As sea levels rise, storms become stronger, and flooding becomes more frequent, it is crucial to consider resiliency—the ability of designs to resist, absorb, or recover from future hazards—as we update transportation infrastructure, especially in coastal communities. Skye Levin, PE, Transportation Project Manager, leads VHB’s Resiliency Community of Practice. We spoke to Skye to learn about her role, her efforts to preserve Rhode Island’s history, and the interdisciplinary nature of resiliency work.
VHB: What sparked your passion for incorporating resiliency into your work?
Skye: I’m a Rhode Island native who loves my state and wants my children to enjoy the same places I did growing up. It’s disappointing when transportation projects don’t address pressing issues like retreating coastlines and rising sea levels. In my role completing readiness reviews here in Rhode Island, I encourage designs that address resiliency issues head-on. One of my main goals is to help advance the state’s perception of resiliency and inform permitting agencies of how other states approach transportation projects with a resiliency mindset.
VHB: Tell us about VHB’s resiliency community of practice, which you lead.
Skye: We formed this community of practice to connect VHB team members who are doing resiliency work across different disciplines and regions. It’s a forum for us to share ideas and discuss best practices internally and then bring them to clients.
As a recent example, Neville Reynolds and Bryce Corlett from our Williamsburg, Virginia, office and Jake San Antonio from our Watertown, Massachusetts, office came to Rhode Island to meet with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT). RIDOT was excited to learn how improvements have made other states more resilient to changing climates and sea levels over the decades. We hope to implement some of these measures on future projects in Rhode Island.
VHB: How do you partner with practitioners from departments across VHB for resiliency projects?
Skye: Resiliency requires a holistic approach, incorporating different disciplines’ perspectives to develop well-considered solutions. I work closely with people, who create hazard mitigation plans for Rhode Island towns, to make certain that our resiliency approach addresses all stakeholders’ needs.
I also partner with discipline specialists for technical work on resiliency projects. Mark Costa from our Watertown office is contributing his water resources skills and knowledge from previous similar resiliency work to Rhode Island’s Aquidneck Island resiliency project, while I provide the local knowledge of the stakeholders and permitting agencies.
VHB: Have you had opportunities to advocate for transportation resiliency beyond VHB?
Skye: Yes, I’ve spoken about resilient transportation to state departments of transportation across the country, written an article for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Journal, and hosted a tour of the resiliency-focused Jamestown Round Swamp and Conanicut Bridges project site during an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) peer exchange. These opportunities have established VHB team members as leaders in resiliency and positioned us as advisors for other clients wishing to do similar work.
VHB: What barriers to resiliency approach adoption have you observed?
Skye: Some clients see resiliency work as potentially compromising a project’s budget or schedule. We aim to understand how clients define resiliency while broadening their definitions, demonstrate the long-term benefits of building for resiliency, and assist with finding funding. Kaitlynne Morris from our Providence office offers grant support services to help source and apply for funding for resiliency projects.
Historic towns may worry that resiliency solutions will compromise their authentic look and feel. For these clients, we pitch resiliency solutions that preserve aesthetics, explaining that innovation does not always mean changing what people see day-to-day.
Resiliency work requires out-of-the-box thinking to develop solutions that address stakeholders’ top concerns while enhancing project resilience.
