Since 2003, the City of Norfolk in Virginia has been investigating coastal/estuarine/river erosion issues, compound urban coastal flooding issues, developing long-range resilience plans, and constructing infrastructure projects to improve its diverse communities’ resilience to coastal flooding.  Efforts have included wave and water level data collection, coastal shoreline and watershed modeling studies and plan developments, and implementation of City-funded flood risk reduction projects consisting of nature-based features such as beach renourishment, dune restoration and management, living shorelines, stormwater (both gray and green infrastructure), and a project to daylight a historic creek and constructing wetlands within a new City park.  The City won one of the 2016 HUD National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC) projects and has completed design and construction of that Ohio Creek Watershed NDRC project.  The City has also been partnering with the US Navy through the Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) process and with USACE through its Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) project, with the first projects from the authorized CSRM currently in construction design phase.

This presentation will give a high level overview of the City’s program to date and provide lessons learned in the processes of community engagement, how the planning process of the Dutch Dialogues led to significant funding streams to streamline project implementation, innovative and practical engineering and architectural design, and construction of nature-based, resilience-enhancing projects (beaches, living shorelines, and stormwater) in an area challenged by geotechnical, topographical and prior development constraints.

The Network for Engineering With Nature_® (EWN) invites you to the N-EWN Knowledge Series: A Continuing Education Series about Engineering with Nature—The Evolution of a Resilient Coastal Community: Over 20 Years of Beaches, Back Bays, Rivers and Stormwater in Norfolk presented by Brian Joyner, Moffatt & Nichol and Kelli Cunningham, Waggonner & Ball. This 1-hour Zoom webinar took place October 17, 2024 at 12:30pm ET.

For previously recorded seminars, please visit the N-EWN Seminars page.