David Schindel:
This morning I'm speaking with Larry White, project manager of the Make Cambridge Resilience Flood Mitigation Project. Since 1968, Larry has worked on major infrastructure development projects from their design, siting and licensing to construction and management. He's worked for the Army Corps of Engineers and a Nuclear Regulatory Commission so he has wide-ranging expertise. He's now president of his own consulting company and he's been involved in Keep Cambridge Resilient since 2019. Good morning, Larry.
Larry White:
Good morning.
David Schindel:
FEMA funding had been authorized for the Cambridge project in years past, but appropriations have been drastically cut by the administration after Trump retook office. The appropriation for this fiscal year was passed recently. Is FEMA funding for the Cambridge Project now assured?
Larry White:
Yes, because we were funded previously back in 2024 when we got our official grant and this was under the hazard education grant program. We're in phase one design for 1.7 million. We're getting close to the end of that and then once FEMA accrues our design and we'll release another $60 million for construction, but all that money's been obligated.
David Schindel:
I understand that the residents along the shore will have to agree before the project can be finally approved. How many homes will be involved in the approval process and have all of them agreed?
Larry White:
There's about 18 property owners along the alignment that are impacted by the project. In other words, the project will be constructed at the edge of their property on the shoreline. They are all part of the permit process because the permit has to do with what we're doing offshore. So we've just sent letters out to those 18 residents and we're waiting for a response. In the meantime, we're working with them because we're continuing with finalizing design. Another step in the process, once we get their approval for the permit and that moves forward, before we can do construction, the city will have to request an easement from these same residents and that's a separate step and that'll happen once we have approval for funding for construction and we're ready to go.
David Schindel:
Larry, a public meeting is going to take place this coming Wednesday in Cambridge for presentation of the 60% design for the project. What are the most important things that these residents will hear at that meeting?
Larry White:
But the overall message of this meeting is a high level, why are we doing this? What do we know? What if we don't know? What's the impact if we don't do the project and what are the benefits? I'll be making that little presentation and then the team will present all the details of where we are in the process.
David Schindel:
This stretch of riverfront along the chop tank has faced two major challenges and I'm wondering if the new design is going to address both of those challenges. The first one is what's called nuisance flooding. Every time there's a very high tide or a storm surge, the neighborhood gets flooded. Second is the long term problem of the shoreline being eroded from big storms. So what will the new design have in it to address both of those risks?
Larry White:
Okay. Well the nuisance flooding is increasingly getting worse because of sea level lives. So the tides get higher because the sea is expanding and because you got to melting in the ice. So we've noticed over the last decade in particular increasing in frequency and the elevation of tides. So that's one issue. The erosion you would get from a coastal storm. So we have an embankment that provides ultimate flood protection, but on the shoreline side of that we have a living shoreline and that protects against erosion. It absorbs energy and it actually grows with sea level lies. As the ebb and flow tides coming in sediment is accreted so that it grows with sea level rise. So that's the living part. So we're designing with nature.
David Schindel:
The meeting that we've been discussing will take place from 6:00 to 7:30 PM on Wednesday, May 27th. It'll be held in the meeting room of the Cambridge Branch of the Dorchester County Public Library at 303 Gate Street. The organizers expect a large turnout, so the audio and video will be piped into an overflow room in the county council chambers, room 110, 501 Court Lane. The meeting will also be live streamed on the web and more information will be made available at www.makecambridgeresilient. That's all one word, no punctuation. Makecambridgeresilient.org.
Larry White:
Okay. Well, the nuisance flooding is increasingly getting worse because of sea level lives. So the tides get higher because the sea is expanding and because you got to melting in the ice. So we've noticed over the last decade in particular increasing in frequency and the elevation of tides. So that's one issue. And the other is the erosion you would get from a coastal storm. So our design combined number of features. So we have an embankment that provides ultimate flood protection, but on the shoreline side of that we have a living shoreline and that protects against erosion. It absorbs energy and it actually grows with sea level line. As the ebb and flow hides coming in, sediment is accreted so that it grows with sea level rise. So that's the living part. So we're designing with nature and so we got multiple features in here that protect against erosion, high hides and flooding from large coastal storms, especially those that could be exasperated going in the future due to the warming of our environment.
That's going to increase the amount of energy in the storms.
David Schindel:
Ah, that was a terrific answer. And that's all I've got, Larry. I'm looking forward to the meeting.
Larry White:
Well, yeah, it's actually going to be access for the web too. So we're expecting a large turnout because we're getting close to the end. So we're expecting probably a large percentage of those effected residents will be there. And it's going to be video taped and also it's going to be web enabled so people can tune in if they can't make it personally.
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