1. Climate Resilient Transportation Infrastructure Standards Workshop
Madrid, 18 January 2016
Zoltan Patkai
Independent Consultant

2. Adaptation ǂ Resilience
Resilience is about the ability to self-organise.
You could adapt to a new circumstance once, but not be prepared to minimize future risk.
Adaptive Capacity + Processes + Communication

3. Resilience for Transport Infrastructure
Increasing the adaptive capacity, the physical resilience of transport systems to extreme weather, so when extreme weather is experienced, people and goods can continue to move.
Ensuring processes and procedures to restore services and routes to normal ASAP after extreme weather events have abated.
Ensure clear and effective communications to passengers and transport users so that the impact of disruption on people and businesses is minimised.

4. Climate Resilient Infrastructure
New Climate Resilient Infrastructure – by ensuring an asset is located,designed, built and operated with the current and future climate in mind Existing Climate Resilient Infrastructure – by ensuring maintenance regimes incorporate resilience to the impacts of climate change over an asset‘s lifetime

5. When to take adaptation measures?
(Source: EU, 2013,
modified from Willows & Connell (2003)).

6. Most vulnerable components
Bridges and culverts (increased mean annual rainfall, increased intensity of rainfall events, sea level rise)
Causeways and coastal roads (sea level rise and increased frequency and intensity of storm surges)
Pavement surfaces (increased mean annual temperature)
Surface drainage (increased intensity of rainfall events)
Hillside slope stability (increased mean annual rainfall)

7. Implications for Infrastructure (if no adaptation measure taken)
Climate Impact
Implications
ROAD
More intense precipitation
Wetter winters, drier summers
Higher / lower temperatures
+ flood risk to roads
+ scour of bridges
+ instability of embankments
+ damage to road surface
RAIL
Higher / lower temperatures
+ flood risk to rail lines
+ more rail buckling
+ passenger discomfort
PORTS
Sea level rise
Higher winds, storms
+flood risk to ports
+disruptions to operations
AIRPORTS
Higher temperatures
Lower temperatures
+flood risk to airports
Lift of aircraft reduced
Defrosting

8. Adaptation Alternatives
Avoidance (Rerouting existing facilities outside of hazard areas e.g. A bypass around a landslide-prone area)
Protection (Flexibility improvements to existing facilities) e.g. increased height of sea walls, landslide fencing and monitoring, or bridge designs
Abandonment (closure of a facility)
Operational response (ongoing maintenance)
Non-design
Land use guidelines in areas with high vulnerabilities to climate change
Retrofit existing structures to give them higher adaptive capacity
More redundancy into the transportation system
Right skills and capacity to implement adaptation measures
Investment decisions take account changing patterns of demand

9. Responding to Climate Risks
Carbon Mitigation
to reduce the impact on natural systems…
Mitigation is… partnering with a utility to add renewable
Adaptation is… needing to protect a coastline that might otherwise retreat
Some adaptations can also mitigate (green roof example); we always seek such opportunities.
lobal vs. local
Abstract problem makes it hard to organize people around.
In the transport sector, GHG emissions can be reduced by employing alternative fuels, using efficient engines, improve mobility, connect modes of transport

10. Carbon Mitigation and Adaptation synergies

11. Carbon Mitigation Adaptation

12. Transport Infrastructure Elements
1.1 Subsurface
& Foundations
1.2 Materials
Specs.
1.3 Cross Sections & standard dimensions
1.4 Drainage
& hydraulics
1.6 Location Engineering
1.5 Structures
2. Energy consumed
by transport
3. Equipment enable
transport
4. ICT Applications
Systems &
Processes

13. Engaging stakeholders in the process
Stakeholder survey
(Spring 2015)
Research & Interviews
(Summer & Automn 2015)
Workshop
(Now)
Priotitization
(Early 2016)

14. Zoltan Patkai

15. Workshop today – two parts
1. Your feedback on identified standards – 30 min
Please do individually, rate each listed standard from 1 (lowest priority) to 5 (highest priority). If you’re unsure, mark ”Don’t know”
2. Teamwork: resilience with standards – 1 h
In teams, identify opportunities to improve climate change resilience of transportation by adaptation / carbon mitigation measures with standards.
Please synthetize the ideas in visible handwriting on a normal paper:
Adaptation Measures
Carbon Mitigation Mesaures
3. How standards could support both adaptation
and carbon mitigation measures

16. ZOLTAN PATKAI

17. Lifetime of infrastructure with illustrative climate change timescales