The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has approved $920m of funding for the implementation of selected design proposals to protect the New York and New Jersey region from Superstorm Sandy-type flooding.
The six teams with winning proposals are The BIG Team, The Interboro Team, OMA, PennDesign / OLIN, SCAPE / Landscape Architecture, and MIT CAU, ZUS,URBANISTEN.
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The selected proposals include the deployment of a system of dikes around the tip of lower Manhattan, and water pumps and parks across the Hudson River in New Jersey.
HUD secretary Shaun Donovan said the winning proposals are truly transformative and serve as blueprints for safeguarding the region and making it more environmentally and economically resilient.
"It’s my hope that Rebuild by Design will inspire other public-private partnerships to spur innovation and resilience in other parts of the country and around the world," Donovan said.
"By investing in these proposals we are going to ensure that, when the next storm comes, the region will be safer and better prepared."
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By GlobalDataNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the Rebuild by Design projects will help the regions to better prepare for risks in the future.
"With a changing climate, we know it’s not a question of if, but when the next big storm will hit, and that’s why we have a comprehensive plan to adapt our city’s infrastructure and neighbourhoods," Blasio said.
As part of the project, Dutch engineering team OMA won $230m to build sea walls and other measures to safeguard Hoboken and parts of Weehawken and Jersey City.
The MIT-led team received $150m to renovate wetlands in the meadowlands and create a multi-purpose berm to trim down flooding in nearby communities.
The four other projects worth $540m include a plan to build a 19ft high berm down the length of Manhattan’s Lower East Side and a project to strengthen the Hunts Point segment of the Bronx.
Image:The BIG Team has received $335m to increase resiliency in Lower Manhattan. Photo: courtesy of BIG / Rebuild By Design.
