ORONO — In Orono, Webster Park stretches along the Stillwater River on Marsh Island, where walking trails pass picnic tables and the shoreline draws residents to fish, swim and paddle. But along parts of the riverbank, unofficial foot traffic access points are causing erosion that is wearing away the land and sending sediment into the water.
“Shoreline erosion is depositing sediment into the river, which serves an Atlantic Salmon habitat. Therefore, we would like to prevent Orono from washing away into the river and avoid disrupting their habitat,” said Edwin Nagy, project adviser and a principal lecturer of civil engineering at the University of Maine.
To help address those concerns, five UMaine engineering students are partnering with the town of Orono to develop proposals to potentially improve parking, increase access to the water and stabilize these paths for many years to come. The collaboration is part of the students’ senior capstone project and focuses on strengthening stormwater drainage, increasing accessibility and protecting the riverfront park for long-term use.
Their work reflects UMaine’s commitment to learner-centered R1, hands-on, real-world research learning opportunities, where undergraduate students work directly with faculty and industry partners to tackle challenges facing Maine communities.
Spanning more than 4 acres along North Maine Avenue, Webster Park serves as a hub for outdoor recreation with waterfront access and open green space. Town officials recruited the student team to help generate ideas that balance environmental protection with public access.
The team is prioritizing bioengineered solutions such as native plantings, rain gardens and local materials to mitigate flooding and erosion while maintaining the park’s natural character.
“These improvements will enhance the visitor experience at Webster Park in Orono. Visitors can take a quick kayak trip on the Stillwater River and return to picnic areas protected from erosion. Whether it’s fishing, swimming or sightseeing, this project aims to polish and protect existing features to make them accessible for everyone,” said Shea Decoteau, a team member and civil and environmental engineering major.
Students have visited the site and have been collecting data and input from town officials. As part of their research, they are conducting a life cycle analysis on certain park areas to measure the environmental impacts of various materials and processes and evaluate how they will withstand Maine winters.
The town’s budget and recent remodeling of Brown’s Park prompted the students to ask what materials were already available locally.
“The town’s biggest goal is to keep Webster Park looking natural. We have railroad ties and old stone that were salvaged from projects in town and are currently stored at the landfill. These are reusable materials that we can use for this project,” said Megan Hess, environmental services manager for Orono.
During the capstone course each year, teams select from several available projects and are assigned to one of their top three choices before forming teams. Decoteau said she chose the Webster Park project because of its proximity to campus, its multidisciplinary scope and the opportunity to collect real-time data.
The project also presents practical challenges. Decoteau noted that because the group is not a professional engineering firm, they do not have the resources to send out a team of surveyors. Instead, they must address real-world problems using abstract ideas or information currently available to them.
“Our site visit helped us visualize what we were trying to accomplish. Before, it was just abstract, but seeing what was already there and talking to the town representative helped us focus,” Decoteau said.
Depending on the scale of the students’ proposals, Orono’s Public Works Department may carry out elements of the project. For larger-scale initiatives, the town could consult an engineering firm.
“I think they are going to bring forward some very good ideas of necessary things that should happen. Once those ideas are packaged up and we see what the priorities are for the park, we can present them to the Town Council for budgeting and implementation,” Hess said.
