Improving Resilience of Critical Infrastructure Systems Postdisaster

Abstract

The nation's capacity for maintenance and improvement of infrastructure systems and its ability to maintain and improve infrastructure systems and ensure the continued service of critical infrastructure systems are receiving special attention because recent disasters have had a significant impact on critical infrastructure. These critical infrastructure systems are the foundation of the nation's economic and social systems. Much research and many policy studies have been conducted to develop methods to improve protection of critical infrastructure with a focus on decreased vulnerability. This paper describes the development of a framework for a decision support system. The objective of the decision support system is to reduce the vulnerability of places and infrastructure systems through the use of mitigation strategies that increase system resilience and resistance to the stresses imposed by disasters. The decision support system will also provide an understanding of the many variables involved in developing strategies to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure systems. This decision support system, referred to as the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Decision Support System (CIR-DSS), uses systems dynamics and recognizes the impacts of disasters, including damage and disruption to critical infrastructure. Results include those of risk and cost–benefit analyses of alternative strategies that also recognize U.S. government policies for recovery and mitigation. A case study focused on transportation infrastructure was used to test and validate the CIR-DSS framework.