10.6084/m9.figshare.6169601.v1 Kyle Mandli Kyle Mandli SI^2 2018 Lightning Talk figshare 2018 NSF-SI2-2018-Talk Applied Mathematics not elsewhere classified 2018-04-23 03:05:59 Journal contribution https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/SI_2_2018_Lightning_Talk/6169601 Infrastructure forms the backbone of a functional and healthy community. When parts of this infrastructure is threatened, it is critical for society to respond to that threat or risk loss of life and property. One of the most significant threats to infrastructure in recent U.S. history has been the result of hurricanes, most memorably Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, and Hurricane Sandy, which New York City infrastructure is still recovering from. Addressing these threats requires a multi-pronged approach that takes into account how infrastructure is connected and how failures in one type of infrastructure can impact the other. Questions then arise as to how we can protect ourselves from these threats. This project develops a methodology that can answer questions related to protecting this infrastructure. For instance, if a community wanted to build a sea-wall, questions such as "how high should it be?" and "where should it be placed?" must be asked. Other important questions compare a sea-wall with other protective options, such as: "Is a sea-wall the best protective measure?", "What about artificial sand dunes?", or "What about raising the infrastructure to a higher elevation?" And a related critically important question should be "Can adopting this option for protecting one community be detrimental to the safety of a neighboring community?" In addition to questions about the efficacy of protective measures, there are questions about how coastal protection may impact other coastal uses including recreational, cultural, and economic activities, and how negatively impacting these uses can be reduced while still maximizing protection. Resource constraints are also important to take into account and the question of how to optimally protect a community given constrained resources is critical. Such questions require the combination of advanced computing, mathematics and social science approaches to design tools to address these complex intersecting problems and place these tools in the hands of decision makers that need to make these types of critical decisions.