Financial impacts of 2020 Labor Day wildfires to Oregon highways

Kevin Christiansen, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Ayat Al Assi, Robert V Rohli and Carol J Friedland

PLOS Climate, 2024, vol. 3, issue 10, 1-26

Abstract: Wildfire-caused damage to highways has a significant financial cost to the local, regional, and state jurisdictions where they occur. This study examines the financial ramifications of the harm caused to highways by megafires, using a case study of the highways impacted in the U.S. state of Oregon by the five megafires that occurred during the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. This study proposes a method to classify financial road damage from these wildfires based upon curated datasets collected from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Hence, this study presents a dataset with labeled classes, which include physical, roadway, and traffic. Physical consequences included an estimated total temporary and permanent repair cost of $44,894,471, an average permanent repair cost per km of highway affected of $51,705, and an increase of 11% in distance and 11% in time required while using detours. Roadway financial impacts involved around $32,680 per km of highway for hazard tree removal emergency repairs and a decrease of about 14% in the annual average daily traffic (AADT) because of traffic impacts. This paper expands the existing body of knowledge by providing a single source for statistical data required to conduct reliable financial analysis on damages to roadways due to megafires.

Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pclm00:0000489

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000489

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