Located on the Hudson River upstream from the Atlantic Ocean in the New York metropolitan area, Hoboken, N.J., is highly vulnerable to floods that can interrupt the transit network and other physical infrastructure while impacting environmental quality and public health.
Hoboken's outdated stormwater management system cannot accommodate heavy precipitation from hurricanes and other storm events, creating the need for a place-based, sustainable flood management plan to build a more resilient community.
Louis Berger provided technical planning and engineering services for development of the Hoboken Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan under a project led by NJ Transit on behalf of Together North Jersey, a sustainable, transit-oriented planning coalition. The plan was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of a 13-county regional effort to sustain local communities.
Louis Berger's engineers and environmental planners studied historical weather data and analyzed the city's sewer system for handling peak stormwater volumes. They researched how other cities used green infrastructure best management practices (BMPs) to meet capacity and infiltration challenges while enhancing water quality, public health and aesthetics.
Subsurface constraints that would inhibit vegetated green infrastructure BMPs but would be ideal for harvesting rainwater.
Locations where vegetated green infrastructure BMPs would have the greatest infiltration benefits for stormwater detention.
Sewersheds where larger scale stormwater retention would be most appropriate.
The strategic plan, which received a 2014 Outstanding Plan Award from the American Planning Association-New Jersey chapter, is using sustainability and transit connectivity as the central framework for integrating redevelopment and green infrastructure investments at all levels of government.