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WASHINGTON – Resilience — essentially risk management — is an increasingly critical issue for road builders.
Climate change is affecting roads in surprising ways, and contractors and engineers need to be prepared for extreme weather, rising sea levels and warmer temperatures, said an attendee at the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Building Innovation Conference in Washington, DC. , on May 23. .
The average cost per mile of a two-lane road is now about $10 million, said Amir Golalipour, a highway research engineer at the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Infrastructure Research and Development. It is important to design and build resilient roads because, among other reasons, the FHWA simply does not have the resources to keep replacing them.
Climate is changing rapidly, threatening infrastructure: In 2023, the US experienced 28 separate billion dollar weather and climate disastersthe highest number on record and part of a steady upward trend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Agencies and manufacturers can you no longer assume fixed weather patterns and must use climate models to plan for a range of circumstances such as wildfires, higher average precipitation, humidity, and more freeze-thaw events.
Flooding, for example, can reduce a road’s strength by 50 percent after being submerged, Golalipour said. Additionally, after a disaster, response and recovery vehicles cause incredible amounts of wear and tear on a road.
“Just to put it in perspective, in Paradise City, [California]that was part of the Camp Fire, when they removed the debris, the load they put on the pavement in two weeks was equal to 20 years of traffic,” Golalipour said, referring to the 2018 fire that remains, so far, as the the most destructive in California history.
The effects of street fires are also a growing threat and much less understood, according to Golalipour. Fires can not only break and deform roads, but also scorch supporting plant life in the soil, which can contribute to erosion and landslides.
The FHWA Order 5520, decade old guides its efforts to mitigate the risks of climate change and extreme weather events, and the DOT statement is required to consider future environmental conditions and develop a risk-based asset management plan. To that end, FHWA has collected a number of useful data and created resources like this one Vulnerability Assessment Tool and Adaptation Decision Making Evaluation Process.
“On the infrastructure side we have tons of data because as part of our regulations they have to report their asset performance on an annual basis for bridges, for sidewalks,” Golalipour said.
While sustainability and durability are both important considerations for builders, they are different: Asphalt is the most recycled material in the world, according to Golalipour, but a road made from recycled pavement isn’t necessarily built to withstand extremes. weather conditions. However, the two concepts are linked.
According to Golalipour, building stronger up front also means less money and less materials wasted down the road for repair and replacement over the life of a road or bridge.
“When you have a resilient solution and a resilient system overall, that will help with sustainability,” Golalipour said.