FHWA has partnered with State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and others to develop and deploy resilience solutions to current and future extreme weather events, reducing future maintenance costs over the full life-cycle of transportation assets.
The map below shows the locations of these pilots along with locations of similar geographically focused studies that FHWA sponsored. You may click on the icons for more information about each study and links to study reports.
Addressing Environmental Conditions in the Design of Roadways Built on Permafrost
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Western Federal Lands Highway Division/Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
The WFLHD/ADOT&PF team assessed three unique environmental change issues in the state of Alaska. In Kivalina, the pilot considered the impact of the loss of sea ice, sea level rise, and wind on shoreline erosion of the coastal runway. In Igloo Creek and along the Dalton Highway, the pilot considered the impacts of increased temperature (resulting in permafrost melt) and increased precipitation on landslides and pavement cracking.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Wildfire and Precipitation Impacts to a Culvert: US 34 at Canyon Cove Lane, Colorado
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Living Shoreline along Coastal Roadways Exposed to Sea Level Rise: Shore Road in Brookhaven, New York
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Precipitation and Temperature Impacts on Rock and Soil Slope Stability: Interstate I-77 in Carroll County, Virginia
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Temperature and Precipitation Impacts to Pavements on Expansive Soils: Proposed State Highway 170 in North Texas
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Gulf Coast Study, Phase 1
Phase 1 of the US DOT Gulf Coast Study examined the impacts of changing environmental conditions on transportation infrastructure in the Central Gulf Coast Region.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Comparison of Economic Analysis Methodologies and Assumptions: Dyke Bridge in Machias, Maine
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Impacts on a Coastal Bridge: I-10 Bayway, Mobile Bay, Alabama
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Gulf Coast Study, Phase 2
Phase 2 of the US DOT Gulf Coast Study developed a detailed vulnerability assessment for the Mobile, AL metropolitan area, analyzed engineering adaptation options for threatened roads and bridges, and built on lessons learned through the project to develop nationally applicable tools to help transportation agencies process and interpret environmental data, assess vulnerabilities, and analyze adaptation options.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)
The Navy Bridge Inspection Program is responsible for more than 400 bridges worldwide, many of which are in coastal areas exposed to extreme weather events. As part of the FHWA Resilience and Durability Pilot Program, the Naval Facilities Expeditionary and Engineering Warfare Center bridge inspection team will assess the vulnerability and risk of sea-level rise and coastal storm surge on 59 Navy and Marine Corps Installation bridges on the East and Gulf coasts. Bridge types included in the inspection are: critical (high traffic) bridge structures, bridges used for recreation, and bridges providing access to key Navy and Marines Corps facilities. Program goals are to increase collaboration and shared knowledge between the FHWA and Department of the Navy, improve the safety of bridges used on military installations, and to incorporate findings into future bridge infrastructure decision making.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Post Hurricane Sandy Transportation Resilience Study in NY, NJ, and CT.
The objective of this project was to assess the impacts of October 2012's Hurricane Sandy, (and to a lesser extent, Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and the Halloween Nor'easter in 2011) on the transportation assets within the greater NY- NJ - CT metropolitan region, assess the vulnerability of those assets to the impacts of extreme weather events and possible environmental change, and identify adaptation strategies to increase the resilience of the transportation system.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Barrier Island Roadway Overwashing from Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge: US 98 on Okaloosa Island, Florida
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Temperature and Precipitation Impacts on Cold Region Pavement: State Route 6/State Route 15/State Route 16 in Maine
This is one of nine engineering case studies conducted under the Transportation Engineering Approaches to Resiliency Project.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
US Army Corps of Engineers
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) explored green infrastructure solutions for reducing coastal flooding of Great Bay Boulevard in Ocean County, NJ. USACE analyzed thin layer placement of sediment to raise the marsh platform elevation in vulnerable locations along the road. USACE also analyzed a combination of oyster beds and native plants at the marsh edge to reduce wave energy.
Study Type: Nature-based solutions
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)
PennDOT piloted a method to incorporate future precipitation scenarios into the hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) process at three sites. The analyses and procedures conducted for the pilot study highlight the extraction and interpretation of global model precipitation data, the application of that data to the H&H process, and methods to evaluate adaptation strategies to improve infrastructure resiliency.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Arizona DOT
Arizona DOT will work to integrate consideration of extreme weather risk into its asset management practices, with an emphasis on developing a risk register informed by analysis of extreme weather event risks; assessment of costs that would support life cycle planning; and consideration of proxy indicators for identifying resilience concerns.
Study Type: Asset Management
Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT)
The MaineDOT team identified transportation assets that are vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise and storm surge in six coastal towns. The team developed depth-damage functions and adaptation design options at three of the sites and evaluated the costs and benefits of the alternative design structures.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Oregon DOT
Oregon DOT developed conceptual designs for three locations along coastal highway US 101 vulnerable to storms and coastal bluff erosion. These designs include cobble beaches, artificial dunes, sand tubes, mechanically stabilized earth, rip rap, and planted terraces. Oregon DOT analyzed the coastal protection potential of these designs using wave runup analysis. Oregon DOT also engaged land use and permitting agencies on design options.
Study Type: Nature-based solutions
Massachusetts State Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
MassDOT investigated and designed floodproofing strategies to be built by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for the Aquarium T Station, which is physically connected to the Central Artery/Tunnel System. The project was informed by MassDOT's probabilistic flood risk model, which incorporates sea level rise and storm surge for the Boston Harbor to determine when different levels of strategies would be needed to protect the Central Artery highway tunnels and associated assets. MassDOT found that at several locations, temporary flood barriers that could be placed in advance of a storm event and removed during normal operations would be sufficient to reduce risk to acceptable levels from now until 2030, at which point permanent flood protection strategies will likely be needed. As such, MassDOT is working to finalize the design to protect various operational and tunnel assets. Various protection strategies are being considered and a being narrowed to those that are readily deployable such flood planks and those that reduce the number of personnel needed during deployment. Using the USDOT Hazard Mitigation Cost Effectiveness Tool, MassDOT found the benefit cost ratio for the temporary flood barriers is 58:1.
Pilot type: Deploy resilience solution
Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
The MassDOT team sought to better understand the vulnerability of the I-93 Central Artery/Tunnel system (CA/T) in Boston to sea level rise and extreme storm events. The team combined a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic flood model with agency-driven knowledge and priorities to assess vulnerabilities and develop adaptation strategies.
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Caltrans conducted statewide vulnerability assessments. The assessments identified vulnerabilities along the state highway system from stressors including sea level rise, storm surge, changes in temperature, precipitation, and increased wildfires. Effective communication is imperative for education and outreach, both internal to Caltrans and external partners to develop and integrate adaptation measures. The result of the grant were intended to be translatable to a range of transportation agencies given the increased need for changing natural hazards communication.
Study Type: Integrate into agency practices
Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)
Oregon's north coast is served by highway routes that run along coastal bluffs, rivers and estuaries, and a mountain range. In the past, precipitation events have resulted in flooding, high water, landslides, rock falls, and coastal erosion. The Oregon DOT pilot project engaged maintenance and technical staff and utilized asset data to assess the vulnerability of highway infrastructure to extreme weather events and higher sea levels. For select priority hazard areas, the pilot conducted further analysis of specific adaptation sites, options, benefits, and costs.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT)
To evaluate future flood conditions, the Iowa DOT team developed a methodology to integrate projections of rainfall within a river system model to predict river flood changes. Iowa DOT tested this methodology in two river basins to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of technology to produce scenarios of future flood conditions. They also analyzed the potential impact of the future floods on six bridges to evaluate vulnerability and inform the development of adaptation options.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Mississippi DOT
Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) assessed the potential for vegetated berms to protect the Henderson Point connector bridge on US Highway 90 from coastal storm surge.
Study Type: Nature-based solutions
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 1
The vulnerability assessment approach drew from methodologies developed by FHWA and the Washington State DOT 2010-2011 pilot project. The Caltrans pilot assessed vulnerability in four counties by scoring asset criticality and potential impact. The pilot identified adaptation options at four prototype locations of vulnerable road segments. The Caltrans District 1 team formalized their adaptation methodology into a tool to assist with the evaluation and prioritization of adaptation options.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Kentucky DOT
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet leveraged its recent vulnerability assessment to develop a risk register and consider the effect of extreme weather events on asset deterioration rates and life cycle planning.
Study Type: Asset Management
New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)
The NYSDOT team assessed the vulnerability of the transportation system to increased temperature, precipitation and frequency of extreme storms in the rural Lake Champlain Basin. The team developed a benefits valuation approach to help decision makers prioritize infrastructure and assess when to undertake culvert replacements considering social, economic, and environmental factors. They evaluated vulnerability, criticality and risk, and developed a method to apply an environmental benefits multiplier to each culvert.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Massachusetts DOT
MassDOT assessed the resilience of bridges, culverts and roads to inland flooding risks and include that information in its asset management systems. The agency also used the information in culvert inspection protocols and test out proxies for vulnerability.
Study Type: Asset Management
Maryland State Highway Administration
MDOT developed methods to integrate information on coastal vulnerabilities and hazards into bridge and pavement management systems used for asset management. The agency also sought to update life cycle management plans to reflect future environmental risk.
Study Type: Asset Management
Maryland State Highway Administration
Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) conducted a vulnerability assessment in two counties. The project team developed a three-tiered vulnerability assessment and adaptation process using flood inundation modeling, mapping, vulnerability and risk ratings, and expert input. SHA engineers, planners, and maintenance personnel used the assessment results to brainstorm adaptation measures.
Study type: Vulnerability Assessment
Michigan Department of Transportation
Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) conducted a natural hazard vulnerability assessment of primarily MDOT-owned and operated transportation infrastructure. The assessment overlaid projected natural hazard data onto MDOT's existing asset management database to help identify locations and infrastructure that may be at risk. The assessment found that the most at-risk transportation assets were situated in the southern third of the state, where the state's larger urban areas are located. The assessment was a first step to help the department protect the transportation infrastructure investments in Michigan.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)
MnDOT pilot project team conducted a vulnerability assessment of bridges, culverts, pipes, and roads paralleling streams to flooding related to increased heavy precipitation in two districts. Based on preliminary vulnerability assessment results, they selected two culverts to conduct case studies of facility-level adaptation planning that considered the potential for damage and economic losses associated with flash flooding. The project findings and recommendations are informing MnDOT's ongoing asset management planning.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Maine DOT, New Hampshire DOT
The Departments of Transportation for Maine and New Hampshire partnered to jointly investigate current and future impacts of sea level rise and storm surge on Route 209 in Maine and Route 1B in New Hampshire, and develop green infrastructure solutions to these vulnerabilities.
Study Type: Nature-based solutions
New Jersey DOT
New Jersey DOT developed methods to reduce system risk by linking management of culverts and drainage systems to extreme weather and future natural hazard resilience. Key focus areas include life cycle management and system performance.
Study Type: Asset Management
Virginia DOT
The team assessed the sensitivity of transportation priorities to future natural hazard scenarios, including scenarios that combine future natural hazard with other planning factors. They then developed an Excel-based prioritization model for technology transfer of future natural hazard consideration to transportation agencies across the nation.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT)
The ADOT team conducted a study to identify hotspots where highways are vulnerable to associated hazards from high temperatures, drought, and intense storms. The project focused on the Interstate corridor connecting Nogales, Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, which includes a variety of urban areas, landscapes, biotic communities, and climate zones and presents a range of weather conditions applicable to much of Arizona.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Delaware DOT
The Delaware Department of Transportation analyzed the flood vulnerability of State Route 1 between Rehoboth Beach and Fenwick Island and developed conceptual designs for nature-based protection, including marsh restoration and oyster reefs, at two sites.
Study Type: Nature-based solutions
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
WSDOT examined adaptation options in the Skagit River Basin (Basin), a highly vulnerable area of the state. The Basin was the focus of a major flood risk reduction study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). WSDOT worked with the Seattle District of the Corps and the Skagit County Public Works Department to identify vulnerabilities and opportunities for flood risk reduction. This pilot demonstrated the importance of coordinating transportation adaptation planning with other ongoing flood risk reduction efforts like the Skagit River Flood Risk Management General Investigation Study.
Study Type: Adaptation Options
Connecticut Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) conducted a systems-level vulnerability assessment of bridge and culvert structures from inland flooding associated with extreme rainfall events. The assessment included data collection and field review, hydrologic and hydraulic evaluation, criticality assessment and hydraulic design criteria evaluation.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
The TDOT team conducted an extreme weather vulnerability assessment of transportation infrastructure across the state. The project team compiled a statewide inventory of the most critical transportation infrastructure and used historical and projected temperature and precipitation information and stakeholder feedback to develop rankings of transportation assets vulnerabile to temperature extremes, precipitation, wind, and tornadoes in each county.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Texas DOT
TxDOT focused on assessing the vulnerability of critical assets to extreme weather events in the Houston district, and using that information to inform various aspects of asset management, including life cycle planning and development of asset deterioration curves.
Study Type: Asset Management
Utah DOT
Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) developed, validated, and deployed a method by which risk and resilience findings can be incorporated into existing management programs including statewide, corridor, and project planning. UDOT has field-tested a 7-step process that can estimate annual risk by threat and by asset. Through the FHWA Pilot UDOT developed metrics and thresholds to incorporate annual risk information into its existing management processes. Threats included in the analysis are flooding, wildfires, and earthquakes.
Study Type: Integrate into agency practices
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
WSDOT developed a structured, stakeholder-based approach to qualitatively assess facility risk. The project team held 14 workshops in all regions of the state in which WSDOT staff rated all state-owned highways and other transportation assets for vulnerability to changing natural hazard conditions.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Mid-Region MPO
This project used scenario planning to analyze strategies to reduce emissions and adapt to future natural hazard impacts impacts, alongside other community goals, in the greater Albuquerque area of central New Mexico. The project demonstrated how future climatic considerations can be incorporated into transportation and land use scenario planning and provided analysis that was incorporated into the region's long range transportation plan.
Study Type: Scenario Planning
Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) and the City of Austin
The CAMPO team used a data and stakeholder-driven approach to assess risks to nine critical assets from flooding, drought, extreme heat, wildfire, and ice. The project team conducted a criticality workshop, developed local temperature and precipitation projections, and performed risk assessments for each asset.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Broward MPO
The South Florida team, led by the Broward MPO, focused on a four-county region in conducting a detailed geospatial analysis to calculate vulnerability scores for ®ionally significant& road and passenger rail infrastructure. The study also recommended ways for partner agencies to incorporate the vulnerability results into their normal decision-making processes.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Corpus Christi MPO
Design a nature-based shoreline protection feature to enhance the resilience of a roadway against inundation and shoreline erosion along the western shore of the Laguna Madre in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Study Type: Deploy resilience solution
Cape Cod Commission
FHWA and the US DOT Volpe Center partnered with the Cape Cod Commission to conduct scenario planning to analyze the impacts of different land use and transportation investment strategies on future natural hazard resilience.
Study Type: Scenario Planning
North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG)
The NCTCOG team assessed the vulnerability of existing and planned transportation infrastructure in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, where extreme weather events will add an additional stress on the transportation system in the rapidly growing region.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC)
H-GAC partnered with TxDOT, Harris County, and other local governments to reduce flood risk on critical regional and local highways by developing detailed recommendations to improve resiliency of transportation infrastructure. H-GAC built on previous and on-going high-quality and consensus-based resiliency efforts in the region such as Our Great Region 2040, Foresight Panel on Environmental Effects, and County Hazard Mitigation Plans. Through the planning process, H-GAC planned to add resiliency considerations to the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan and update the H-GAC Foresight Panel on Environmental Effects report. The FHWA's resiliency tools were utilized in transportation resiliency planning. The deliverables from the planning project were planned to be disseminated to local governments, stakeholders, and the public.
Study Type: Integrate into agency practices
Atlanta Regional Commission
The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) project aimed to integrate the threats of extreme weather on transportation assets and users into the planning and engineering process. The project will integrate resilience and durability into agency practices and use ARC's recently drafted regional version of FHWA's Vulnerability Assessment Framework to carry out a vulnerability and high-level risk assessment of the transportation system in the Atlanta region.
Study Type: Integrate into agency practices
Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)
MARC analyzed risks and potential mitigation strategies associated with flooding and stream stability in the Blue River Watershed and their effects on transportation infrastructure in Kansas City, MO and Johnson County, KS, and also addressed resilience considerations in development of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the Blue River Watershed Plan. MARC's partners on this effort included: the Kansas City, Missouri, Water Services Department; Johnson County, Kansas; Kansas State University; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and, and Black and Veatch.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Bi-State Regional Commission
The Bi-State Regional Commission, the Quad Cities, Iowa/Illinois MPO (Davenport, IA/IL Urbanized Area) is conducted a vulnerability assessment to address sustainability and resiliency as a result of extreme weather, and to determine strategies to mitigate these effects on the multi-modal transportation system in the Quad Cities, Iowa/Illinois metropolitan planning area (MPA). Using FHWA's Vulnerability Assessment Framework, Bi-State sought to identify key weather variables and vulnerable assets specific to the eastern Iowa and western Illinois area, to focus extreme weather hazards planning toward shaping a more resilient and durable Quad Cities transportation system, and to determine strategies to mitigate near-term and long-term effects of extreme weather events that could be incorporated in the 2050 Quad Cities Long Range Transportation Plan (March 2021).
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA)
The team assessed the vulnerability of multi-modal transportation assets in two study areas.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization
Oahu MPO assessed the vulnerability of vital transportation assets to future environmental conditions and evaluated the socioeconomic consequences of asset failure.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
The project team analyzed up to three representative assets in each of four categories of transportation infrastructure in Alameda County: road network; transit network; storage, operations and maintenance, and control facilities; and bicycle and pedestrian networks. The team also evaluated the risk that sea level rise poses to shoreline protection assets, such as natural shorelines and berms.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), the California Department of Transportation, District 4 (Caltrans) and San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) partnered to assess adaptation options for key transportation assets vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR) in the San Francisco Bay Area. The project team refined their previous vulnerability assessment with additional SLR mapping and hydraulic analysis. Using the revised vulnerability data, the project team developed a comprehensive suite of adaptation strategies for three focus areas in the Alameda County sub-region, and through an evaluation process, they selected five adaptation strategies for further development. The strategies cover physical and policy-based options, as well as future research needs.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment; Adaptation Options
Hillsborough MPO
The Hillsborough MPO team assessed the vulnerability of select surface transportation assets to sea level rise, storm surge, and flooding in order to identify cost-effective risk management strategies for incorporation into short-term and long-range transportation planning.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
Hillsborough MPO
Building off of their earlier pilot, Hillsborough MPO expanded the analysis to a broader geographic region around the greater Tampa Bay metropolitan area. Hillsborough MPO, in collaboration with the Pinellas and Pasco County MPOs, the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, and other partners utilized the FHWA Vulnerability Assessment framework on a regional level to assess the vulnerability and durability of transportation infrastructure to flooding inundation in the Tampa Bay region. The project coordinated with Florida DOT and local hazard mitigation planners to integrate results into the regional LRTP, county LRTPs, and county and statewide hazard mitigation plans.
Study Type: Vulnerability Assessment
View as list
FHWA is partnering on eleven projects to address one or more of three areas related to deploying resilience solutions:
Six pilot teams have partnered with FHWA to integrate resilience considerations into their asset management processes. FHWA also developed a guidebook to help other States address resilience considerations in in asset management processes.
Five pilot teams partnered with FHWA to assess the potential for natural and nature-based features, such as wetlands, beaches, dunes, and reefs, to protect specific locations along coastal roads and bridges from storm surge, sea level rise, and erosion.
Nineteen pilot teams partnered with FHWA to assess transportation vulnerability and evaluate options for improving resilience as part of the 2013-2015 program. The pilots used FHWA's Vulnerability Assessment Framework and other resources for their analyses. FHWA used the experiences and lessons learned to develop an updated and expanded framework.
Five pilot teams piloted a Conceptual Model to use in conducting vulnerability and risk assessments of infrastructure to the projected impacts of future environmental conditions. Based on the feedback and lessons learned through the pilots, FHWA revised and expanded the model.
