GZA congratulates the City of New Haven on Long Wharf Coastal Resilience Funding

GZA extends congratulations to our client, the City of New Haven, on its success in securing federal funding for a Resilient Long Wharf District.  

GZA also acknowledges the Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) and the State of Connecticut, whose disaster relief grants and bond funding of climate resiliency planning projects in response to Superstorm Sandy laid the groundwork for these recent successes.  

GZA President and CEO Patrick Sheehan said: “We are pleased that the extensive, thoughtful planning projects and studies the City of New Haven completed with GZA’s support, as well as its strong track record of completing three early-phase resiliency projects, successfully positioned the City to compete for and win this major investment of federal funding.  GZA looks forward to continuing to work closely with the City and our other partners to complete these projects and help create a more resilient, vibrant, and welcoming New Haven waterfront.’’

As recently presented by City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, P.E. during CIRCA’s “Super Storm Sandy in Connecticut: Progress & Challenges After Ten Years” event, the City’s forward-looking and comprehensive resilience efforts include major improvements to area stormwater management; planning, design and funding of the Long Wharf flood protection levee (aka New Haven County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project); and natural resource habitat enhancement and shoreline protection with the Long Wharf and East Shore Park “Living Shoreline” projects.  

The final design and permitting for these projects are planned to be completed by 2025 and construction is expected to be completed by 2028.  

In 2022, over $185 million of federal disaster relief funds and FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant funding has been secured for these coastal resilience projects. In addition, $63 million in federal economic development funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was received for completing the New Haven Harbor Navigation Improvement Project. 

GZA is proud to have worked with CIRCA and the City’s Planning and Engineering Departments on Coastal Resilience, including GZA’s 2017 “Long Wharf Flood Study,’’ a comprehensive flood vulnerability and mitigation study consisting of high-resolution coastal flood modeling, flood loss estimation analysis, development of flood mitigation alternatives and associated Benefit-Cost Analyses (BCAs).  This study was subsequently utilized by the Army Corps of Engineers’ Fairfield and New Haven Counties Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study, which in turn led to additional disaster relief funding for the proposed flood barrier construction.  

GZA is the City’s engineer and designer for the approximately 3,400-foot Long Wharf Living Shoreline project, currently in permitting.  GZA also previously provided geotechnical services to the City and its engineering consultant, CDM Smith, in support of the proposed stormwater infrastructure project funded by the FEMA BRIC grant. 

GZA’s team was led by Senior Principal Daniel Stapleton, P.E., former senior project manager Hande McCaw, and GZA’s Design with Nature Studio. 

Learn more about how GZA can help you secure Infrastructure funds and complete your projects at https://service.gza.com/infrastructure