the scientific community agrees that climate change is one of the greatest challenges that oursociety will have to face this century. indeed, the fourth report from the intergovernmental panel on climatechange (ippc) confirms the certitude of this phenomenon and its impacts, which can range from droughts tofloods, health problems and food shortages. the principal objective of this paper is to a...

Recent studies of flood risk at New York Harbor (NYH) have shown disparate results for the 100 year storm tide, providing an uncertain foundation for the flood mitigation response after Hurricane Sandy. Here we present a flood hazard assessment that improves confidence in our understanding of the region’s present-day potential for flooding, by separately including the contribution of tropical c...

Flood frequency analysis (FFA) is a form of risk analysis, yet a risk analysis of the activity of FFA itself is rarely undertaken. The recent literature of FFA has been characterized by: (1) a proliferation of mathematical models, lacking theoretical hydrologic justification, but used to extrapolate the return periods of floods beyond the gauged record; (2) official mandating of particular mode...

Pluvial or surface flooding can cause significant damage and disruption as it often affects highly urbanised areas. Therefore it is essential to accurately identify consequences and assess the risks associated with such phenomena. The aim of this study is to present the results and investigate the applicability of a qualitative flood risk assessment methodology in urban areas. This methodology ...

in the current engineering practices, buildings are commonly designed for an effective lifetime of 50 years. this lifetime can increase the cost of buildings with short lifetimes and can reduce the safety level of buildings with large lifetimes. in this paper, a “service-life factor” has been defined. applying this factor into the nominal values of live, earthquake, wind, and snow loads, the ef...

Correct prediction of flood extents in urban catchments has become a challenging issue. The traditional urban drainage models that consider only the sewerage-network are able to simulate the drainage system correctly until there is no overflow from the network inlet or manhole. When such overflows exist due to insufficient drainage capacity of downstream pipes or channels, it becomes difficult ...

In this paper a parametric study was undertaken to quantify the sensitivity Abstract to a wide range of coastal detention pond systems dealing with tidal influence to store surface flood water so as to produce general guidance on the importance of the catchment and pond variables. In this process a specified pond design return period was selected for which the system was to be designed. The pon...