Resilience assessment tool for port planning

Abstract

US ports and container/intermodal terminals are critical links in the marine transportation system. Disruption at a port can have a crippling economic effect in the coastal zone as well as the rest of the nation. Port stakeholders have a vested interest in the long-term function and viability of ports, but no standardized measures for performance or resilience exist for ports. The goal of this research is to demonstrate the utility of a predictive port resilience assessment tool. The developed tool encompasses a microscopic traffic simulation model (VISSIM) based hybrid multimodal analyzes of port operations and provides a quantifiable assessment of resilience. The application of this tool is shown on six ports in the Southeast US. The waterside port simulation models were developed using vessel automatic identification system data and programed within a VISSIM simulation of landside operations. This hybrid modeling approach was used to visualize vessels and allow them to interact in both time and space with each other and landside infrastructure. Local and regional resilience was quantified through the analysis of time-dependent resilience plots and used as a performance measure in this study. The utility of the predictive port resilience assessment was demonstrated in response to Hurricane Matthew (2016). However, the novel procedure described herein can be applied to any port hazard. This research grows the understanding of the regional consequences of hurricane events and enhances the knowledge in the development of a stakeholder-focused tool to assess resilience.