Climate change increasing the vulnerability of roads in WA

Floods, bushfires, sea level rise, and extreme temperatures are growing threats to Western Australia’s 18,500km long road network of major roads and highways, bridges, culverts and other related assets.

ARRB, in collaboration with Main Roads Western Australia as part of the Western Australian Road Research and Innovation Program (WARRIP) initiative, has recently completed the first stage of a project to advance planning for infrastructure vulnerability due to climate change.

Extreme climactic or weather events have the potential to damage and disrupt the operation of road infrastructure with unacceptable social, environmental and economic consequences.

From ARRB, Brook Hall, Principal Professional Leader, and Georgia O’Connor, Senior Professional Leader, from the Sustainability and Materials Performance team, have collaborated with Main Roads Western Australia to deliver this project stage.

“By understanding the expected impacts of future climate change; road planners, designers and asset and network managers can better prepare road infrastructure through investment decision making that prioritises the most vulnerable network links.”

To address anticipated impacts of climate change on road infrastructure, this project has analysed and adapted best practice for assessing network and asset vulnerability and identified any gaps in current practices, tools and guidance.

The project built upon Australian and international best practice climate resilience and vulnerability assessment methodologies to develop a tailored data driven demonstration tool for quantifying and visualising the risk of climate change and infrastructure vulnerabilities in Western Australia.

For more information on the project, click here to visit the WARRIP project.