Resilience in Design: Flooding & Wildfires

Location:  Grand Ballroom C

Speaker:  Dr. Ricardo Medina, P.E. – Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

Presentation Description:

Experience has shown that culvert crossings may be vulnerable to damage induced by natural hazards such as floods and wildfires. Culvert crossings can be viewed as nodes in roadway networks whose decreased performance due to structural damage can significantly disrupt the function of the transportation system. Dr. Medina will discuss infrastructure resilience concepts, the importance of planning for recovery, and a practical engineering design framework for enhanced structural robustness of culvert systems exposed to floods and wildfires. The successful implementation of this framework is expected to increase the ability of a roadway at culvert crossings to maintain function in the presence of floods and wildfires.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Ricardo A. Medina is an expert in the field of structural mechanics who specializes in structural fire engineering, multi-hazard assessment, earthquake engineering, and structural evaluation of aging infrastructure to assist clients with issues related to infrastructure risk and resilience.