By Jo Edwards and Bachar Hakim, in conversation with Craig Thomas

With current climate change projections, we are looking at a future of hotter, drier summers and wetter, milder winters. We’re also experiencing those bigger rain events in the summer months and with rain falling on dry ground, we're having problems with it washing off or flooding and inundating drainage.

We’re also facing a problem with standing water on pavements and saturation of the subgrade, which could result in softening and geotechnical failures. As a result, we need to think beyond the pavement as a surface, including the whole structure of embankments and cuttings that could suffer from land slips.

Concrete pavements are cracking , and we've had deformation in asphalt pavements as we document prolonged periods of higher temperatures, not just in the south but UK-wide. This will lead to (further) issues considering the differential of overnight cooling and daytime heating. Materials have a lot to contend with.

Planning for two degrees

There's plenty of published data about what the climate could look like over the next 50 years, with a [possible] increase in temperature by two degrees. We can design materials and systems to accommodate that change, such as more resilient drainage systems. 

In the light of these changes, asset owners need to look at whole life costs of the planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation, including resilience in their design. National and local highway authorities with more customer focus are looking to understand what the customer needs from the infrastructure. 

We need to start thinking about changing our whole approach to asset management, including innovative materials that can address this issue to provide user end satisfaction.

There are current research projects looking at longer-life bituminous material that's more resistant to ultraviolet rays and various ways of dissipating the heat from the pavement. There are also examples of sensors being added in the road construction, to monitor temperature change and moisture variation, which can trigger a warning, making it a smart pavement for the future.

Working with what we have

But while innovative technology to combat or adapt to climate change is important, we can't rely on it to solve all of our problems: we also have to work with what we've got. An example is programming works to get the best out of the materials we have right now, which requires an understanding of how adverse weather conditions during construction can impact durability.

Finally, it’s worth us bearing in mind that we need a more holistic approach to the interdependencies with the other transport infrastructure, to manage change in demand due to different weather events.

For example, if you have heat and rail buckling, a knock-on effect might be that there are more people opting for the roads, because the trains are slow or cancelled: alternatively, if roads are flooded, people might be trying other modes of travel to get to work. 

Discover how CIHT works with government bodies on implementing a green and blue infrastructure (GBI) and download their latest report.

Main image: Flooding in the city after rain; credit: Shutterstock

Main image: Flooding in the city after rain; credit: Shutterstock