Waterfront Conference 2023

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is invested in long-term mitigation, adaptation, and resilience of New Jersey’s economy, communities, infrastructure, and natural resources throughout the State. One the resiliency projects currently being implemented by NJDEP, in partnership with the City of Hoboken, New Jersey, is the Rebuild By Design – Hudson River (RBDH) Project, which takes a multi-faceted approach to improve physical, ecological, economic, and social resiliency. Initiated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2013 in response to Hurricane Sandy through the unique Rebuild By Design competition, RBDH will be built throughout the City of Hoboken, and will extend into Weehawken and Jersey City, with the goal of addressing coastal flooding from major storm surges and high tides. This panel will give a history of the project from the start of the Rebuild By Design competition to its upcoming construction phase, detail its award-winning community engagement and outreach program, and present lessons learned in implementing an almost two-mile long, multipurpose flood risk reduction structure in a dense, urban environment.