The Australian rail infrastructure system is heavily impacted by climate change through extreme weather events, coastal erosion and increased temperatures.
The Climate Council of Australia’s Compound Costs: How Climate Change is Damaging Australia’s Economy Report estimates that 27,000-35,000 km of roads and rail (worth $4.2-$6.7b) in Australia will be exposed to flooding and erosion hazards at a projected sea-level rise of 1.1m.
A project to develop a flooding toolbox is currently taking place to focus specifically on the flood-related impacts of climate change and to provide insight to Australasian rail infrastructure system owners and operators.
The year-long project is being delivered and led by Grace Kennedy from the University of Wollongong (UOW) SMART Infrastructure team, reviewed by and delivered to participants of the Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation (ACRI), a subsidiary as of July 1st, 2022, of the National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO).
UOW recently presented the findings from the first phase of the project to a full house at the Systems Engineering Test & Evaluation Conference (SETE2022).
“The Flooding Toolbox presentation and conference paper were well received and generated interest from transport industry professionals grappling with the challenges of managing contemporary flood risks. The current triple La Niña has caused an unrelenting series of flooding events affecting almost every rail organisation in Australia”, Ms Kennedy said.
“Our causal factors model drew on the results from ACRI freight operator’s problem scoping workshops and the body of worldwide literature, identifying six interrelated sub-models ranging from 1) physical factors (topological, geographical, hydrological and hydraulic concerns), 2) flooding effects (integrity of assets and safety risks), 3) monitoring & prediction factors (data, modelling and sources), 4) works (maintenance, repair and rebuild), 5) operational factors (response and recovery), and 6) economic factors (works costs, system availability, and long-term v short-term investment)," Ms Kennedy said.
The following high-level outcomes will be provided as a result of the project including:
- Improved understanding of the causal factors involved in flood resilience.