Tilcon New York, A CRH Company, is helping to protect over 110,000 New Yorkers from future flooding, with a significant contribution to the elevation of Manhattan’s East River Park.
Rising sea levels are threatening coastal communities and infrastructure the world over, by increasing the risk of flooding, erosion and storm surges. And Manhattan is no exception. In fact, right across the state, coastal flooding has increased dramatically over the last twenty years, with damage and repairs to homes, roads and utilities, costing the economy millions of dollars. The need to invest in infrastructure to safeguard the city, and its residents, from future flooding is becoming more and more urgent.
Scheduled for completion by 2026, the East Side Resiliency Project will see East River Park, on the city’s Lower East Side, rebuilt at a higher elevation, averaging about eight feet (2.4 metres) across its 20 hectares (200,000 m2).
The park sits at a vital, natural pinch point along the Manhattan coast. This project, jointly funded by the City of New York and the federal government1, will help prevent floodwater spreading into the surrounding areas, thus protecting up to 110,000 residents.
A million tons of material to make it happen
Elevating the whole park, however, is a massive undertaking, requiring nearly 1 million tons of aggregates to accomplish. Fortunately, Tilcon New York has the resources to rise to this challenge.
The project began in the fall of 2020. By August 2024, Tilcon had delivered more than 380,000 tons of aggregates to the job site, with a further 350,000 expected in 2025.
A fleet of barges keep trucks off the city streets
Tilcon is uniquely placed to leverage its enormous fleet of barges – three times larger than any of its competitors – to deliver a majority of the material to the site. This reduced traffic congestion across Manhattan immensely, keeping more than 45,000 delivery trucks away the streets. It reduced carbon emissions by 86%, compared to conventional trucking, thus minimising environmental impact, while streamlining construction efforts at the Park.
The Tilcon teams dedicated themselves to 24-hour shifts, keeping ten barges in constant rotation, to meet the delivery schedule. In one week alone, this resulted in the ability to deliver over 61,000 tons of aggregates to the Lower East Side.
Such projects enable CRH to ensure our communities, and infrastructure, are more resilient to the effects of extreme weather, while contributing to a more sustainable built environment.
1https://www.nyc.gov/site/escr/index.page
