Changes to Bridge Flood Risk under Climate Change

AbstractBridge designs are commonly based on a criterion to withstand the n-year flood event. For example, a highway bridge might be designed to pass the 100-year flood. Failure may occur if the structure faces an event larger than this. Climate change may necessitate different design criteria because of changes to flood frequency behavior. This study examines the consequences for bridge design for flooding under the influence of climate change. In this study, climate change is quantified simply as a change in the frequency of a given precipitation or flood event. Flood discharges for current conditions are estimated from the applicable U.S. Geological Survey regression equations. Natural Resources Conservation Service methods are used to inverse calculate the causal precipitation for such floods. Return frequency for this causal precipitation is determined from both the current national precipitation frequency source and future climate intensity-duration-frequency curves. This study specifically looks at...