Removable flood prevention system installed in one of New York City's largest office buildings

Directly following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, Plaza Construction was asked to start working on the development of a flood prevention solution for 55 Water Street, one of New York City’s largest office structures with 54 stories and 3.8 million square feet located in the financial district. Hurricane Sandy was the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, with damages to New York City estimated at $50 billion due to storm surges flooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city.

Plaza Construction, with a team of experts consisting of EKO Flood USA, architect HLW International, and engineer Thornton Tomasetti, along with New Water Street Corporation, the owner/operator of 55 Water Street managed the planning, design and permitting stages to produce the first permitted flood protection system for 55 Water Street.

The new flood barrier protection system installed at 55 Water Street is designed to protect against an eight-foot flood line, higher than the 7-1/2 foot flood line recommended by FEMA to protect against storm surges for the next hundred years. The building was designed by renowned architect Emory Roth and the flood barrier protection system had to fit with the aesthetics of the building. Basically, it had to be invisible to the occupants and visitors of the building.

“Plaza was contracted by New Water Street Corporation to help them develop a flood protection system to guard against future storm surges that continue to be a major threat to the infrastructure of New York City and its neighboring communities,” said Richard Wood, CEO, Plaza Construction. “Together with our partners, we created a simple, fast and easy solution in a modular set up, take down and store removable barrier flood protection system that is tested to withstand an 8-foot flood line.”

“The new flood protection system at 55 Water Street is designed to protect the entire building from flooding,” said George Acero, Executive Vice President, New Water Street Corporation. “For efficient preparedness, the building management plans to conduct drills on erecting and breaking down the system on an annual basis.”

The flood barrier system at 55 Water Street is based on a removable post and panel flood protection system that easily adapts to the requirements of a particular building site. The system at 55 Water Street is stored in the sub-level of the building and will require 30 men and eight hours to assemble into place, and completely protects the entire building against an 8-foot water line, preventing water from entering the building and seeping into the lower levels.

“The advanced design of the EKO system is new to the tri-state region, as we were presenting a unique concept for storm protection,” said Yu-chi Yang, the Project Architect at HLW International. “The final design resulted in a very comprehensive set of guidelines for reviewing similar proposals in the future.”

According to the Aine Brazil, Vice Chairman at Thornton Tomasetti, “The integration of the flood barrier system with the existing foundation wall was one key to the economic and practical feasibility, minimizing new foundations in the sidewalk, and providing the necessary continuity of the flood proofed bathtub as an extension of the existing 60 foot deep basement.”

Located in downtown Manhattan, 55 Water Street is a virtual city unto itself that provides a fail-safe operating environment. Powerful systems support massive capacities instilling confidence that any crisis can be readily addressed. An extraordinarily advanced technological infrastructure includes multiple redundancies in every major operating system from electric, HVAC, and telecom to life safety and security. Tenants can also avail themselves of sufficient excess power to operate without interruption for multiple days should an emergency situation arise.

“Now with the installation of a removable, flood barrier protection system, 55 Water Street offers added protection in terms of guarding the building against flooding,” adds Mr. Acero.

U.S. Green Building Council President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi today declared that the neighborhood being built by Make It Right New Orleans, the post-Katrina housing initiative launched by actor Brad Pitt, is the “largest and greenest community of single-family homes in the world” at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York.

| Aug 11, 2010

Nation's first set of green building model codes and standards announced

The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announce the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes.

| Aug 11, 2010

Construction employment declines between January '09 and '10

| Aug 11, 2010

More construction firms likely to perform stimulus-funded work in 2010 as funding expands beyond transportation programs

Stimulus funded infrastructure projects are saving and creating more direct construction jobs than initially estimated, according to a new analysis of federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis also found that more contractors are likely to perform stimulus funded work this year as work starts on many of the non-transportation projects funded in the initial package.

| Aug 11, 2010

Jacobs Engineering acquires Jordan, Jones and Goulding Inc.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced that it has acquired Jordan, Jones and Goulding Inc. (JJG), a 500-person professional services firm based in Atlanta.

Museums | Aug 11, 2010

Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities

This column diagnoses the three most common moisture challenges with museums, archives, and art storage facilities and provides design guidance on how to avoid them.

| Aug 11, 2010

Philadelphia cancer center seeks LEED certification

The New York office of Thornton Tomasetti provided structural engineering services for the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia, a $232 million medical research center and advanced treatment center for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Designed by a joint venture of Perkins Eastman Architects and Rafael Vinõly Architects, the 340,000-sf facility will hous...

Currently Reading

Removable flood prevention system installed in one of New York City's largest office buildings

Tags

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

Museums | Aug 11, 2010

| Aug 11, 2010

Most Popular Content

Magazine Subscription

Get our Newsletters

Follow BD+C: