Hartford, CT

Thoughtfully designed, community-focused waterfront park that reconnects neighborhoods to the Connecticut River through accessible pathways, public spaces, and innovative solutions that balance environmental, historical, and engineering challenges.

Since 1985, Richter & Cegan has been actively involved in the Hartford Riverwalk Project, contributing to the master planning, design, permitting, and construction of multiple phases of the waterfront park system along the Connecticut River. The Hartford Riverwalk reconnects local communities to the river through a continuous, accessible, multi-use path that extends from the Riverside Park south to Charter Oak Landing.

Both the design and construction process were complex, requiring innovative design and engineering solutions, to address existing site conditions and regulatory requirements. The Master Plan set a framework and guiding design principles for the multi-phase projects that followed. Key components throughout the multiple phases include planning that supports limited development and maintenance costs, remediation of identified environmental contamination, resilient design that minimizes hydraulic impacts, and maintaining active and extensive coordination with city, state, and federal regulatory agencies.

This community destination includes Riverside Park with a community boathouse, plaza spaces, boat launch, and river overlook; existing mature vegetation preservation and wall planter systems along Riverwalk North; a multi-use path meandering through Riverwalk Downtown providing safe, amenity-filled access to event spaces; a future riverfront gateway overlook in the Riverwalk South section connecting to Coltsville; and the Bulkeley Bridge Walkabout linking the north and south sections together while balancing flood control, emergency access, and decorative, pedestrian-friendly features. Public sculptures located throughout the park include the Lincoln Financial Sculpture Walk honoring the life of Abraham Lincoln.

All park spaces and features are designed to withstand periodic flooding and hydraulic impacts, complement the historic site context, and promote accessibility and inclusion while integrating innovative engineering to realize the design vision. Engineering elements include notched walkway dike sections to respond to narrow site constraints while protecting the stability of the existing flood control system, the Bulkeley Bridge Walkabout to allow passage under the historic bridge, and other measures to accommodate periodic flooding while minimizing hydraulic impacts and keeping visitors of the park safe.