Managing stormwater

As in the U.S., climate scientists forecast fewer but increasingly heavy rainstorms across Europe as the new pattern for the region. The Netherlands is as threatened by inland flooding as it is from the sea. The Dutch have actually begun to breach some of their upstream river dikes, flooding farmland in order to relieve pressure downstream.

In Denmark, the architecture firm Tredje Natur won a competition in 2012 for a new water-management plan for the Saint Kjelds neighborhood of Copenhagen. The scheme focuses on absorbing and slowing the water on the surface instead of forcing it underground. The design includes a series of sinuous water features such as swales, retention areas, and green spaces that wind through the streets and open areas. “We weren't allowed to impact existing infrastructure or parking, but we managed to rework about 20 percent of the streetscape for the design,” says firm partner Flemming Rafn Thomsen. The project is slated for completion by 2015.

Singapore's Marina Barrage has become a recreational destination while protecting the city from storm surges. Photo by CDM Smith

Engineers at CDM Smith proposed a barrier at the Arthur Kill narrows between New York and New Jersey that would utilize a damlike structure with locks. Illustration by CDM Smith