Framework to address the climate change impacts on road infrastructure assets and operations.

This paper highlights the possible impacts of climate change (CC) on road transport with specific reference to the Queensland, Australia context. It provides an overview of the impacts of CC on the Queensland road network. In particular, the effects of CC on operations and infrastructure due to temperature changes, changes in precipitation, rising sea levels, and increased storm activity. Additionally, the short- and long-term impacts of CC as they may affect Queensland and the implications of these for road infrastructure assets, are then considered. The paper also provides a framework that will assist road agencies in the formulation of an appropriate response to these changes in the immediate future that is urgently required, especially in terms of how they manage their road networks. A climate change framework (CCF) is presented, which is designed to assist road authorities in determining appropriate investment priorities, and to enable efficient development of CC mitigation and adaptation responses for transport decision makers. It is argued in the paper that CC impacts should be incorporated as a key component in road authoritiesÆ planning processes. (a) For the covering record of the conference, please refer to ITRD no. E218380.