Defining resilience

ABSTRACT

In this paper, definitions of “resilience” specifically in the context of civil engineering systems subject to natural hazards are explored. Resilience may be a desired attribute for an engineered system, any of its component elements, or a larger system within which it functions. Resiliency requirements or expectations are articulated ensure continuity of critical services and functions (e.g., power distribution, telecommunication, energy, and transportation). We consider a range of issues one must consider in articulating resiliency requirements for infrastructure systems including prioritization, triage, and sequencing, as well as the ability to make emergency supplemental investments. Many of these dimensions and associated decisions have political, social, economic – and hence ethical – dimensions. In this paper, the author has attempted to frame some of the important questions that must be asked (and decisions that may need to be made) in defining, designing for, and realizing resilience in engineered infrastructure systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Hazard
• infrastructure
• natural disaster
• recovery
• resilience
• risk

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to current and former colleagues who helped to shape the thoughts shared in this article. In particular, the author acknowledges Kentaro Tsutusmi (undergraduate advisor at Tufts University) who first introduced him to the Code of Hammurabi; Colin Brown (mentor and guide through countless discussions on the dimensions of engineering decision and risk); and Bruce Ellingwood (doctoral advisor at Johns Hopkins University, professional colleague, and lifelong mentor) who has done more than anyone to shape his career over the last 30 years. Engineering and philosophy are not such disparate fields.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.

2. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David V. Rosowsky

David V. Rosowsky is Provost and Senior Vice President, and Professor of Engineering, at the University of Vermont, and Fellow at the Institute of Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. His research has spanned topics from wood engineering and mechanics, to stochastic load modeling, to reliability and risk, and wind engineering. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal papers, has supervised more than 20 MS and PhD students, and served on many editorial boards and conference scientific committees over the last 29 years. He is an elected fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute.