Hawaii Highway Infrastructure During Natural Hazards

As a result of the impact of severe weather events and forecasted impacts of climate change on the roads and bridges that connect our communities, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) Highways Division is releasing its Climate Adaptation Action Plan, exposure assessments, and hazard viewer.

“We are planning and preparing our infrastructure for the natural hazards ahead to avoid impacts where possible and ensure quick recovery in vulnerable areas,” said Hawaii Department of Transportation Deputy Director for Highways Ed Sniffen. “Having and sharing a coordinated action plan for climate adaptation and building it into all facets of our agency culture is a major step in protecting highway facilities and the people who depend on them.”

The Action Plan focuses on potential risks and impacts to state roads and bridges from severe weather hazards including landslides, lava flow, floods, wildfires, and sea level rise. The plan also offers strategies for a more resilient highway system going forward.

In an effort to make the visualizations of the hazard data more accessible, a viewer tool has been developed and is posted to the HDOT website at hidot.hawaii.gov/resilience . The viewer shows the areas of the state most susceptible to various hazards such as precipitation and temperature projections; rockfall and landslide exposure; and, wildfire and storm surge assessments.