The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 160

Guest: Sue Percy, Chief Executive, Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation

Infrastructure resilience

In this episode we talk about infrastructure resilience: the challenge of designing and building infrastructure in an age of deep uncertainty, where a changing climate, a growing population, and a shrinking public purse have rendered traditional asset management models all but obsolete.

To discuss this vital issue, my guest is Sue Percy, chief executive of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and our focus will be on the resilience of the UK’s transport networks. 

Sue is well placed to tackle the subject given that she fronted the CIHT’s annual conference last month titled “From Risk to Resilience” at which delegates debated a range of critical issues facing the national and local transport sector.

As the conference heard, the UK’s highways and transportation sector has operated for decades on the logic of risk management - calculating known variables to maintain a steady state. But that era is pretty much over. 

And as the conference concluded, that range of systemic pressures requires a fundamental pivot in mindset and practice to move from risk to resilience. It requires us to view our infrastructure not as a collection of isolated assets, but as a living system. 

That means building networks that don't just withstand disruption - whether from flooding or funding gaps - but infrastructure that actually adapts to it; embracing digital twins and predictive maintenance; breaking down the silos between engineering and policy, and finding the "technical leadership" necessary to deliver results when the skills gap is wider than ever.

It’s a complex story of moving beyond high-level theory to the sharp end of delivery. So let’s hear more.

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