Led by the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency, the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project is an urban flood protection solution that spans 2.5 miles of Lower Manhattan, including the East Side. The project is the first element of coastal storm and sea level rise defense system for the East Side and Lower Manhattan.
Arcadis, a design and consultancy firm for natural and built habitats, will work in collaboration with the City of New York and local communities to design flood protection solutions that merge into the urban fabric for 200,000 residents and 21,000 businesses. The solutions will strengthen the coastal defenses and improve existing parks while offering future flood protection and environmental benefits.
Design features of the project will incorporate a combination of architectural floodwalls, bridging berms, embankments, moveable floodgates, and interior drainage improvements. Each of these new features will be integrated with East River Park amenities to include recreational facilities and pedestrian and bicycle pathways.
Additionally, Arcadis will develop supporting documentation necessary for changes to FEMA flood hazard maps. Bjarke Ingels Group is leading the Urban design for the project with Starr Whithouse providing landscape architecture services. CH2M Hill will handle marine engineering duties.
Related Stories
Resiliency | Nov 16, 2023
How inclusive design supports resilience and climate preparedness
Gail Napell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, shares five tips and examples of inclusive design across a variety of building sectors.
Codes and Standards | Nov 10, 2023
Washington state building codes to protect structures from wildfire provoke controversy
New building codes in Washington state intended to protect structures from wildfires are provoking backlash from builders, cities, and environmentalists. Critics charge that the rules that are scheduled to take effect March 15 are confusing, will increase housing costs, and could cause too many trees to be cut down.
Sustainability | Nov 1, 2023
Researchers create building air leakage detection system using a camera in real time
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a system that uses a camera to detect air leakage from buildings in real time.
Resiliency | Oct 19, 2023
Jacksonville unveils 50-year strategy for resiliency to flooding, extreme heat, wildfires
The City of Jacksonville, Fla., recently released plans for Resilient Jacksonville, a 50-year resiliency strategy to reduce the risks from flooding, hurricanes, excessive heat, and wildfires, and to respond better to those events. The plan includes ways to stop the St. Johns River from flooding vulnerable neighborhoods, including those prone to flooding during heavy rain or hurricanes.
Engineers | Oct 12, 2023
Building science: Considering steel sheet piles for semi-permanent or permanent subsurface water control for below-grade building spaces
For projects that do not include moisture-sensitive below-grade spaces, project teams sometimes rely on sheet piles alone for reduction of subsurface water. Experts from Simpson Gumpertz & Heger explore this sheet pile “water management wall” approach.
Urban Planning | Oct 12, 2023
Top 10 'future-ready' cities
With rising climate dilemmas, breakthroughs in technology, and aging infrastructure, the needs of our cities cannot be solved with a single silver bullet. This Point2 report compared the country's top cities over a variety of metrics.
Building Materials | Oct 2, 2023
Purdue engineers develop intelligent architected materials
Purdue University civil engineers have developed innovative materials that can dissipate energy caused by various physical stresses without sustaining permanent damage.
Resiliency | Sep 25, 2023
National Institute of Building Sciences, Fannie Mae release roadmap for resilience
The National Institute of Building Sciences and Fannie Mae have released the Resilience Incentivization Roadmap 2.0. The document is intended to guide mitigation investment to prepare for and respond to natural disasters.
Codes and Standards | Sep 25, 2023
Modern codes, construction techniques saved structures in Maui wildfire
Modern building codes and construction techniques were effective in saving buildings from the devastating wildfire in Maui on August 9th, according to a recent report, IBHS Early Insights Lahaina Fire—2023, from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety’s research division.
Mass Timber | Sep 19, 2023
Five Things Construction Specialties Learned from Shaking a 10-Story Building
Construction Specialties (CS) is the only manufacturer in the market that can claim its modular stair system can withstand 100 earthquakes. Thanks to extensive practical testing conducted this spring at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on the tallest building ever to be seismically tested, CS has identified five significant insights that will impact all future research and development in stair solutions.