Archinect - News

One year after Hurricane Ida, NYC updates its water infrastructure in the hopes of preventing another tragedy

2022-09-02T14:50:00-04:00

New York City is beefing up the effort to prevent a similar tragedy to Hurricane Ida a year removed from the historic storm’s wake of destruction, which left 13 residents dead and hundreds of others permanently displaced.

Mayor Eric Adams was on hand yesterday to showcase newly-installed stormwater infrastructure in the heavily-affected neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens, in unison with Governor Kathy Hochul and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The city is investing some $2.5 billion there in the form of sewer upgrades which will be joined by a similar $454 million initiative targeting historically-flood-prone areas in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and other parts of Central and Southeastern Queens.

That money will all go towards replacing the antiquated, century-old existing system that, combined with the abundance of illegal basement dwellings in the neighborhood, created an untenable situation in September 2021, unable to handle the seven inches of rain that fell i...

Modular bridge reconnects critical route for Louisiana community hit by Hurricane Ida

2021-12-22T15:59:00-05:00

An international bridge engineering and supply company by the name of Acrow has recently supplied a modular steel bridge to temporarily replace a bridge that was destroyed during Hurricane Ida in Louisiana.

When the hurricane hit the country on August 29th, the Category 4 storm caused widespread damage to infrastructure across the northern Gulf Coast and beyond, including a vital bridge that provided passage between the communities of Lafitte and Barataria in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

As stated in Acrow’s press releases, the 400 residents of Barataria became isolated as their only vehicular bridge to the mainland was destroyed. In response, the Louisiana National Guard installed a temporary floating bridge to enable access for first responders and residents, however, it could only support a single lane of traffic. A larger, longer-term temporary bridge was needed to meet the needs of the community’s residents.

Previously on Archinect: Mayhem in New York City and across the Nort...

Ida deaths highlight persistent flooding and housing issues in New York City’s low-lying immigrant neighborhoods

2021-09-03T14:50:00-04:00

As the fallout of Hurricane Ida comes into focus in both the Gulf Coast region and the Atlantic Northeast, one area of chronic concern has become ground zero for planning gaps that are increasingly deadly indicators of race and class in cities that number among the most expensive in the world.

The Hollis section of Queens in New York City, where 13 people were tragically killed in the flooding that gripped the city over the night on Wednesday as the unexpectedly intense storm bore down on the region, was particularly hard-hit relative to other neighborhoods in the borough of nearly 2.5 million.

Two people died in the basement of their 183rd Street apartment as storm waters collapsed walls and deluged buildings around Hollis. The neighborhood is prone to flooding and has been the subject of a multibillion-dollar sewage system upgrade that began in 2019 and is still undergoing construction, according to Mayor de Blasio.

Photos:183 Street was devastated by flooding last night. A mothe...

Mayhem in New York City and across the Northeast as Ida causes major infrastructure damage

2021-09-02T12:41:00-04:00

The transit situation on Thursday in New York City remained paralyzed, with service on more than half of the city’s subway lines disrupted, commuter rail lines running limited trains, and Amtrak canceling service on a major corridor.

Wednesday night’s flooding caused New York City to issue a travel ban usually reserved for major winter storm events. The storm also inundated large sections of major highways in Philadelphia and impacted operations at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The New York subway hasn’t seen a test of this magnitude since Hurricane Sandy caused $4.5 billion in damages that were meted out on the system for years.

Watch: The New York area was under a state of emergency on Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida led to at least 14 deaths and disrupted subway service. Across the city, New Yorkers documented the scene as flood waters overwhelmed buses and subways. https://t.co/spVsdgF0XX pic.twitter.com/r2vg2aDRVg
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 2, 2021

A lot of the upgrades the MTA made after Sandy involved improving signal switches and flood-proofing the subway’s electrical grid.

The LIRR, NJ Transit, and Metro-North systems have all temporarily shut down. I-95 was also af...

Historic New Orleans jazz destination that helped launch Louis Armstrong to fame destroyed by Hurricane Ida

2021-08-30T17:41:00-04:00

Video shot Monday morning shows New Orleans’ historic Karnofsky Shop was destroyed by Hurricane Ida Sunday. [...] The site, located on South Rampart Street, is where Louis Armstrong played jazz music and briefly worked. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The two-story brick building in New Orleans’ Central Business District has stood vacant for decades and was considered a hallmark of both Jazz history and Jewish culture within the Crescent City. The Karnofsky family, which purportedly loaned Louis Armstrong the money to buy his first cornet, later converted the one-time tailor shop into the city’s first jazz record store thanks to Armstrong’s childhood friend Morris Karnofsky. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002.

This is the Karnofsky Shop - a historic place. Louis Armstrong worked here and bought his first trumpet here. Collapsed during #HurricaneIda. pic.twitter.com/FsL4B1LbI8
— Jack Royer (@JackRoyer) August 30, 2021

Previous attempts had been made to convert the disused building into a nightclub. The 400 block of South Rampart street also houses historic sites like the former Eagle Saloon and Iroquois Theatre. USA Today has more on the destroyed landmark here.

New Orleans' $14.5 billion levee system seems to have worked against Hurricane Ida

2021-08-30T15:45:00-04:00

The $14.5 billion flood-protection system built around New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina seems to have succeeded at keeping the city from going underwater again.

The abject failure of the levee system during Hurricane Katrina was the primary cause of the devastation that eventually cost the city a minimum of 1,800 lives and over $81 billion in property damage. Ida represents the first test of the system since it was completed in 2018.

The levees were thought to have an abbreviated shelf-life thanks to rising sea levels that would require significant upgrades within the next four years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led project was one of the largest infrastructure builds in history next to the Hoover Dam and Erie Canal.

Meanwhile, a protested new natural gas power plant south of Lake Pontchartrain that was supposed to protect the city’s electrical system has failed. The storm was so powerful it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River. The New York Times has more on the performance of the multibillion-dollar levee system here.