CITY FIGHTS SEA RISE WITH PLATFORMS, FLOOD WALLS IN TWO BRIDGES

The Patch: Flood barriers will flip up and roll out in the Two Bridges neighborhood by 2024 after three years of feasibility and coastal studies, officials said at a sparsely attended community meeting Wednesday night.

From Brooklyn Bridge to Montgomery Street, eight-to-10-foot-tall flood barriers will sit atop platforms beneath the FDR Drive as a part of a plan to fortify the neighborhood from future storm surges and rising sea levels caused by climate change.

“The idea is in addition to preventing surge flooding, which the flip-up gates work on, we also wanted to develop as a part of the system something to address sea level rise,” said Jordan Salinger, a senior policy advisor with the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency.

The newly announced platforms — which would range in height from six inches to two feet — would protect against high tides and flooding that rising sea levels will bring to the city’s coastlines even in the absence of hurricanes, officials said Wednesday.

On top of the platforms, the city plans to install a series of flood walls that would flip up, roll out or stand fixed. The exact design will be done by fall 2020 and construction would begin in 2021, city officials said.The project is a part of a $500 million suite resiliency investments meant to fortify Lower Manhattan. That’s in addition to a $1.45 billion project that will rebuild East River Park starting in March and a $10 billion plan to extend the Financial District into the East River that’s currently being evaluated by a team of expertsRead more>>

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