Incorporation of Climate Considerations: Transportation Infrastructure Design
March 19, 2019
Presented by:
- Dirk Nyland (Chief Engineer, BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
- Allison Kader (Research/Analysis Officer, Transport Canada)
Representatives from British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (BCMoTI) and Transport Canada’s (TC) Transportation Assets Risk Assessment (TARA) initiative discussed the importance of incorporating climate considerations into current and future transportation infrastructure design projects. BCMoTI’s presentation covered design criteria and climate resilience assessment; provided an overview of BCMoTI’s Climate Change Technical Circular policy and examples of its implementation; as well as climate projection resources. TC’s TARA initiative was announced following Budget 2017, receiving $16.35 million over five years to better understand climate risk to federally-owned transportation assets and potential adaptation solutions that could be employed. This presentation highlights several recommended practices and lessons learned that the TARA team has identified throughout the development and progression of the initiative. These recommended practices and lessons learned are relevant to the climate risk assessment field as a whole and could provide valuable insight for anyone considering undertaking a climate risk assessment for an asset, whether transportation related or not.