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Dive brief:
- The Federal Highway Administration is offering $729.4 million to help states rebuild roads and bridges after natural disastersthe agency announced on January 23.
- Hurricanes, floods, mudslides, and other events declared major disasters will receive reimbursement funds under the FHWA’s emergency assistance program. The program is part of the DOT and Biden administration’s effort to respond to climate change.
- Along with the repairs, financing will also be made available resilience enhancements to protect the traveling public for additional damage caused by extreme weather.
Diving knowledge:
As natural disasters caused by climate change increase, all sectors are struggling with resiliency, said Jill Kurth, AECOM’s Los Angeles Metro executive, in an interview with Construction Dive. Jurisdictions are responding to climate breakdown in a variety of ways, from underground facilities for wildfire prevention to building levees and reconfiguring roads and bridges to mitigate flooding.
“Climate preparedness is now seen as a public safety issue,” Kurth said.
Emergency relief program funding goes to 34 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The money will fund continued 2022 flood repairs in and around Yellowstone National Park; damage from hurricanes Ian, Fiona and Nicole in 2022; floods and mudslides in Vermont in 2023; and other natural disasters throughout the country.
The Emergency Relief Program does not cover all reconstruction costs, but supplements the repair programs of federal, state, local and tribal transportation agencies. The program got a $1.2 trillion Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act funding boost.
“Climate change is devastating communities across America, in every state,” FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in the statement. “Our transportation system was not designed to handle the climate impacts we are seeing in the 21st century.”
