Regional trends in barriers, stakeholders, and exposure : process improvements for infrastructure adaptation as a response to chronic disasters in rural Alaska ...

• Main Author: Brown, Meredith Jeanette
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Texas at Austin 2024
• Subjects: Arctic communities; Chronic natural disaster; Climate change; Infrastructure adaptation; Decentralized infrastructure; Engineering management; Sociotechnical engineering; Sustainable systems; Climate resilience; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.26153/tsw/52603; https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/126064

The Arctic is warming quickly, changing the operating environment for which the region’s built environment was originally designed. As a result, critical infrastructure is oftentimes failing or nearing failure, threatening the public health and safety of nearby communities that are often largely populated by Alaska Natives. While urgent adaptation of infrastructure is necessary for such communities, critical adaptation processes for chronic disasters (e.g., coastal erosion, permafrost subsidence, etc.) – in the US – are under-resourced, inefficient, and imprecise. As a result, engineering projects can be stalled for decades and often do not provide meaningful and sustainable solutions for these vulnerable communities. It is essential that infrastructure adaptation becomes more efficient and effective, but very few studies pursue a regional understanding of infrastructure adaptation as a response to chronic disasters, and thus, overlook tangible, systematic improvements. In order to address this gap, this ...