The City of Norfolk, Virginia – population 244,000 – has picked a joint venture of Aecom, Moffatt & Nichol, and Volkert to provide programme and project management for the city’s $2.6bn coastal storm protection plan.

Norfolk says it is second only to New Orleans for risk from coastal storms, and that it has one of the highest rates of relative sea level rise among cities on the Atlantic US coast.

Rising seas and more frequent storms are increasing the frequency of floods, which are exacerbated by an inadequate and ageing stormwater management system, it says.

Floods sometimes cut off emergency services and evacuation routes altogether, it adds.

The city wants storm-surge barriers, nearly nine miles of flood walls and levees, 11 tide gates, and 10 pump stations.

On top of that, hundreds of nonstructural projects will include home elevations, basement fills, and commercial flood proofing.

A collaboration between the city and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the project will include nature-based features such as oyster reefs, living shorelines, and wetlands mitigation.

Aecom will be managing partner of the joint venture, called Norfolk Resilience Partners.

“Our collective experience of more than 3,700 coastal and resiliency projects and nearly 80 years of working history with USACE will prepare us to bring this complex yet critical programme to completion,” said Beverley Stinson, chief executive of Aecom’s global water business.

The single-award contract sees the joint venture provide services including engineering and design, real estate, public engagement, utility coordination, environmental and cultural resources evaluations, compliance, and grant management.