Background
Fuss & O’Neill was contracted to assess current conditions in six watersheds in the Upper Susquehanna River basin near Binghamton, NY, to assess flood-related vulnerabilities and to identify opportunities for both infrastructure and natural systems options for mitigating flood impacts and increasing community resilience. The project involved development of HEC-RAS models to support assessment and design of flood mitigation measures, including culvert replacement, stream and floodplain restoration, and other infrastructure and nature-based solutions.

Assessments
Fuss & O’Neill conducted field and desktop assessment of selected stream crossing structures in the study watersheds. The stream crossing assessments consisted of field surveys of individual stream crossings using established road-stream crossing assessment protocols, followed by analysis of the field data to assign vulnerability ratings to each crossing based on multiple factors, including hydraulic capacity, structural condition, geomorphic risk, aquatic organism passage, transportation and emergency services, other flooding impacts, and climate change considerations. The vulnerability ratings were used to prioritize structures for replacement.

Implementation
Several high-priority flood mitigation projects were selected for design and construction using the U.S. HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding secured by TCSWCD. The projects include replacement of an existing culvert with an open-bottom concrete bridge structure and a stream restoration project, as well as a stream restoration project that includes establishing grade control in the channel and placement of engineered large wood structures to reduce lateral migration and erosion. Fuss & O’Neill is providing final design, permitting, and construction phase services in support of these implementation projects.