We have witnessed historic and devastating natural disasters around the world. Unfortunately, destructive natural disasters are happening more often even where there is no prior history of disasters. In this situation, many communities have outdated infrastructure that needs to be protected to protect the citizens from extreme weather calamities. These disasters can easily destroy antiquated infrastructure, such as power grids, government buildings, and transport infrastructure. In this blog, we will discuss the disaster-resilient infrastructure and why it is important to have.
What is Disaster Resilient Infrastructure?
Modern disaster-resilient infrastructure is made to reduce the impact of the disastrous event. But which type of resilient design architecture is best for your community? And how can a local government afford to implement this expensive infrastructure?
As the name shows, sister resilient infrastructure includes public communal facilities, buildings, telecommunications, transit systems, and power systems. The communities building resilient infrastructure in their city must analyse the data to understand the risks of natural disasters based on their location. They must consider which architectural improvements will be the best for their community and finalise a budget and timeline for implementing them.
Why Climate Resilience?
The impact of climate change on economics, transportation networks, public health, and other infrastructure assets is taking a major toll. The infrastructure system was built many years ago to withstand fires, flooding and tornadoes; it is now weaker.
The construction of new resilient infrastructure is vital for cities and communities to fight natural hazards. Now good transport, better sustainable houses and green and smart buildings are crucial for this infrastructure.
What kind of Resilient Architecture is needed?
It is crucial to understand infrastructure resilience because a place like Kansas does not need to worry about hurricanes. Or a city like Lahore does not have to worry about typhoons or hurricanes.
Where you are residing determines which risks are most important and pressing. If you consider disaster risk when deciding on a resilient architecture strategy. For instance, if you are living in Pakistan, it is more likely to face earthquakes, floods or tropical cyclones. So, the government must consider the safety measures to build the resilient infrastructure.
Now let’s see the top resilient infrastructure considerations to apply according to the natural disasters posed on your demographic location.
Hurricanes and Flood-Resistant Structures
Flooding is one of the most disastrous and dangerous natural disasters. This can occur because of heavy rains anywhere so taking action to mitigate flood damage is crucial.
Relocating Buildings in Danger Zones: If a building is located in an area where the town poses a serious flooding risk, it is good to demolish the building and relocate it to a safer part.
Update Building Codes: For new buildings, consider the risk of flooding when choosing a construction site and update building codes so that new buildings are built to Fortified standards.
Elevate Buildings and Houses: Elevation is the best but expensive. The smart and sustainable building will help prevent flooding.
Clear Storm Drains and Sewer Systems: Water stays longer after the flood when it has nowhere to go. The best way to evacuate the water is to sweep drains and sewer systems for blockages that cause the drainage system to be ineffective.
Build Floodwalls in High-Risk Areas: If a critical neighbourhood or building is surrounded by water that poses a flood risk. An earthen barrier or permanent concrete barrier can be placed outside to prevent water from getting in.
Install Hurricane Straps: Cheap and effective hurricane straps will increase the chances that a structure’s roof will remain attached to the building in a high-wind event.
Green Infrastructure
Runoff from stormwater is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. It brings trash, heavy metals, bacteria, and other pollutants through storm sewers into local waterways. Communities have used grey infrastructure, systems of pipes, gutters and tunnels to move stormwater away from where we live to plants for treatment or any local bodies.
However, the grey infrastructure in many areas is ageing, and its existing capacity to manage gallons of stormwater is decreasing in areas across the country.
To solve this issue, many communities are installing green infrastructure systems. It helps to bolster their capacity to manage the stormwater. This way, communities are becoming more resilient and achieving social, environmental, and economic benefits.
Community Scale: Soil systems and plant permeable pavement or other substrates reduce flows to sewer systems. Rain barrels against a house store water that could contribute to a flood.
Urban Scale: Neighbourhood-scale green infrastructure could include acres of open public outdoor spaces and planting rain gardens near a residential housing complex.
Earthquake-Resistant Structures
Without a strong foundation, antiquated infrastructure can collapse entirely as a result of an earthquake. This means the residents are at risk of losing their lives and homes. If you are residing in Pakistan, then you may face severe earthquakes very often.
Build with Flexible Foundations: A building is constructed on top of flexible pads. These pads are isolating the foundation from the ground. When an earthquake hits, only the base moves while the building structure remains the same.
Build with Structural Steel: Structural steel is designed to be flexible and bendable, meaning that even if an earthquake forces a building to shake, it won’t cause the material to snap like less durable materials.
Lastly,
Updating infrastructure to be more sister resilient is expensive for developing countries. That is why many communities have failed to update it due to lack of funds. Even many places face bad remnants of heavy rains leading to power cuts, flooded alleys, and stagnant rainwater in the streets. The Infrastructure Development Authority Punjab (IDAP) is also taking new initiatives to improve the infrastructure of Pakistan and investing a lot more now. For any country, a resilient infrastructure is crucial to save its citizens from unpleasant hazards and facilitate them to live a better life.
