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A New Flood Wall Proposed in Georgetown

  • November 26th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Flooding at Washington Harbour; flood gates to right. Click to enlarge.

Following years of intermittent flooding, a new flood wall is being proposed in Georgetown. 

On behalf of Global Holdings Management Group, architect Perkins Eastman has submitted plans for a new flood wall system at Washington Harbour for the Old Georgetown Board to review.

Existing flood gates. Click to enlarge.

The existing flood gates were up for 110 days in 2017 and 2018, or 15 percent of the year on average. Peak flood season is roughly from April to October, and over the past nine years, there have been an average of 17.56 "high water events" and 4.89 "gate raising" events per year along the harbor in Georgetown.

To replace the wooden flood gates, Perkins Eastman is proposing two concrete options. The first is a concrete "knee wall" which would be built from below the grade of the current wood walk and concrete edge.

Aerial diagram of knee wall option. Click to enlarge.
Rendering of knee wall option, looking west. Click to enlarge.

The second is a concrete wall with integrated stair, also built from two walls below grade forming a platform with cast-in-place concrete steps facing the water and the plaza. Either plan would also necessitate a flood study, installing a sensor for the Potomac River and a sensor for Rock Creek.

Aerial diagram of stair wall option. Click to enlarge.
Rendering of stair wall option, looking west. Click to enlarge.

It is unclear when the Old Georgetown Board will take the item up for consideration.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/flood-mitigation-measures-proposed-for-georgetowns-washington-harbour/16186.

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