Following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the New York City School Construction Authority (NYCSCA) prioritized flood mitigation efforts at approximately 40 New York City public schools throughout the five boroughs. To help support these efforts, STV was assigned by NYCSCA to mitigate five schools located in Brooklyn and Rockaway, Queens. Additionally, STV was contracted by the NYCSCA to develop a comprehensive flood deployment plan, also known as a Flood Mitigation Manual. Upon completion of design and construction, a Flood Mitigation Manual is required to be submitted by all consultants, reviewed by STV, and approved by NYCSCA. This resource details equipment visuals, diagrams, maps, and up-to-date resilience standards, and the accompanying deployment sequence.

NYCSCA selected I.S. 98 in Brooklyn as the first deployment test site to study the application and operation of selected flood protection equipment. Witnessed by the Division of School Facilities (DSF), NYCSCA, the general contractor, and the school custodian engineer, the deployment tests verified user requirements for the various flood barrier typologies in terms of operating procedures, training needs, and efficient storage configurations, as well as installation sequence analyses. Following a successful deployment test, STV integrated responses and comments from NYCSCA and DSF into the 250-page Flood Mitigation Manual.