Identificação e Caraterização de Infraestruturas Críticas – Uma Metodologia

A proteção das Infraestruturas Críticas tornou-se numa questão essencial no sistema internacional e nos Estados. Mais recentemente, Portugal começou a acompanhar esta tendência. Neste debate, torna-se de crucial importância, a identificação das infraestruturas que devem ser consideradas como críticas. Esta identificação terá como principal objetivo a redução das suas vulnerabilidades e a eficiência no emprego de recursos para a proteção das mesmas. Mas que critérios e indicadores, em cada setor/subsetor, possibilitam uma adequada metodologia para a identificação e caraterização das Infraestruturas Críticas em Portugal? Com vista a responder a esta problemática será analisada a metodologia adotada por Portugal, bem como as componentes da metodologia de identificação e caraterização de Infraestruturas Críticas utilizadas em países e organizações de referência. Esta investigação tem como objetivo geral identificar de áreas de melhoria na metodologia adotada pela Autoridade Nacional de Proteção Civil e, com base na análise da metodologia usada em organizações e países de referência, contribuir para a identificação e caraterização das IC em Portugal. Conclui-se que a Identificação e Caraterização de Infraestruturas Críticas nacionais deve ser aplicada na primeira fase do processo de elaboração do Programa Nacional de Proteção de Infraestruturas Críticas, apresentando, simultaneamente, uma definição de Infraestrutura Crítica, através de possíveis agrupamentos em setores, critérios e indicadores a adotar. Abstract: Critical infrastructure protection has become a key issue for states in the international system. Recently, Portugal has joined this trend. In this debate, the identification of structures to be considered critical infrastructure becomes crucial. This process of identification should have as key purpose the reduction of these infrastructures, and an efficient use of resources in protecting them. However, which criteria and indicators, for each sector/ sub-sector, allow for an adequate methodology for identifying and characterizing critical infrastructures in Portugal? In order to answer this, this research will analyse the methodology adopted by the National Civil Protection Authority, as well as some methodology components for identifying and characterizing critical infrastructure used by reference countries and organizations. The main purpose of this research is thus to contribute to the development of a methodology to be used in Portugal, through the development of criteria and indicators that prove adequate to identifying and characterizing Portuguese critical infrastructure. It concludes that the identification and characterization of national critical infrastructures should be applied in the first phase of elaborating a national program for the protection of critical infrastructures, while simultaneously presenting a definition of critical infrastructure, through possible grouping in sectors, criteria and indicators to adopt.

Modeling Flood Stage-Duration-Frequency: A Risk Assessment of Critical Infrastructure in the Tidal Potomac

The service of a critical infrastructure, such as a municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP), is taken for granted until a flood or another low frequency, high consequence crisis brings its fragility to attention. The unique aspects of the MWWTP call for a method to quantify the flood stage-duration-frequency relationship. By developing a bivariate joint distribution model of flood stage and duration, this study adds a second dimension, time, into flood risk studies. A new parameter, inter-event time, is developed to further illustrate the effect of event separation on the frequency assessment. The method is tested on riverine, estuary and tidal sites in the Mid-Atlantic region. Equipment damage functions are characterized by linear and step damage models. The Expected Annual Damage (EAD) of the underground equipment is further estimated by the parametric joint distribution model, which is a function of both flood stage and duration, demonstrating the application of the bivariate model in risk assessment. Flood likelihood may alter due to climate change. A sensitivity analysis method is developed to assess future flood risk by estimating flood frequency under conditions of higher sea level and stream flow response to increased precipitation intensity. Scenarios based on steady and unsteady flow analysis are generated for current climate, future climate within this century, and future climate beyond this century, consistent with the WWTP planning horizons. The spatial extent of flood risk is visualized by inundation mapping and GIS-Assisted Risk Register (GARR). This research will help the stakeholders of the critical infrastructure be aware of the flood risk, vulnerability, and the inherent uncertainty.

RESILIENCE OF NETWORKED INFRASTRUCTURE WITH EVOLVING COMPONENT CONDITIONS: A PAVEMENT NETWORK APPLICATION

This thesis deals with quantifying the resilience of a network of pavements. Calculations were carried out by modeling network performance under a set of possible damage-meteorological scenarios with known probability of occurrence. Resilience evaluation was performed a priori while accounting for optimal preparedness decisions and additional response actions that can be taken under each of the scenarios. Unlike the common assumption that the pre-event condition of all system components is uniform, fixed, and pristine, component condition evolution was incorporated herein. For this purpose, the health of the individual system components immediately prior to hazard event impact, under all considered scenarios, was associated with a serviceability rating. This rating was projected to reflect both natural deterioration and any intermittent improvements due to maintenance. The scheme was demonstrated for a hypothetical case study involving Laguardia Airport. Results show that resilience can be impacted by the condition of the infrastructure elements, their natural deterioration processes, and prevailing maintenance plans. The findings imply that, in general, upper bound values are reported in ordinary resilience work, and that including evolving component conditions is of value.

Making a movement infrastructure

An exhibition and performance within the icosahedron, a human scale structure made of 3D printed parts and PVC pipes. The "movement infrastructure" a system for fitness practices, integrating the human body with geometric configurations.

Principal agent problems evident in Chinese PPP infrastructure projects

The demand for infrastructure remains high in China. In order to meet this demand under conditions of limited government funding availability, local governments have increasingly sought private participation through ‘public, private partnerships’ (PPPs). While PPPs are recognised as a reliable mode for delivering infrastructure projects, agency problems are also known to interfere with their success. The nature of these agency problems, along with the types of partnership arrangements under which they occur, is the subject of this research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with PPP consultants working on infrastructure projects in China. Results suggest that opportunistic behaviour is to be found both within the private sector and within the government sector. While the private sector is shown to take advantage of ‘information asymmetries,’ the government sector is shown to allocate project risks and responsibilities disproportionately in their favour. Results also indicate that PPP arrangements between local government and ‘state owned enterprises’ (SOEs) were less prone to agency abuse, while agency problems in PPP arrangements between local government and private firms were relatively greater.

Potential for water-resource infrastructure to act as refuge habitat

Permanent sources of natural water are expected to decline in Mediterranean-climate regions under future climate change. Therefore, stable water bodies that act as refuge habitats will become increasingly important to the maintenance of freshwater biodiversity. Man-made water bodies such as those associated with water-resource infrastructure could contribute to the available refuge habitat but little is known about fish, zooplankton and frog assemblages in such water bodies. We quantified the diversity and abundance of fish, zooplankton and frogs that reside within raw water storages and water reclamation plants and compared them to assemblages from nearby natural water bodies over a total of 19 water bodies.Overall, the faunal assemblages within the man-made water bodies showed similarities to the nearby natural water bodies with very few differences found among the three water body types. Diversity of available substrates and of submerged and emergent macrophytes were the habitat variables best correlated with diverse faunal assemblages. This study suggests that the faunal assemblages within raw water storages and water reclamation plants resemble those found within nearby natural water bodies and that there is therefore potential for water-resource infrastructure to act as an important refuge habitat during drought. Furthermore, small changes in the management of these storages to maximise habitat diversity could increase the value of the refuge, complementing their role in water-resource delivery.

Air pollution and infant mortality: evidence from the expansion of natural gas infrastructure

We examine the impact of widespread adoption of natural gas as a source of fuel on infant mortality in Turkey, using variation across provinces and over time in the intensity of natural gas utilisation. Our estimates indicate that the expansion of natural gas infrastructure has resulted in a significant decrease in the rate of infant mortality. Specifically, a one-percentage point increase in natural gas intensity – measured by the rate of subscriptions to natural gas services – would cause the infant mortality rate to decrease by 4%, which would translate into approximately 348 infant lives saved in 2011 alone.

Energy and communication infrastructure for disaster resilience in rural and regional Australia

Energy and communication infrastructure for disaster resilience in rural and regional Australia, Regional Studies. Australia's rural and regional areas are prone to frequent natural disasters with extensive socio-economic impacts. Resultant damage to large-grid energy and communication networks can lead to widespread, lengthy outages, signalling the need for alternative infrastructure developments to aid disaster risk reduction and resilience-building (DRRR). Distributed smart renewable energy micro-grid systems can mitigate adverse impacts through outage prevention and rapid service restoration, increase rural and regional resilience, and offer communities opportunities for socio-economic development. However, renewable energy and digital communications policy uncertainty currently adversely affects disaster preparedness and investment in alternative infrastructure, undermining rural and regional futures.

HEAT MANAGEMENT IN THE PUMPING INFRASTRUCTURE AREA OF AN ESTERHAZY MINE

Heat management in mines is a growing issue as mines expand physically in size and depth and as the infrastructure grows that is required to maintain them. Heat management is a concern as it relates to the health and safety of the workers as set by the regulations of governing bodies as well as the heat sensitive equipment that may be found throughout the mine workings. In order to reduce the exposure of working in hot environments there are engineering and management systems that can monitor and control the environmental conditions within the mine. The successful implementation of these methods can manage the downtime caused by heat stress environments, which can increase overall production. This thesis introduces an approach to monitoring and data based heat management. A case study is presented with an in depth approach to data collection. Data was collected for a period of up to and over one year. Continuous monitoring was conducted by equipment that was developed both commercially and within the mine site. The monitoring instrumentation was used to assess the environmental conditions found within the study area. Analysis of the data allowed for an engineering assessment of viable options in order to control and manage the environment heat stress. An option is developed and presented which allows for the greatest impact on the heat stress conditions within the case study area and is economically viable for the mine site.

A Microdata Analysis Approach to Transport Infrastructure Maintenance

Maintenance of transport infrastructure assets is widely advocated as the key in minimizing current and future costs of the transportation network. While effective maintenance decisions are often a result of engineering skills and practical knowledge, efficient decisions must also account for the net result over an asset's life-cycle. One essential aspect in the long term perspective of transport infrastructure maintenance is to proactively estimate maintenance needs. In dealing with immediate maintenance actions, support tools that can prioritize potential maintenance candidates are important to obtain an efficient maintenance strategy. This dissertation consists of five individual research papers presenting a microdata analysis approach to transport infrastructure maintenance. Microdata analysis is a multidisciplinary field in which large quantities of data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted to improve decision-making. Increased access to transport infrastructure data enables a deeper understanding of causal effects and a possibility to make predictions of future outcomes. The microdata analysis approach covers the complete process from data collection to actual decisions and is therefore well suited for the task of improving efficiency in transport infrastructure maintenance. Statistical modeling was the selected analysis method in this dissertation and provided solutions to the different problems presented in each of the five papers. In Paper I, a time-to-event model was used to estimate remaining road pavement lifetimes in Sweden. In Paper II, an extension of the model in Paper I assessed the impact of latent variables on road lifetimes; displaying the sections in a road network that are weaker due to e.g. subsoil conditions or undetected heavy traffic. The study in Paper III incorporated a probabilistic parametric distribution as a representation of road lifetimes into an equation for the marginal cost of road wear. Differentiated road wear marginal costs for heavy and light vehicles are an important information basis for decisions regarding vehicle miles traveled (VMT) taxation policies. In Paper IV, a distribution based clustering method was used to distinguish between road segments that are deteriorating and road segments that have a stationary road condition. Within railway networks, temporary speed restrictions are often imposed because of maintenance and must be addressed in order to keep punctuality. The study in Paper V evaluated the empirical effect on running time of speed restrictions on a Norwegian railway line using a generalized linear mixed model.

Developing an approach to assess the influence of integrating disaster risk reduction practices into infrastructure reconstruction on socio-economic development

Purpose: Disasters provide physical, social, economic, political and environmental development windows of opportunity particularly through housing and infrastructure reconstruction. The reconstruction process should not be neglected due to the opportunistic nature of facilitating innovation in development. In this respect, post-disaster "infrastructure" reconstruction plays a critical role in development discourse and is often essential to sustain recovery after major disasters. However, reconstruction following a natural disaster is a complicated problem involving social, economic, cultural, environmental, psychological, and technological aspects. There are significant development benefits of well-developed "Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Strategies" and, for many reasons, the concept of DRR can be more easily promoted following a disaster. In this respect, a research study was conducted to investigate the effects of integrating DRR strategies into infrastructure reconstruction on enhancing the socio-economic development process from a qualitative stance. The purpose of this paper is to document part of this research study; it proposes an approach that can be used to assess the influence of the application of the DRR concept into infrastructure reconstruction on socio-economic development. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology included a critical literature review. Findings: This paper suggests that the best way to assess the influence of integrating DRR strategies practices into infrastructure reconstruction on socio-economic development is to assess the level of impact that DRR strategies has on overcoming various factors that form vulnerabilities. Having assessed this, the next step is to assess the influence of overcoming the factors that form vulnerabilities on achieving performance targets of socio-economic development. Originality/value: This paper primarily presents a framework for the concept of socio-economic development and a modelled classification of DRR practices.

Review essay : the invisible infrastructure of standards

Review essay of Standards: recipes for reality, by Lawrence Busch, Cambridge and London, The MIT Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-262-01638-4; The gold standard: the challenge of evidence-based medicine and standardization in health care, by Stefan Timmermans and Marc Berg, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-59213-188-4;Standards and their stories: how quantifying, classifying, and formalizing practices shape everyday life, edited by Martha Lampland and Susan Leigh Star, Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8014-7461-3.

Aggregating data for social linking in the humanities and creative arts : the "Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI)"

This paper reports on the development of the Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI), a service which aggregates data from thirty Australian data sources and makes them available for use by researchers across the humanities and creative arts, and more widely by the general public. We discuss the methods used by HuNI to aggregate data, as well as the conceptual framework which has shaped the design of HuNI’s Data Model around six core entity types. Two of the key functions available to users of HuNI – building collections and creating links – are discussed, together with their design rationale.

Impact of integrating disaster risk reduction philosophies into infrastructure reconstruction projects in Sri Lanka

Major impacts on infrastructures due to natural and man-made hazards could result in secondary and additional impacts, compounding the problem for those communities already affected by the hazard. Integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) philosophies into infrastructure projects has been an important solution to mitigate and prevent such disaster risks, as well as for a speedy recovery after disasters. Vulnerability reduction is defined by the research community as an enabler which facilitates the process of DRR. However, there is a research need to identify the most beneficial DRR strategies that would result in vulnerability reduction in an effective way. As part of this main aim, this paper seeks to explore the nature of various vulnerabilities within infrastructure reconstruction projects and their respective communities and to evaluate the DRR practises within these projects. Finally the paper attempts to map the effects of integration of DRR into infrastructure reconstruction on vulnerability reduction of infrastructure reconstruction projects and the communities which benefited from such projects. This study adopts the case study approach and the paper is entirely based on data collated from semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey conducted within one case study (a water supply and sanitation reconstruction project) in Sri Lanka and expert interviews conducted in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Results reveal that emergency preparedness strategies are the most important group of DRR strategies, while physical/technical strategies are also very important. However, none of the emergency preparedness strategies are satisfactorily implemented, while most of the physical/technical strategies are adequately implemented.