Smilow Research Center, Flood Mitigation Design

Overview

When Superstorm Sandy hit the New York area in 2012, it flooded New York University's Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center - located near the East River - with more than 15 million gallons of water in about 30 minutes. The damage forced surgical and inpatient care to be suspended for two months following the storm. As a result, NYU sought a flood mitigation plan to protect against the 500-year return period storm surge plus an allowance for sea level rise and other climatic changes in the future.

We provided flood mitigation, engineering design and construction administration services for the NYU Langone School of Medicine, a critical piece of the larger campus flood protection strategy that required close collaboration with Ennead Architects, JBB and Langan.

Highlights

• Our services include coastal hazard analysis, architectural design, structural engineering, flood mitigation and project management consulting services, in addition to coordination of civil, geotechnical, mechanical, electrical and plumbing services for this project funded by the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program [HMGP].
• Our flood mitigation recommendations included:
  • New reinforced flood walls
  • Flood doors
  • Self-rising flood gate
  • Custom-designed flood barriers at utility vault locations
  • Reinforcement of the foundation slab
  • Waterproof connections with neighboring buildings
  • Backflow prevention valves
  • Relocation and protection of MEP infrastructure
• We also provided application preparation and reporting services for the FEMA HMGP.