The city of Norfolk, Va., selected Norfolk Resilience Partners JV to provide program and project management services for its $2.6-billion coastal storm risk management program with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. AECOM is managing partner of the joint venture, which also includes consultants Moffat & Nichol and Volkert.

The scope of the single-award contract also includes engineering and design, real estate services, public engagement, utility coordination and other services, according to AECOM. 

Norfolk has the highest rate of sea level rise among East Coast communities, according to William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Also, the Corps says the city's inadequate stormwater management system is allowing it to gradually settle, worsening flooding. 

Beverley Stinson, CEO of AECOM’s global water business, said in a statement that the program would provide a holistic approach to flood risk management in Norfolk. It is divided into four location-based phases, plus a fifth phase for non-structural solutions across the city.

The program, set to be implemented over 10 years, would include such structural measures as 9 miles of floodwalls and levees, 11 tide gates and 10 pump stations, according to the Corps. Also part of the effort are a mix of nature-based solutions such as oyster reefs, living shorelines and wetlands mitigation, plus non-structural measures ithat include home elevations, basement fills and commercial floodproofing. 

“The program’s impact on the future of Norfolk’s flood management and the quality of life of its residents make it a model for resilience programs for cities up and down the Atlantic coast, and even across the globe,” said Bane Gaiser, CEO of AECOM’s U.S. East and Latin America region, in a statement. 

The project is set to receive local, state and federal funding. City officials voted to cover the local share earlier this year, as ENR previously reported. A project partnership agreement signed by the city and Corps in June allows $399 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to fund the work. 

The plan includes five phases of work. Map courtesy of city of Norfolk/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Norfolk also completed work on a separate $122-million flood protection project this year. 

The Corps is involved in a variety of coastal resilience projects along the East Coast, such as a $53-billion project for New York harbor; and a $1.1-billion storm surge wall for Charleston, S.C.; as well as coastal protection projects elsewhere such as a $6-billion effort to include 98 miles of levees in Louisiana and a $29-billion project to defend Texas’ Gulf Coast that would include construction of a storm barrier, referred to as “Ike Dike,” in the Houston Ship Channel.