Modeling and simulation of emergent behavior in transportation infrastructure restoration

Extreme events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and the likes result in mass destruction leading to partial or total disruption of various infrastructure and supply chain systems. This causes substantial economic loss. The damaging effects of an extreme event last well after the termination of the emergency response system, and therefore, the development of efficient restoration and disaster management strategies warrants a thorough cost analysis of the critical infrastructure disrupted and their interdependencies. The economic analyses must account for both direct and indirect losses associated with infrastructure system failure and thus the need to model the supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure. The objective of this study is to understand how an extreme event affects the road transportation network. In this study, a system dynamics approach is used to model the transportation road infrastructure system to evaluate the different factors that render road segments inoperable and calculate economic consequences of such inoperability.