La difficile reconfiguration des fronts d’eau pour les villes menacées d’inondation : New York et sa Dryline

Abstract

The devastating passage of hurricane Sandy, on the American eastern coast in October 2012, appeared like an opportunity to redesign the shore layout in view of preparing for an inevitable recurrence of other extreme storms. Since taking up this challenge could only be done by innovation, the challenges brought on by climate changes prompted the federal government to launch the Rebuild by Design international contest, with the objective of developing adaptive strategies that distinguish themselves from the rigid protection measures commonly recommended. Since this required evolution consistent with the planning methods, a vast integrated design undertaking was launched involving finalist teams and actors from different backgrounds. Amongst the leading projects selected were Dryline and its water retention park. This integrated protection system, intended to make the southern end of Manhattan Island resilient to floods, contributed to designing the structure of an of an audacious approach. This approach is based on larger water accommodation capacity in a heavily urbanized environment, up to when a number of local constraints triggers returning to a more traditional risk management strategy.