Lessons Learned and Case Histories for Post-Disaster Inspections of Coastal Facilities

Despite the widespread devastation and loss of human life after a major disaster it is imperative to gather accurate data regarding infrastructure performance in a timely manner. This work may be impeded by several factors including damage to critical infrastructure needed for field team support, impassable terrain, increased risk of exposure to health hazards and, in the case of underwater investigation, poor visibility and limited access to subsurface substructure elements. This paper presents information regarding the environment likely to be encountered immediately after a coastal disaster, recommendations for the preparation and training necessary to deal with this environment and additional measures to supplement above and below water condition assessment techniques under these circumstances. This paper also addresses several important and well-documented reports of the experiences of field teams conducting post disaster inspection of coastal, marine, and transportation infrastructure. Of particular note are the Hurricane Katrina, Kobe Earthquake, and Haiti Earthquake events.