Embedding resilience systemwide

How NCDOT is advancing transportation infrastructure resilience across programs, partnerships and people

By Chris Peoples, Chief Operating Officer | North Carolina Department of Transportation

With one of the nation’s largest transportation networks, the N.C. Department of Transportation is taking a proactive, systemwide approach to strengthening infrastructure resilience. We’re focused on delivering durable, adaptive infrastructure that serves communities from mountain passes to coastal highways.

Our efforts are focused in three areas:

• Embedding resilience into every phase of planning, design and project delivery
• Building collaborative partnerships that expand our technical and operational capacity
• Cultivating a culture supporting resilience across the department

With these priorities guiding our work, we’re building a foundation for infrastructure that can withstand disruption, recover quickly, and continue supporting North Carolina’s communities well into the future. With these strategies, we not only enhance safety and durability but also achieve significant cost savings and operational effectiveness by reducing repair needs and minimizing service disruptions.

Integrating resiliency into all phases of project delivery

Resilience is a core principle that informs every phase of our work. From long-range planning to day-to-day maintenance, we’re applying data-informed strategies that help anticipate risks, prioritize investments and deliver infrastructure that performs under pressure.

The following examples illustrate how that principle comes to life across planning, design and delivery:

Planning: Our Resilience Improvement Plan sets the strategic direction for how we incorporate hazard mitigation into infrastructure investments. It leverages geospatial analysis and predictive modeling to evaluate how future conditions could affect asset performance — allowing us to take action before problems arise.

One example is our Geotechnical Asset Management (GAM) system, which uses a structured, data-informed approach to identify and manage risks such as landslides, rockfalls and slope failures across the network. By analyzing terrain, soil stability and historical performance, GAM helps pinpoint vulnerabilities and prioritize sites for stabilization, reinforcement or redesign. This enables our teams to proactively strengthen critical corridors and extend infrastructure service life.

Our Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network for Transportation (FIMAN-T) supports near-term operational decisions. It combines real-time rainfall, streamflow and flood forecast data with high-resolution elevation models to produce 3D maps of current and forecasted flood conditions up to 48 hours in advance. It calculates depth-over-road values, generates automated reports and helps guide crew deployment and detour planning.

Complementing that tool is our Roadway Inundation Mapping Tool (RIT), which provides a long-range view of flood vulnerability. RIT models 10-, 25- and 100-year flood scenarios and overlays them with roadway elevation data to identify at-risk assets. This information helps guide resilience investments, prioritize mitigation strategies and inform design decisions long before a storm hits.

Together, these tools support a more informed planning process by giving us the foresight to identify vulnerabilities early, allocate resources effectively and deliver infrastructure that’s ready for both today’s conditions and tomorrow’s challenges.

Design: We are designing and building back more resilient through state-of-the-art practice. One of the most recent and critical applications is the redesign of I-40 through the Pigeon River Gorge after Hurricane Helene washed out over 5 miles of highway. By integrating 3D mapping and LiDAR, 2D hydraulic modeling, and a multitude of geotechnical slope design practices we are able to estimate flood depths and model future risk with different geotechnical solutions.

Instead of simply replacing what was lost, we are designing for the future — factoring in long-term maintenance needs, projected flood frequencies and slope stability risks. The result is a smarter design with elevated roadway segments, improved drainage and slope reinforcement.

This reflects a broader shift at NCDOT toward resilience-driven design, where risk modeling, terrain analysis and long-term asset performance inform engineering choices that deliver lasting value.

Project delivery and ongoing maintenance: Our Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) plays a central role in guiding how we deliver projects and manage them long after construction is complete. By applying life-cycle cost analysis, the TAMP helps evaluate the long-term value of proactive investments — such as elevating roadways or upgrading drainage systems against the recurring costs of emergency repairs and reactive maintenance.

When full-scale hardening isn’t feasible due to funding or site constraints, the TAMP supports the use of interim, cost-effective measures that reduce risk while permanent solutions are pursued. In low-lying areas awaiting reconstruction, we’ve used temporary culverts, shoulder stabilization and early warning systems to maintain access during high-water events.

Aligning our TAMP with the Resilience Improvement Plan enables more strategic, data-informed decisions that extend asset life, manage costs and support continuity of service across the network.

Creating partnerships to advance resiliency

Building resilient infrastructure requires strong partnerships that bring in new capabilities, expand technical knowledge and foster innovation.

For example, we developed the FIMAN-T tool in collaboration with N.C. Emergency Management and the N.C. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Center of Excellence, led by the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at N.C. State University. FIMAN-T has reduced emergency response times and improved flood decision-making across dozens of corridors.

We also work closely with metropolitan and regional planning organizations and local governments to identify community-specific risks and prioritize high-impact projects. At the same time, we maintain open communication with legislative and executive leaders to support long-term recovery and advance strategic resilience investments.

These partnerships enhance our ability to respond to today’s hazards and proactively prepare for tomorrow’s, helping safeguard mobility, safety and economic continuity across North Carolina.

Establishing internal champions

While strong partnerships expand our reach externally, promoting lasting change internally builds ownership and accountability. That starts with empowering our people to lead the charge.

We’ve been intentional about identifying internal champions who are passionate about embedding resilience throughout the organization. These team members have helped shift from isolated pilots to a more holistic, agency-wide approach.

To build support, we’ve established cross-functional teams that bring together leaders from planning, design, operations and our Strategic Initiatives Office. These teams serve as the vital link between high-level goals set by the governor and secretary and the day-to-day decisions made across our divisions. With a shared mission and authority to lead, they help cultivate a department-wide mindset grounded in long-term durability, risk awareness and forward-looking investment.

This internal alignment has accelerated the adoption of resilience metrics in project scoring, improved coordination across districts and created a shared language for evaluating risk and long-term asset performance.

Smart strategies, stronger systems

Resilience is an ongoing effort DOTs can embed throughout all aspects of their work. At NCDOT, we’re taking a comprehensive approach by integrating resilience into planning, design and project delivery, forging strong partnerships that expand our capabilities and instilling a culture that empowers our teams to lead with foresight.

By aligning processes, partnerships and people, we’re building a transportation system that’s more resilient and better prepared to adapt, respond and recover, no matter what challenges lie ahead.