Incorporating Potential Climate Change Impacts in Bridge and Culvert Design

About the project:

Climate change is resulting in long term trends in precipitation and streamflow. As a result, designing bridge and culvert infrastructure based only on historical rainfall and streamflow records may not be appropriate for the design life of the infrastructure. The goals of this research are to (1) evaluate and extend an existing study looking at long term trends in historical rainfall records in Virginia, (2) use hydrologic modeling to translate increases in precipitation to potential increases in stream discharge, and (3) offer recommendations for incorporating climate change impacts into the design of culverts and bridges.

Project Team

Project Monitor

Other Investigators