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https://www.nationalacademies.org/trb/events

Professional capacity building and field-based education in coastal transportation durability (UPRM)

Project Description: Coastal transportation assets are routinely exposed to coastal hazards, including flooding, erosion, saltwater intrusion, and storm impacts, that undermine safety, mobility, and service continuity. Capacity building in effective vulnerability assessment and risk management requires more than technical modeling: practitioners need applied skills in infrastructure screening, community‑sensitive evaluation, data‑driven decision making, risk communication, and cross‑agency coordination. The US-DOT developed in 2015 a spreadsheet-based tool called Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool (VAST) to assist in documenting the vulnerability of transportation assets in a study area. The assessment includes (1) determining the scope of the vulnerability assessment, (2) selecting appropriate indicators, (3) collecting data about those indicators, and (4) devising an approach to convert raw data about indicators into scores. The result is a set of vulnerability scores that can be used to rank assets by their level of vulnerability or inform other analyses of the results. Today, state and local agencies often lack the staffing and training to use screening tools consistently or to translate assessment results into prioritized investments, while college education delivers essential theory but rarely provide the real‑world, community‑engaged practice needed to make assessments actionable. To close current workforce gaps, this project proposes two complementary capacity‑building tracks: a college‑level track that will prepare upcoming engineers and architects with interdisciplinary foundations and hands‑on experiences, and a professional‑level track that will help upskill practicing engineers in the application of vulnerability assessment methods and tools, such as FHWA VAST. Both tracks share core competencies but differ in depth, delivery, and assessment to match learners’ roles and incentives. This project will address professional capacity gaps by developing educational modules, workshops, and training materials for students, communities, and professionals. These resources will be delivered through the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) Interactive Learning Hub (ILHUB) and in-person sessions via the Puerto Rico LTAP training program. The ILHUB serves as an online repository focused on coastal resilience and community preparedness. The educational approach integrates coastal resilience, transportation performance, and blue economy strategies into accessible learning resources, enhancing technical knowledge and community capacity across diverse stakeholders. The UPRM team is applying the VAST approach using data from the PR-466/4466 coastal highway corridor in Isabela, Puerto Rico, incorporating community characteristics into the scoring method to enrich the assessment with contextual insights. Professionals will strengthen their competencies in blue economy and transportation durability strategies, as well as in applying the Enhanced VAST. Building on this effort, the project will develop instructor-led and self-paced online training modules to equip professionals with the skills to apply the assessment tool in real-world contexts. Puerto Rico LTAP will assist in delivering these sessions and disseminating the educational materials through its network. On the college track, students will gain hands-on experiences through field case studies of transportation vulnerability situations in coastal zones that will complement their classroom education, strengthen their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and improve their career readiness. Communities will be also engaged as part of the case studies to improve their understanding of how the durability of transportation systems supports coastal livelihoods.