RAPID: Critical Assessment of Drainage Infrastructure Performance in a Sustained Flooding Event: The Case of Hurricane Florence

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

Hurricane Florence demonstrated the vulnerability of coastal and near coastal regions in the Carolinas to sustained flooding, which resulted in the loss of lives and severe property damage. While the capacity and condition of drainage infrastructures play a crucial role in minimizing the impacts of such flooding events, these systems might experience damage due to extreme flooding that will worsen the flooding impacts and diminish the remaining useful life of the drainage infrastructures. This RAPID project will assess the impact of Florence-related sustained flooding on the structural and hydraulic serviceability of the stormwater infrastructure. The project participants will collect time-sensitive peak discharge and asset (including soil) performance data including failures and other significant incidents during or immediately after Hurricane Florence. Data collected in this phase should suffice for future modeling of the drainage infrastructure performance and validation. The time-sensitive data needs to be collected in the field as soon as possible before it is tampered with or lost. Time-sensitive geo-spatial data includes flooding elevations and peak discharges, condition assessment of stormwater pipelines and other drainage infrastructure assets, asset failures and their mechanisms, and cascading failures through infrastructure interdependencies. The collected data will lead to enhanced understanding of the impact of a sustained flooding event on drainage infrastructures. The collected condition data along with hazard characterization will be made available to the research community for developing and validating models focused on drainage infrastructure deterioration due to flooding events. Given the growing vulnerability of coastal and near-coastal regions across the United States to flooding, this research project provides an excellent opportunity to advance scientific understanding and gather critical empirical data that can be broadly impactful. The outcomes of this research will directly assist the Hurricane Florence affected regions with improved knowledge of their drainage infrastructure condition and recommendations for its safe and efficient management during future flooding events. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.