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The following information is provided for a better understanding of the types of emergencies Maintenance personnel may be called in to address.
Utah is subject to natural and human-caused disasters. The actions taken in the initial minutes of an emergency are critical to providing support to the primary objectives of Life Safety, Incident Stabilization and Property Loss Mitigation (LIP). An understanding of what can happen enables UDOT to determine emergency resource requirements and develop plans and procedures. Some of Utah’s risks and hazards, which could cause an emergency to the transportation system, are linked in the Utah State Hazard Mitigation Plan and also discussed below.
Floods
Floods
Flooding is the most destructive natural disaster in Utah. Flooding is the covering or submerging of normally dry land with a large amount of water and includes long-term rainfall events, spring snowmelt river flooding, flash flooding, and dam break flooding.
Figure 18.3.1 - Utah Flooding Events
Wildfires
Wildfires
A wildfire is when vegetation, brush, or forest catches fire over large acreage, especially in areas where there is Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Utah is one of the states most prone to wildfire. Utah typically has 800 to 1,000 wildfires each year. As a result of wildfires, there is an increased risk of mudslides, erosion, and potential downstream sedimentation problems.
Figure 18.3.2 - Wildfire Occurrences
Earthquakes
Earthquakes
An earthquake is the abrupt, rapid shaking of the Earth caused by sudden breakage of rocks that can no longer withstand the stresses that build up deep beneath the earth’s surface. Utah has many faults and fault zones. A 2014 USGS Seismic Hazard Map provides a visual representation of the areas prone to the highest risk of seismic activity (see figure 18.3.3). Earthquakes can cause severe damage to roadways, pavements, bridges, utility systems, retaining walls, drainage systems, etc. Maintenance crews are encouraged to know the location of fault zones in their areas and what assets are likely to be damaged during a seismic event (linked below). Maintenance crews should understand that they may be called to assist other UDOT Divisions after a seismic event (such as UDOT Structures). See Section 18.5 for more details on maintenance involvement during earthquakes. Earthquakes are also prone to start other types of emergencies; they can cause utility failures, which can lead to fires, flooding, sinkholes, and more.
Figure 18.3.3 - USGS 2014 - Seismic Hazard Map
Landslides/Slope Failures
Landslides/Slope Failures
Landslides and slope failures are the sliding down of dirt and rock from a slope. They are most common in areas having moderate to steep slopes, weak slope materials, and relatively wet climates. In these areas, most landslides are associated with precipitation events, sustained above-average precipitation, individual intense rainstorms, or snowmelt events. Erosion, removal of vegetation by wildfires, and earthquake-induced ground shaking increase the likelihood of landslides. Human activities such as grading of slopes or increasing soil moisture through landscape irrigation can also trigger landslides (Utah Natural Hazards Handbook 2008). Maintenance crews are encouraged to visually monitor locations prone to landslides and work with the UDOT Structures /Geotechnical Division at the first sign of seeing changes to the slopes. See figure 18.3.2 for locations prone to landslides. The UDOT Geotechnical MOI Chapter 12 - Embankments, Slopes, and Retaining Walls has been linked below as a reference.
Figure 18.3.3 - Utah Geoglogical Landslide Hazard Map
Tornados
Tornados
Tornadoes are a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extend from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud to the ground. The visible sign of a tornado is the dust and debris that is caught in the rotating column made up of water droplets. The FEMA National Risk Index provides a map displaying the risk of a tornado within the United States (linked below). The FEMA National Risk index also provides indices for other natural disasters and emergency response events.
Wind Storms
Wind Storms
High winds can occur with or without the presence of a storm and are unpredictable in regards to time and place. See Figure 18.3.4 for locations that are prone to high winds throughout Utah.
Figure 18.3.4 - Land Based Wind Speed
Avalanches
Avalanches
Avalanches occur when a mass of snow, ice, and/or debris slide rapidly down steep mountain slopes at speeds up to 80 mph when triggered by ground shaking, sound, or movement. Dry or slab avalanches are the most common and the deadliest in Utah. They are triggered when heavy snow is rapidly added to weaker layers. Wet avalanches occur during spring thaw events. Highway 210 in Utah leading to the Town of Alta has the highest avalanche hazard rating of any major roadway in the country. To address these risks, UDOT and every ski resort in the state has an avalanche forecasting program, along with the Utah Avalanche Center (linked below). Any Maintenance station that is located nearby or within the avalanche paths should be coordinating on a daily basis during the winter seasons with the UDOT Avalanche crew. More information can be found on the UDOT Avalanche Safety website (linked below). These Maintenance stations should be prepared to address situations where avalanches occur unexpectedly and endanger the roadway or impede transportation. An example of avalanche slide paths for Little Cottonwood Canyon can be seen below.
Figure 18.3.5 - Little Cottonwood Slide Path Zones
Utility Ruptures or Failures
Utility Ruptures or Failures
Utility lifeline infrastructure outages such as water/wastewater, electricity, fuel distribution and refinement, natural gas telecom/fiber network, petroleum pipelines etc. can cause significant damage/property loss to individuals, businesses, and commercial real estate. Having a restoration and recovery plan for utility outages is essential to protect life safety, stabilize the effects of an incident, and mitigate further property loss. Agreements can help identify critical and essential support requirements and contact information. Agreements may include private utility companies, including Dominion Energy, Rocky Mountain Power, water conservancy districts, CenturyLink, the state fuel network, and other state agencies who may also be affected within the boundaries of the incident. Maintenance forces should be included in and have access to all agreements within the station boundaries. Many of these agreements can be found in Projectwise. This will ensure that Maintenance understands what their roles and responsibilities are when dealing with third party utility companies. Maintenance should be included in the correspondence chain as agreements are reviewed and updated at least every two years.
Pandemics
Pandemics
An outbreak of virus or disease can have significant economic effects in Utah. These events are naturally caused and can affect both human interaction and transportation. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates the risk of these outbreaks using a pandemic alert system ranging from Phase 1 (low risk) to Phase 6 (a full pandemic). Please see Table 18.3.1 below.
Table 18.3.1 - Pandemic Risk
To protect public health and continue essential UDOT functions, UDOT prepares for, responds to, and recovers from a Phase 4 or higher disease outbreak by utilizing recommendations from local, state, and federal health agencies under the direction of the Employee Risk Program. UDOT Divisions, Groups and Regions may immediately adopt policies and procedures to slow the spread of the illness, await vaccination programs, and continue with critical and essential UDOT functions.
Vehicle Crashes
Vehicle Crashes
The Utah Department of Health reports a vehicle crash occurs in Utah every eight minutes. Nearly 25 percent of all vehicles on Utah’s roads are large trucks hauling goods and materials in and out of the State, which pose a different risk when involved in an accident. The Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) provides summary information on potential hazards, public safety, and emergency response to unintended releases of goods being transported by road, rail, air, water or pipeline.
Illicit Spills and Discharges
Illicit Spills and Discharges
An illicit discharge is any discharge to UDOT’s stormwater system (MS4) that is not composed entirely of stormwater, with some allowable exceptions as listed in UTS000003 (linked below). Illicit discharges and spills associated with a vehicle incident include spilling oil or other fluids onto the roadway surface. UDOT Maintenance forces are to contact the region risk/safety manager and the region stormwater coordinator for assistance and follow the procedures outlined in Chapter 5 of UDOT's Stormwater Management Program (linked below).
UDOT Maintenance forces will be involved in responding to emergency events that cause disruption to the transportation system. UDOT Maintenance forces may be asked to provide assistance to local agencies or other UDOT Divisions during these events.
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