Flood Barrier USA

Engineers Race to Save A Doomed City

Author: Donna Conneely

In the face of global warming and rising tides, what are some of the most vulnerable cities in the US? Most people, when asked this question, might come up with New Orleans or Galveston. Some others might think of Miami or Jacksonville. But few would think of what is actually one of the most threatened cities in the whole country: Norfolk, Virginia.

Norfolk is the second largest city in the state of Virginia, with a permanent population of roughly 250,000 residents. It faces a double whammy of flood risk: a rising tide caused by global warming, and a sinking foundation. The entire city of Norfolk is known to be sinking at an alarming rate — more than eight inches per century. This may not sound like much, but in conjunction with a rising sea level and the inclination of people to build homes near the coastline, a serious problem results.

The city of Norfolk was compromised from the start. It was built on the edge of a geologic impact crater, and this very unstable ground has been sliding away into the sea. This rapid sinking, however, accounts for only a third of the sea level change — the rest is caused by global sea level rise and other climate-related factors.

City officials in Norfolk have commissioned many expensive studies and plans in order to make timely infrastructural changes to hold back the inevitable flood waters. It is thought possible to protect much of the City’s real estate, but in spite of the best efforts of engineers and planners, a sizable chunk of the area’s most valuable properties will have to be abandoned.

Adding to the problem are backward-thinking politicians who have redacted the words “climate change” and “sea level rise” from reports — as if merely eliminating the words will eliminate the very real-world threats. As the city continues to sink, and sea levels continue to rise, engineers are racing to shore up flood protection measures to save as much of Norfolk as possible. These defenses include flood barriers of all kinds, levees, drainage causeways, and massive embankments. The work is being headed by a Dutch company — who better to know all there is to know about holding back the sea?

It is believed that much can be done to complete flood protection works in time to save much of Norfolk, but some home and business owners will unfortunately find themselves on the wrong side of the flood barriers. These homes and businesses will have to install their own flood panels and other flood protection devices quickly and expertly in order to withstand the inevitable and severe flooding that will mark the coming decades.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 20th, 2012 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Flood Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.