Following one of wettest Januarys on record, experts behind the UK’s transport network are looking to add resilience, with CIHT recently releasing a report into maintaining and future proofing highway infrastructure from extreme weather events. 

Matt Tompsett, Head of Environment and Sustainability at Kier Transportation, builds on this by explaining, “We’re now shifting focus to adaptation, because climate change is here. [While] CO2 reduction is still just as important, adaptation also needs to be a priority.”

One major issue that has come to the fore recently is management of rainwater. “We’re spending time and effort getting this water off site as quickly as possible. Then, a couple of months later, we're in a really dry period, and we're literally buying the water back again in large tanks,” Tompsett explains. “So we’re currently looking at solutions where we can remove rainwater, store it on site, and then reuse it when we need it.”

As our weather gets steadily wetter, drainage becomes an ever more pressing problem. One solution being introduced particularly in urban areas is rain gardens or sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS), which Tompsett has helped plan and install across the UK.

These areas of greenery and plantation can stand high levels of waterlogging, so when they are positioned adjacent to roads and walkways, storm waters run into them and help prevent serious flooding.

Meanwhile, growing trees around highways is another seemingly obvious but undeniably effective way to manage the effect of hotter and wetter conditions, shading the network from sunlight damage and sheltering it from excess moisture.

Predictive technology and new materials

With continuing advances in weather forecasting technology, it’s now possible to plan according to accurate projections. The key will be to assess the varying needs of different regions, Tompsett says: “A response that we have down in Kent might be completely different to Cumbria, and the models we're now looking at provide a tailored, more regional response. 

“We've also been using drone footage, taken regularly on our sites, and then you apply software over it, which applies different rain intensities onto it, then you can see exactly where the water is going to go, how the topography is going to change, and work out how best to mitigate its effects.”

Infrastructure being built now also needs to be designed and constructed with materials that not only reduce carbon emissions, but also offer resilience to our changing climate, able to sustain intense flooding, corrosion and surface water as well as higher temperatures in summer.

Some materials are already offering encouraging results. Warm mix asphalt, for instance, can reduce CO2 emissions, and enhance durability. Elsewhere, biogenic designs incorporate elements such as microbial techniques and biomimetic materials, creating more sustainable, resilient structures.

Protecting people

It’s not only infrastructure but also human resources that will be affected by the changes in weather patterns. And it won’t be just the winter events that need addressing. “We've had big storms, flooding before,” states Tompsett. “We haven’t had so much of the extended dry periods and extreme heat. We’re now introducing extra chapters to our extreme weather plans, to prepare for hotter summers.” 

With workers out on the network now at increased risk of heatstroke, dehydration and other health hazards, new frameworks need putting in place. “Policies need to consider the effects on our people when working in what we define as extreme conditions, for instance: when it hits 35 degrees or 38 degrees or 40 degrees – how hot is too hot to work, and how can we protect people?” asks Tompsett.

Meanwhile, insurance and liability for “extreme” conditions will come into the equation, and beg the question – where do the boundaries lie?

“At some point,” Tompsett concludes, “clients and contracts and insurers will say, ‘Well, hold on a minute. This isn't really extreme weather anymore. This is just the weather.’”

Image: thunderstorm in Notting Hill Gate, London. Credit: Shutterstock.