Introduction
The Vermont Transportation Resilience Planning Tool (TRPT) is a web-based application that identifies bridges, culverts, and road embankments that are vulnerable to damage from floods, estimates risk based on the vulnerability, and criticality of roadway segments, and identifies potential mitigation measures based on the factors driving the vulnerability.
The TRPT combines river science, hydraulics and transportation planning methods and is applied at a watershed scale. The TRPT has been developed for the entire state and is ready to be applied to inform project scoping, capital programming, and hazard mitigation planning for state and local highways.
Quick Links
TRPT Web Application
TRPT User Guide
This section of VT-107 was severely damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. The TRPT identifies and prioritizes high risk locations before damage occurs.
Purpose
The need for the TRPT became apparent following the widespread damage and destruction to state and local roadways caused by Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011, and due to the increase in ongoing local damages that take place each year. Much of the Agency's effort following Tropical Storm Irene focused on improving its emergency response and recovery capabilities to restore transportation functionality faster after a disaster. The TRPT's purpose is to identify vulnerabilities in a proactive manner to avoid or mitigate against the impacts of future damages in the most critical, highest risk locations.
TRPT Development
The TRPT was developed by VTrans with funding from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (which also funded the 2018 Vermont State Hazard Mitigation Plan update), federal transportation planning funds, and match from state transportation dollars.
A multi-disciplinary consultant team lead by Milone and MacBroom, Inc. was selected to create the underlying vulnerability, critically, and mitigation identification methods and to develop the web-based application. Partners and stakeholders included several regional planning commissions, municipalities, and watershed groups, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Vermont Emergency Management, Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and University of Vermont.
Figure 1 - Pilot Watersheds
TRPT Users
The TRPT can be used by anyone with an interest in planning to identify and prioritize vulnerable locations and to create a list of potential solutions. It runs on a map service that is easy and intuitive to navigate and interpret and allows users to evaluate scenarios for three different storm events. The TRPT was designed for users that range from engineers and planners to the local volunteers that are the backbone of Vermont's municipal governments, planning commissions, conservation commissions, and emergency management.
TRPT User Guide
The User Guide describes the concepts and key assumptions underlying the TRPT to help users understand the origin of the data and how to interpret results. It explains how to navigate the online TRPT Web Application and provides case study examples from the three pilot watersheds.
GIS, river science and engineering, and transportation planning skills are required to build the TRPT for each watershed. Detailed descriptions of these methods and tools are also provided in the User Manual and are intended for use by the technical professionals that will add more watersheds in the future.
QUESTIONS
Andrea Wright
Environmental Policy Manager
Vermont Agency of Transportation
Email: Andrea.Wright@vermont.gov
Phone: (802) 917-1586