U.S. DOT Gulf Coast Study, Phase 2, Task 3.1: Screen for Vulnerability

Federal Highway Administration2015PDFBriefUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationHyman, RobertKafalenos, RobertBeucler, BrianUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationUnited StatesClimate changeInfrastructureMethodologyRisk assessmentTransportation modesFHWA-HEP-15-019Support for Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: Gulf Coast Study Phase 2 developed methodologies for evaluating vulnerability and adaptation measures for local transportation systems. These transferrable methodologies were pilot tested in Mobile, Alabama. The project team evaluated the impacts on six transportation modes (highways, ports, airports, rail, transit, and pipelines) from projected changes in temperature and precipitation, sea level rise, and the surges and winds associated with more intense storms. The third task of the project involved combining all of the information gathered about asset criticality, projected changes in climate, and asset sensitivity to climate changes, to identify which critical assets might be most vulnerable to climate change. The study examined 67 assets, selected to be representative of the most critical assets across all modes of the Mobile transportation system.119