Breezy Point Flood Resilience

Part of the NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program, the project involved designing stormwater management strategies to help this waterfront community build resilience to chronic flooding.

Location

Queens, New York, US

Client

Dormitory Authority of the State of New York

Project Status

Completed

Situated at the tip of the Rockaway Peninsula — a narrow strip of land that separates Jamaica Bay from the Atlantic Ocean — Breezy Point in Queens, New York is as picturesque as it is vulnerable to extreme weather and flooding.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated the area, exposing a desperate need for solutions to protect the community from increasingly intense storms and rising sea levels. The lack of detention facilities or stormwater management combined with the low-lying topography, high groundwater table, and mostly impervious surfaces within the Breezy Point Cooperative (BPC) makes this area prone to drainage issues, resulting in inaccessible areas for long periods following large storm events.

As part of the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) citywide program to build resilience in waterfront neighborhoods, WSP was contracted by Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) to identify and design stormwater management and drainage solutions for three areas within the BPC. The projects were designed to concurrently address community recreational needs and integrate the solutions within the community landscape.

WSP developed master plans for each project location, which depicted the optimal reconfigurations of recreation elements integrated with stormwater management elements that would manage the greatest storm event given the available funding. Multiple configurations were modeled, and cost estimates developed, until the optimal balance was achieved.

WSP facilitated a design charrette with the BPC board and administration staff, GOSR and DASNY to advance the master plans to final preferred alternatives that met the $11.25M approved construction budget. The preferred alternatives incorporated 40 bioswales to manage stormwater and recontoured parking and green spaces to augment pedestrian flow and recreation features. WSP delivered full design documents, including engineering plans, a detailed construction cost estimates, and specifications, and provided engineering services during construction.