Houston’s buyout program has prevented flood damage but many more homes at risk

Recent flooding in Houston has increased focus on a 30-year-old program to buy out some of the area’s most vulnerable homes.

Storms dropped 23 inches of rain on parts of southeast Texas, leading to thousands of homes being flooded in low-lying neighborhoods around Houston. Much of the worst flooding happened near the San Jacinto River, an area that has engaged in “managed retreat” for about 30 years—among the longest-running such programs in the country.

This approach to flood mitigation involves buying out homeowners located within the most at-risk areas, demolishing the homes, and often, returning the lots to their natural state. Harris County has purchased roughly 600 flood-prone homes along the river, most of which would have flooded during the recent storm. The county has targeted more than 1,600 more homes to buy, but it hasn’t yet been able to raise funds and get property owners on board.

The recent flooding shows that nature isn’t waiting for officials and homeowners to act, and it illustrates the urgency of preventing future disasters by relocating people from the most vulnerable areas.

Long-span composite floor systems provide unique advantages in the construction of multi-family and hospitality facilities. This introductory course explains what composite deck is, how it works, what typical composite deck profiles look like and provides guidelines for using composite floor systems. This is a nano unit course.

Concrete buildings: Effective solutions for restorations and major repairs

Architectural concrete as we know it today was invented in the 19th century. It reached new heights in the U.S. after World War II when mid-century modernism was in vogue, following in the footsteps of a European aesthetic that expressed structure and permanent surfaces through this exposed material. Concrete was treated as a monolithic miracle, waterproof and structurally and visually versatile.

IMAGE_1_Norshield_high securitywindows_ and_doors

Norshield Products Fortify Critical NYC Infrastructure

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.

Blast Hazard Mitigation: Building Openings for Greater Safety and Security

Microgrids can draw power from a variety of sources. Image: Courtesy of Jacobs Engineering

Microgrid | Jan 16, 2022

Resilience is what makes microgrids attractive as back-up energy controls

Jacobs is working with clients worldwide to ensure mission critical operations can withstand unexpected emergencies.

Total steel project performance

This instructor-led video course discusses actual project scenarios where collaborative steel joist and deck design have reduced total-project costs. In an era when incomplete structural drawings are a growing concern for our industry, the course reveals hidden costs and risks that can be avoided.

Resiliency | Oct 19, 2021

Achieving resiliency through integrated design

Planning for and responding to the effects of adverse shocks and stresses is typically what architects and engineers have always thought of as good standard design practices.