In partnership with the City of Charleston, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers explored effective, feasible solutions to reduce risk and promote coastal resiliency to Charleston, S.C.
This spring, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, 55th Chief of Engineers, signed a Chief’s Report, marking a formal recommendation to the administration and then Congress for construction authorization.
Led by the Charleston District, the four-year federal feasibility study recommends three integrated measures to reduce storm surge risk on the peninsula: a perimeter storm surge wall, living shorelines and nonstructural measures.
If implemented, the proposed plan —estimated at $1.1 billion — would be cost-shared with the City of Charleston, the nonfederal sponsor, and yields a benefit-cost ratio of 11-to-1. In other words, the project expects to save $10 in prevented coastal storm damages for every federal dollar invested.