Edmonds, WA train tracks

Train tracks and overwater structures along Browns Bay in Edmonds, Washington often occur on developed shorelines of Puget Sound. The built environment can interrupt the flow of sediment from back-beach bluffs to the intertidal zone, attenuate and redirect alongshore currents, and reduce upper beach habitat. Use of the built environment can introduce contaminants such as creosote from dock pilings and railroad ties, diesel exhaust from train operations, and coal dust from freight that can have harmful effects on biota.