Resiliency​

Overview

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is committed to building and maintaining transportation infrastructure designed to withstand and/or rapidly recover from the impacts associated with extreme weather and catastrophic emergency events. GDOT’s ongoing efforts to enhance the resilience of the transportation system, through vulnerability and risk assessment and life cycle cost analysis, are driven by several factors, including funding and policy support from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) as well as the department’s commitment to safety, mobility, and long-term economic sustainability of the state.


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Flooding  
 

Over the recent years, Georgia’s transportation infrastructure has faced increasing threats from extreme events such as the 2009 catastrophic floods in Atlanta, the 2014 ‘Snowmageddon’, the 2017 I‐85 bridge fire and collapse, the 2017 airport blackout, the COVID‐19 pandemic, and numerous hurricanes, storm surge, sea level rise incidents, and landslides. One notable example is persistent flooding threat on F. J. Torras Causeway in Glynn County, which connects Brunswick to St. Simons Island. Flooding is becoming increasingly common across Georgia, not just in coastal areas.

These extreme weather events present significant and growing risks to the safety, reliability, effectiveness, and sustainability of Georgia’s transportation infrastructure and operations. The hazards can severely disrupt system performance, resulting in delays for hundreds of thousands of daily commuters, economic losses, decreased property values and loss of property, threats to human health and quality of life, loss of life, and missed opportunities to rebuild more resiliently.


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Sign Installation  
 

A resilient transportation system is critical to both individuals and communities. While many hazards are unpredictable and beyond human control, planning and foresight can allow the transportation system to continue to function during and after an event. A more resilient transportation system leads to reduced losses and damages, fewer disruptions, and quicker recovery after a disruption.

The state of Georgia’s infrastructure leads the nation. Ranked #1 in the country and graded A+ for the best infrastructure by CNBC, 98% of the bridges and 94% of the roadways in the state are in acceptable condition. GDOT is leading the way by actively managing the roadway networks and has several existing policies, technologies, and teams which increase its ability to respond and reduce the impact of hazard events.

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GDOT’s Resiliency Journey Story Map

Federal Funding: PROTECT

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) established the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program to help make surface transportation more resilient to current and future weather events, natural disasters, and changing conditions, such as severe storms, flooding, drought, levee and dam failures, wildfire, rockslides, mudslides, sea level rise, extreme weather, including extreme temperature, and earthquakes through support of planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk costal infrastructure.

Under IIJA, GDOT is scheduled to receive about $240 million in PROTECT formula funding between FY22-FY26.


Protect Formula Program

View Program Info

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GDOT Resiliency Committee

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has created a Resiliency Committee charged with a wide spectrum of responsibilities in managing the PROTECT Program and the Carbon Reduction Program. This includes providing data, developing plan goals, submitting projects for consideration, establishing the screening criteria, approving the prioritization methodology, and reviewing the plan document, as well as reviewing and approving project recommending eligibility for PROTECT formula funding. The Committee is comprised of representatives from each of GDOT’s Divisions, as well as the Federal Highway Administration’s Georgia Division Office environmental representative. The diversity of the committee reinforces that resiliency is everyone’s responsibility and working together will strengthen Georgia’s transportation network.

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Resiliency Committee  

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Resiliency Improvement Plan

A Resilience Improvement Plan is a voluntary, risk-based assessment of vulnerable transportation assets in immediate and long-term transportation planning that demonstrates a systemic approach to surface transportation system resilience (23 U.S.C. 176(e)). A Resilience Improvement Plan can reduce Non-Federal match by up to 10% for both PROTECT Formula and Discretionary Grant projects (23 U.S.C. 176(e)(1)(B)).

The Resilience Improvement Plan (RIP) establishes GDOT’s resilience goals; outlines existing resilience best practices, efforts, laws, and tools; assesses risk and vulnerability of the state’s transportation network; recommends resilience improvement policies and strategies; sets targets; and includes a prioritized list of projects eligible for Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Formula Program funds.

The plan was developed within the framework of the GDOT 2021 Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan (SSTP)/2050 Statewide Transportation Plan (SWTP) and aligned with the Transportation Asset Management Plan.

View Plan​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Resiliency Map/Dashboard​

GDOT’s Working to Keep You Safe

A resilient transportation system is critical to both individuals and communities. While many hazards are unpredictable and beyond human control, planning and foresight can allow the transportation system to continue to function during and after an event. A more resilient transportation system leads to reduced losses and damages, fewer disruptions, and quicker recovery after a disruption.

GDOT actively manages the roadway networks and has several existing policies, technologies, and teams which increase its ability to respond and reduce the impact of hazard events. Several GDOT offices undertake information sharing related to traffic, weather, and hazardous conditions to ensure a coordinated approach in providing data and updates critical to the safety of the traveling public. A summary of these efforts and policies is provided below.​​

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hurricane  


View Hurricane Webpage​

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GDOT Resiliency Initiatives​

GDOT operates the Traffic Management Center (TMC) which actively monitors roadways and intersections via closed-circuit television and aerial drone imagery. This system is in place throughout the year but is also activated to route traffic more effectively during emergency events. This information is also paired with driver information services such as 511, dynamic messaging signs, and the GDOT HERO and CHAMP programs which respond to crashes and disabled vehicles. During major hazard events, the TMC serves as emergency operations back up to the One Georgia Call Center which functions as the State Operations Center (SOC).


TMC


GDOT installed 56 Road Weather Information Sensors (RWIS) across the roadway network that are used to record and predict road conditions, appropriate responses (brine teams, routing, etc.) and to convey traveler information.


Road Weather Sensors


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GDOT maintains a statewide evacuation route system for the movement of people during emergency events. During major hurricane events, GDOT may engage in contra-flow travel along I-16 between Savannah and US 441 in Dublin. This contra-flow travel increases the westbound capacity by utilizing the eastbound travel lanes along I-16.

In the case of a coastal emergency such as a hurricane, the I-16 corridor between Savannah and US 441 in Dublin will only permit westbound traffic. To support this change in traffic flow three median cross overs have been developed; two are positioned east of I-95 to move traffic onto the contra-flow lanes and a third is portioned between Macon and Dublin to divert the contra-flow traffic back to the westbound lanes.




BridgeWatch® is a web-based monitoring software solution that empowers bridge owners to predict, identify, prepare for, manage, and record potentially destructive environmental events. The software allows bridge owners to proactively monitor, in real time, bridge infrastructure to better protect against hazardous, costly, and potentially catastrophic events. GDOT uses BridgeWatch software to monitor scour vulnerable bridges and provides alerts during flooding events. The software is also used during biennial bridge inspections by GDOT bridge inspectors to monitor the condition of bridges and culverts and aid in management of these assets.

GDOT is the first state to provide complimentary statewide interstate highway assistance for motorists across Georgia. The program, which was created in 2017, has CHAMP operators who provide emergency response, offer motorists assistance, and remove roadway debris and address maintenance issues when reported by motorists by calling 511.


CHAMP


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HERO units provide assistance in traffic related incidents in the metro Atlanta area with the primary task to clear roadways so that normal traffic patterns remain intact. HERO units also respond to stranded motorists to provide assistance with difficulties such as flat tires or mechanical issues.


HERO


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GDOT and GEMA/HS coordinate closely in the preparation for, response to, and recovery from the effects of a disaster on the transportation infrastructure in the state. GDOT provides information to GEMA/HS on impacts and status of the transportation infrastructure, including traffic monitoring during evacuations.

Emergency


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GDOT also engages with multiple communications providers to not only ensure redundancy within its operations systems but the ability to restore or establish temporary connections during hazard events. These connections include fiberoptic, radio, and cellular networks to provide service throughout the year and during emergencies.

As a part of FAST Act requirements, GDOT conducted an evaluation of facilities that have required repairs to emergency events on two or more occasions as part of the development of the Transportation Asset Management Plan13. While the evaluation is required on the NHS at a minimum, GDOT undertook the analysis for all state routes.

GDOT conducts a biannual pipe inspection to identify damaged or non-functioning drainage assets.

In response to some of the emergency situations encountered over the last several years, GDOT has also implemented some additional policies to enhance their response. These include the following:

  • Creation of a GDOT Manager of Emergency Operations position
  • Brine application and pre-treating roadways in anticipation of ice
  • GDOT disaster response teams have state patrol escorts
  • Unification of state agency communications and responses
  • Annual real time dry runs for emergency situations for all state agencies involved