New York City Fortifies Coastline Against Future Superstorms

• Proeksa Meas
• 2 July 2026
• Construction Focus
• 709 Views

In the years following the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New York City has undertaken a massive engineering effort to transform its vulnerable coastline into a resilient fortress.

Central to this transformation is the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, which utilizes advanced infrastructure to protect critical utilities like Con Edison’s East River Generation Station from future storm surges.

To design the complex network of floodwalls and massive floodgates required for this project, engineering firm Arcadis utilized Bentley Systems’ STAAD structural engineering and analysis software.

This technology allowed engineers to create precise virtual replicas of the structures, enabling them to simulate extreme scenarios ranging from intense storm surges to heavy debris impacts. The software proved transformative for the project’s timeline, reducing the design process from 30 hours per gate to just 30 minutes.

Beyond structural design, Bentley Systems is using its software to bridge the gap between engineering and public understanding. Bentley Labs combined artificial intelligence, gaming technology, and Gaussian splats—a revolutionary 3D rendering technique—to build an immersive simulation of the new defenses.

By visualizing how these barriers hold back rising water, the software provides a realistic, immersive experience that helps the public understand the vital importance of these massive infrastructure investments. These high-fidelity digital models now serve as both a sophisticated testing ground for engineers and an educational tool for the city.

• Bentley
• STAAD Pro
• Bentley Systems