Much of the US transportation infrastructure is aging, making it vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change.
Rising temperatures, heatwaves, and extreme natural events like heavy rains, floods, and stronger storms already impact the country’s infrastructure.
They could damage and disrupt the operation of its tunnels, roads, bridges, and transit stations and impose a high cost on its economy.
Data from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information show that the USA experienced 383 confirmed weather/climate disaster events, with losses exceeding $1 billion each, from 1980 to May 8, 2024.
These events included 31 drought events, 44 flooding events, nine freeze events, 191 severe storm events, 62 tropical cyclone events, 22 wildfire events, and 24 winter storm events. They caused tens of thousands of deaths and significant economic effects on the areas impacted.
During a press conference on 11 April 2024, the Biden-Harris administration announced nearly $830 million in grants to fund 80 projects that will address the impacts of climate change on the country’s aging transportation infrastructure and improve the resilience of the surface transportation system.
The program is called “Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation,” or PROTECT for short. These grants are the first of their kind. They are dedicated to funding transportation infrastructure resilience and part of the $50 billion secured by the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
PROTECT funds will improve roads, transit, ports, bridges and other transportation infrastructure in 37 states, the Virgin Islands, and Washinton, DC, including seven Tribal projects.
“From wildfires shutting down freight rail lines in California to mudslides closing down a highway in Colorado, from a drought causing the halt of barge traffic on the Mississippi River to subways being flooded in New York, extreme weather, made worse by climate change, is damaging America’s transportation infrastructure, cutting people off from getting to where they need to go and threatening to raise the cost of goods by disrupting supply chains,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“Today, through a first-of-its-kind program created by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are awarding nearly $830 million to make transportation infrastructure in 39 states and territories more resilient against climate change so people and supply chains can continue to move safely”, he adds.
Echoing Secretary Buttigieg regarding the importance of building climate-resilient transportation against the increasing threats from climate change, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administrator Shailen Bhatt says,
“Every community in America knows the impacts of climate change and extreme weather, including increasingly frequent heavy rain and flooding events across the country and sea-level rise that is inundating infrastructure in coastal states. This investment from the Biden-Harris Administration will ensure our infrastructure is built to withstand more frequent and unpredictable extreme weather, which is vitally important for people and businesses that rely on roads and bridges being open to keep our economy moving.”
The Federal Highway Administration will award funding to four different types of projects. Ten projects, totalling around $45 million, will build evacuation routes, prepare for evacuations, and conduct vulnerability assessments.
Approximately $119 million will be spent on at-risk coastal infrastructure, including protecting, strengthening, or relocating coastal highways and non-rail infrastructure.
Around $45 million will go to 26 projects to develop resilience-improvement plans, planning, and capacity-building activities.
A significant share of funding – $621 million will be spent on 36 projects that will make roadways, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure more impervious to flooding, rising temperatures, and other consequences of climate change.
See the complete list of grant recipients.
Strategies for Improving Infrastructure Resilience.
Climate change is increasingly impacting infrastructure. The increasing severity and frequency of extreme events mean that existing infrastructure design may not withstand them, making building resilience into infrastructure imperative. The design of new infrastructure also needs to change to integrate the current and future climate.
Governments and industries can adopt many approaches to enhance resilience against extreme weather events. These include applying robust design and construction to make structures flood, wind, and fire-resistant by elevating building foundations, using water-resistant materials, and using non-combustible building materials.
Governments, infrastructure managers, and urban planners can also leverage innovation and technology like sensors, the Internet, modelling, and computer simulations to help in proactive maintenance and predictive planning, helping to respond better to extreme weather and reduce losses and damage.
Implementing building codes and standards that account for changing climate conditions can dramatically increase the resilience of buildings and infrastructures. Strategic urban planning can discourage or stop developments in high-risk areas, such as flood-prone or fire-prone areas.
Lastly, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions help manage stormwater, buffer against floods and storms, reduce the urban heat island (UHI) effect, and improve air quality, contributing to infrastructure and community resilience.
Sources:
United States Summary. (n.d.). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/US
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $830 Million in Grants to Make Transportation Infrastructure More Resilient to Climate Change. (2024 April 11). U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved from https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-harris-administration-announces-nearly-830-million-grants-make-transportation
How Fortifying Against Extreme Weather Builds a Resilient Future for Infrastructure. (2024). GPRS. Retrieved from https://www.gp-radar.com/article/how-fortifying-against-extreme-weather-builds-a-resilient-future-for-infrastructure
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