Sachuest Point Flood Resiliency

Fuss & O’Neill is working with project partners including the Town of Middletown, The Nature Conservancy, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reduce flooding along the lower reach of the Maidford River that is impacting sensitive habitats at Sachuest Point and routinely floods public roads through this area. Flooding is caused by a number of factors, including intense storm events, sea level rise, and routine shoaling of the Maidford River inlet.

The first phase of the project, completed in 2017, comprised of raising the elevation of both roads by an average of 30 inches to reduce road flooding while avoiding impacts to surrounding resource areas. Additional elements completed during the first phase were a bioretention basin for the Navy Beach parking lot and conversion of part of the connector road into a dune for additional flood protection. The next phase of the project includes replacing the undersized culverts underneath Third Beach Road so that the current Maidford River inlet can be abandoned and the river can be redirected to a more stable inlet on the south end of Third Beach.