Assessment of infrastructure devastated by extreme floods: a case study from Colorado, USA

Colorado in the USA suffered from severe flooding in September 2013, following unusually heavy rainfall. Over 400 mm of rain – three-quarters of the annual total – fell in just 1 week, leading the US president to declare an emergency disaster. This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the flooding, including meteorological causes and corresponding impacts on infrastructure. Geographic information system technologies were used to examine the condition of flooded regions, supported by site inspections and crowd-sourced data to identify the extent of infrastructure damage. Areas where US engineers need additional knowledge are identified, including bridge scour control and flood debris loading.