Due To Finish Construction By Fall 2017, The Woodrow Bluebelt Wins a Sustainability Award

Some of Staten Island areas suffers from flooding in certain parts of various neighborhoods. There is a $48 million plan in the works to expand the Staten Island Bluebelt that exist to help prevent flooding. Due to this plan helping Staten Island to be more comfortable and convenient for residents, it was approved!

The New York Department of Design and Construction (DDC) has managed this project for the New York Department of Environment Protection (DEP). This new project will be replacing 2.2 miles of old cast iron water mains with new ones. There will be over four miles of new sewers and wetland near the area of Sheldon Avenue, Woodrow. Along with new sewers, the plan is to also plant over 700 trees and about ten thousand plants. This will benefit the residents by protecting them from heavy storms.

The project for Staten Island's Woodrow Bluebelt system will improve stormwater drainage and enable almost 600 homes to connect to the City's sanitary sewer system. The construction of the Bluebelt System project had started in March 2014 and is expected to be completed in fall as of this year. Not only has it been approved and construction has started, this project has already received the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure's Envision Silver Award. It is only the second project in New York City to be recognized for this sustainability award.

The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) was the organization that honored this project with the Envision Silver award. This award recognizes projects that pertain to areas being sustained and protected from weather complications. The institute provided training to help design and construct. There are currently 130 ISI members involved.

This new storm system will collect all stormwater from the local streets and will be directed to the new man-made wetland areas.  The wetland will be connecting to the existing Annandale Wedge Pond.  This pond was made from previous storms and now being expanded with new wetlands.

This will qualify the way of how the residents live which will help them, based on energy, water, and environmental impacts. Officials are hoping that this project will help detour the flooding in these neighborhoods. The Department of Environmental Protection is expecting this project to be completed in the fall time of this year.