Selected Effects of the 2012 Hurricane Sandy along the U.S. East Coast: A Geotechnical Perspective

Hurricane Sandy was unprecedented in impact on the urban cluster comprised of New York City and the surrounding metro areas, in addition to numerous coastal communities along the New Jersey and New York coasts. The storm caused severe coastal damage and major flooding that disrupted daily life in a number of communities as well as business activities of Lower Manhattan, the financial capital of the world. In addition to damaging winds, Hurricane Sandy had several major consequences of geotechnical engineering interest, including: (i) the storm surge modified the coastal geomorphology of the region with the birth of new inlets , erosion, scour of soil at the shorelines, showing how marshes, dunes, and barrier islands influence soil erosion patterns and the resulting damage; (ii) storm surge damage in coastal communities revealed the vulnerability of residential building foundations not built to modern flood protection standards; and (iii) flood damage to non-structural components took many buried structures and below ground infrastructure out of service. The hurricane initiated discussions among civil infrastructure planners, engineers, architects and environmental scientists on how to create resilient and sustainable future designs. Short-term geotechnical engineering solutions are needed to retrofit or