Article
CLIMATE-RESILIENT DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Transportation infrastructure plays an essential role in economic development, urban mobility, trade, emergency response, and access to public services. However, roads, bridges, railway systems, drainage structures, and associated transport facilities are increasingly exposed to climatic stresses such as extreme rainfall, flooding, high temperatures, landslides, coastal inundation, and severe storms. Conventional transportation infrastructure is generally designed using historical climatic conditions, which may not adequately represent future environmental stresses. This study examines climate-resilient design strategies that can improve the long-term sustainability, safety, and operational reliability of transportation infrastructure. A scenario-based civil engineering assessment method is adopted to compare conventional design, engineering-based resilient design, and hybrid resilient design integrating structural and nature-based solutions. Major parameters considered include flood resistance, thermal resistance, slope and erosion stability, service continuity, drainage performance, environmental sustainability, and ease of recovery after extreme events. The study indicates that improved drainage capacity, climate-responsive pavement materials, bridge hydraulic protection, slope bioengineering, permeable surfaces, vegetation-based stabilization, redundancy in transportation networks, and continuous condition monitoring can substantially improve infrastructure resilience. The analysis further shows that climate adaptation should be incorporated during planning and design rather than being treated only as a post-disaster rehabilitation measure. A combination of conventional engineering and nature-based solutions provides the most balanced approach because it improves structural reliability while supporting environmental sustainability. Climateresilient design can therefore reduce infrastructure vulnerability, improve service continuity, and support the development of safer and more sustainable transportation networks under changing climatic conditions.
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