Combined Effect of Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Land Subsidence – Identification of Critical Transportation Infrastructure At-Risk in Coastal SPTC Region: Part I - Louisiana

The coast of Louisiana is under threat because of sea-level rise and land subsidence. Seawater is encroaching deeper inland and as a result Louisiana is losing at an alarming rate. The combined effect of sea-level rise and land subsidence is variable spatially. This report focuses on this combined effect in identifying the transportation infrastructure that is at risk of getting affected by the sea-water inundation of the land. This report takes account of land elevation data monitored continuously at various locations along the coasts of Louisiana and combining it with local sea-level rise to arrive at the extent of land that will be lost because of rising seawater. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to process the collected data, put it in spatial format and identify the transportation infrastructure that is at risk for next 100 years, with 10-year increments starting from 2014. Open-source data made available by federal agencies was processed using ArcGIS to develop spatial surfaces and intersect those surfaces with transportation data. The results suggest that land subsidence in Louisiana is having greater impact on transportation infrastructure than sea-level rise. It is projected that by year of 3014, about 2,945 miles or 21% of the existing transportation infrastructure will be impacted because of the combined effect of land subsidence and rising sea level. This estimate does not take account of effectiveness of extensive levee system present in parts of coastal Louisiana.

• Record URL:
  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/526c7a98e4b023d8f09390ed/t/5e0a62862f82fb1dbf352dce/1577738899569/SPTC17.1-10+Part+I+Tewari+121019.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/62266
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Louisiana Tech University, Ruston

  College of Engineering, P.O. Box 10348
  Ruston, LA  United States  71272-0046

  Southern Plains Transportation Center

  University of Oklahoma
  201 Stephenson Pkwy, Suite 4200
  Norman, OK  United States  73019

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Tewari, Sanjay
• Publication Date: 2019-11-30

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 47p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Coasts; Floods; Forecasting; Geographic information systems; Infrastructure; Risk assessment; Sea level; Spatial analysis; Subsidence (Geology)
• Identifier Terms: ArcGIS
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana
• Subject Areas: Environment; Geotechnology; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01727646
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: SPTC17.1-10-1-F
• Contract Numbers: DTRT13-G-UTC36
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 21 2020 9:48AM