Resiliency Advantage

Resilience is defined as: “The ability … to resist, absorb, accommodate,  and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner”1

Resiliency is not about how fast you can repair something once a disaster hits, instead it’s about thoughtful planning and designing pavement systems to withstand whatever Man or Mother Nature throws at us, especially in critical places like flood plains and evacuation routes.


THE TOP REASONS CONCRETE PROVIDES A RESILIENCY ADVANTAGE
To learn more, click on the PDF icon to view a summary sheet.

Resiliency Planning Fundamentals2 adapted for Concrete Pavements

A resilient system is sustainable

A resilient system (building, pavement, etc.) is a sustainable system. Reduced waste –if not damaged or destroyed, it does not need to be replaced.

Prevention: stop a…man-made or natural disasters

Designing pavements with materials that will not melt under intense heat, such as from a forest fire, or weaken when submerged in flood waters, help expedite recovery efforts.

Protection: secure against …manmade or natural disasters

In order to better protect existing pavements, when doing a post disaster repair, use stiffer or stiffen the existing pavement, to assist in the future protection of the pavement.

Mitigation: reduce …. by lessening the impact of disasters

In areas where pavements are flood prone or at risk, require the pavement designs be based on soaked subgrade strength. Why continue to replace when we can design better?

Response: … meet basic human needs after an incident

Because concrete pavements are stronger, and recover faster from disasters, these roads help deliver critical supplies to those in need. Not needing to wait for repairs.

Recovery: …assist communities affected by an incident to recover effectively

Recovery times are aided by concrete pavements because there is not time or resources being spent to repair a submerged road, and instead spending the time and resources on the community in need.

  1. UN-International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
  2. AASHTO. Fundamentals of Effective All Hazards Security and Resilience for State DOTs, 2015