Resilience and Sustainability in Underground Transportation Infrastructure: Literature Review and Assessment of Envision Rating System

Resilience and sustainability are critical for the long-term performance of transportation systems. This paper is part of a project to evaluate guidance for infrastructure resilience and sustainability from the point of view of underground transportation infrastructure (UTI). A summary of the extant literature is presented followed by an assessment of the Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Framework for a representative UTI project. The literature review covers resilience and sustainability in transportation infrastructure, guidance for climate vulnerability assessments, rating systems, and resilience and sustainability of UTI. Specific strengths and weaknesses of UTI are identified. In the Envision study, each credit was evaluated for its familiarity to the UTI community and the benefit of a UTI project as compared to a different type of infrastructure. Envision was found to be suitable for use with UTI; however, areas in which UTI is most beneficial are also those that are least familiar (natural world and quality of life). Specific suggestions are made for potentially fruitful avenues of research and to strengthen Envision's treatment of resilience.