36th Annual Student Research Conference
Infrastructure Resiliency in Wyoming After the One Hundred Year Yellowstone Flood
Greenlee C. Rigby
Dr. Arlen Egley, Faculty Mentor
Infrastructure resiliency is defined as “the ability to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions-deliberate attacks, accident, or naturally occurring threats or incidents”. Resiliency is a critical component of an infrastructure system because minimizing disruptions is critical for national defense, economic continuation, and connecting the American public. The Yellowstone Flood, characterized by images of washed-out roads, did not affect Wyoming infrastructure, because the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) has established an effective water resiliency plan. WYDOT has collaborated with the US Forest Service to engineer bridges to accommodate historic flooding. As catastrophic weather events have become more common, there is a need to reexamine future construction practices, implement inter-agency collaboration, and promote interprofessional teams in highway construction like what WYDOT modeled. The goal of this presentation is to examine the Yellowstone Flood and discuss future impacts it will have on highway construction.
Keywords: Infrastructure , Resiliency , Flood, Inter-agency, Wyoming Department of Transportation, Yellowstone, Weather
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary Studies
Justice Systems
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 102-3
Location: SUB Georgian Room A
Time: 9:00