Long-term resilience of Urban Underground Infrastructure and Extreme GeohazardsNikolai Bobylev Sustainability and vulnerability analysis of urban areas has been an issue of increasing concern due to global change, including climate and increased frequency and impact of natural hazards. Urban physical infrastructure is a vital component of a city; it includes utility and transport networks, water and flood management structures, underground networks, etc. These different types of infrastructure are interrelated, interconnected, and interdependent. The paper will focus on urban underground infrastructure, which can be defined as a set of structures located at least partially below day surface, these structures are interconnected physically or functionally. Urban underground infrastructure can be presented by rail and road tunnels, sewerage, other utility networks. Underground infrastructure is highly resilient to earthquakes, but very vulnerable to floods. Apart from inundation through surface openings, high groundwater level can result in structural damage to infrastructure elements. Surface and groundwater levels are the main concern due to predicted sea level rise and extreme weather events associated with precipitation or surface water surges. Strong winds can also be a problem for operation of ventilation shafts of underground infrastructure as well. The paper will review the recent research on the subject on vulnerability and resilience of urban infrastructure and systemize the threats and opportunities arise from changing environment. The paper will start with analysis of common evolution trends in infrastructures: innerdependence, and convergence. This analysis will be expanded by discussing critical infrastructure and civil defense structures. |
