GIS & mapping

2012 - 2018:  Corridor Flood Vulnerability Mapping

                      Statewide VT

Client:  Vermont Agency of Transportation

Following severe flood damage incurred during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, Fitzgerald Environmental Associates (FEA) worked with the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation, and US Army Corps of Engineers, to incorporate geomorphology guidance into permanent structural repairs along road and river corridors throughout Vermont. 

Evan Fitzgerald was selected by VTrans to be the lead coordinator of a team of five consulting river scientists and engineers from various firms to address over 150 unstable roadway areas throughout the state. FEA provided technical design guidance including hydrologic-hydraulic modeling and mapping of erosion hazards. Evan was responsible for coordinating statewide permitting efforts and overseeing construction on over 45 sites in Vermont since 2012. FEA also completed river-road corridor vulnerability assessments in various hard hit areas using LiDAR data to develop hydraulic models and slope instability predictions.

As part of our Irene recovery assistance to VTrans, FEA prepared flood vulnerability maps for the VT Route 100 corridor in Pittsfield and Killington (located in the Upper White River watershed) to assist with the identification of vulnerable roadway segments following Irene. FEA developed a process-based approach to identify vulnerable roadway segments using LiDAR data as a basis for hydrologic-hydraulic modeling, embankment slope mapping, and roadway relief mapping. We determined that 8 of 11 Irene damage sites along the corridor were associated with the highest levels of shear stress (i.e., erosion potential), validating the notion that roadway failure was predominantly caused by fluvial erosion. Potentially vulnerable areas were identified in the screened in the field, resulting in the identification of 3 additional areas in need of stabilization. 

2014 - 2018:  East Branch Ausable Floodplain Mapping

                      Keene, NY

Client:  Town of Keene -and- Essex County, NY

As part of the Long Term Community Recovery Plan for the Town of Keene, NY, FEA prepared floodplain maps to better understand the resiliency of infrastructure to flooding. FEA combined hydrologic analyses with high-resolution LiDAR data and field measurements of bridges along the East Branch Ausable River in a  HEC-GeoRAS model to estimate flood extents and flood depths for the 100-year storm and an event similar to Tropical Storm Irene.