CIHT is working together with the new National Hub for Decarbonised, Adaptable, and Resilient Transport Infrastructures (DARe) on a new project to explore how the highways sector can improve the UK road network in terms of resilience and adaptability to extreme weathers.
The project will be supported by an advisory group that will bring in expertise and experience from the sector with representatives from the CIHT Partnerships Network, the CIHT Technical Champions and the UK Roads Leadership Group (UKLRG). The project will also call upon specialist expertise through various targeted engagement activities.

The group will be guided by Professor Phil Blythe CBE, Director of the DARe Hub, and Neil Johnstone, immediate CIHT Past President and member of CIHT Learned Society and Technical Strategy Board. 

I’m delighted for the DARe Hub to be partnering with CIHT on this important topic. This collaborative project will be strengthened and enhanced by the breadth of stakeholders and expertise DARe and CIHT can both bring to the table. Resilience has not been as high on the political agenda as it now needs to be, and we hope that the project outcomes will provide impactful guidance around the practicalities of road building and maintenance, for both industry and government.

Professor Phil Blythe CBE, Director of the DARe Hub

CIHT is pleased to be able to bring together a great group of experts to tap into their knowledge and address this major issue of the moment. There is undoubtedly some good practice and experiences out there already and we hope to capture all that, and more, and bring it all together for sharing among interested professionals. No-one has a monopoly on the emerging practices in this area and the antennae of CIHT members can once again bring to the fore the nuggets of wisdom from different geographies and cross-boundary experiences. The timely linkage through Prof Phil Blythe with the DARe Hub offers our sector a huge opportunity to maximise the benefits for all

Neil Johnstone, CIHT Immediate Past President 

What is the DARe Hub? 

The new DARe Hub will identify pathways and solutions for delivering a resilient, net zero transport system that works for people and communities.  
Funded by the Department for Transport and UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Building a Green Future fund, the DARe Hub will provide expertise, modelling, and data to help the sector evolve to meet the challenges it faces now and in the future. 
DARe brings leading academics from across the UK together with government, civic, and industry partners to focus on understanding how science and engineering can tackle emission reductions and the impacts of climate change on transport infrastructures. 

What are the aims of this project? 

The joint CIHT/DARe project aims to produce a report on resilience and adaptation to extreme weather events of the UK road infrastructure, focusing particularly on the challenges posed by aging structures, wear and tear, and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

Overall, this project will:

• Assess costs and impacts to industry and communities of failures to maintain, renew, and adapt our roads to extreme weather.
• Explore successful and sustainable examples of the implementation of new materials, processes and practices that allow the highway to respond to emergency, stabilise and recover assets condition and reduce future risks associated with extreme weather events.
• Identify best practice asset management and maintenance to ensure network resilience to extreme weather. 

We have hosted a first kick off workshop to gather initial input to better shape the project according to the needs of our membership and wider sector. 
A main takeaway from this first event was a clear need for cross-organisational knowledge sharing to overcome the practice of silos working that has longed characterised the transport sector. 

Next steps 

This first workshop was only one of the different engagement activities we will undertake in the next months to gather experts’ thoughts and experiences, including a webinar, a call for case studies, and interviews.

If you would like to know more or get involved, please contact technical@ciht.org.uk. 

If you have any queries about the CIHT Partnerships Network, please contact partners@ciht.org.uk  

Professor Phil Blythe CBE, Director of the DARe Hub

Neil Johnstone, CIHT Immediate Past President