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From page 409... ... B‐113 Swedish Transportation Administration (STA) Case Study: Borlänge, Sweden Highlights: While not a direct provider of urban transit services, as the national transportation authority for the country of Sweden, STA is actively engaged in a variety of activities related to resilience planning, engineering, maintenance, and operations across a range of transportation modes. The agency is primarily concerned with flooding, coastal storm surge and sea level rise, and ensuring the "robustness" of transit operations and infrastructure. Awareness of the impacts of natural hazard related threats, the needs for practice adaptation, and the benefits of creating culture of resilience within the STA started with planners and engineers working in the middle‐tier maintenance divisions of the administration. A key area of the STA's resilience efforts was the development of agency‐wide Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan. Key Resiliency Drivers  Recognition by field‐level staff that natural hazard related restoration, repair, and reconstruction projects were growing large and more common;  Acceptance that global climate change is real and is already effecting the country in numerous ways and, most notably to the STA, carrying out of their daily mission; and  European Union – wide efforts to raise awareness of a need to adapt to climate change. Read the entire page →
From page 410... ... B‐114  Awareness, understanding, and realization of the threats of climate change and how they effected the organization are key in the development of administration‐wide climate change adaptation strategies; and  Official strategic and action plan documents give a structured approach to understand, evaluate, and manage the needs and activities related to climate change within their organization. Administration Details Geographic Location International (Northern Europe) Read the entire page →
From page 411... ... B‐115 In terms of hazard vulnerability, the STA is generally concerned with all hazards. However, the focus of the majority of their resilience effort is centered on natural hazards, most specifically those associated with water‐related conditions such as torrential rainfall, river, lake, and coastal flooding; as well as avalanches, mud flows, and various implications from sea level rise in coastal areas, particularly in the southern part of the country. Based on history and experience, other concerns include landslides and winter weather and with respect to climate change, the thawing of permafrost in the northern part of the country which is leading to soil stability issues. The information collected and reviewed for this Case Study was gathered from several sources, most notably from a phone interview Dr. Eva Liljegren, who works both for the STA Maintenance and Planning Divisions. Dr. Liljegren is responsible for coordinating climate change adaptation, which includes the creation of policies, strategies, and action plans for the administration. Links and citations to additional documents reviewed and used to support the development of this Case Study can also be found in the "References" section of this case description. Policy and Administration Summary: The STA is the national transportation administration under the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. The organization has five major "Business Areas" (although they are often referred to as "Divisions" in English, "Business Areas" is the correct term) organized as "drainpipes." This in effect means that authority goes from the top of the STA down to the field, with different levels. The director for each Business Area reports directly to the General Director but each Area is then organized in different levels, from the top to the bottom. In terms of Maintenance, there are six regional districts. The districts are responsible for the tendering process with contractors. Each District also has project leaders who work as the contractor's counterparts, although all actual work is carried out by contractors. The first division to recognize and react to climate change issues at Trafikverket were people working in the Maintenance Divisions. These included, for example, geotechnical engineers, hydrologists and maintenance experts whose duties were most frequently and directly affected by the impacts of natural hazards. Recent experience has shown, however, that many of these individuals were not enough high up in the organization to be able to influence or take important decisions. Interestingly, these staff members were also not far enough down the chain of activities to make direct and appreciable differences in the work carried actually out by the contractor. This paradigm is viewed as a primary reason that it has been (and still is) Read the entire page →
From page 412... ... B‐116 Although the STA does not have a policy that addresses "resilience," it has formed an administration‐ wide policy to more specifically address "climate change adaptation." The policy is documented in "Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation" (STA 2014) . As its title suggests, the policy focuses exclusively on natural hazards and not man‐made disasters or hazard conditions. These are addressed separately in security‐related policies. To support the implementation of the policies outlined in this Strategy, the STA is about to publish an Action Plan. The Action Plan is a key document for the administration because it breaks down the conceptual vagueness of the Strategy into tangible activities. The Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, the parent agency of the STA, sets the direction for resilience prioritization, although again, they also use the term robustness. Although, neither agency has a formal division, committee, or individual designated as being responsible for resiliency, there is a prevailing view that all individuals within the organization should have a stake and an interest in robustness. Currently, there is an effort to establish a distributed set or loose network of robustness "experts" throughout the organization rather than creating a single centralized authority within the administration. These individual experts would maintain their traditional job functions (planning, maintenance, bridges, etc.) Read the entire page →
From page 413... ... B‐117 the regional/municipal levels and the nation level. When local projects involve climate change –related issues, there is not a designated coordinator for the STA. And despite having adaption‐specific expertise, the lack of knowledge of local conditions often precludes involvement. It is expected that in the future, national policies on key issues (amount of expected sea level rise, for example) can be used to establish design parameters in local areas. These are top priorities in the Action Plan which is (or will soon be) Read the entire page →
From page 414... ... B‐118 vulnerability assessments, the specifics of which are covered in the strategic Action Plan. However, the STA maintains a range of systems for location‐specific monitoring of hazards. These include systems for monitoring and providing warnings for landslides as well as to warning of railroad track switch freezing and warming systems for the switching mechanism. In addition to routine weather forecasts the STA also maintains a network of about 600 local monitoring stations throughout the country to collect weather data and provide warnings of snowfall, fog, and rain conditions. A newer system (AnDa) is used to inventory culverts under STA authority [http://iug.buildingsmart.org/resources/itm‐and‐iug‐meetings‐2013‐munich/infra‐room/bim‐in‐ swedish‐transport‐administration] Read the entire page →
From page 415... ... B‐119 In terms of the environmental review, project development process, and consideration of locations for new facilities and equipment; practices vary someone within the STA. As policies are continuing to evolve, the specifics of individual projects are varying with respect to these changing considerations. Often, how much climate adaptation related features are included in a project depends on the people involved in the projects and their familiarity and awareness of climate change and the need to consider its impact in project development. In terms of longer‐term planning to resist climate effect effects, the STA does not currently have programs to elevate and harden infrastructure to withstand greater or more frequently occurring flooding. However, it was noted that the administration is involved in a project in a southern coastal community where the roads are being elevated to permit the road embankment to provide levee‐like protection from flooding. This project, a first for the STA, will create roads similar of those seen in Holland and south Louisiana where road serve a dual, transportation‐flood protection, purpose. Tools:  Roads elevated to permit the road embankment to provide levee‐like protection from flooding similar of those in Holland and south Louisiana. Key Successes:  Infrastructure design and construction the STA has been updated infrastructure design standards to address changing requirements and needs Operations and Maintenance Summary: From an operations and maintenance perspective, the STA has been active for some time in resilience‐oriented thinking and activities. As it was pointed it out earlier, much of the initial integration of resiliency practice come from the lower levels of the maintenance divisions. As such, the STA has numerous plans and procedures in place to rapidly and temporarily reconstruct damaged infrastructure. Among their most effective tools are the use "Bailey bridges" to temporarily span washed out sections of road. These are portable, pre‐fabricated, truss bridges originally developed by for military use. Similarly, the STA uses temporary power stations, ferries, and trucks passed down to them from the military. The STA also uses and has plans to construct more alternative railroads and roadways to temporally carry travelers while damaged systems are restored. It has been recognized that difficulties can occur when temporary and detour roads are not designed to accommodate heavy vehicles and/or hazardous cargo. Detour roads can also be susceptible to the same hazardous conditions (floods) Read the entire page →
From page 416... ... B‐120 including broadcast channels, especially emergency radio broadcasts that preempt routine content, as well as web pages and social media applications. The STA uses regular maintenance and inspection activities to monitor the condition of potentially vulnerable infrastructure and assets. This is especially so for bridges and tunnels because of their criticality within the system and the capabilities made possible by the BatMan system (described earlier) . While these inspections include functions and needs associated with resilience concepts, for the most part, these review and assessment activities are part of routine practice and are not necessarily aimed at resilience, specifically. It is notable that contractors play large role in the inspection efforts of the STA during the performance of their unrelated (though overlapping) Read the entire page →
From page 417... ... B‐121  Contractors play large role in inspection, however, they are not perceived to the level of quality or thoroughness as inspections carried out directly by the STA.  Railways are better inspected then roadway because of more structured, mandated, and regulated maintenance programs. Read the entire page →

From page 409...

... B‐113 Swedish Transportation Administration (STA) Case Study: Borlänge, Sweden Highlights: While not a direct provider of urban transit services, as the national transportation authority for the country of Sweden, STA is actively engaged in a variety of activities related to resilience planning, engineering, maintenance, and operations across a range of transportation modes. The agency is primarily concerned with flooding, coastal storm surge and sea level rise, and ensuring the "robustness" of transit operations and infrastructure. Awareness of the impacts of natural hazard related threats, the needs for practice adaptation, and the benefits of creating culture of resilience within the STA started with planners and engineers working in the middle‐tier maintenance divisions of the administration. A key area of the STA's resilience efforts was the development of agency‐wide Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan. Key Resiliency Drivers  Recognition by field‐level staff that natural hazard related restoration, repair, and reconstruction projects were growing large and more common;  Acceptance that global climate change is real and is already effecting the country in numerous ways and, most notably to the STA, carrying out of their daily mission; and  European Union – wide efforts to raise awareness of a need to adapt to climate change.

Read the entire page →

From page 410...

... B‐114  Awareness, understanding, and realization of the threats of climate change and how they effected the organization are key in the development of administration‐wide climate change adaptation strategies; and  Official strategic and action plan documents give a structured approach to understand, evaluate, and manage the needs and activities related to climate change within their organization. Administration Details Geographic Location International (Northern Europe)

Read the entire page →

From page 411...

... B‐115 In terms of hazard vulnerability, the STA is generally concerned with all hazards. However, the focus of the majority of their resilience effort is centered on natural hazards, most specifically those associated with water‐related conditions such as torrential rainfall, river, lake, and coastal flooding; as well as avalanches, mud flows, and various implications from sea level rise in coastal areas, particularly in the southern part of the country. Based on history and experience, other concerns include landslides and winter weather and with respect to climate change, the thawing of permafrost in the northern part of the country which is leading to soil stability issues. The information collected and reviewed for this Case Study was gathered from several sources, most notably from a phone interview Dr. Eva Liljegren, who works both for the STA Maintenance and Planning Divisions. Dr. Liljegren is responsible for coordinating climate change adaptation, which includes the creation of policies, strategies, and action plans for the administration. Links and citations to additional documents reviewed and used to support the development of this Case Study can also be found in the "References" section of this case description. Policy and Administration Summary: The STA is the national transportation administration under the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. The organization has five major "Business Areas" (although they are often referred to as "Divisions" in English, "Business Areas" is the correct term) organized as "drainpipes." This in effect means that authority goes from the top of the STA down to the field, with different levels. The director for each Business Area reports directly to the General Director but each Area is then organized in different levels, from the top to the bottom. In terms of Maintenance, there are six regional districts. The districts are responsible for the tendering process with contractors. Each District also has project leaders who work as the contractor's counterparts, although all actual work is carried out by contractors. The first division to recognize and react to climate change issues at Trafikverket were people working in the Maintenance Divisions. These included, for example, geotechnical engineers, hydrologists and maintenance experts whose duties were most frequently and directly affected by the impacts of natural hazards. Recent experience has shown, however, that many of these individuals were not enough high up in the organization to be able to influence or take important decisions. Interestingly, these staff members were also not far enough down the chain of activities to make direct and appreciable differences in the work carried actually out by the contractor. This paradigm is viewed as a primary reason that it has been (and still is)

Read the entire page →

From page 412...

... B‐116 Although the STA does not have a policy that addresses "resilience," it has formed an administration‐ wide policy to more specifically address "climate change adaptation." The policy is documented in "Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation" (STA 2014) . As its title suggests, the policy focuses exclusively on natural hazards and not man‐made disasters or hazard conditions. These are addressed separately in security‐related policies. To support the implementation of the policies outlined in this Strategy, the STA is about to publish an Action Plan. The Action Plan is a key document for the administration because it breaks down the conceptual vagueness of the Strategy into tangible activities. The Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, the parent agency of the STA, sets the direction for resilience prioritization, although again, they also use the term robustness. Although, neither agency has a formal division, committee, or individual designated as being responsible for resiliency, there is a prevailing view that all individuals within the organization should have a stake and an interest in robustness. Currently, there is an effort to establish a distributed set or loose network of robustness "experts" throughout the organization rather than creating a single centralized authority within the administration. These individual experts would maintain their traditional job functions (planning, maintenance, bridges, etc.)

Read the entire page →

From page 413...

... B‐117 the regional/municipal levels and the nation level. When local projects involve climate change –related issues, there is not a designated coordinator for the STA. And despite having adaption‐specific expertise, the lack of knowledge of local conditions often precludes involvement. It is expected that in the future, national policies on key issues (amount of expected sea level rise, for example) can be used to establish design parameters in local areas. These are top priorities in the Action Plan which is (or will soon be)

Read the entire page →

From page 414...

... B‐118 vulnerability assessments, the specifics of which are covered in the strategic Action Plan. However, the STA maintains a range of systems for location‐specific monitoring of hazards. These include systems for monitoring and providing warnings for landslides as well as to warning of railroad track switch freezing and warming systems for the switching mechanism. In addition to routine weather forecasts the STA also maintains a network of about 600 local monitoring stations throughout the country to collect weather data and provide warnings of snowfall, fog, and rain conditions. A newer system (AnDa) is used to inventory culverts under STA authority [http://iug.buildingsmart.org/resources/itm‐and‐iug‐meetings‐2013‐munich/infra‐room/bim‐in‐ swedish‐transport‐administration]

Read the entire page →

From page 415...

... B‐119 In terms of the environmental review, project development process, and consideration of locations for new facilities and equipment; practices vary someone within the STA. As policies are continuing to evolve, the specifics of individual projects are varying with respect to these changing considerations. Often, how much climate adaptation related features are included in a project depends on the people involved in the projects and their familiarity and awareness of climate change and the need to consider its impact in project development. In terms of longer‐term planning to resist climate effect effects, the STA does not currently have programs to elevate and harden infrastructure to withstand greater or more frequently occurring flooding. However, it was noted that the administration is involved in a project in a southern coastal community where the roads are being elevated to permit the road embankment to provide levee‐like protection from flooding. This project, a first for the STA, will create roads similar of those seen in Holland and south Louisiana where road serve a dual, transportation‐flood protection, purpose. Tools:  Roads elevated to permit the road embankment to provide levee‐like protection from flooding similar of those in Holland and south Louisiana. Key Successes:  Infrastructure design and construction the STA has been updated infrastructure design standards to address changing requirements and needs Operations and Maintenance Summary: From an operations and maintenance perspective, the STA has been active for some time in resilience‐oriented thinking and activities. As it was pointed it out earlier, much of the initial integration of resiliency practice come from the lower levels of the maintenance divisions. As such, the STA has numerous plans and procedures in place to rapidly and temporarily reconstruct damaged infrastructure. Among their most effective tools are the use "Bailey bridges" to temporarily span washed out sections of road. These are portable, pre‐fabricated, truss bridges originally developed by for military use. Similarly, the STA uses temporary power stations, ferries, and trucks passed down to them from the military. The STA also uses and has plans to construct more alternative railroads and roadways to temporally carry travelers while damaged systems are restored. It has been recognized that difficulties can occur when temporary and detour roads are not designed to accommodate heavy vehicles and/or hazardous cargo. Detour roads can also be susceptible to the same hazardous conditions (floods)

Read the entire page →

From page 416...

... B‐120 including broadcast channels, especially emergency radio broadcasts that preempt routine content, as well as web pages and social media applications. The STA uses regular maintenance and inspection activities to monitor the condition of potentially vulnerable infrastructure and assets. This is especially so for bridges and tunnels because of their criticality within the system and the capabilities made possible by the BatMan system (described earlier) . While these inspections include functions and needs associated with resilience concepts, for the most part, these review and assessment activities are part of routine practice and are not necessarily aimed at resilience, specifically. It is notable that contractors play large role in the inspection efforts of the STA during the performance of their unrelated (though overlapping)

Read the entire page →

From page 417...

... B‐121  Contractors play large role in inspection, however, they are not perceived to the level of quality or thoroughness as inspections carried out directly by the STA.  Railways are better inspected then roadway because of more structured, mandated, and regulated maintenance programs.

Read the entire page →

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