Building a Barrier: Resilient and Adaptive Flood Protection at Moakley Park in Boston

The City of Boston is advancing climate resilience along the South Boston shoreline through the rehabilitation of Moakley Park. The Moakley Park Vision Plan, released in 2018, presented conceptual design plans for a resilient Moakley Park that included a new flood protection barrier (i.e., levee) measuring approximately 2,600 ft (790 m) in length with a height of up to approximately 10–12 ft (3–3.5 m) to address climate vulnerabilities. The levee is planned to traverse the 62-acre (25-hectare) park and be designed to provide flood protection for the park interior and surrounding South Boston communities. The challenging existing site conditions include shallow groundwater, environmental contamination, several large below ground infrastructure utilities, and a subsurface profile that includes historic urban fill overlying highly compressible organics and soft Boston Blue Clay deposits that is up to approximately 200 ft (61 m) thick. The following case study examines the current and future site challenges, and describes the iterative design process that was required to address the complex goals of mitigating future flooding and improving park amenities for members of the surrounding communities. Climate projection data are presented that informed the basis of design and the adaptable approach, as well as a description of subsurface conditions and an explanation of how the support of the flood protection barrier is being designed to meet the needs of the landscape, including proposed plantings, structures, and below ground utilities.