Water Resources Engineer AECOM, Massachusetts, United States
Abstract Submission: Coastal infrastructure is highly exposed to extreme events, and these events will increase in frequency and in magnitude due to sea level rise and climate change. For bridges over tidally influenced or tidally dominated waters, it is critical to factor in changing conditions in the context of hydrologic cycle and coastal hydrodynamics over the expected service life of the infrastructure assets. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published design guidelines to estimate riverine peak flow discharge under climate change conditions using the Climate Change Indicator (CCI). FHWA also provides guidelines for estimating future RSLR and storm surge heights. These guidelines help make the design of coastal bridges more resilient.
We present a coastal bridge design project, where the waterway is controlled by tidal boundary conditions at both ends, with stormwater discharge from its tidal watershed. CCI was analyzed to determine the level of analysis for future stream flows which involved statistical trend analysis, confidence limits, and hydrologic projections based on future precipitation and land use. We calculated RSLR from Vertical Land Movement (VLM) and the future Global Mean Sea Level Rise (GMSLR) based on climate change models and the expected service life. The ERDC Coastal Hazards Systems (V2.0) was used to update the design storm surge heights. These parameters were incorporated into a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model (SRH2D) to analyze currents at the proposed bridge. We then analyzed potential scour depths in accordance with HEC-18.
.jpg "Kathryn Teske (she/her/hers) photo")
