Considering Future Sea Level Change in Maritime Infrastructure Design: A Survey of US Engineers
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 4
Abstract
Seaports are particularly vulnerable to coastal hazards such as hurricanes and flooding due to their location. Sea level change (SLC) can magnify the impacts of these coastal hazards, threatening the resilience of ports. Engineers must design port infrastructure that is adequately prepared for the amount of SLC expected within the design life of the structure. However, the uncertainty of SLC projections coupled with the long service lives of port infrastructure presents unique challenges to do so. Through an online survey of 85 US port and maritime infrastructure engineers, this research reflects the US engineering community's attitude and approach to planning for SLC for maritime infrastructure projects. Only 29% of respondents indicated that their organization had an internal SLC policy, design, or planning document. Furthermore, results show that the lack of regulatory design standards in this area leads to engineers and their clients disregarding SLC more frequently. There is a clear need for collaboration among stakeholders to develop practical design methods for designing resilient port infrastructure.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the participants who generously gave their time to assist with this research. A special thanks to the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute for their involvement and financial support they provided for attending conferences and committee meetings. In particular, Scott Hicks, Tom Chase, Mustafa Samad, Tom Ward, and the other members of ASCE's Sea Level Change Subcommittee were influential in the success of this research. This research would not have been possible without them. Thanks also to Dr. Gretchen Macht and Dr. Rob Thompson for feedback and ideas.
References
AAPA (American Associion of Port Authorities). 2012. 2012–2016 U.S. port infrastructure investment survey. Alexandria, VA: AAPA.
AAPA (American Association of Port Authorities). 2016. 2016–2020 Port planned infrastructure investment survey. Alexandria, VA: AAPA.
Ahern, J. 2011. “From fail-safe to safe-to-fail: Sustainability and resilience in the new urban world.” Landscape Urban Plann. 100 (4): 341–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.02.021.
Apel, H., G. T. Aronica, H. Kreibich, and A. H. Thieken. 2009. “Flood risk analyses—How detailed do we need to be?” Nat. Hazards 49 (1): 79–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-008-9277-8.
Asariotis, R., and H. Benamara, eds. 2012. Maritime transport and the climate change challenge. London: Routledge.
ASCE. 2014. Flood resistant design and construction. ASCE/SEI 24-14. Reston, VA: ASCE.
ASCE. 2019. Climate-Resilient infrastructure: Adaptive design and risk management. Committee on Adaptation to a Changing Climate. ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice. No. 140. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Atkinson, R., and J. Flint. 2001. “Accessing hidden and hard-to-reach populations: Snowball research strategies.” Soc. Res. Update 33 (1): 1–4.
Becker, A., S. Inoue, M. Fischer, and B. Schwegler. 2012. “Climate change impacts on international seaports: Knowledge, perceptions, and planning efforts among port administrators.” Clim. Change 110 (1–2): 5–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0043-7.
Becker, A., J. O. Toilliez, and T. J. Mitchell. 2015. “Considering sea level change when designing marine civil works: Recommendations for best practices.” In Handbook of coastal disaster mitigation for engineers and planners, edited by M. Esteban, H. Takagi, and T. Shibayama, 697–722. Waltham, WA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Becker, A. H., et al. 2013. “A note on climate change adaptation for seaports: A challenge for global ports, a challenge for global society.” Clim. Change 120 (4): 683–695. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0843-z.
Bierling, D., and P. Lorented. 2008. “Ports and climate change: Perceptions and planning practice.” In Proc., 2008 Texas Ports and Waterways Conf. Galveston, TX: Texas Transportation Institute.
Bilbao, R. A. F., J. M. Gregory, and N. Bouttes. 2015. “Analysis of the regional pattern of sea level change due to ocean dynamics and density change for 1993–2099 in observations and CMIP5 AOGCMs.” Clim. Dyn. 45 (9–10): 2647–2666. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-015-2499-z.
Biondini, F., and D. M. Frangopol. 2018. “Life-cycle performance of civil structure and infrastructure systems: Survey.” J. Struct. Eng. 144 (1): 06017008. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001923.
CACR (Center for Applied Coastal Research). 2019. Coastal List. Newark, DE: University of Delaware.
Christodoulou, A., P. Christidis, and H. Demirel. 2018. “Sea-level rise in ports: A wider focus on impacts.” Marit. Econ. Logist. 21: 482–496.
Church, J. A., et al. 2013. “Sea level change.” In Climate change 2013: The physical science basis. contribution of working group I to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, edited by T. F. Stocker, D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S. K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex, and P. M. Midgley, 1137–1216. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
COMET. 2019. “Scenario-based planning for sea level change in the U.S. using the USACE sea level change curve calculator and guidance.” MetEd. Accessed date February 8, 2019. https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_module.php?id=1387#.Xp27OlhKjlU.
DeConto, R. M., and D. Pollard. 2016. “Contribution of Antarctica to past and future sea-level rise.” Nature 531 (7596): 591–597. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17145.
Dieng, H. B., A. Cazenave, B. Meyssignac, K. von Schuckmann, and H. Palanisamy. 2017. “Sea and land surface temperatures, ocean heat content, Earth’s energy imbalance and net radiative forcing over the recent years.” Int. J. Climatol. 37: 218–229. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4996.
Engineers Canada. 2013. Climate change: The profession’s position. Ottawa, ON: Engineers Canada.
Esteban, M., H. Takagi, and T. Shibayama. 2013. “Sea level rise and the increase in rubble mound breakwater damage.” In Vol. 2 of Coastal Structures 2011: Proc., 6th Int. Conf., edited by S. Takahashi, M. Isobe, N. Kobayashi, and K. Shimosako, 130–140. Singapore: World Scientific.
Faludi, A., and S. Hamnett. 1977. Flexibility in Dutch local planning. Working Paper No. 28. Oxford, UK: Oxford Polytechnic.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). 2012. The federal highway administration’s climate change and extreme weather vulnerability assessment framework. Rep. No. FHWA-HEP-13-005. Washington, DC: FHWA.
Hallegatte, S. 2009. “Strategies to adapt to an uncertain climate change.” Glob. Environ. Change 19 (2): 240–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.12.003.
Haveman, J. D., and H. J. Shatz. 2006. Protecting the nation’s seaports: Balancing security and cost. San Francisco: Public Policy Institute of California.
Headland, J. R., D. Trivedi, and R. H. Boudreau. 2011. “Coastal structures and sea level rise: Adaptive management approach.” In Coastal Engineering Practice 2011, edited by O. T. Magoon, R. M. Noble, D. D. Treadwell, and Y. C. Kim, 449–459. Reston, VA: ASCE.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2013. Climate change 2013: The physical science basis: Working group I contribution to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Rep. No. 1107415322. Cambridge, UK: IPCC.
Jevrejeva, S., L. P. Jackson, R. E. M. Riva, A. Grinsted, and J. C. Moore. 2016. “Coastal sea level rise with warming above 2°C.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 113 (47): 13342–13347. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605312113.
Knox, J. C. 2000. “Sensitivity of modern and Holocene floods to climate change.” Quat. Sci. Rev. 19 (1–5): 439–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(99)00074-8.
Merz, B., and A. H. Thieken. 2004. “Flood risk analysis: Concepts and challenges.” Österreichische Wasser-und Abfallwirtschaft 56 (3–4): 27–34.
Milly, P. C. D., J. Betancourt, M. Falkenmark, R. M. Hirsch, Z. W. Kundzewicz, D. P. Lettenmaier, and R. J. Stouffer. 2008. “Stationarity is dead: Whither water management?” Science 319 (5863): 573–574. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1151915.
Neumann, J. E., K. Emanuel, S. Ravela, L. Ludwig, P. Kirshen, K. Bosma, and J. Martinich. 2015. “Joint effects of storm surge and sea-level rise on US coasts: New economic estimates of impacts, adaptation, and benefits of mitigation policy.” Clim. Change 129 (1–2): 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1304-z.
NRC (National Research Council). 2012. Sea-level rise for the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington: Past, present, and future. Washington, DC: NRC, National Academies Press.
Olsen, J. R., ed. 2015. Adapting infrastructure and civil engineering practice to a changing climate. Reston, VA: ASCE.
OPC-SAT (Ocean Protection Council-Science Advisory Team). 2018. State of california Sea-level rise guidance. Sacramento, CA: State of California OPC-SAT.
PANYNJ (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey). 2018. “Request for proposal for the performance of expert professional planning and feasibility study for the wharf replacement program.” New York: PANYNJ.
Parris, A. S., et al. 2012. Global sea level rise scenarios for the United States national climate assessment. Silver Spring, MD: NOAA.
Phillips, E. E. 2019. “At the water's edge, seaports are slowly bracing for rising ocean levels.” The Wall Street Journal, February 11.
Rahmstorf, S. 2007. “A semi-empirical approach to projecting future sea-level rise.” Science 315 (5810): 368–370. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1135456.
Rodehorst, B., W. Cooper, D. Ryder, J. Lennon, C. Dorney, R. Kafalenos, and R. Hyman. 2018. Using life cycle cost analyses (LCCAs) to evaluate climate change adaptation measures for transportation projects: A colorado case study. Rep. No. 18-04966. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Ruckert, K. L., P. C. Oddo, and K. Keller. 2017. “Impacts of representing sea-level rise uncertainty on future flood risks: An example from San Francisco Bay.” PLoS One 12 (3): e0174666. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0174666.
Savonis, M. J., J. R. Potter, and C. B. Snow. 2014. “Continuing challenges in transportation adaptation.” Curr. Sustain. Renewable Energy Rep. 1 (1): 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40518-014-0004-7.
Stedinger, J. R., R. M. Vogel, and E. Foufoula-Georgiou. 1993. “Frequency analysis of extreme events.” In Handbook of hydrology, edited by D. R. Maidment, 18.1–18.66. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Stephens, S., R. Bell, and J. Lawrence. 2017. “Applying principles of uncertainty within coastal hazard assessments to better support coastal adaptation.” J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 5 (3): 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse5030040.
Sweeney, B. R. 2019. “Designing port infrastructure for sea level change: A survey of engineers.” M.A. thesis, Univ. of Rhode Island, https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1464.
Sweet, W. V., R. E. Kopp, C. P. Weaver, J. Obeysekera, R. M. Horton, E. R. Thieler, and C. Zervas. 2017. Global and regional sea level rise scenarios for the United States. OAA Technical Rep. No. NOS CO-OPS 083. Silver Spring, MD: NOAA.
Taneja, P., H. Ligteringen, and W. E. Walker. 2012. “Flexibility in port planning and design.” Eur. J. Trans. Infrastruct. Res. 12 (1): 66–87.
Toilliez, J. O. 2018. “Sea-level change considerations for marine civil works.” ASCE/COPRI Update (PowerPoint Presentation).
UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development). 1985. Port development: A handbook for planners in developing countries. New York: UNCTAD.
USACE. 2014. Procedures to evaluate sea level change; impacts, responses and adaptation. USACE Approach No. 1443-EN-01. Washington, DC: USACE.
WMO (World Meteorological Organization). 2018. WMO statement on the State of Global Climate in 2017. WMO Rep. No. 1212. Geneva, Switzerland: WMO.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 4 • July 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 13, 2019
Accepted: Jan 17, 2020
Published online: Apr 28, 2020
Published in print: Jul 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Sep 28, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.