Abstract Manager

Global Container Terminal (GCT) operates two terminals at the Port of Vancouver, the largest port by cargo volume processed in Canada. In Fall 2021, the port was hit by an atmospheric river, resulting in substantial flooding and landslides that effectively cut off Vancouver from the remainer of Canada.  To understand the future they are facing, GCT contracted AtkinsRealis to user their SeaPort Simulator tool to quantify risk and explore for possible solutions.  

 SeaPort Simulator is one of a suite of dynamic simulation-based tools developed by AtkinsRealis.  Created to meet the growing need for resilience planning, these GIS-based tools create a digital twin of a region and evolve it over time to quantify future climate change impacts and find ways to mitigate and adapt. In this case, the digital twin was of the global cargo supply chain from Asian ports, across the Pacific, through the Port of Vancouver, on to road and rail and finally to receiving hubs in North America such as Chicago.  

 Cargo was simulated at the container level on a daily time step from 2020-2100. Climate-influenced hazards were simulated including: Pacific tropical cyclones; port-focused coal dust disruptions, heavy rains and flood, and heavy wind; regional atmospheric rivers, flood, wildfire, landslides; and continental extreme temperature impact on roads and rail. 

 This presentation will cover the GCT simulation in detail presenting vulnerabilities found and potential mitigation and adaptation actions explored.  Actions included steps like changes in design guidelines for terminal and transportation infrastructure, changes in monitoring and inspection frequency, and many others. 

 We will finish the presentation with thumbnail descriptions of other applications of City Simulator to transportation problems, including the NCDOT-managed 200-mile I-87 corridor, an application to a tourism-focused town in Florida, and several others.