The US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Charleston District has awarded two design contracts worth US$6.22 million for the Battery Extension flood defences in Charleston, South Carolina.
Both architecture and engineering contracts went to Stantec-JMT Joint Venture of North Charleston. The agreements will cover separate stretches of the peninsula waterfront.
For the Adger’s Wharf waterfront, the work is a 35 per cent concept design, funded through a US$2.91 million contract issued on August 26. A separate US$3.31 million contract issued on September 22 will cover a 10 per cent design for Lockwood Drive and the Ashley River.
The awards will fund surveys and engineering during the project’s preconstruction design phase. They do not authorise actual construction of the flood defences.
The Adger’s Wharf section runs from East Bay Street to the southern end of Waterfront Park on the harbour-facing side of the peninsula. The district described it as the smallest section in the proposed project footprint.
The preliminary design will assess how flood defences can fit the historic district and maintain pedestrian access.
Work along Lockwood Drive and the Ashley River will include surveys of topography and bathymetry, as well as geotechnical borings. Engineers will also conduct environmental analyses and investigate subsurface utilities.
The proposed structures are intended to protect the Charleston Medical District and transport routes along Lockwood Drive from severe storm surges. Nearby historic neighbourhoods are also within the area covered by the design work.
“We are moving from high-level studies into active, on-the-ground engineering,” said Wes Wilson, the Charleston District’s project manager.
The district said residents should expect surveys and soil borings on land and in the water in both areas over the coming months. Utility designations are also planned, with the USACE and city to consult community stakeholders at design milestones.
The wider project concept is intended to bring together boundary defences, gates to regulate tides, links to municipal pumping stations, and living shorelines.
The USACE began its federal study of the peninsula’s storm risk in 2018 and submitted a completed detailed report to Congress in summer 2022. The city and the corps signed a design agreement on October 3, 2025.
The city estimates the total project cost at US$1.3 billion, with a 65 per cent federal and 35 per cent local cost share.