DESIGNING PORT INFRASTUCTURE FOR SEA LEVEL CHANGE: A SURVEY OF ENGINEERS

Abstract

This work will implement an online survey to gauge the North American port and marine infrastructure engineering community's attitude and approach to planning for sea level change (SLC) for large-scale port engineering projects in their practice. Results will identify how engineers consider SLC in the design of marine infrastructure and address such questions as: For which types of projects do port and marine infrastructure engineers incorporate SLC considerations into their design? Where does the incentive to add a SLC design component to a project originate from? What levels of SLC do port and marine infrastructure engineers design for? How do the lifespan expectations and time horizons of maritime projects affect SLC considerations? Answers to these questions will provide baseline data that can be used to determine the role that the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and others can play to best provide assistance to the engineering community, as well as for tracking how firms change their approach to incorporating SLC into their designs over time.