Resilience to extreme (natural and man-made) events

Extreme weather conditions, climate change, damages to the infrastructure (caused by natural and man-made hazards) and traffic impediments negatively impact the reliability of mobility solutions. Risk analysis, adaptation measures and strategies need to be developed that enable minimising the impact of both natural and man-made extreme events on seamless transport operation, protect the users of the transport network in case of extreme conditions, as well as provide optimal information to the operators and users of the transport infrastructure.

Scope

Building on results obtained by FP7 and ERA-NET Road / CEDR projects and EUROCONTROL studies, proposals should address several of the following aspects:

• Identification of risk factors and mapping of the extreme weather conditions and climate risk ‘hot spots’ and their possible impact on the European transport network; identification of the appropriate risk analysis, adaptation measures, and development of cross-modal implementation strategies or operational strategies that optimise cost-performance-risk.
• Strategic application of new materials, techniques and systems for construction, operations and maintenance in order to ensure reliable network availability during unfavourable conditions.
• Integration of terrestrial and satellite systems for the structural health monitoring of key infrastructures located in a natural risk (earthquakes, landslides, floods and extreme weather) prone area and for the monitoring of extreme weather conditions.
• Innovative engineering of links and connections to allow a smooth transfer from one mode to another in case of extreme disruption in one transport mode.
• Assessment of the psychological and behavioural dimensions of safety from the perspective of users, including risk tolerance levels during extreme events.

SME active participation is strongly encouraged.

In line with the Union's strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation, international cooperation is encouraged. In particular, proposals should foresee twinning with entities participating in projects funded by US DOT to exchange knowledge and experience and exploit synergies.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3 to 5 million each would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Expected Impact

Actions will contribute to substantial improvement of smooth continuity of mobility of people and freight even in case of serious disruptions due to natural or man-made circumstances. Major progress will be made regarding individual mode components’ resilience to damage due to extreme weather conditions, including reduction of maintenance and retrofitting needs. Projects will contribute to achieve reliable modal interchanges allowing continuous fluid traffic flow even during or after disruption. A high level of resilience of the transport infrastructure is an essential contribution to sustainable development and of impact on and adaptation to climate change conditions.