Methodology for vulnerability assessment of a road network

Transport infrastructures are fundamental in assuring accessibility in a country and encouraging economic and social development. A transport system often results extremely vulnerable to disasters caused by natural or human events. The assessment of risk of a transport network is a wide and relatively new field of research: vulnerability assessment of a transport network is part of it. Starting with a brief introduction on recent studies in this field, the paper illustrates a methodology and an index for assessing the vulnerability of links of a road network due to natural hazards. The index is the sum of two indicators which take into account the territorial consequences caused by a link failure and the possibility that this link may have to be used during rescue operations. In the conclusion the analytical approach and the vulnerability index are applied to an existing road network located in Sardinia (Italy), and compared with others present in literature.