- 1). Contact your local county or city authority to find out if you need a permit. Shorelines are often under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the delicate ecology is carefully guarded. You may be required to provide a drawing showing the proposed location and a list of materials for your erosion protection project. A county or state representative may make a field visit to your property.
- 2). Excavate the proposed border area. Use shovels to clear all vegetation away and make it smooth. The width of the border will depend on your specific conditions, including the angle of your shoreline and type of soil. The size of your rip rap gravel will also depend on your conditions. The supplier or county inspector should be able to advise you.
- 3). Lay erosion filter fabric on the cleared area. This material will help prevent the vegetation from re-growing but will allow water to filter through it. Hold it down temporarily with stones to keep it in place. Shovel the rip rap over the erosion cloth. Spread it out evenly across the entire shore area all the way down to the low tide mark.
- 4). Dig a shallow trench at the top of the rip rap border. Lay treated 4-by-4 lumber in the trench to demarcate the rip rap area and divide it from the lawn area. Treated lumber is rot and termite resistant. You can seal or paint it if you wish but it is not necessary.
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