Horizontal Infrastructure

Horizontal infrastructure networks such as electricity and roading have been impacted by a range of natural hazard events in recent times, but there are still gaps in our ability to quantify how well networks will perform when exposed to natural hazards. These unknowns expand further as we look at the critical interactions across networks, for example the reliance on power for a functional water pumping station.

We are working with our stakeholders in central and local government as well as providers of infrastructure networks to:

• Identify the vulnerabilities of infrastructure networks, recommend specific actions for risk reduction and resilience building, and advise on management strategies to accelerate recovery following natural hazard events.
• Develop models representing the performance of national infrastructure components, to deepen understanding and inform risk assessments.
• Develop frameworks to understand the influence of interactions and dependencies on the likely extent of disruption across all infrastructure networks.

This new knowledge will help decision-makers improve the resilience of infrastructure networks prior to natural hazard events, and prepare them better for recovery following events.