Advancing Resilience Across Lifeline Infrastructure Systems: The Need for Consistent Guidance

Published

September 29, 2026

Author(s)

Katherine Johnson, Craig Davis, Ayse Hortacsu, Laurie Johnson, Thomas O'Rourke, Kent Yu

Abstract

Consistent resilience guidelines are needed to address the performance and recovery of lifeline infrastructure systems during and after hazard events. Lifeline infrastructure systems (e.g., water, wastewater, electric power, gas and liquid fuel, communication, and transportation systems) are interconnected and interdependent because each cannot operate normally or recover after an event without the services of the others. Social and economic activities also depend on lifeline infrastructure. Communities cannot be resilient if lifeline infrastructure services are not restored in a timely manner. Unfortunately, no system-level guidelines or standards exist to maintain service continuity and recover following hazards. Promoting resilience across lifeline infrastructure sectors requires improvements in (a) objectives for providing interdependent services needed by users during and after various hazard events, (b) design guidance to achieve those objectives, and (c) processes to identify and prioritize organizational actions to support performance and recovery objectives. Formulating these into an overarching process helps each lifeline achieve consistent performance and service recovery. Lifeline-focused documents then outline design procedures for connecting components within each system as well as provide direction for modifying existing or developing new component-level guidelines and standards. NIST SP 1310 and 1311, entitled "Initial Framework to Design Lifeline Infrastructure for Post-Earthquake Functional Recovery," uses a similar approach for water, wastewater, and electric power systems, which is explored in this paper. This work also shows how the framework for post-earthquake recovery can be extended to other hazards and systems.

Proceedings Title

ICONHIC 2026: 4th International Conference on Natural Hazards & Infrastructure

Conference Dates

June 29-July 2, 2026

Conference Location

Chania, GR

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Guidelines, Lifeline Infrastructure, Resilience, Recovery

Citation

Johnson, K. , Davis, C. , Hortacsu, A. , Johnson, L. , O'Rourke, T. and Yu, K. (2026), Advancing Resilience Across Lifeline Infrastructure Systems: The Need for Consistent Guidance, ICONHIC 2026: 4th International Conference on Natural Hazards & Infrastructure, Chania, GR, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=961431 (Accessed July 30, 2026)

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