Atlantic City Seeks Flood Protection Projects (USA)

Constructing new seawalls and bulkheads to protect Atlantic City is part of an estimated $238 million in projects being sought to repair and shore up the city’s infrastructure, officials say.

The idea would be to build a barrier to help keep tidal surge and floodwater from penetrating unprotected areas of the city as they did during Hurricane Sandy.

“The only way to protect the city from that is to have a continuous barrier,” said Keith Mills, the city’s planning and development director, who participated in developing project estimates. Including $75 million in Sandy damage estimates, the final price tag would be $313 million, city and Tourism District officials said.

While some of the projects already have funding – about $18 million – the rest is contingent on federal aid, said Kim Butler, a spokeswoman for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, which also helped formulate the estimates.

[mappress]

Source: snjdc.org, January 8, 2013; Image: townnews