Climate Change: Designing for the Future-Climate Change Designing for the Future Slides 2

Climate Change Designing for the Future Slides 2

Pdf Summary

The document "Resilient Infrastructure Planning and Design" by Nicole Boothman-Shepard and Kelly Maiorana (June 2022) outlines strategies for enhancing infrastructure resilience against natural hazards, focusing heavily on lessons from Colorado’s 2013 flood event. It presents a framework emphasizing sustainable resilience, risk prioritization, and adaptation, supported by case studies such as the US 34 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL).<br /><br />Key highlights include the severe 2013 Colorado floods causing $826 million in damages, extensive highway closures, and large-scale debris removal. The case underscored the need for designing infrastructure that “builds back stronger,” moving beyond restoring pre-disaster conditions to integrating updated resilience standards. Resiliency is defined as the capacity of communities and infrastructure to rebound and adapt positively to disasters, ensuring long-term durability, economic vitality, and quality of life.<br /><br />The document introduces a Risk and Resiliency (RNR) pilot program, which evaluates the likelihood and consequences of future events and the financial benefits of resilient improvements. It features a Criticality Score system rating assets based on public impact, road classification, and vulnerability, shaping investment decisions with a Resiliency Index that links priority to typical construction funding.<br /><br />Through the US 34 PEL Case Study, the approach integrates proactive threat identification and mitigation throughout the project lifecycle, addressing floods, fires, utility failures, and land-use changes. The planning incorporates natural and operational resiliency, including cooperation with local agencies to manage risks and build redundancy.<br /><br />Finally, the report references Colorado policy solutions, including coordination with the Colorado Water Conservation Board, to support resilient infrastructure aligned with environmental and community needs. Overall, the guidance emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, risk-informed design, and long-term investment to reduce disaster impacts on critical transportation assets.

Keywords

Resilient Infrastructure

Natural Hazards

Colorado 2013 Floods

Risk Prioritization

Sustainable Resilience

US 34 Planning and Environmental Linkages

Risk and Resiliency Pilot Program

Criticality Score System

Disaster Adaptation

Interdisciplinary Collaboration