The Impact of Extreme Precipitation on Transportation Operations and Infrastructure

One of the projected effects of climate change is the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Extreme precipitation lies within such types of events, with estimations from global climatic models reporting an increase in the occurrence of >100mm rainfall events for the time period 2011-2040 in Greece. Motivated by exploring the impacts of such events on the circulation of vehicles and on transportation infrastructure itself, this paper uses the extreme precipitation event of October, 24th, 2014 that occurred in Athens, to develop transport-related indicators revealing the extent to which the normally unobstructed operation of vehicles has been influenced. Following a detailed analysis of the respective meteorological data, the areas that were most impacted by the event are highlighted using Geographical Information Systems depiction. In addition, transport data gathered from the Athens Traffic Management Centre concerning vehicle flow, speed and density, are collected, analysed and compared to normal conditions in order to determine the event’s overall impact. Findings show that the average network vehicle speed dropped by 23%, a figure within the margins of what the majority of the literature suggests for cases of extreme precipitation, while traffic volume drop reached 56% throughout the day. A high percentage of transportation infrastructure elements in the area were found to be flooded or damaged, including bridges, underpasses, road subways, road surfaces and automobiles. The paper highlights the importance of quantifying the effect of similar events for the development of an optimal formulation of measures that will mitigate their impacts.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AH010 Standing Committee on Surface Transportation Weather. Alternate title: Impact of Extreme Precipitation on Transportation Operations and Infrastructure
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Stamos, Iraklis
  • Diakakis, Michalis
  • Mitsakis, Evangelos
  • Aifadopoulou, Georgia
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
• Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 21p
• Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate change; Geographic information systems; Highway traffic; Infrastructure; Precipitation; Traffic control centers; Transportation operations; Weather conditions
• Geographic Terms: Athens (Greece); Greece
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01587910
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 16-3349
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 27 2016 5:12PM