[NTC2014-SU-R-14] Objective Decision-Making Tools for Transportation Infrastructure Investment to Combat the Impacts of Sea Level Rise and Climate Change

Many locations in the United States are under great threat from rising sea water levels and flooding due to climate change and related increased occurrence of extreme weather events. Consequently, road and rail transportation networks, commercial and private ports, and other public utilities may be temporarily or even permanently flooded. This research effort will develop optimization-based decision tools to facilitate decisions pertaining to infrastructure investments with a focus on freight movements in intermodal transport networks. Tools developed through this effort will aid governments and infrastructure owners and operators in effectively addressing the threats from potential sea level rise and significant, sustained flooding events that will arise more frequently with increased occurrence of extreme weather circumstances. Models and algorithms developed through this work will inform these entities on the optimal investment of limited funds across subsystems, specific system components, regions or proposed projects.