The 2026 CIHT National Conference gave delegates and members the opportunity to gain fresh insight into the sector and its latest challenges. With the theme ‘From risk to resilience’, the event focused on the increasing pressures facing highways and transportation professionals and the solutions needed to help the industry adapt.

One of the key sessions at the conference was Adaptation – an all‑hazards approach, which explored the growing range of hazards faced by local authorities and examined how clients and contractors are responding. The session was hosted by Mitesh Solanki, CIHT President and Managing Director of Ringway Highways Services, and featured contributions from leading voices across the sector.

Panel members included Amanda Richards, Chair of the UK Roads Board and Assistant Director of Highways and Asset Management at Surrey County Council, who discussed the technological response to the Godstone sinkhole, and Ann Carruthers, Director of Environment and Transport at Leicestershire County Council, who reflected on how a relatively minor rainfall event resulted in the most severe flooding incident the county had ever experienced.

The changing nature of resilience

The final contributor to the panel was Dr Hugh Deeming, research consultant and resilience expert, who challenged the way resilience is commonly defined. Referencing the World Road Association’s strategic plan, Deeming highlighted the critical role roads play in disaster response.

“Roads play a critical role in disaster response operations, ensuring access to impacted areas for rescue workers and the delivery of emergency supplies. Roads must stay functional at all times,” he said.

“However, what we are learning every year is that this can’t always be achieved, and conservative design standards can fail. Robustness of design reflects only one domain of resilience. We also need to consider reliability, redundancy, resourcefulness, rapidity and recovery, and build these into our resilience planning.”

Deeming illustrated reliability by questioning whether gritters designed to operate in winter could still function effectively during extreme heat, for example to spread granite dust. Resourcefulness, he suggested, is not only about access to equipment, but also about the degree of trust placed in staff and their ability to adapt flexibly to new circumstances.

Quoting the economist George Box, Deeming added: “All models are wrong, but some of them are useful.” Referring to a 2021 climate report, he reminded delegates that it assessed only a very small chance of temperatures exceeding 40°C by 2040, something that occurred just over a year later. “This tells us we always need contingencies for climate surprises,” he said.

It could happen here

Turning to flooding, Deeming noted that winter precipitation has already exceeded many predictions, citing the devastating floods in Germany and Belgium in 2021. Around 240 people lost their lives, and damage totalled €32 billion.

“The epicentre of those floods is just 323 miles from London – closer than Edinburgh,” Deeming told delegates. “If it can happen in mainland Europe, it can happen here. To be resilient, we have to think about common consequences rather than preparing for individual hazards.”

Looking ahead, Deeming referenced the forthcoming DfT Resilience Strategy, which is expected to emphasise the need for suitably qualified, experienced and empowered people to deliver effective resilience solutions.

His message reinforced the conference’s central theme: that climate change is transforming the risk landscape, and that resilience must be understood as a dynamic capability rooted as much in people and decision‑making as in physical assets.

Find out more about the CIHT National Conference: https://www.ciht.org.uk/event/ciht-national-conference-2026/

Image - The ‘Adaptation – an all‑hazards approach’ panel at the CIHT National Conference 2026
Credit: Will Amlot