Statewide Flood Resiliency Analysis

In 2021, our Resiliency and Sustainability Committee began developing a Statewide Flood Resiliency Analysis that was eventually integrated into the State Long-Range Transportation Plan. The group worked to develop a data-driven method to identify and assign a score to specific sections of interstates, U.S. and state highways that are most vulnerable to a 100-year flood event. That score allows Iowa’s decision-makers to prioritize construction projects geared to reinforce areas that may be more vulnerable to flood damage.”

Need for the Analysis

In 2021, our Resiliency Working Group began developing a Statewide Flood Resiliency Analysis that was eventually integrated into the State Long-Range Transportation Plan.

Identify & Assign

The group worked to develop a data-driven method to identify and assign a score to specific sections of interstates, U.S. and state highways that are most vulnerable to a 100-year flood event. That score allows Iowa’s decision-makers to prioritize construction projects geared to reinforce areas that may be more vulnerable to flood damage.

Results

The analysis helps identify roads where there is a greater risk of flood events and helps us determine where additional work could make the roads stronger related to flooding. The overall distribution of composite ratings ranged from 36.6 to 93.4, with an average of 82.4. Roads of most concern from a long-range planning standpoint, are those roads that had a composite score one or more standard deviations below the statewide average. There are 72 such roads that have a composite score of 75.1 or less.

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Award Honors

In October of 2022, we won an award for our Statewide Flood Resiliency Analysis in the category of Transportation Planning from Iowa’s chapter of the American Planning Association. This award honors efforts to increase transportation choices for all Iowa travelers.

Contact

For more information about the Statewide Flood Resiliency Analysis, please contact: