FRED Engineering, in JV with I+R Consultores and ESC Ingénieurs-Conseils, recently signed a contract to improve climate-resilient urban mobility in Cap-Haïtien metropolitan area, in Haiti.
The main objective of this World Bank funded project is to identify critical points at risk of flooding on around 30 km of road, formed by the RN1, RN3 and RN6 corridors connecting the city of Cap-Haïtien and the industrial park of Caracol, in northern Haiti.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the most vulnerable to climate change and hurricane disasters. More than half of the population lives in coastal cities near flood plains, which together with the lack of maintenance of infrastructure drainage, increase the overall vulnerability. Therefore, a process will be followed that, in addition to assessing the current situation, will make it possible to incorporate the effects of climate change that may lead to an increase in coastal flooding, due to river overflows and/or pluvial flooding due to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme natural events.
The first task will be to select, define and characterize the elements of the road that are susceptible to damage. Subsequently, the team will analyze previous studies that characterize the hazards in the area, its magnitude and frequency. Finally, by means of a vulnerability analysis will prioritize the exposed elements and identify the most critical points in the event of flooding.
Once the objective of identifying the critical areas of the road has been achieved, the local government will then be able to propose and take measures to increase the resilience of the road and thus ensure the connectivity and accessibility of the road between Cap-Haïtien and the Caracol industrial park, where thousands of Haitians work.
