A Systems Approach to Risk Reduction of Transportation Infrastructure Networks Subject to Multiple Hazards

Mauricio Sanchez-Silva and David V. Rosowsky
University Transportation Center for Mobility
December 2008

In this project, researchers developed a model transportation infrastructure network that can be used to design efficient risk management strategies that ensure acceptable system performance (e.g., in terms of expected damage or recovery times) when subject to individual, simultaneous, or sequential threats, either natural or man-made. This study explores the performance of infrastructure networks using a systems approach; that is, networks will not be traditionally modeled as a collection of separate elements, but rather as a dynamically interacting whole. This project develops new analytical methods built on a hierarchical structure of the system that focuses on the interaction and dependencies between components. These methods are used to characterize and model the emergent properties of the entire system. This project integrates analysis of network performance with that of individual network components. The transportation network of Texas is used as an illustrative example of some parts of the model.

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