A disaster involves extensive damage to people and physical infrastructure that is unforeseen in

nature, scale and extent. It often implies that their risk of occurrence has not been properly
assessed and a large share of the damage is the outcome of a lack of preparedness.
Transportation is often considered a critical infrastructure since a disruption in one of its
components can have significant impact on the economic and social well being of a region of a
nation. An effective way to assess how critical an infrastructure is would be to consider the
impacts its removal would have on the flows and activities it services. From an economic
standpoint, the impacts of disasters are dependent on three factors; 1) the nature and level of
incidence of disasters; 2) the level of exposure of populations and infrastructures and; 3) the
level of vulnerability of populations and infrastructures. There are several drivers that have an
impact of the threats and risk level of disasters on transportation systems:
 Increased mobility. The mobility of passengers (for commuting, tourism, business and
migration) and freight has increased notably around the world, including the crossing
international boundaries. Air and maritime transportation are particularly illustrative
since their growth implies more vehicles and cargo in circulation. This trend has also been
strengthened by trade agreements and reductions in tariffs promoted by organizations
such as the World Trade Organization. There are more economic opportunities, but some
risks, such as infectious diseases, can spread faster and more extensively.
 Infrastructure and economic interdependency. Infrastructures are increasingly
interdependent, particularly transportation and energy infrastructures, so a disruption in
one will have an effect on others. This interdependency is also economic as global or
regional trade is based upon mutual specialization. Some parts and components are
provided by a limited number of suppliers, which can be prone to risks in case of
disruptions. In several sectors, supply chains are relatively rigid, implying that that there
are limited options for substitution. The same applies to resources such as oil that require
a continuous supply with limited margins to accommodate major disruptions.
 Centralization and concentration of distribution. The principle of economies of scale often
leads to a centralization of network structures and a concentration of economic activities.
Most transportation systems are organized in hub-and-spoke networks, particularly
for air transportation, but this characteristic is also prevalent in maritime shipping. Global
trade is articulated by major gateways where a few control a large share of the
commercial flows. At the more basic geographical level strategic passages impose
bottlenecks for global maritime freight circulation.
 Urbanization. The emergence of large cities has led to acute concentrations of
populations, a pattern significantly different than the more dispersed settlements that
prevailed in rural societies. Concentration of population equates with a concentration of
risk. Thus, any disaster affecting an urban area is compounding its impacts on par with
the population and infrastructure density. It is also worth underlining that many of the
 world’s largest cities are located in coastal areas, exposing them to an additional array of
risks linked with hurricanes and storm surges.

Natural disasters
Natural disasters come into four main categories:
Extreme weather events.
Many weather events such as storms and blizzards occur regularly and tend to have
minimal impacts on transport systems with delays, partial closures or diversions. Others, such as
floods, cyclones (hurricanes), tornadoes and droughts can be of disastrous proportions. Tropical
cyclones (hurricanes) are particularly harmful since they cover wide areas (a mid-sized cyclone
can cover an area of 500 km in diameter), are moving slowly (25 km/hr.) and are associated with
high winds and rainfalls. Regional air transport and public transit systems are usually shut down
and land transportation can be seriously impaired. For instance, major floods in Thailand in 2011
was highly disruptive for the electronics sector, particularly hard drives since it accounted for
25% of the global production. Hurricane Sandy, which struck the New York / New Jersey coasts in
2012, incited the preemptive shut down of all the airports, ports and public transit systems of
the region. Due to flooding and power outages, it took several days for the system to be brought
back to normal operating conditions, which had substantial impacts on commuting. There are
concerns that climate change may be linked with more recurrent extreme weather events.
Beyond this debate the fact remains that extreme weather events will continue to occur, but
their frequency and scale is uncertain.
Geophysical:
Tectonic activity is the source of the most serious geophysical disasters. Earthquakes are
salient forms of geophysical threats since they are difficult to predict. Tsunamis are also
considered an emerging risk as a growing number of people live along coastal areas. The 2011
Tohoku earthquake in Japan is among the five largest in recorder history. While the damage by
the earthquake was significant, it is the associated tsunamis that caused the most extensive
damage to Japanese transport infrastructure. Further, the earthquake had significant impacts on
global supply chains as the Japanese automobile production fell by 50% in the following months,
mostly because of disruptions in supply chains. Although areas of high earthquake occurrence
are readily identified, the specific location and scale of an event remains a probability that is
often difficult to conceptualize in the planning of transport infrastructure. While volcanoes have
always been localized and easily identifiable risks, the ash clouds they release have recently be
source of concern. For instance, the ash cloud released by the 2010 eruption of the
Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland forced the shutdown of most of the European and transatlantic
air transport system for close to a week, stranding millions of passengers. Since in geological
times air transportation is an extremely recent phenomenon, the probability and extent of ash
cloud events remains uncertain. For instance, an event of the scale of the Krakatau 1883
eruption taking place today would be of profound ramifications for the global maritime and air
transport systems.
Geomagnetic storms:
They concern disturbances in the earth’s magnetic structure, mostly the outcome of
solar activity where the frequency of geomagnetic storms varies accordingly. Geomagnetic
storms can impair power grids and have a higher probability of taking place around the north
and south poles. Still, they are a less known and often an underestimated risk. The largest
geomagnetic storm in history took place in 1859 (called a Carrington Event in the name of the
British astronomer who documented the flare), but since back then electrical systems were
rudimentary, its impacts on human activities were marginal. Such an event taking place today
would be heavy in consequences (e.g. hundreds of millions losing electric power) and would
qualify as a disaster.
Sea level rise:
Historically, sea levels, outside standard tides, have rarely been considered for human
settlements, implying that many cities and infrastructure are built right above the upper tidal
limit. Potential rises in sea levels attributed to anthropogenic causes (climate change) qualify as a
natural disaster. There is a variety of scenarios about potential sea level rises, but evidence
underlines a rise by one meter by 2100 (compared to a 2000 baseline) as almost a certainty. If
the sea level rise accelerates, the one meter scenario could even be reached by 2050.
Irrespective of the timing, sea level rise places critical transport infrastructure such as ports and
airports at risk of damage and discontinuity in operations. For instance, a port terminal or an
airport could not be directly impaired by sea level rise, but its access roads could be,
compromising its commercial viability. Sea level rise would also amplify the impacts of extreme
weather events, namely storm surges.
 ACTIVITY
IN
TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEERING
SUBMMITED BY:
BRYAN M. MAGPARANGALAN
BSCE-5B
Name: BRYAN M. MAGPARANGALAN Date: SEPT. 02, 2019
Yr. & Section: BSCE-5B Score: ________

ASSIGNMENT
Geotech 2 (Foundation Engineering)
1. A permeable soil layer is underlain by an impervious layer as shown in the Figure a. Knowing
that k = 4.8 x 103 cm/sec for the permeable layer, calculate the rate of seepage through this layer
in m3/hr./m width. Given: H = 4.2 m and α = 6°.

Figure a

2. Find the rate of flow in m3/sec/m (at right angles to the cross section shown in Figure b below
through the permeable soil layer. Given: H = 4 m, H1 = 2 m, h = 2.75 m, S = 30 m, α = 14°, and k =
0.075 cm/sec.

Figure b

3. The results of a constant-head permeability test for a fine sand sample having a diameter of 150
mm and a length of 300 mm are as follows:
• Constant-head difference = 500 mm
• Water collected in 5 min = 350 cm3
• Void ratio of sand = 0.61
Determine:
a. Hydraulic conductivity, k (cm/sec)
b. Seepage velocity
4. The following data are for a falling-head permeability test:
• Length of the soil sample = 150 mm • Area of the standpipe = 25 mm2
• At time t = 0, head difference = 400 mm • Area of the soil sample = 1964 mm2
• At time t = 8 min, head difference = 200 mm
a. Determine the hydraulic conductivity of the soil (cm/sec).
b. What was the head difference at t = 6 min?
5. A channel runs almost parallel to a river as shown in Figure c .The water level in the river has an
elevation of 36 m. and the elevation of the channel is 33 m. The river and channel are 600 m. apart
and a pervious formation of average thickness of 9 m. and hydraulic conductivity of 0.08 m/hr.
joints on them together.

Figure c Figure d
a. Compute the hydraulic gradient.
b. Compute the rate of seepage flow from the river to the channel per meter width in liters per
day.
c. If the seepage velocity is 0.048 m/day, compute the void ratio of the pervious medium.
6. A layered soil is shown in Figure d. Given that
• H1 = 1 m k1 = 104 cm/sec • H3 = 2 m k3 = 3.5 x 105 cm/sec
2
• H2 = 1 m k2 = 2.8 x 10 cm/sec
Estimate the ratio of equivalent permeability, kH(eq)/kV(eq).
7. The hydraulic conductivity of a sandy soil is 0.009 cm/sec at a room temperature of 28°C. What
would be the coefficient of permeability at 20°C?
8. The hydraulic conductivity of a sand at a void ratio of 0.62 is 0.03 cm/sec. Estimate its hydraulic
conductivity at a void ratio of 0.48 using Casagrande equation and Kozeny-Carman equation.