Quantitative assessment of the floods impact on the operation of transportation critical infrastructure

Abstract

Urban floods are events capable of causing infrastructures failures, triggering cascading effects. This fact occurs due to the interdependence among several critical infrastructures (CI), responsible for providing essential goods and services, such as transportation is an example. Therefore, this study aims to assess the impact of floods on the transportation CI, as maintaining this system operation is a pillar to urban resilience, since maintaining mobility is key for continuing providing services and civil defense aid. The Transportation System Integrity Index is used for this purpose, and it is composed by three indicators: (i) Road Impact Severity, (ii) Speed Reduction, and (iii) Difficult Access and Rail Traffic Interruption. The index was applied to the Acari River watershed in Rio de Janeiro, considering the current situation and a design scenario with corrective measures for the drainage system flaws. The results demonstrated a significant impact of floods on the transportation CI, with the design scenario showing a value around 65% higher than that of the current situation, in the watershed scale. However, the need to implement additional measures to enhance the system's resilience became evident, especially with the criticality observed at the local scale.