ResilienceWinners selected in NYC, N.J. storm-proofing projects competition

After months of reviewing proposals as part of an effort to prevent and limit damages from future Hurricane Sandy-like disasters, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $920 million in federal aid to New York and New Jersey to support six Rebuild by Design projects, aimed at building resilience in vulnerable regions.

The largest share of funds is being allocated to a project called The Big U, or The Bridging Berm The project aims to build a ten-mile protective barrier around lower Manhattan. The barrier will be composed of levees and berms and will protect the region from storm surge and flooding. In addition to the infrastructure benefits, the project’s designers, architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), are also focusing on utility and creativity — adding green space for leisure use and protective walls that would be decorated by local artists.

According to BIG’s proposal, “Bridging Berm provides robust vertical protection for the Lower East Side from future storm surge and rising sea levels. The Berm also offers pleasant, accessible routes into the park, with many unprogrammed spots for resting, socializing, and enjoying views of the park and river.” BIG adds that “both berms and bridges are wide and planted with a diverse selection of salt tolerant trees, shrubs and perennials, providing a resilient urban habitat.” Think Progress reports that the Big U will receive $335 million to build the first phase of the wall (a 1.5 mile, ten to twenty feet tall earthen berm), but the entire first phase of the project will cost $1.2 billion.

Living Breakwaters, another Rebuild by Design project winner, won $60 million to install breakwaters, or partially submerged barriers, off the south shore of Staten Island to reduce the intensity of storm surges while creating new habitat for marine life. The project also calls for a network of “water hubs” on the shore near the breakwaters. The water hubs would be used as recreational parks or for other activities in the calm water created by the breakwaters.

A third project, Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge, which won $230 million, aims to decrease the chances of flash flooding by installing a network of connected pumps and drainage routes that can collect and store rainwater in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Weehawken, New Jersey.

The devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy prompted lawmakers and local officials to promote the building sustainable and resilient systems before the next big storm, but Rebuild by Design has not announced a timeline for the projects. “Sandy was devastating, and frankly as a nation and as a region, we were unprepared. That won’t happen again, plain and simple, because of what we have done here today,” Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) said at a news conference on Monday.