AECOM (NYSE: ACM), the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, announced today it is one of the firms that has been selected by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) to provide design services for the City’s cloudburst management program, alleviating nuisance flooding events in at-risk areas. Under this seven-year task-order program, AECOM will implement multi-benefit, integrated, flood risk reduction systems that manage stormwater during wet weather events to improve public spaces, reduce impacts to the natural environment, and bolster the resilience of social, environmental, and economic systems.
“AECOM is at the forefront of climate change adaptation and has successfully implemented stormwater cloudburst strategies and designs to mitigate localized and widespread flooding in some of the nation’s most challenging environments,” said Beverley Stinson, chief executive of AECOM’s global Water business. “We’re honored to help the City of New York implement an array of resilient practices to bring wide-ranging environmental benefits to its many diverse communities.”
AECOM will provide NYCDEP with capabilities in gray and green infrastructure to deliver innovative nuisance flooding mitigation strategies, including in areas historically overburdened by flooding. Services will include project planning and assessments, permitting, engineering and landscape architecture design, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, resident engagement, benefit-cost analysis, bidding support and design during delivery.
“AECOM has a long history of successfully delivering extreme rainfall mitigation strategies for many New York City, state, and federal agency improvement programs,” said Bane Gaiser, chief executive of AECOM’s U.S. East and Latin America region. “Having implemented gray and green stormwater measures across all five boroughs, our team’s in-depth understanding of the region, its communities and agency needs allows us to navigate site constraints, permitting requirements, and stakeholder issues efficiently and with nuanced sensitivity.”
Cloudburst management involves the design and implementation of multiple, integrated elements to absorb, store and/or transfer stormwater in a specific geographical location or neighborhood. Green infrastructure elements are generally employed for absorption and storage, while traditional, gray stormwater methods are used for storage and transfer. Because of New York City’s dense, urban environment, it is often necessary to combine the functions of green and gray measures to meet stormwater management needs. Through its sewer design and construction projects across the five boroughs, the AECOM team will employ both gray and green infrastructure to efficiently use public space and integrate new infrastructure with existing underground utilities.
