Using Resilience in Risk-Based Asset Management Plans

Abstract

Each state in the U.S.A. is required to develop and maintain a risk-based transportation asset management plan for the National Highway System (NHS) to improve or preserve the condition of the assets and the performance of the system. Awareness of natural hazards and extreme weather events has also increased with recent catastrophic hurricanes, such as Matthew (October, 2016) and Harvey (August, 2017), which caused significant inland floods in Robeson County, North Carolina, and Houston, Texas, respectively. These recent events and the damage to transportation infrastructure has also focused attention on the resilience of transportation networks. However, an integrated, consistent, well-understood method to assess or quantify the resilience of transportation networks is still lacking. This paper reviews the relevant concepts, legislative requirements that link asset management, risk and resilience, and tools available to support risk-based asset management. Based on a review of the transportation asset management plans developed by 49 state departments of transportation in 2018 and 2019, the paper summarizes the approaches to the risk management section of these asset management plans and the role resilience plays. Opportunities to better integrate resilience into the risk-based asset management plans are then identified. Examples are presented that demonstrate the role of resilience-related technical performance measures that reflect decisions related to flooding in the various stages of the disaster cycle (preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation).

Building Back Better: Transportation Recovery Challenges From the 2018 Kaua`i Flooding Disaster

“…There is a need for more attention on climate change impacts in mountainous areas ( 52 ) and for developing new methods of estimating the impacts of extreme events on transportation infrastructure, which will rely on additional case materials and evaluations of recovery projects ( 53 ) and extending the analysis of both risk assessment and asset management ( 54 ). A major undertaking is sorting through the different resilience measures ( 55 ), as applicable to not just recovery metrics but also stronger mitigation and adaptation, which are difficult to implement given the urgency to restore damaged systems and the difficulty of implementing novel solutions as demonstrated in this case. The lessons from Kauai are just as difficult to learn and implement as they are in Puerto Rico ( 49 , 50 ) or other states ( 3 , 8 , 55 ).…”

“…A major undertaking is sorting through the different resilience measures ( 55 ), as applicable to not just recovery metrics but also stronger mitigation and adaptation, which are difficult to implement given the urgency to restore damaged systems and the difficulty of implementing novel solutions as demonstrated in this case. The lessons from Kauai are just as difficult to learn and implement as they are in Puerto Rico ( 49 , 50 ) or other states ( 3 , 8 , 55 ). The need for standards, guidance, and best practices that can be applied in unique local settings with widely varying ecological and resource constraints is apparent.…”

Asset management-based resilience index formulation for pavements via principal components analysis

“…The focus was mainly on the recovery process to regain the initial condition of the road networks rather than considering the ability of a network to sustain the impact of the extreme event in parallel (Nicolosi et al , 2022). Liu and McNeil (2020) investigated the connection between risk, resilience, and asset management concepts. The main reason was to enhance and strengthen the existing risk-based asset management process.…”

Public Transportation and Social Movements: Learning from the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill Protests

“…Although many similar definitions have been suggested in the transportation literature, it is commonly understood to relate to system performance under perturbations to maintain its function and return to equilibrium after a disturbance. The existence and importance of resilience have been demonstrated by research into transportation systems faced with both natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes (19) and flooding (20) and social events, either exogenous (e.g., terrorist attacks (21) and social disputes ( 6)) or planned (e.g., major sporting events (22)). The adverse impacts of both natural and human-induced events raise the need for government agencies and the community to strengthen transportation systems' resilience.…”