It has been over 12 years since Superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast in October 2012, causing significant damage in New Jersey and New York. While these two states are not typically impacted by hurricanes, they have their fair share of severe rainstorms and flooding. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the Rebuild by Design (RBD) program to ensure the resiliency of the coastal areas impacted by Superstorm Sandy.

Hoboken, New Jersey, lies on the Hudson River opposite of the New York City neighborhoods, Greenwich Village and Chelsea. The city, which has a population of approximately 60,000, has undergone various iterations over the years. These days, Hoboken is known as a vibrant, bustling, and trendy city with a population that includes young professionals, families, and artists. The city also serves as a transportation hub for Manhattan and North Jersey.

Hoboken was one of the many cities impacted by Superstorm Sandy. A 14-foot storm surge landed on the city, leaving much of it under water. The storm flooded train stations, and water levels were high enough that people kayaked through alleyways. According to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, it is estimated that the storm caused Hoboken more than $100 million in private property damage, $100s of millions in damage to the transit system, and $10 million in city property damage.

The government knew they had to do something to ensure coastlines would be more protected in the future and not suffer the same devastating impacts as Superstorm Sandy.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development stepped up. The agency created a competition titled Rebuild by Design to "develop ideas on how to improve the physical, ecological, and economic resilience of coastal areas following times of flood."

Hoboken and neighboring cities, Weehawken and Jersey City, won a competition to receive funding from HUD to input the Rebuild by Design program. NJDEP is overseeing the Rebuild by Design - Hudson River (RBDH) project.

According to the City of Hoboken website, the RBDH project is taking four approaches to flood mitigation:

• Resist: Hard infrastructure like floodwalls, seawalls, and soft landscaping features such as berms and levees to act as barriers during high tide and storm surge events
• Delay: Policies and urban green infrastructure to slow stormwater runoff
• Store: Green and grey infrastructure improvements to capture stormwater during heavy rain events
• Discharge: Upgrades to the stormwater management system, including sewer lines, outfalls, and pumping stations

While all three cities will see work done, most of the work will take place in Hoboken.

"Hoboken was built on fill and is in a low-lying area," said Dennis Reinknecht, Director, Division of Resilience Engineering and Construction for NJDEP. "The city has had rainwater and pumping problems for decades."

The city’s website said that the RBDH project includes three main infrastructure projects, which include:

• Construction of a resist structure to prevent storm surge from entering the city along the northern and southern portions of the Hoboken waterfront
• Modifications to the sewer system to prevent storm surge from entering Hoboken from underground sewer lines
• Development of an expanded and improved Harborside Park featuring a portion of the resist alignment

According to the project page on NJDEP’s website, the team is constructing over 9,000 linear feet of varying height reinforced concrete floodwalls and installing 28 floodgates, including rolling floodgates, swinging flood gates, and stoplog barriers.

The first construction element focused on separating a portion of the Hoboken sewer lines. The project (completed in July 2022) divided the stormwater and sanitary sewer into two lines "to ensure that water from a storm surge event will not be able to surcharge under the Resist structure once constructed," the website said.

As part of the project, the team installed over 30 additional manholes, 40 catch basins, over 4,000 linear feet of stormwater pipe, and eight water quality units to remove solids and suspended solids prior to the stormwater entering the Hudson River. They also sealed over 100 existing manholes.

A new park is being constructed to enhance flood protection. Key features of Harborside Park will include:

• Resist features and flood gates integrated into the park design to protect the community from storm surge flooding
• Playground
• Amphitheater
• Dog run
• Open space

Harborside Park will be the first in New Jersey to combine elevated flood protection features with community amenities, setting a new standard for resilient urban park design.

While the RBDH project occurs, Hoboken is engaged in a related project, a second park. The City of Hoboken website said the city’s "investments to mitigate stormwater flooding from heavy rain events using resiliency parks, such as ResilienCity Park, as well as green infrastructure projects, will work in tandem with RBDH's investments to address storm surge flooding from the Hudson River."

At just 2 square miles and with a population of approximately 60,000, Hoboken is one of the most densely populated cities in the United States. The city is also old. By 1900, Hoboken had a population of over 20,000.

Construction crews typically encounter many issues when they work in a densely populated, old city. Such is the case with the RBDH project.

"We have multiple construction teams working at multiple sites," said Kim McEvoy, a Bureau Chief for NJDEP. "When crews have to close down streets, they get crowded quickly."

There are train stations in the area that operate 24/7. There are also bus stations in Hoboken. For these reasons, the team has limited time and windows in which they can work.

Getting any work done in the area requires close coordination between stakeholders. These include the government of each town, firefighters, police officers, business owners, utility companies, PATH (a rapid-transit system that connects Manhattan to New Jersey), and NJ Transit.

"It's great to have great partners on the ground," Reinknecht said. "We couldn't move forward on the project without them."

The project has drawn great public interest, as people are anxious to get the project done. To ensure the public is informed, the team has a community liaison who communicates with residents daily about the progress of the project and the impact on transportation modes.

There is another challenge that comes with the density and age of the area.

"Every time we dig, we come across a utility," Reinknecht said. "This challenge also requires us to work closely with our project partners."

E.E. Cruz & Company, founded in 1984 and headquartered just outside of New York City, won the competitive bid and is serving as the general contractor on the project. The heavy civil construction contractor has been part of a joint venture that completed a large resiliency project in New York City.

“They’ve shown they know how to proceed in this type of environment, and shown competence on the project,” McEvoy said.

The first phase of construction, focusing on the sanitary lines, began in January 2021 and was completed in summer 2023 on time. Phase two, which E.E. Cruz is leading, began in August 2023 and is scheduled to be completed in summer 2027. At the time of writing this article, the project is on schedule. Reinknecht attributes this to years of planning for the project.

"We've been working on this project since 2015,” he said. “We've spent years communicating with the relevant agencies and identifying what we need to construct.”

The project has a budget of $387.5 million and is currently on budget. Multiple sources have provided funding. HUD awarded the state $230 million, FEMA provided $22.5 million, $100 million came via the American Rescue Plan's State Fiscal and Recovery Funds, and $35 million was gained from a Community Development Block Grant.

Superstorm Sandy was a 100-year event. While it is unlikely to happen again anytime soon, the Rebuild by Design project will make Hoboken and the surrounding cities more resilient to water events — big and small — in the future. It will protect people and significantly reduce the risk of damage from storm surges to the sewer system.

• Owner: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
• General Contractor: E.E. Cruz & Company, Inc., Whitestone, New York
• Designer: AECOM, Dallas, Texas
• Engineer: Berger Hill Joint Venture including Berger Group, Morristown, New Jersey, and Hill International/LiRo-Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Other Key Contractors: Dewberry, Fairfax, Virginia