For the first time, New Orleans will turn to a retain and control storm water strategy in one of the city’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.
Public works projects in a part of the Big Easy, the Gentilly Resiliency District, will be designed to retain and control water rather than to try to keep it behind levees and floodwalls. Projects will include transformation of miles of neutral grounds into water-absorbing features so that the water won’t have to be pumped to outfall canals.
Some median strips will become green corridors with swales, trees, shrubs, and water permeable sidewalks. Existing live oaks will be retained and protected.
Another project, the Mirabeau Water Garden, is a detention pond designed to hold water temporarily. The site will include a pedestrian path and recreation features that will be able to hold floodwater when needed. The federal government awarded the city a $141 million grant for the flood control measures.
Related Stories
Resiliency | Apr 22, 2019
Turner Construction doubles down on jobsite efficiency
The company targets a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions and water use from construction activities by 2030.
Resiliency | Mar 29, 2019
Designing for resiliency: Lessons learned from Hurricane Florence along the Carolina Coast
Resilient design principles will be critical in preparing our communities for future storms, writes LS3P's Charles H. Boney, FAIA.
Resiliency | Mar 7, 2019
Building for resilience - All about RELi
Sustainable design strategies create more resilient buildings. However, only truly focused purposeful resilient design strategies will create the adaptation needed.
Resiliency | Feb 27, 2019
ResilientSEE: A framework to achieve resilience across scales
Conceived in the Boston studio of Perkins+Will, the ResilientSEE team developed a resilient planning framework that can be applied to other neighborhoods, cities, and countries.
Sustainability | Oct 25, 2018
As project delivery models evolve, designers rethink their role
New York City’s newest university campus, Cornell Tech, pushes the limits of sustainable and resilient design.
Resiliency | Sep 4, 2018
It takes more than money to fund resilience
Resilient design, much like all projects in the built environment, requires funding.
Resiliency | May 17, 2018
Architects brief lawmakers and policy-makers on disaster recovery as hurricane season approaches
Urge senate passage of disaster recovery reform act; Relationship-building with local communities.
Resiliency | Feb 21, 2018
Resilience team selected to help protect a vulnerable Bridgeport, Conn., from floods
The design and construction project would perpetuate efforts that date back several years.
Resiliency | Jan 24, 2018
A luxury community in Florida mandates resilience in new-home construction
Alys Beach’s in-house GC builds to standards set by the FORTIFIED program.
Resiliency | Jan 24, 2018
Effort to develop first whole-community resilience benchmarks for buildings, water, and energy launched
Volunteers sought for committee openings.
