AdvancedTopic 110 of 112Civil & Structural
Resilience and climate adaptation
Design infrastructure to withstand hazards and changing climate.
In depth
Design for floods, heat, storms, drought and sea-level rise using climate projections: higher design values, elevated structures, green infrastructure, redundancy, adaptable systems and early-warning. Resilience means absorbing, recovering and adapting from shocks.
Key points
- Risk assessment and adaptation pathways
- Nature-based solutions
- Lifeline infrastructure
ExampleSea walls and raised roads protect low-lying communities.
Infrastructure must withstand floods, heat, storms and other hazards that change with climate, so resilience is now a core design requirement.
What is Resilience and climate adaptation?
Design infrastructure to withstand hazards and changing climate.
Why is it important to understand resilience and climate adaptation?
Infrastructure must withstand floods, heat, storms and other hazards that change with climate, so resilience is now a core design requirement.
What is resilience in infrastructure?
The ability to absorb a shock, recover quickly and continue to provide service after a hazard event.
What is climate adaptation?
Changes to design and operation that reduce the impact of climate change, such as higher flood design levels or heat-tolerant materials.
How is Resilience and climate adaptation used in practice?
Typical applications include raising a road that floods more often under new climate projections, designing a drainage system for more intense storms and choosing materials that tolerate higher temperatures for a bridge deck.
What should I learn before Resilience and climate adaptation?
Study "Urban planning and smart cities" first (topic 109 of 112 in Civil & Structural). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of Resilience and climate adaptation?
Risk assessment and adaptation pathways. Nature-based solutions. Lifeline infrastructure.
Can you give an example of Resilience and climate adaptation?
Sea walls and raised roads protect low-lying communities.
What comes after Resilience and climate adaptation?
The next topic is "Performance-based earthquake engineering", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is Resilience and climate adaptation?
It is classed as Advanced in Civil & Structural (topic 110 of 112). It is an advanced topic. It assumes you are comfortable with the intermediate topics in Civil & Structural.