Designed for The Nature Conservancy of Alabama, Lightning Point is where ecological restoration, coastal engineering, and community resilience come together.
Together with the City of Bayou La Batre, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Mobile County, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy initiated the Lightning Point restoration project to revitalize and restore this ecologically and culturally important area in Bayou La Batre. The site had suffered more than 600 feet of shoreline retreat over the last century, 30 feet lost in 2017 to Hurricane Nate alone.
The design included 1.5 miles of offshore breakwaters, 40acres of restored marsh, 10,000 linear feet of tidal creeks, the beneficial reuse of 240,000 cubic yards of dredge material, and 600 cubic yards of recycled oyster shell.
Lightning Point isn't just about restoring habitat; it's about restoring a community's front porch. It supports working fisheries that define the Seafood Capital of Alabama and provides a place for people to gather, fish, walk, and connect with their waterfront.
Completed in 2020, The Nature Conservancy, Moffatt & Nichol and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab have been monitoring the site to track how it performs over time.
Just behind the newly restored shoreline, we are now helping to lead the next chapter: the City Docks Waterfront Redevelopment Project.
