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FACT SHEET - Passaic River Tidal Protection Area, NJ

Coastal Storm Risk Management

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Published March 1, 2024

DESCRIPTION:  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, completed a study in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), recommending a coastal storm risk management project in and surrounding tidal portions of Newark, NJ, due to the Passaic River, New Jersey. A Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreement (FCSA) for the study was executed between the USACE and NJDEP on October 28, 2014.

The Recommended Plan is the Locally Preferred Plan and was approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (ASA(CW) in a memorandum dated 24 April 2019. The Recommended Plan includes six separate floodwall segments and one levee segment with an approximate total length of 4,850 linear feet at 14 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). It includes seven road closure structures, one railroad closure structure, and an interior drainage system along low-lying areas. This plan reduces the risk of coastal storm damage for a large portion of Newark’s Ironbound residential and commercial area. The project features would reduce damages from coastal storm surge from hurricanes and nor’easters.

AUTHORIZATION: The Passaic Tidal area is part of the larger Passaic River Main Stem project, which was authorized for construction by Section 101(a)(18) of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1990, as amended; and in accordance with the Disaster Relief Appropriation Action of 2013 (Public Law 113-2), enacted by Congress in response to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

STATUS: The detailed design phase was initiated in August 2019. A Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) for construction was signed on 17 March 2021, with the non-Federal partner, NJDEP. The project includes three construction contracts.  Contact 1 is at 90% design level and scheduled for construction in February 2025 (pending real estate acquisition), which will include 4 floodwall segments, one levee segment and three road closure structures. Contract 2 is at 30% design level, while coordination is ongoing with the railroads.   

CONTACT:

Mr. Jason Shea

Project Manager

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

Phone: (917) 790-8727, (917) 273-7286

E-mail: Jason.a.shea@usace.army.mil

26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278-0090

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: NJ-08 and NJ-10