DeTECToR software enables estimation of climate change impacts on road infrastructure

Created by Marek Skakuj

As part of the international research project DeTECToR (Decision support Tools for Embedding Climate change Thinking on Roads), HELLLER Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH has developed a software tool to determine and visualize the effects and risks of climate change on road infrastructure. Marek Skakuj presented the tool on 19 and 20 November 2018 at the conference "CEDR Climate Change Research: November 2018 Summit" in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

At the beginning of the project, initiated by the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), studies were conducted in three different countries to determine the impact of climate change on road infrastructure. The effects of different temperatures on asphalt and concrete pavements were investigated using German and Austrian data. The influence of wind on engineering structures was investigated in Scotland. The project was funded by Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Austria.

The DeTECToR software allows the visualization and evaluation of test results for each road. This enables the user to identify temporal hotspots at which particularly severe weather events can be expected in the next decades. The integrated risk analysis tool shows the user all infrastructure assets that will not withstand the expected climate changes. This information is essential for sustainable road maintenance planning. The tool is based on HELLER's new EVE platform, which makes it possible to visualize road-related data in a web browser. The consolidation and intersection of data from different sources provides the user with a comfortable and task-oriented data visualization. In addition, the analysis of climate data can be supplemented by further information, such as route and surface images or planned maintenance and construction measures.

Both Rijkswaterstaat (Netherlands) and Generalna Dyrekcja Dróg Krajowych i Autostrad (Poland) are planning to use the DeTECToR software in the future.

Further information on the conference: http://www.cedr.eu/strategic-plan-tasks/research/cedr-call-2015/call-2015-climate-change-desk-road/