Flooding presents critical long-term issues for our national infrastructure
Prof Will Stewart from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said: “Flooding and heavy rain create a number of immediate problems for people and communities but they also present critical long-term issues for our national infrastructure. Our infrastructure is increasingly interconnected, for example flooded power stations mean power cuts, which result in telecommunications failures.
“This means we need to consider how we make the infrastructure as a whole more resilient – and how we adapt it to cope with the anticipated increase in flooding as a result of climate change. Tackling parts of the system in isolation, for example improving electricity network management and retrofitting buildings, will help, but the real challenge for engineers will be to find new ways to plan and manage the integrated system. This will include developing and manufacturing new engineering technologies, as well as finding innovative ways to develop multi-purpose infrastructure, such as reservoirs that double up as flood defences. Government will also need to adopt a systems approach to planning and regulation, encouraging greater collaboration and information sharing between all parts of the supply chain.”
