Published: 2006 | Category: Natural hazard risk management , Research programme , Research & reports | Audience: General
Road networks are lifelines for the community and are essential for the social and economic well-being of New Zealand. Natural hazards cause considerable damage to road networks from time to time and cause widespread disruption to transportation, leading to significant repair costs to road controlling authorities, access difficulties for emergency services, and disruption to road users and the community at large.
Currently, we have no guidelines for setting levels of service or performance measures for roads which are subject to natural hazard events. As a result, roads which are subject to natural hazard events have been managed mainly reactively, which has led to high ongoing expenditure in terms of damage costs, disruption costs and adverse effects to the community.
This is the third part of a three part research project developed between 2002 and 2005 concerning the management of risks to road networks from natural hazards. Parts I and II of the Natural Hazard Road Risk Management research have led to the development of approaches to the identification, assessment and management of natural hazards risks to road networks and key approaches to implementation given New Zealand’s road infrastructure management.
Keywords: Civil Defence, damage, disruption, economic costs, emergency services, lifelines, management, mitigation, natural hazards, performance, performance criteria, public response, resilience, risk, risk management, road, road network, social costs, transportation, Wellington
