Session

Services provided by lifeline infrastructure systems are critical to the recovery of social functions after an earthquake. Lifeline infrastructure includes water, wastewater, drainage, electric power, communications, gas and liquid fuels, solid waste, and transportation systems. They are complicated and large geographically distributed systems built over long periods of time with specialized components made of different materials. Even though it is difficult to prevent damage and potential service outages after earthquakes, the loss and recovery of services can be managed to meet societal needs. This requires establishment of practical objectives and efficient system design and operation to enable timely recovery of basic services.

A lifeline infrastructure system is considered functionally recovered when all users have basic services restored. The objectives first must be defined in terms of when services are needed by customers having different levels of importance to communities during a disaster; a design procedure then can be implemented to meet the objectives.

The design of new and modifying existing lifeline infrastructure system components for recovery requires the engagement of all infrastructure systems and consideration of multiple social functions in a community. Service recovery times must include post-event societal adaptations and consequences resulting from varied impact scenarios. The design criteria need to consider the organizational actions necessary to recover operations of potentially damaged components. Recovery of services in each system is dependent on the recovery of all the other lifeline infrastructure systems. Further, system mitigations must be cost effective and planned over a timeframe that allows them to be implemented while the system continues providing normal reliable services.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is leading the development of design frameworks for lifeline infrastructure systems to achieve recovery-based objectives and recently published the NIST SP 1310 report, Initial Framework to Design Lifeline Infrastructure for Post-Earthquake Functional Recovery, that was prepared by the Applied Technology Council.

Currently, no policies require lifeline infrastructure systems to be prepared to recover in a timely manner following any major natural hazards. Lifeline infrastructure systems are owned and operated by diverse agencies and organizations. These provide services on scales from individual small towns to international. Infrastructure system operators must collaborate in a common direction to improve the resilience of communities across the country. Convincing operators to first commit to the concepts for functional recovery and then to implement them over time is a huge challenge.

This session will address what’s needed to design lifeline infrastructure systems for functional recovery, and options to engage the infrastructure system owners and operators to make improvements toward functional recovery.

Learning Objectives:

• What does it mean to functionally recover a lifeline infrastructure system following a natural hazard event?
• The major factors to be accomplished to design lifeline infrastructure systems for recovery-based objectives
• The major factors to consider when establishing lifeline infrastructure system service recovery times
• Options to engage the infrastructure system owners and operators to make improvements toward functional recovery