Meadowlands Stadium area in NJ prone to flooding; NJDEP's $150M Rebuild by Design project aims to reduce flood risks & improve resilience in five towns. Projects include pump stations, riverfront park, and green infrastructure to address root causes of flooding and enhance community resilience. Funding sourced from HUD, FEMA, NOAA, and NJ state appropriation.
NJDEP photo
Seen here is the rebar work on the pump station site.
Meadowlands Stadium in northern New Jersey is home to the NFL Giants and Jets. While football fans know the area due to the stadium (now known as MetLife), the Meadowlands has other claims to fame.
The area (in and around the stadium) is low-lying and part of a wetland. Because of this, it's more likely to suffer from flooding when storms occur. The area took a tremendous hit when Superstorm Sandy hit in the Fall 2012.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created the Rebuild by Design competition in response to the storm. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) won the competition. It was awarded $150 million towards the design and construction of a solution that will reduce flooding risks and enhance resiliency in this area.
The study area includes five towns: Little Ferry, Teterboro, Moonachie, South Hackensack, and Carlstadt. The NJDEP and contractors are in various stages on multiple projects designed to make the towns more resilient to severe storms.
Multi-Phased Project
The NJDEP originally submitted a proposal that would have made extensive changes. Once HUD determined the grant's value, NJDEP returned to the drawing board to reconsider how to proceed.
"The current plan includes several components of our original plan," said Kimberly McEvoy, bureau chief, division of resilience engineering and construction of NJDEP. "It's a regional approach, which also identifies future projects as more funding becomes available."
"The projects we chose will address the root causes of the area floods," added Dennis Reinknecht, director, division of resilience engineering and construction of NJDEP. "Completing them will be like unplugging the bathtub in the meadowlands as more water will move through the area more efficiently."
The watershed approach will allow water to flow to the lower parts of the region and give it somewhere to go. Currently, the water is trapped during high tidal events, which leads to the flat, low-lying area being more likely to flood during wet weather and major storm surge events.
The team will build two pump stations during the project's first phase. The East Riser Ditch pump station is being constructed in Carlstadt, and the Losen Slote/Liberty Street pump station is being constructed in Little Ferry.
The East Riser station will run on diesel, and the Losen Slote station will run on gas. The fuel selection was based on community input and fuel source availability.
Just how much water can these pump stations handle? Reinknecht said that the East Riser Ditch pump station will be able to handle 500 cu. ft. per second, equivalent to an Olympic-size swimming pool, in three minutes.
Other plan elements include constructing a riverfront park in Little Ferry on the Hackensack River. Currently, the area is home to a dilapidated waterfront that provides no access to the water from Little Ferry.
Once the public park is completed, people will be able to stroll along the water. Educational space signage and a kayak launch site will be on site. The public green infrastructure floodplain preservation project. Floodplain preservation means more green space for rainwater to infiltrate (i.e., flood storage) and is an area designed to flood, therefore, help the area be more resilient to flooding.
Finally, there will be a pocket park at the Losen Slote Pump Station property. The pocket park includes a seating area and educational signage.
Determining Location
The meadowlands area is home to a diverse ecosystem community in densely populated areas. Coexistence is a challenge.
While the team recognized that the stormwater infrastructure in the area is aged and underperforming, they had to determine how best to use HUD funding so it could have the greatest impact.
"We used hydraulic modeling, surveying and collected flood data to model how water gets out of the region," McEvoy said. "Our goal was to determine the best way to get water out of the system — lower the water elevation — as quickly as possible. With the information we gathered, we were able to determine the ideal locations for the pump stations."
Before selecting the specific locations, the team reviewed properties. This screening occurred during the feasibility, environmental review and design phases of the project, which entailed the evaluation of factors or indices that would make the project feasible and presenting those indices to the public for additional input and prioritization.
Active Busy Community
The area where the pump stations are being built is densely populated. Building the station while minimizing the impact on the general population has been challenging.
On the Losen Slote station (which will be known as the Liberty Street Pumping Station and Force Main), the team is using the "Jack and Bore" method. The trenchless method of installing underground utilities minimizes the time the road will be closed.
Note that construction on of the Losen Slote pump station project began in late summer 2023, and the team expects to finish at the end of 2025. Union Paving and Construction, the general contractor, expects to complete it on schedule.
Some of the work is taking place next to houses.
"The team is on a first name basis with some homeowners and does everything it can to keep area residents informed of the project, so they know what to expect," Reinknecht said. "Moving this project forward requires coordination and patience."
Bidding for the East Riser pump station is set to take place in spring 2025. McEvoy expects the contract will run for three years, and work will start in the fall.The team is finalizing the riverfront park's design and anticipates opening bidding on the 18-24-month project in early 2026.
The budget for the projects is approximately $245 million.
In addition to the HUD grant, funding is being provided by the following:
• Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): $36 million.
• Climate Resilience Regional Challenge (CRRC) competition grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Building a Climate Ready NJ): $16,995,335.
• Flood Control Capital State Appropriation Fund from State of New Jersey: $42 million.
As the NJDEP implements its watershed approach, it will help everyone in the area, cleaning up their drainage, improving resilience in each community and making them less vulnerable to flooding from large rainfall events. CEG
(All photos courtesy of NJDEP.)
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