The indirect impacts of climate change on roads are due to the effects on the location of population and human activity altering the demand for roads. Road infrastructure is a long-lived investment. Roads typically have design lives of 20 to 40 years and bridges of 100 years. An understanding of the expected impacts of future climate change by road planners, designers and asset managers could engender considerable cost savings in the long term. At the broad strategic level, if road providers are forewarned of any costly future effects on existing infrastructure, they can better prepare to deal with them This report: 1. Provides an assessment of likely local effects of climate change for all Australia for the next 100 years, based on the best scientific assessment currently available; 2. assesses likely impacts on patterns of demography and industry, and hence on the demand for road infrastructure; 3. identifies likely effects on existing road infrastructure and potential adaptation measures in road construction and maintenance; and 4. reports on policy implications arising from the findings of the project. (Author/publisher)
Abstract