A search for challenging work drove me from my home country, Nigeria to the United States. I was admitted to the Environmental Engineering program at the University of Georgia as a masters student in 2020. A few months after I arrived at the department, I was placed in the Hunter Army Airfield project team. Since my bachelor’s degree program was in Civil Engineering, it took me a while to understand what the project was all about.

Apparently, the army project was more “climate-informed” than any of the projects I was involved in back home. Once I understood the goal, I felt very eager and willing to be part of such a huge project, one that would determine the existence of humanity for ages to come. Our main goal as part of the project is to protect the Hunter Army Airfield railroad crossing. This railroad crossing spans about 4 miles or more for easy deployment of troops, ammunition, and equipment to and from the base. In order to protect the railroad crossing from flood hazards and erosion, a tide gate was constructed a few miles away.
Historically speaking, the tidal area was predominantly salt marsh. However, upon installation of the tide gate, a new ecosystem was formed, comprised of fresh marsh upstream and salt marsh downstream. When Hurricane Matthew hit in 2016, the tide gate was destroyed allowing the intrusion of the salt water into the fresh marsh area. Unable to acclimate to the saline levels of the water, the freshwater plants died, leaving the railroad crossing exposed to hydrologic hazardous events. The tide gate was reinstalled in 2022 costing about 2 million dollars in repairs was reinstalled in 2022- its replacement cost about $2 million. Hopefully, this will help freshwater marsh plants regrow in the area.

Figure 1 – The tide gate at the Hunter Army Airfield Base showing the upstream and downstream parts of the marsh in 2022
Questions to be answered through the fieldwork.
Fortunately, people have begun to realize the benefits marshes provide for people and aquatic animals, and this realization has brought about the partnership of major organizations and agencies as they work together to restore marshes. While there is a lot of literature on the importance of marsh restoration, we need more information about the timeline required for the restoration process. The HAAF project is an avenue to:
- monitoring the changes occurring in the environment as a result of the tide gate re-installation.
- monitoring the time it will take for the freshwater marsh to be fully restored.
Also, as the marsh is restored, we will need alternative solutions for the site, so we will be seeking alternatives suitable for the area.
Measurements
We visited the site on Wednesday 17th May 2023 to obtain some data that would be useful for monitoring and model simulation. The table below shows the number of transects made and their various locations.
Transects | Locations |
A | This transect is located south of the railroad crossing along the bank of the river. |
B | This transect is located in the salt marsh area (north of the tide gate). |
C | This transect is located south of the tide gate. |
Description of the steps for obtaining plant density, height, and diameter of the plant population
- We placed the first PVC pipe at transect A and placed another pipe 10m to the right of the first pipe.
- We randomly threw the quadrant (an instrument for determining the plant density in a particular location) at 1cm of each pipe at three different times in order to determine the plant population, diameter, and height of the plants.
- Live and standing dead stems for each quadrant were counted while accounting for 5 random heights and diameters of the plants in that same location using a tape and caliber respectively for measurement.
- We repeated the same procedure for transects B and C.
Description of the steps for measuring Standing dead trees
- Three standing dead trees were chosen in each transect (A and C).
- The distance between the positioner and the center of the tree stem was measured using tape.
- The angle the positioner made with the top of the tree was measured using a steel protractor.
- The height of the positioner from his/her eye to the ground was measured using tape.
Description of the steps for elevations
- Place the tripod on the ground and ensure that the bubble is always at the center.
- Turn on the equipment and complete the settings on the tablet or phone.
- Ensure that the tablet or phone is within 1cm of the RTK equipment for easy connection.
- Click on the project document already saved on the tablet and the GPS will automatically locate your position.
- Name the point, take pictures, and click submit to automatically save.
Using the RTK (Real-time Kinematic) equipment, we obtained accurate readings of the elevations of the tide gate. We also measured the shear strength of the soil in each transect using the largest and second largest head of a shear vane.
Surprises in the field
As an African woman, I was not aware of the dangers of salt marshes, so when I stepped into the salt marsh downstream, I got stuck. My wails and screams were profound because I thought my life had ended. My teammates brought a kayak which I used to pull myself out of the mud. Hopefully, now that I am mentally prepared, my second trip into the field will be less eventful. However, you can learn from my mishap-never conduct fieldwork alone!
