EVALUATION OF THE VULNERABILITY TO THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE OF DRAINAGE STRUCTURES ON HIGHWAYS

Abstract

This article studies four sewers of different types, located on the road that connects the cantons Portoviejo and Pichincha in the province of Manabí in order to know their degree of vulnerability to extreme weather events as a result of the effects of climate change. Through the collection of historical rainfall data obtained in the meteorological stations closest to the place of study, the equation of intensity duration frequency (IDF) of the contributing basins is developed, later by means of specialized software the capacity to evacuate the flows produced before different precipitation intensities generated by return periods of 10 was evaluated,  25, 50 100 and 500 years that involve meteorological conditions of extreme rainfall, simulating effects of climate change. After the evaluation it was possible to verify that for return periods of 10 years, 75% of the evaluated sewers worked submerged at the entrance and that from rains with a return period of 50 years they begin to generate water overflows on the road, additionally in all the conditions evaluated erosive discharge speeds were presented.