Multi-criteria evaluation of Safe-to-Fail flood solution alternatives for developing resilient coastal cities

ABSTRACTSafe-to-Fail (SF) is an emerging resilient design approach that envisions potential failure scenarios while designing infrastructure systems. This study aims to establish the relative weightage of the SF criteria, and, to construct a ranking of the commonly employed flood mitigation alternatives within the context of coastal flood resilience. In pursuit of these goals, this research identifies SF criteria documented in existing literature and catalogs typically used coastal flood solutions. Then, the study surveys the professionals from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and leverages a multi-criteria decision-making approach to assess the responses and develop the intended ranking. The findings highlight that robustness is the highest weighted SF criteria and ecosystem restoration is the highest-ranked SF flood solution closely followed by green infrastructure (GI). These findings provide valuable insights for decision-makers of infrastructure development in coastal cities and support them to embrace SF design strategies for developing resilient built environments.KEYWORDS: Infrastructureresilienceflooddisaster managementSafe-to-fail Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementSome data and codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Additional informationNotes on contributorsRubaya RahatRubaya Rahat is a PhD candidate at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Teaching/Research Assistant at Moss School of Construction, Sustainability and Infrastructure, Florida International University. Her research interest includes Sustainable and resilient infrastructure, Engineering Education and Sustainable transportation system.Piyush PradhanangaPiyush Pradhananga is a PhD candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU). His research interests include Sustainable Construction, Robotics and AI-based Construction, Engineering Education, Green Buildings, Sustainable Infrastructure, Resilient and Sustainable Postdisaster Reconstruction and Circular Economy.Claudia Calle MullerClaudia Calle Müller is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Teaching/Research Assistant at Moss School of Construction, Sustainability, and Infrastructure, Florida International University. Her research interest includes Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, Sustainable Construction, Engineering Education, Resilient and Sustainable Post-Disaster Reconstruction, Green Buildings, Circular Economy, Decarbonization, and Well-Being.Mohamed ElZomorDr Mohamed ElZomor is an Associate Professor at Florida International University (FIU), College of Engineering and Computing and teaches at the Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability. Mohamed’s work focuses on the Sustainability of the Built Environment, Engineering Education, Construction Engineering, Energy Efficiency Measures and Modeling, Project Management and Infrastructure Resilience.