Framework for Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal Infrastructure

Abstract:

Coastal infrastructure can be highly vulnerable to changing climate, including increasing sea levels and altered frequency and intensity of coastal storms. Existing coastal infrastructure may be of a sufficient age that it is already experiencing noticeable impacts from global sea level rise, and require a variety of potential preparedness and resilience measures to adapt to changing climate. Methods to determine vulnerability to changing sea level and support planning of potential future adaptation measures are needed for application to projects having multiple purposes (e.g., navigation, coastal risk reduction). Here we describe a potential framework for assessing projects with several components typical of existing coastal infrastructure spanning a range of engineering disciplines (e.g., hydrology, geotechnical, structural, electrical, and mechanical). The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Climate Preparedness and Resilience Register (CPRR) framework is currently under development. It takes a tiered approach as described in earlier USACE guidance (Engineer Technical Letter 1100-2-1) using the three scenarios prescribed by Engineer Regulation ER 1100-2-8162. Level 1 is a qualitative assessment defining the major sea level change-related impacts and ranks them in order of soonest occurrence. Level 2 is a quantitative evaluation that analyzes current and future performance of individual project components, including electrical, mechanical and structural components and functions using the sea level change scenarios prescribed by ER 1100-2-8162. Level 3 proposes adaptation measures per ETL 1100-2-1 and evaluates changes in sea level change-related impacts.