A Century of Change:
Providence Harbor Shorelines
Over the course of the 20th century, about 350 acres of coastal waters
along the edges of the Providence River were filled for shipping, roadways,
and industry. The map on the left shows that, by 1894, the shoreline of
downtown Providence had largely been filled, but the banks of the lower
Providence River were still largely natural, except for the construction
of rail lines. Salt marshes and tidal creeks occupied the edges of Watchemoket
Cove in East Providence and the now-forgotten Corliss Cove in south Providence.
The 1987 map on the right shows that, in less than 100 years, these natural
shorelines were completely buried beneath shipyards, oil tanks, the state's
largest wastewater treatment plant, and a strip joint or two.
The same kinds of changes, on a lesser scale, have transformed shorelines all around Narragansett Bay. From Quonset Point to Fall River, salt marshes, coastal ponds, and shallow waters have been filled to build wharves, naval bases, and highways, to dispose of mud from channel dredging, and to protect houses and roads from storms. The pace of change slowed greatly after 1972, when the Clean Water Act gave federal and state governments the ability to protect wetlands and water by limiting dredge-and-fill operations.
In the 21st century, some of Narragansett Bay's shorelines may begin moving in the opposite direction, migrating landward as sea level rises. More likely, this trend will lead to increased demand for engineering measures—like seawalls and shoreline fill—to protect coastal property from the rising sea.
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Providence River in 1894 |
Providence River in 1987 |
—By Tom Ardito, Editor, Narragansett Bay Journal, and Outreach
and Policy Coordinator, Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
This article first appeared in the Narragansett Bay Journal, available on-line at www.nbep.org/journal/.
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