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Date

Picture from WHOI (see below)
This is the last Cape Cod-themed blog post of the Summer. Here on Cape Cod, we’re proud of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). It’s focused on exploring the oceans, research and educating folks about our oceans. It is home to several famous exploration vessels, like the 274-foot Atlantis and its deep-diving submarine, “Alvin”, as well as a new research ship, the Neil Armstrong.
So you would think that if anyone, anyone, worldwide would consider sea-level rise in the construction of new infrastructure, it would be WHOI.

And you would be spot-on. Much of what you read here is based on a very good Cape Cod Times article entitled No Easy Answers. This is supplemented by an excellent page dedicated to sea-level rise from none other than (you guessed it) the WHOI. In fact, they have also produced an outstanding report, which I highly recommend you avail yourself of, by clicking here.
WHOI is going to be building a US$100M dock and waterfront support facility (really a collection of facilities), which is core to what WHOI does. They are quite risk-aware of sea-level rise. Along with this work WHOI is also collaborating with the nearby National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the University of Chicago’s Marine Biological Laboratory, and construction projects for those institutions.
They don’t have the option that others may – to retreat inland. They “have to be there” in order to continue their mission:
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is dedicated to advancing knowledge of the ocean and its connection with the Earth system through a sustained commitment to excellence in science, engineering, and education, and to the application of this knowledge to problems facing society.
Sound familiar to you? It should ring a bell – note the reference to “application of knowledge”; that is part of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) definition of Project Management itself…
…the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to deliver something of value to people
However, that’s not the main connection to project management in this blog post. It’s much more about risk assessment, risk awareness, risk response, and implementing risk response.
The risk trigger here is scientific data that shows that the sea level will rise up to almost 2.6 feet in Woods Hole by 2050. The impact of that rise is significant. WHOI used data from the Massachusetts Coastal Flood Risk Model that projects the rise above as well as an 8-foot rise by 2100. What does that mean to this proposed construction?
It means that 93% of WHOI’s infrastructure would be at risk by 2050 from a “100-year” storm surge. So they need to take sea-level rise significantly into consideration as they build. The approach taken will vary by institution. The NOAA, according to the article, is taking an adaptive approach – gradually waterproofing.
Taking advantage of a nearly US$200K grant from Massachusetts’ Coastal Zone Management organization, the organizations will look to collaborate to make the infrastructure capable of withstanding the increased sea-level rise and expected storm surge(s). More specifically, this involves raising the dock 2.5 feet with an option to put further dock surfaces above it, and/or to use steel pilings equipped with hydraulics to allow the dock to be raised higher.
The questions for others building in coastal areas:
- Are you aware of – and active in assessing and responding to – risks from sea-level rise?
- Are you basing your risk assumptions on the best and latest information (which is increasingly available and increasingly believable)?
- Are you collaborating with others to gain benefits not available if you proceeded alone?
For your stakeholders - and for yourself - I assert that you should follow the example of the WHOI.
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: September 12, 2021 08:28 PM |
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