A case for elevating coastal roads based on experiences from Hurricane Katrina and the Tohoku Tsunami
Jeremy Bricker (TU Delft - Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk, University of Michigan)
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Abstract
Experiences from Hurricane Katrina and the Tohoku Tsunami illustrate that elevated coastal roads and railroads can be effective countermeasures to coastal flood inundation and damage. In Mississippi, a railroad embankment was reported to have limited the extent of inundation, while an at-grade coastal highway did not. In Tohoku, Japan, elevated coastal highways strongly reduced the extent of the inundation zone. A simple analysis shows that the additional expenditure required to elevate the coastal highway in Mississippi is less than 1% of the direct damages caused in the state by Hurricane Katrina, illustrating the economic benefit of elevating coastal roads as multifunctional flood defences.
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