Saturday, September 14, 2013


RUTGERS GRAD STUDENTS HELP REINVENT SEA BRIGHT

JOE HERNANDEZ | JUNE 10, 2013

'Sandy Recovery Studio' works to transform sea walls and other structures into tourist attractions.

seabright studio
Off-season, beach parking lots can be used to host farmers markets and other outdoor activities.
More than six months after Sandy crashed into the New Jersey coastline, some towns that have been struggling to get back on their feet are just beginning to plan for the future. And one of the Garden State’s barrier islands is getting some help with that effort from a group of graduate students at Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
“This is just a really challenging situation, and the entire coastline is going to have to face it,” said Chris Kok, a student in this spring’s “Sandy Recovery Studio.” The class is dedicated entirely to rethinking and rebuilding the central New Jersey town of Sea Bright, which saw widespread structural damage and flooding during and after the October storm.
Sandy was certainly a wake-up call, but Sea Bright has always been vulnerable to extreme weather. “If Sea Bright were not urbanized today, nobody would build on it,” said Carlos Rodrigues, who co-teaches the class with Michael Yaffe.
Sitting on a three-mile-long strip of land due east of Princeton between the Atlantic Ocean and the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers, the low-lying town is three blocks across at its widest, so even a heavy rain leaves it prone to flooding. During Sandy, water rushed over the riverbank from the west and through the 10-foot sea wall from the east, inundating the island.
Now, work is being done to flood-proof Sea Bright. Workers have been strengthening the sea wall and the Army Corps of Engineers is building a bulkhead system along the town's riverbank.
And students in the Sandy Recovery Studio are thinking about how to preserve the character and communal spirit of a beach town that’s being walled in by engineers...
Last month, the class presented its findings to Sea Bright residents and officials, who were pleased with the results and followed up with a flurry of questions. Having gotten the effective green light to move forward with the project, several students began working up a final report and Rodrigues started coordinating construction efforts with Mayor Long and FEMA. The Bloustein School will also stay involved with Sea Bright through the end of the year, as the town moves from wondering how to rebuild to deciding what to rebuild first.

No comments:

Post a Comment