Some of our (me and Dr. Scott Douglass, PhD, PE, DCE) work is featured in the 2014 National Climate Assessment, which was recently released through the US Global Change Research Program web site. Click on the image at right to be directed to the interactive report web site. Our contributions are incorporated into Sectors / Transportation.
Since 2010 we have been assisting the US Department of Transportation and ICF International in the Gulf Coast 2 Study focused on the Mobile (AL) area. Our portion of the project was to simulate the effects of climate change on storm surge and waves in Alabama’s coastal counties using advanced hydrodynamic models. These results were used to perform exposure and sensitivity assessments in order to evaluate the vulnerability of transportation systems to storm surge and waves on higher future sea levels. A small portion of this work was incorporated into Sectors / Transportation report of the 2014 NCA. The work has also been specifically referenced in cabinet-level and presidential addresses over the past two years, specifically in response to the damage that Hurricane Sandy caused in New York and New Jersey back in 2012.
In light of the significant advances made toward performing exposure and vulnerability assessments during the Gulf Coast 2 Study, FHWA has been supporting the development of a new Hydraulic Engineering Circular (HEC) focused on assessing extreme events. The new manual will serve as a second volume to HEC 25 – Highways in the Coastal Environment. More information can be found on the FHWA climate adaptation web site. I am a co-author of this new manual, along with Dr. Douglass and Mr. Roger Kilgore. The new HEC 25 Volume 2 should be released by FHWA some time in 2014.
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