New York -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces that Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, commanding general, has signed the Chief’s Report for the Atlantic Coast of New York East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay Hurricane Sandy Reformulation Study—a crucial milestone for the proposed project.
The project calls for the construction of nature based and structural features to be constructed on the Jamaica Bay shoreline to address coastal storm surge flooding in the Rockaways. A seawall, as well as new and extended groins with beach restoration and re-nourishment will be constructed along the Atlantic Ocean shorefront.
"Forwarding this Report to Secretary James for review and approval brings us one step closer to getting on the road to construction," said Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, Chief of Engineers. "I had the opportunity to visit Rockaway Beach this year and observed the tremendous effort and great work accomplished as a result of the Corps collaborating with regional partners and sponsors to implement additional flood risk reduction measures that will improve resiliency for the residents of these communities. USACE is proud to assist with these critical protective structures. Building strong for the Nation!"
"This Report is another important milestone—one the USACE team has worked tirelessly to achieve," said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Milhorn, commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division. "This report is critical to the region and demonstrates our commitment to delivering long-term storm resiliency measures for flood risk management, and mitigating impacts to this region from previous and future storm events.”
“This Chief’s Report is the next step leading to project implementation and represents the culmination of years of hard work by our team and our partners at all levels of government both federal and non-federal,” said Col. Thomas D. Asbery, commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. “This project will enable us to provide additional flood risk reduction measures for the residents of the Rockaway community now and in the future. I’d like to thank our partners at the local, state and federal level for their tremendous support.”
The Chief’s Report and associated documents are available at:
https://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Projects-in-New-York/East-Rockaway-Inlet-to-Rockaway-inlet-Rockaway-Beach/
The Atlantic Coast of New York East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay Study is a partnership between the Army Corps and the non-Federal Sponsor, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and in cooperation with New York City. The Corps, state and city have a long history of working together to provide flood risk reduction measures for these communities—recently placing 348,000 cubic yards of sand at Rockaway Beach in April 2019 to combat erosion issues due to recent Nor’easters.
The next step will be the submission of the Chief’s Report to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, for final approval. The $590 million project is authorized for construction using the P.L. 113-2 (Sandy) funding at 100% full Federal cost.
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