Becker Group News
New paper published in Global Environmental Change
Austin Becker / Becker Group News, NEWS /
New paper published in Global Environmental Change
A method to estimate climate-critical construction materials applied to seaport protection
Abstract
Climate adaptation for coastal infrastructure projects raises unique challenges because global-scale environmental changes may require similar projects to be completed in many locations over the same time frame. Existing methods to forecast resource demand and capacity do not consider this phenomenon of a global change affecting many localities and the resulting increased demand for resources. Current methods do not relate to the most up-to-date climate science information, and they are too costly or too imprecise to generate global, regional, and local forecasts of “climate-critical resources” that will be required for infrastructure protection. They either require too much effort to create the many localized designs or are too coarse to consider information sources about local conditions and structure-specific engineering knowledge. We formalized the concept of a “minimum assumption credible design” (MACD) to leverage available local information (topography/bathymetry and existing infrastructure) and the essential engineering knowledge and required construction materials (i.e., a design cross-section template). The aggregation of the resources required for individual local structures then forecasts the resource demand for global adaptation projects. We illustrate the application of the MACD method to estimate the demand for construction materials critical to protect seaports from sea-level-rise-enhanced storm surges. We examined 221 of the world’s 3,300+ seaports to calculate the resource requirements for a coastal storm surge protection structure suited to current upper-bound projections of two meters of sea level rise by 2100. We found that a project of this scale would require approximately 436 million cubic meters of construction materials, including cement, sand, aggregate, steel rebar, and riprap. For cement alone, ∼49 million metric tons would be required. The deployment of the MACD method would make resource forecasts for adaptation projects more transparent and widely accessible and would highlight areas where current engineering knowledge or material, engineering workforce, and equipment capacity fall short of meeting the demands of adaptation projects.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378016301261
Ng and Becker publish new piece in The Maritime Economist: Port Adaptation to the Impacts Posed by Climate Change: How Can Scholars, Policymakers and Industrial Professionals Contribute?
Austin Becker / Becker Group News, NEWS /
New article on “Port Adaptation to the Impacts Posed by Climate Change: How Can Scholars, Policymakers and Industrial Professionals Contribute? by Austin Becker and Adolf Ng, published in “The Maritime Economist.”
Eric Kretsch and Prof. Austin Becker Present at ASCE COPRI Coastal Structures & Solutions to Coastal Disasters Joint Conference
Austin Becker / Becker Group News, NEWS /
Boston, MA – September 10th, 2015 – Eric Kretsch, a Master’s of Arts in Marine Affairs Student and Marine Affairs Professor Austin Becker spent the start of the Fall 2015 semester presenting at the American Society of Civil Engineers Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute Conference which focused on resilient coastal communities. The COPRI conference brings together policy makers, scientists and engineers, community planners and managers, and the community itself to exchange ideas on coastal resilience, in effort to protect coastal infrastructure from coastal storms and sea level change.
Kretsch and Becker presented Impacts of Storm Events and Resilience Options for the Port of Providence. Under the direction of Profs. Becker and Burroughs, this project engaged port of Providence stakeholders in a pilot study to assess user concerns for hurricane impacts on Rhode Island’s coastal infrastructure and their reactions to long-term, transformational, resilience concepts. Reflections on methods and preliminary results were present positively to engineers, policy makers, and other researchers. The project is currently in the results analysis phase; results will be used to improve the framework methodology to be used on other port communities in Rhode Island.
Kretsch awarded 2015 URI Transportation Fellowship
Austin Becker / Becker Group News, NEWS /
At the 2015 URI Transportation Center (URITC) Transportation Week Breakfast, Eric Kretsch was awarded a 2015 URI Transportation Center Fellowship. Kretsch was awarded this fellowship for his work on the URITC Funded Project Port of Providence Vulnerability and Resilience Assessment. This project seeks to gain insight on the potential vulnerabilities of the port of Providence to Hurricane events using port stakeholder perceptions. The project also presents long-term resilience strategies to port stakeholders to assess initial reactions to adaptation. The award was given in recognition of the effort and hard work shown while working on this project and in Kretsch’s general studies.
Caption: Dr. Deborah Rosen (URI Transportation Center) (left) and Eric Kretsch (right) after the awards were presented.
Kretsch and Romelzcyk awarded at 2015 Propeller Club Awards Meeting
Austin Becker / Becker Group News, NEWS /
At the 2015 Propeller Club Awards meeting Eric Kretsch and Eric Romelzcyk were awarded along side Providence Major Jorge Elorza for their academic work. Eric Romelyzck a recent graduate from the Master’s of Marine Affairs was recognized for his 2014 award, while Eric Kretsch received the 2015 Propeller Club Scholarship. Eric Kretsch recently completed his first year in the Master’s of Arts in Marine Affairs. He was awarded in recognition of his academic performance, his work related to the port industries of Rhode Island, and his future career goals.
Caption: From left to right; Dr. Austin Becker (URI), Eric Kretsch, Eric Romelzcyk, and Gavin Black (President, Propeller Club of Narragansett Bay)