A $50 million project to help improve flood protection for high-risk properties in Norfolk, Virginia, is set for the next phase as the latest action in a $399 million plan to improve the city’s resilience to flooding.
Norfolk recently approved nearly $50 million for flood work that includes elevating up to 62 high-risk homes on Willoughby Spit, where hundreds of properties regularly flood when Willoughby Bay water levels climb above two feet.
The city will accept $24.9 million from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Community Flood Preparedness Fund. The grant requires a 100% match.
The grant agreement took effect April 1.
The project is part of a $14 billion United States Army Corps of Engineers plan under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law intended to strengthen port and waterway supply chains and bolster climate resilience.
The city’s Coast Storm Risk Management plan, which was developed in coordination with USACE, features $399 million to increase community resilience to flooding by designing and building storm surge barriers, levees and stormwater pump stations. The program also includes elevation and basement fills of several privately owned properties that are at risk of flooding.
The new project targets the Willoughby Spit area in Norfolk, where the city identified 276 properties at risk and 62 as high risk. The grant funds elevation of structures, floodproofing, or basement filling — concrete physical changes to their homes, not another planning study for homes qualifying as high risk.
The project also includes design and construction of flood barrier segments in the Elizabeth River waterfront from Town Point Park through the Ohio Creek area. The barriers are a critical link in the city’s coastal storm risk management system, the city said.
Terms specify that work must begin within nine months of the agreement date and fully complete within three years.
Photo by Patrick Bloodgood U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District from United States, Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons
For more of the latest from the expansive government marketplace, check Government Market News daily for new stories, insights and profiles from public sector professionals. Check out our national contracting newsletter here.
