• Hurricane Barrier Photos
• Real-time and Predicted Tides from NOAA (for New London, CT)
Note: Tide Datum Conversion for NGVD: MLLW - 1.07 = NGVD

PROJECT PERSONNEL: Owned and Operated and Maintained by the Town of Stonington, CT (860) 535-5065
PROJECT PURPOSE: Hurricane Flood Protection
LOCATION: Project is located on the west bank of the Pawcatuck River about 5 miles from the mouth of the river in the town of Pawcatuck, New London County, Connecticut
PROTECTED AREA: The project protects approximately 34 acres of highly Industrialized land from hurricane induced tidal surges on the Pawcatuck River.

Design Summary: The Design Hurricane was established through cooperation with the U.S. Weather Bureau and the Beach Erosion Board affiliated with the Texas Research Foundation of Texas A&M University. The basis for the design storm was the transformation of the September 1944 hurricane. This storm, when it was off the Cape Hatteras, N.C. coast, had the greatest energy of any known hurricane along the Atlantic coast. The 1944 storm was transposed so that it would be entirely over water between Cape Hatteras and the New England coast, resulting in a central pressure of 27.88 in. mercury near New Haven, CT. The transposed storm was moved northerly with a forward speed of about 40 knots along a track passing over New England 49 nautical miles west of Montauk Point, and moving northerly directly over New Haven creating sustained winds of 90 mph. Within Little Narragansett Bay, at the mouth of the Pawcatuck River, a tide surge associated with this storm was computed to be 14.2 ft. This surge was added to the mean spring high water elevation of 1.3 Ft-NGVD, resulting in a 15.5 Ft-NGVD stillwater elevation. Transposing this level upstream to the project resulted in a design tide elevation of 16.5 Ft-NGVD. It was further determined that no wave from Long Island Sound would affect the project location. A 16.5 Ft-NGVD elevation is approximately a 500-year tide level.

• PROJECT FEATURES:
• • Design Hurricane Tide = 16.5 Ft NGVD
  • 1,915 ft earth-filled dike
  • 940 ft concrete wall
  • Top Elevations = 17.0 Ft NGVD
  • Interior runoff Pump Station of 50 cfs (DA=34 acres)
  • 2 Vehicle Street Gates on Mechanic Street 44 ft wide x 8 ft high
  • Standard Project Flood = 7,800 cfs (DA Pawcatuck River = 295 sq mi)

TOTAL COST: $860,000
PLACED IN OPERATION: September 1963

• MEAN TIDE DATA
• • Mean High Water: 1.0 Ft-NGVD
  • Mean Low Water: -1.5 Ft-NGVD
  • Mean Tide Range: 2.5 ft