Participation in TRB Transport Resilience 2023

SLR Principal Water Resources Engineer and Scientist Roy Schiff participated at TRB Transportation Resilience 2023: International Conference on Extreme Weather and Climate Change Challenges in Washington, D.C and was involved in panels and learnings about climate adaptations strategies.

The conference was a fantastic opportunity to meet with other practitioners, researchers, educators, government agencies, advocacy groups and other stakeholders to share information on emerging best practices and state-of-the-art research results on how to adapt transportation networks to the potential impacts of climate change and extreme weather events.

Roy joined other climate resilience specialists from ICF, Washington State DOT, and the University of South Alabama in a panel discussion titled "Success Stories: Resilient Nature Based Solutions”. At this presentation, Roy and his colleagues showcased nature-based solutions (NBS), to use natural materials and processes to reduce erosion, wave damage and flood risks.

NBS are often cost-effective alternatives to traditional riverbank and shoreline stabilization and infrastructure protection techniques. Still a relatively new and untested concept for many state DOTs, the panel started with a discussion with an overview on NBS, reviewed current implementation guides in practice that support NBS, and presented existing projects and lessons learned. 

Roy showcased SLR’s Magalloway River Bank Stabilization project on behalf of NH DOT for its uniqueness and innovative applications in riverbank stabilization. The project included relocating a failed portion of New Hampshire Route 16 (NH 16) and stabilizing the bank along the Magalloway River with natural materials so the bank would return to a vegetated state with good habitat and matched the surrounding conditions of the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge.

Magalloway River Bank Stabilization Before/After

This project received a gold award from the American Council of Engineering Companies, New Hampshire (ACEC-NH). Click here to view the ACEC-NH award announcement.

Roy Schiff is a licensed Professional Engineer and frequently works on resiliency, flood mitigation and restoration projects in river-road conflict areas. He has helped design and implement the Vermont and Massachusetts River and Road Program to train staff and implement projects bringing fluvial geomorphology into the design process. His work, and the Water Resource Engineering team he leads, has led to a better understanding of the drivers of damages to roads, bridges and culverts; ultimately leading to more resilient transportation networks. Click here to learn more about Roy Schiff.