GSB 7.0 Standardlösung

Reliability, Risk and Resilience (SPT-302)

Extraordinary events such as major accidents, cyber attacks or extreme weather conditions can affect transport volumes in Germany. Cross-modal solutions help to maintain or even increase traffic flow under these conditions. In the main topic ‘Reliability, Risk and Resilience’ experts develop and improve decision support tools such as analysis methods and procedures to assess the resilience of engineering structures. Resilience in this context can be understood as the ability of engineering structures to withstand damage caused by disruptive events and to return to service quickly, thus increasing the reliability of the transport infrastructure.

Assessing and enhancing the resilience of engineering structures

The researchers develop and validate tools for assessing the resilience of engineering structures. Methods for optimising the resilience of road infrastructures were developed during the previous research phase (2016-2019) of the BMDV Network of Experts. In the ongoing research phase, these methods have been expanded and made usable for practitioners by means of the prototype of an IT tool for resilience assessment. Understanding the magnitude and shifts in the frequency of extreme weather events in a changing climate helps to correctly assess threats to the transport infrastructure and take targeted precautions. For this reason, researchers from the topic areas ‘Reliable Transport Infrastructure’ and Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation work closely together. Forecasts of heavy precipitation events from the DWD, the German Meteorological Service, are the starting point for an automated system to control the discharge of barrages on waterways. The inflow to and outflow from a barrage are controlled in real time, which improves the navigability of waterways during extreme rainwater inputs from urban drainage systems. The developed tools, analysis methods and procedures are to be taken into account when constructing and maintaining engineering structures of the transport infrastructure as part of a cross-modal, indicator-based lifecycle management. A close exchange with owners and operators of the transport infrastructure therefore plays a key role in the current research phase.

Coordination:

Stefan Staub
Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt)
Staub@bast.de

Jens Winkler (Deputy Coordinator)
Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)
jens.winkler@dwd.de

Participating institutions:

  • BASt
  • BAW
  • DWD
  • DB Netz AG