Flooding in Paradise: PSR Researchers Propose Green Solutions for Rising Sea Levels in Oahu
Posted on June 7, 2021
by Wendy Meguro and Rebecca Ogi of the University of Hawaii
Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center (PSR-UTC) features research funded by the University of Hawaii's University Transportation Center led by Dr. Karl Kim.
In a culture formed around their coastal and marine environments, communities in Hawaii are suffering from growing concerns relating to coastal hazards like accelerating erosion, sea level rise, and coastal storms that threaten to flood roadways and new rail infrastructures on the islands. While “hard” structures like seawalls, bulkheads, and rock revetments have been consistently used to protect the coasts from wave energy, they cause detrimental erosion and have already led to the loss of more than 5 miles of beaches on Oahu. In “A Primer on Coastal Transportation System Resilience and Adaption to Sea Level Rise on Oahu Using Living Shorelines and Green Infrastructure,” Professor Wendy Meguro and Junior Research Associate Rebecca Ogi from the University of Hawaii present green alternatives to hard shoreline structures to Hawaii’s government planners and policymakers, private landowners, developers, and design teams.