scientists who are experts at solving the complex issues that drive coastal, estuarine and riverine systems. One of the few engineering firms with specialized expertise in these environments, Moffatt & Nichol brings considerable experience in numerical modeling of physical processes that challenge projects in these settings. From offices in North America, Europe and Latin America, we offer clients access to the latest technologies and many of the industry's leading practitioners, providing innovative solutions founded on decades of practical experience.
EXPERTISE
Inlet & Sediment Management
Ecosystem & Watershed Restoration
Beach Nourishment
Bioengineering & Streambank Stabilization
Dredging & Dredged Material Management
Navigation Channels
Stormwater Management
Flood Control
Water Control Structures
Levees & Dikes
Intakes & Outfalls
Shoreline Protection
Breakwaters & Jetties
Marine Terminals
Locks, Weirs & Dams
Pumping Stations
SERVICES
Hydrodynamic & Wave Transformation Modeling
Sediment Transport & Shoreline Change Analysis & Modeling
Storm Surge Analysis & Modeling
Hydrologic, Hydraulic & Groundwater Modeling
Watershed Planning & Assessment
Water Resource Planning & Policy Development
Water & Air Quality Analysis
Contaminated Sediment Analysis
NEPA Documentation, Permitting & Mitigation
Stormwater Best Management Practice Selection & Design
We strive to hire the most talented and creative people possible, knowing that success will inevitably follow when our creative employees perform advanced work that leads to practical solutions to clients' problems. Practical solutions are ones that contractors can build, are cost-effective, or that help improve our clients' operations, enabling them to be more competitive and efficient. Our blend of imagination, high-end analytics, and decades of practical experience is a distinguishing quality of Moffatt & Nichol.
Our Values
Consistently holding to a unique set values.
Our values underlie our culture and reputation, govern our actions, and reinforce the essential beliefs that sustain Moffatt & Nichol.
Integrity is paramount. Be fair, honest and forthright with all parties.
Maintain a strong tradition of ethical conduct as the foundation of our business.
Never stand on past successes. Constantly improve our skills and approaches.
Overachieve on project assignments while understanding the important distinction between excellence and perfection.
Secure our future by constantly exceeding our clients' expectations.
Respect our competitors.
Share our earnings with employees.
Maintain a meritocracy in which employees' hard work, sacrifices and achievements will be rewarded.
Be good corporate citizens within our communities.
Our Vision
Working together to be the best in our core practices and supporting disciplines.
Our value to clients comes from our professional practices. We will focus on these, grow them and make them the best in our industry by adding value through technical excellence and creativity. In some fields, this might mean that we are the biggest. However, we see no value in striving to be the largest at anything for its own sake. Rather, we will strive simply to be the best. We do not have to be all things to all people to be successful.
South Bay Marsh Habitat
Bair Island Restoration Design
Client/Owner: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish & Game
Location: Redwood City, California
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
Bair Island is a part of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the largest urban wildlife refuge in the United States. Home to defunct commercial salt evaporator ponds, the island is a haven for shorebirds, native oyster, harbor seals, endangered clapper rails and salt marsh harvest mice. The area is also a popular resting spot for migratory waterfowl. An important part of South Bay ecology, environmentalists have fought for decades to protect and restore Bair Island.
When the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish & Game began the process in 2006 to restore approximately 1,400 acres of the island to high-quality tidal marsh habitat, they hired Moffatt & Nichol to prepare design documents and coordinate with stakeholders.
The restoration will be completed in four phases. Construction is ongoing for the first phase, which is focused on elevating subsided portions of Inner Bair Island. Future phases will include levee breaches, hydraulic control structures, a pedestrian bridge, wildlife viewing platforms, and parking and restroom facilities.
Tidal Flow Returns in Landmark Wetlands
Bolsa Chica State Beach
Client/Owner: California Coastal Conservancy
Location: Orange County, California
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
Moffatt & Nichol's involvement with the Bolsa Chica wetlands restoration project area began in the early 1970s, as a member of the team that established a land use plan for what had been a 2,300-acre estuary and tidal marshland until the turn of the century. In 1899, members of the Bolsa Chica Gun Club created tidal gates-the first of many such projects over the years-to restrict seawater and attract game. In the 1940s, oil exploration and development further impacted the ecosystem. By 1997, a group of federal and state agencies entered into a memorandum of agreement with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to move forward with the massive effort to reinvigorate the wetland ecosystem and reestablish tidal influence from the Pacific Ocean to 600 acres in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands.
The planning phase was complete by 2001, and when construction began in 2004, Moffatt & Nichol provided final engineering and program management services for the project, which included dredge and excavation plans for 2.7 million cubic yards of surplus earth material and permit coordination with the USACE, USFWS and NOAA. A jettied ocean inlet reconnected the ocean and wetland, while full tidal and muted tidal wetlands were created through the use of water control structures, dredging and levees. Oil wells, water injection wells, well pads and associated pipelines will be removed over time by the oil company currently operating the oil field. In addition to jetties, new bridges were built to allow access to the southern oil field, which is still in operation.
Bridge Structures Key in Wetland Restoration
Batiquitos Lagoon Tidal Flow Restoration
Client/Owner: Port of Los Angeles
Location: Carlsbad, California
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
Moffatt & Nichol provided coastal engineering services for the 573-acre wetland restoration project at Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad, California, providing mitigation for expansion at the Port of Los Angeles. In addition to preliminary engineering and final design services for the replacement of two bridges, project elements included the creation of a tidal inlet and the construction of two jetties. The dredging component restored the tidal prism, promoting a stable ocean entrance, providing the desired water quality, and creating specific subtidal and intertidal areas. Dredged sand was used to replenish nearby beaches and construct nesting sites for least terns and snowy plovers. Funded through an FHWA bridge replacement program, all bridge and roadway plans required approval by Caltrans District 11 and Caltrans Division of Structures. Moffatt & Nichol received the California Geotechnical Engineers Association's "1997 Outstanding Project of the Year" award for this project.
Coney Island Study Predicts Future Shoreline
Coney Island Beach Renourishment Project
Client/Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
Moffatt & Nichol conducted an evaluation of a major beach fill and groin project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Coney Island Beach that included wave forecasts and refraction studies, an assessment of shoreline change rates, the development of sediment budgets and fill alternatives and terminal groin design. Structural evaluations explored alternatives to a beach fill (john headlands, revetments or seawalls), as well as estimates of future shoreline positions and beach and dune erosion modeling. Other project elements included hydrographic surveys, aerial topographic mapping, seismic refraction studies, vibracoring of an offshore borrow area, underwater archaeology and an economic analysis of anticipated damages and benefits.
Poplar Island Landmark for Habitat Creation
Poplar Island Restoration
Client/Owner: Maryland Port Administration
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
Moffatt & Nichol, in a joint partnership, provided coastal engineering services to restore Chesapeake Bay's Poplar Island. Poplar Island is a landmark project for the beneficial use of dredged material, providing a dredged material placement capacity of approximately 38 million cubic yards of clean sand and silt shipping channels that serve the Port of Baltimore. In 1847, Poplar Island provided approximately 1,000 acres of wildlife habitat, but years of steady erosion reduced that to less than five acres. The restoration created more than 1,100 acres of wetland and upland habitats, establishing vital nesting and nursery areas for many of Chesapeake Bay's fish, shellfish, wildfowl, and other birds. Design considerations included assessment of island construction impacts on tidal hydrodynamics, constituent transport and sedimentation. Wave-induced erosion around the island perimeter and a water quality analysis were modeled to determine which island alignment had the least impact on water quality.
River Project Controls Flooding
Upper Guadalupe River Flood Control Protection
Client/Owner: USACE, San Francisco District
Location: San Jose, California
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
Moffatt & Nichol provided project management and engineering services for the preparation of a design report for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address flood control issues along a 5.5-mile-long segment of the Upper Guadalupe River. In addition, Moffatt & Nichol provided design services to the USACE, the project's national economic development component and the locally preferred plan, which emphasized preservation of environmental resources and involved a control weir, bypass channels, river widening and floodwalls to provide protection from the 50-year return interval flood event. The Guadalupe River is the second-largest stream in Santa Clara County and flows south to north for approximately 20 miles before emptying into southern San Francisco Bay. Its watershed is about 170 square miles of predominantly residential and commercial development south of San Francisco Bay.
Erosion Halted in Caribbean Community
Palmas del Mar
Client/Owner: Palmas Del Mar Properties, Inc. and Palmas del Mar Yacht Club, Inc
Location: Humacao, Puerto Rico
Practices/Services: Coastal Engineering & Water Resources
As the first planned community in the Caribbean region, Palmas Del Mar blends the resort lifestyle of pristine beaches and world class marinas and golf courses with the conveniences of a small town. One of the focal points in the development is the marina, which was fashioned after Port Grimaud in the French Riviera. The marina consists of two basins; an interior basin consisting of interconnecting canals opening to a large open outer basin protected by a large breakwater. The construction of the breakwater was never completed in its entirety, resulting in a structure with a low, unprotected crest. Frequent tropical storms and hurricanes have further damaged the structure. The breakwater also did not provide adequate sheltering of waves in the outer marina basin, creating agitated mooring conditions.
When the owners, Del Mar Properties, Inc. and Palmas del Mar Yacht Club, Inc., decided to repair and enhance the breakwater, they turned to Moffatt & Nichol for planning, permit support and design of the existing 690-foot long breakwater, along with a new spur breakwater. The spur breakwater was designed to reduce wave penetration into the outer basin, permitting the owner to construct a 163-slip marina to serve yachts from 50 to 160 feet long. Moffatt & Nichol conducted numerical wave studies and a physical model study to evaluate and optimize repair sections for the main breakwater and the geometry and alignment of the breakwater spur. The chosen alternative – increasing the height of the main breakwater by approximately 10 feet and adding a 210-foot dog-leg-shaped spur breakwater, was designed. Moffatt & Nichol also provided support services during construction.
Approximately a mile north of the marina is Punta Candelero, an undeveloped sandy headland on the resort’s coastline. Over the last decade, severe erosion had resulted in shoreline retreat, threatening development of the site. Moffatt & Nichol was tasked with evaluating the performance of a series of T-groins proposed along the 2500-foot-long shoreline. A three T-groin configuration at the central section of the point with beach fill and construction of a buried revetment to protect upland infrastructure during severe events was chosen alternative based on the outcome of a physical model study. Moffatt & Nichol provided permit assistance and prepared construction documents for this project.
