New York Construction Report staff writer
A groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for Battery Coastal Resilience project, a $200-million piece of the overall Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency strategy.
The project, which will rebuild and elevate The Battery’s wharf and promenade, is expected to be completed in 2026, and will protect against projected sea level rise through the year 2100.
Stantec serves as lead designer for the project. Construction is expected to create 400 jobs and be completed in 2026.
The Battery Park City Authority awarded a contract for the progressive design-build to a joint venture of Turner Construction Co. and E.E. Cruz & Co. Inc. with Arcadis, Bjarke Ingels Group, Scape Landscape Architecture and WSP.
“We’re building a more resilient, more sustainable city for today’s New Yorkers and for generations to come, and our coastal resiliency projects are key pieces of that work,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “The Battery Coastal Resilience project will help protect Lower Manhattan from the stronger storms that climate change is bringing.
“And because the need for these projects isn’t going away any time soon, we need the federal government to establish reliable sources of funding for key coastal resiliency work across the country.”
Among the design goals to be met are:
- Protecting The Battery from rising seas over the next 80 years
- Accommodating passenger ferry uses
- Preserving and enhancing the park’s character and gardens
- Creating universal accessibility for a more welcoming and accessible esplanade
- Protecting The Battery’s historic and cultural resources
The project’s final plans were completed in the fall of 2022 and preconstruction and exploratory work was finished in 2023.
Full construction will be completed through two phases of partial wharf closures to minimize disruptions to the park’s activity as well as maintain wharf ferry services.
Phase 1 is now underway, with the second phase expected to begin once the current work concludes in the summer of 2025.
Battery Coastal Resilience has received a Platinum award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure’s Envision program, which promotes industry-wide sustainability metrics and fosters cost-effective, energy-efficient, and adaptable long-term infrastructure investments. Battery Coastal Resilience is the first major project in the city to meet the commitments of the NYC Clean Construction Accelerator of reducing embodied emissions by over 50 percent.
The South Battery Park City Resiliency Project (SBPCR) is a Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency initiative led by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) and currently under construction adjacent to the Battery Coastal Resilience site. Creating a physical tie-in with Battery Coastal Resilience, SBPCR will create an integrated coastal flood risk management system extending along the northern border of Battery Park, across Pier A Plaza, through a rebuilt Wagner Park, and to the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
“The Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project sets the standard for future projects of this kind, marrying coastal protection with an ambitious sustainability agenda,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “Breaking ground on the Battery Coastal Resiliency portion of Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency marks a huge win in advancing the work to protect our city from future sea-level rising and flooding due to climate change. NYCEDC is thrilled to work on this with MOCEJ and NYC Parks to deliver a sustainable and resilient future for all New Yorkers.”
