The terrifying images of piles of cars piled upside down on the streets outside Valencia, Spain, following the floods that devastated the region at the end of October, have left their mark. In addition to the magnitude of the catastrophe, which left 223 dead, according to a provisional report dated November 14, a question arises among the rubble: how will we move in the future if our means of transportation are destroyed, roads submerged, underground car parks filled with water, train tracks devastated by torrential rains whose magnitude is aggravated by global warming?
In France, the seasons follow one another and the dramas repeat themselves. In the summer of 2022, fires in Gironde and Landes blocked the A63 motorway for several days, as well as around twenty departmental roads. During last winter, In Pas-de-Calais, 620 kilometers of departmental roads, that is, 10% of the network, were covered by water. As of early November, of the 400 projects identified in the spring, only 150 were completed.
Adaptation begins with knowledge. In a report from the National Observatory on the effects of global warming presented in 2023 to Elisabeth Borne, then Prime Minister, the General Directorate of Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility (DGITM) of the Ministry of Transport established, after consulting with network operators and managers , a list of the impacts of heat waves.
Overheating of computer systems.
The entire transportation infrastructure is affected. On roads, strong temperature variations deform the bitumen which, by becoming viscous, limits the grip of vehicles. Overheating of computer systems and electronic components threatens the operation of many pieces of equipment, from the locks that regulate canals to the variable message signs that hang above roads, including escalators or elevators at train stations. The DGITM observes “performance drops” employees exposed to the sun, especially on airport runways. The SNCF regrets further inconvenience during long journeys on Intercités trains.
To develop its successive adaptation plans to global warming, the third of which since 2011 was announced at the end of October by the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, the State relies on “vulnerability studies.” But “The main difficulty is finding information at the same level among all operators”We indicate to the Ministry of Transport. A sign of an imminent emergency, the measures announced are more concrete. “We are not only analyzing the exposure to hazards, but also the intrinsic qualities of the infrastructure”in particular its use, essential or secondary, frequent or rare, informs the ministry.
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