Review of Hazard-Resilient Infrastructure: Analysis and Design edited by Bilal M. Ayyub

This book is one of the most needed publications to safeguard our built environment for the next generations. It addresses a grand challenge in a practical manner on a scientific basis with comprehensive coverage of all relevant aspects. To manage this complexity in a structured and clear way, the book is presented as a manual of practice, and channels all items effectively and efficiently toward a goal-oriented implementation in engineering practice. The book is written for engineers with a great deal of illustrative explanation making it fully understandable to a very broad audience of all people interested in the subject. It provides a particular value not only for practitioners and authorities with its potential for immediate use but also for educational institutions in engineering and related subjects to integrate resilience in their programs. Researchers can benefit from the link between fundamental concepts and practice, which reveals future needs and opportunities for both fundamental and applied research.

The book is published by the American Society of Civil Engineers as part of its series ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice. It was edited by Professor Bilal M. Ayyub, reflecting his leading multidisciplinary expertise and overview in the area of infrastructure resilience, risk assessment, and management. His immediate contributions in the book are complemented by further leading experts on various aspects of the subject under the umbrella of the ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division.

The authors present a comprehensive yet coherent approach to designing hazard-resilient infrastructure systems and enhancing the resilience of existing infrastructure with the larger goal of achieving and ensuring community resilience. This approach appreciates that infrastructure resilience has become a major topic within a relatively short period of time. Background information and motivation are explained in a global context. It is made clear that the developments on infrastructure resilience are driven by very dynamic demand changes because of globalization by understanding the consequences of degrading infrastructure and by hazards that evolved into disasters at large scale. Both theoretical developments and practical solutions are presented in a structured manner to analyze and to illustrate the impact of hazards and associated mechanisms across disciplines. This analysis is used to derive measures and guidance, to a very practical level, to implement resilience in infrastructure systems. Particular attention is devoted to uncertainties and to complexity, not only on the input side quantifying hazards but also in the interplay of infrastructure with society and the economy, where cross-disciplinary cascading effects can amplify the impact of hazards in some unexpected ways. The approaches and guidelines are illustrated with meaningful examples and case studies. This book is among the first to address infrastructure resilience in its complex and comprehensive form; it is the first structured manual of practice for implementing resilience in new and existing infrastructure systems.

Seven chapters are provided to guide the reader through the developments and recommendations. Chapter 1 explains the context of infrastructure resilience and the concept of the approach including its potential utilization and resources needed. Chapters 2 and 3 take the reader separately through the concepts and the quantitative assessment methods for systems resilience. Chapter 2 is particularly useful for readers who seek general understanding of the topic of resilience and its importance for our built environment without the need for preliminary mathematical excursions into quantitative formulations. This is highly attractive to stakeholders and authorities to develop a basis for making informed decisions. On the other hand, readers who are primarily interested in quantitative methods may jump directly to Chapter 3. This chapter goes beyond the quantification of resilience in its basic form. It considers most advanced methods to capture the evolution of failures in systems-of-systems approaches and with topological approaches for networks. In this manner, it offers a technology to identify critical events that remain hidden with standard approaches and to detect and quantify low probability–high consequence events. Chapter 4 provides the link between the performance of infrastructure and economic issues. It shows how most cost-effective solutions for infrastructure development can be determined, simultaneously reducing or limiting potential loss in the case that hazards realize. This chapter is attractive to stakeholders for responsible investment planning. Chapter 5 emphasizes the engineering implementation of resilience during the design of infrastructure systems. It covers design principles as well as their applications and examples for illustration. As such, this chapter is a direct guide for practitioners to be used together with design codes in daily business. Chapter 6 provides the bridge to community resilience through socioeconomic aspects. It places infrastructure resilience in the bigger context of the society, and quantitative relationships are highlighted. Authorities get an illustrative picture of the interplay between health and wealth of the society in relation to the capabilities of infrastructure. Case studies explain the effects clearly. This chapter provides key guidance for decisions at a higher level to assess their long-term impact at global scale. In Chapter 7 the authors present selected emerging technologies to enable resilience in infrastructure systems through practical implementation. These technologies cover the key components of smart materials, construction technology, and sensing technology. They form the basis for practical life-cycle management as a key component of infrastructure resilience. Examples demonstrate the implementation of these technologies and the associated benefits. Stakeholders obtain an illustrative impression to support informed decisions on investments in association with the economic considerations from Chapter 4.

While the book provides a one-stop resource on the subject of infrastructure resilience, it can be used in various ways by a wide range of readership. It is simultaneously a practical manual, an educational work, a research report, and a decision-support tool. It can be read as a whole, or individual chapters can be picked for quick and targeted information. This is an excellent book of outstanding value.