Roads and Climate Change

Release date: 16/08/2018

Roads are at the heart of the climate debate, both as a source of greenhouse gas emissions and as assets exposed to climate change risks. The past decade has seen, for instance, mul

tiple cases of floods flushing road sections away and heat waves making concrete pavement joints burst in many locations across Europe.

New questions are now emerging for road infrastructure managers: How vulnerable are roads to extreme weather events? What can be done to make roads more climate-resilient? Which parts of the network are most exposed? Are existing design guidelines adequate? What cost-effective responses can be implemented?

Issues like these can be addressed with an approach referred to as Climate Resilience Analysis for Road Networks, which JASPERS can help road authorities to implement.