Addressing Historic Flooding in Newport’s Prescott Hall Neighborhood

In 2014, The City of Newport and Jacobs launched an initial study to identify measures for improving system performance in the Prescott Hall neighborhood and mitigating future flood risk. A key finding from this initial study was that we could reduce flooding considerably by performing more frequent maintenance on critical drainage infrastructure. Long-term solutions would require improvements to infrastructure owned by the City of Newport and other entities such as government agencies, private developers and property owners.

To develop long-term and sustainable solutions, Jacobs conducted an updated study in 2022 heavily focused on stakeholder and community engagement. Through public workshops, we better analyzed past flooding events, understood the needs of stakeholders and identified measures required to achieve performance goals.

We developed a 2D hydraulic model, which we validated against records for recent storms, including Tropical Storm Ida, to evaluate mitigation alternatives. The model was used to perform a detailed flood assessment that evaluated conveyance capacity and identified bottlenecks in the system. The effects of changing climates were also considered, including the frequency of extreme precipitation events, rising sea levels and storm surges. The model was then used to test potential mitigation alternatives.

The recommended improvements include three regional detention ponds, 500 feet of channel improvements and 8,500 feet of new or upsized storm drains. We selected these recommendations through a structured evaluation process based on stakeholder input. The project is currently advancing from conceptual to preliminary design.

Through community engagement, we’re helping The City of Newport develop a path toward improved and resilient infrastructure to protect residents against future storm events.