New York, built on the water’s edge, is directly threatened by rising sea levels. To protect the economic capital of the United States, work has started in the southeast of Manhattan Island to protect the city from future floods and storms. “What we are building here is part of the largest resilience project in a dense urban area in the United States. So we are very happy to have started this project about a year ago. This is a series of anti-flood walls, we also raised the park in this area, as you can see on the East River which is next to us ”, explains Tom Foley, Director of the Department. of the design and construction of New York City.
Over 4 km, an anti-flood wall will prevent damage during storms, consequences of climate change. “It has been a long process. We installed pylons as deep foundations, then we installed the metal walls that will form an underground dividing wall to protect us from flooding. And then we form the foundation that you can see. And as you see in the last section, we are pouring concrete, which will give us a wall similar to what you see behind me ”, details Ahmed Ibrahim, works supervisor.
The $ 1.4 billion project is part of a larger New York City plan to protect itself from rising waters. The sea level could rise by 20 to 75 centimeters by the middle of the century, fear some experts. “New York City is investing over $ 20 billion in climate resilience, we are implementing a tiered strategy that includes protecting our coastline, we have 830 miles of coastline across New York City. We are therefore worried about the impact of storms and rising sea levels, ”says Jainey Bavishi, director of the mayor’s office for climate resilience.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy shocked the city: $ 19 billion in damage, 44 dead and parts of the city without power for weeks. In the district, the water rose to a record level of 2.7 meters above sea level as shown by this mark. Around the world, 150 million people live on land that could be submerged by water by 2050.
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