- 1CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change, Caserta, Italy (alfredo.reder@cmcc.it)
- 2ENEA Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile, Roma, Italy
- 3RINA Consulting S.p.A., Genova, Italy
Monitoring, detecting, and responding to critical situations is becoming increasingly essential in light of the challenges that the built environment faces, such as heat-related stresses, floods, and droughts, further intensified by climate change. Enhancing the protective role of the built environment and improving the safety and quality of life for its occupants is crucial for the present and future. The MULTICLIMACT Horizon Europe project (GA 101123538) offers innovative solutions across three scales to address these challenges: building, urban, and territorial. Through the development of design practices, materials, technologies, and digital solutions, the project strengthens construction resilience, preparedness, and responsiveness to disruptive events, thereby improving safety and quality of life. Central to this objective is the development of an innovative platform for the prevention and damage estimation of extreme natural events across multiple scales—from individual buildings to entire regions—called the CIPCast Decision Support System. The current version of CIPCast, developed within MULTICLIMACT, integrates a wide range of data, including seismic events, weather forecasts, climate projections, Points of Interest, and Critical Infrastructure components. CIPCast analyses risk to vulnerable assets (e.g., buildings, substations, water towers) by applying established damage metrics. Additionally, it assesses the impact of restoration actions on interconnected systems, contributing to resilience assessment through social, economic, and operational indicators in real or simulated scenarios.
This study examines the use of some frameworks to assess potential damage to buildings and transportation infrastructure caused by heat-related stresses and floods, with a case study focusing on the Marche Region in Italy. For heat-related stresses, the focus is on railways and roads, critical components of transportation networks (Mulholland and Feyen 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.crm.2021.100365). Railways, susceptible to buckling under extreme heat, are assessed by combining maximum rail temperature maps with probability functions derived from the CWR-SAFE model (Kish and Samavedam 2013). This approach evaluates vulnerability based on temperature variations and track characteristics. Similarly, roads are analysed for asphalt softening using the Performance Grade (PG) metric, which defines the operational temperature range of asphalt. By integrating PG with exposure and maintenance factors, the study pinpoints areas prone to accelerated degradation, emphasising the importance of targeted maintenance. The study also examines damage caused by flooding, considering river, pluvial, and coastal floods. Damage estimation relies on probabilistic functions that correlate water depth with damage levels, as described by Huizinga et al (2017, doi: 10.2760/16510), and Karagiannis et al. (2019, doi: 10.2760/007069). These models have been applied to buildings, roads, and electric substations, enabling a comprehensive understanding of flood impacts. The frameworks adopted have been tailored, when possible, for real-time and medium-to-long-term applications, making them versatile tools for addressing both immediate risks and long-term planning needs. By delivering detailed predictions of physical damage and indirect socio-economic effects, CIPCast empowers decision-makers, such as Civil Protection agencies, to plan precise interventions, strengthen resilience to climate stress, and minimize service disruptions, ultimately enhancing safety, well-being, and quality of life for communities.
How to cite: Reder, A., Bonfiglio, A., Pugliese, A., Scalas, M., Di Pietro, A., Ormando, C., Stefani, A., Solari, C., Fuggini, C., Verga, A., Attanasio, C., and De Maio, F. V.: Enhancing Infrastructure Resilience and Risk Management through the CIPCast Decision Support System, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-11887, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-11887, 2025.