Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide (2024)

Chapter: Appendix B: Activity for Building Monitoring Plans

Visit NAP.edu/10766 to get more information about this book, to buy it in print, or to download it as a free PDF.
Previous Chapter: Appendix A: Capability Maturity Model
Page 75
Suggested Citation: "Appendix B: Activity for Building Monitoring Plans." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/28022.
Save
Cancel

APPENDIX B

Activity for Building Monitoring Plans

Use the following table to facilitate a discussion with your monitoring team about roles, responsibilities, priority assets, and critical action triggers.

presentation
What are our priority assets for monitoring?		 Criteria for Prioritization:
  • Magnitude of damages
  • Traffic volume
  • Route redundancy
  • Scour critical
  • Frequency of flooding
  • Freight routes
  • Routes serving vulnerable or disadvantaged population

Data Sources:
  • DOT Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) reporting
  • DOT roadway network inventory
  • DOT scour-critical bridges inventory
  • Chronic 511 or other complaint calls
  • Other local knowledge of recurrent flooding
presentation
What are the flood threshold elevations for priority assets?		 Key Structural Information Required:
  • Low chord bridge elevations
  • Bridge/culvert deck overtopping elevations
  • Approach road topping elevations
  • Culvert barrel invert elevations
  • Scour thresholds (in terms of discharge, velocity, or stage)
presentation
At what frequency should monitoring occur?		 Before an Anticipated Event, Start Monitoring at Least:
  • 1–2 days out
  • 3–4 days out
  • 5+ days out

Increase Monitoring Frequency If:
  • Severity of forecasts increases
  • Water levels are nearing a critical action threshold
Page 76
Suggested Citation: "Appendix B: Activity for Building Monitoring Plans." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/28022.
Save
Cancel
presentation
What tools are used to monitor when and where it will flood?		 Data Sources:
  • Local/state stream gauge data
  • Local/state rain gauge data
  • USGS gauge services (discharge or stage elevation)
  • NWS AHPS (riverine stage/elevation data)
  • NWS AHPS (tide stage/elevation data)
  • NWS local meteorological forecasts
  • NOAA Tides and Currents (https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/products.html)

Key Personnel:
  • State meteorologist
  • Engineering staff
  • Bridge hydraulics staff
  • Emergency management staff
  • District staff
presentation
What are our expected staffing needs?		 Key State Personnel:
  • Emergency management
  • Engineering
  • Bridge hydraulics
  • Maintenance

Key Regional/District Personnel:
  • District management
  • Field crews
presentation
Who do we need to contact?		 Key State Points of Contact:
  • Emergency management
  • Engineering
  • Bridge hydraulics
  • Maintenance

Key Regional/District Points of Contact:
  • District management
  • Field crews

Points of Contact for Automated Alerts:
  • Communications
  • Emergency management
  • IT
Page 75
Suggested Citation: "Appendix B: Activity for Building Monitoring Plans." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/28022.
Save
Cancel
Page 75
Page 76
Suggested Citation: "Appendix B: Activity for Building Monitoring Plans." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Flood Forecasting for Transportation Resilience: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/28022.
Save
Cancel
Page 76
Next Chapter: Appendix C: Activity for Building Attributes of a Field Observation Database
Subscribe to Email from the National Academies
Keep up with all of the activities, publications, and events by subscribing to free updates by email.