RESilient transport InfraSTructure for increasing the resilience of seamless transport operation to extreme events, protecting the users of the European transport infrastructure and providing optimal information to the operators and users of the transport infrastructure.
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 operators and users of the transport infrastructure.
Road transport is the most vulnerable mode to extreme weather events, while bridges and tunnels are among the most critical land transport structures. A large number of bridges and tunnels have been in operation for more than half a century and there are widespread signs of deterioration. They need inspection, vulnerability assessment and, when needed, appropriate interventions. Inspection, though, in inaccessible bridge/tunnel areas, or structures with high volumes of traffic, is expensive, time consuming, potentially dangerous and frequently traffic interrupting, while structural/vulnerability assessment is also a lengthy process which is especially painful after extreme events.
RESIST project will address extreme events on critical structures, implemented in the case of bridges and tunnels attacked by all types of extreme physical, natural and man-made incidents, and cyber-attacks. The RESIST technology will be deployed and validated at two pilots in real conditions and infrastructures.
In order to achieve a high level of resilience of the transport infrastructure, RESIST project will do it in three levels:
- Increase of physical resilience of bridges/tunnels by robotic inspection and predictive analytics
- Restoration of services/routes back to normal quickly after an extreme event
- Clear and effective communication of transport operators and users, emergency responders and the public in the vicinity.
More information can be found on the RESIST project page.