Beyond the storm: opening visitor promenade at the Statue of Liberty

The promenade around Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty is open to the public.

The National Park Service replaced 53,000 square feet (1.2 acres) of the Liberty Island promenade that provides 2,000 lineal feet of access for the public around the Statue of Liberty. Hurricane Sandy over washed the promenade and stripped almost all of the existing brickwork off of the path.  Sandy also damaged the adjacent railing and associated granite paving stones on the seaward side of the promenade. The railing was mainly repaired but the bricks and granite pavers were almost totally replaced after the storm. Rather than just replacing the bricks and pavers in kind, an analysis was done to ascertain how the promenade could be replaced with materials that would be more sustainable and resilient in a future storm. The solution was to replace the partial thickness pre-Sandy bricks with a full brick with interlocking capability so that future floods would not be able to lift individual bricks off of the path.  The granite pavers beneath the guardrails were also pinned to each other and then secured into the ground when the guardrails were repaired, so that the stones would not be able to be lifted individually in a storm. The resultant project provides additional protection from future storms while maintaining its pre-Sandy condition. The work was completed in time for the July 4, 2013 reopening of Liberty Island to the public and has proved to be low maintenance while providing access for the visitors.