Coastal Road Resilience in Nile Delta, Egypt: A Comprehensive Multihazard Risk Assessment

The coastal region of the Nile Delta in Egypt is highly susceptible to various natural hazards and climate change, posing significant threats to its transportation infrastructure.Existing risk mapping approaches typically consider vulnerability and hazard-affecting factors but often overlook the resilience of the actual road.As such, this study presents a multi-hazard risk approach for assessing the resilience of the International Coastal Road (ICR) which is a major road running along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea by integrating the impacts of climate change, including coastal floods, heatwaves, and land subsidence.To achieve this, a combination of remote sensing (RS) based datasets and techniques, including Google Earth Engine, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), along with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, are employed to generate a comprehensive risk map for the ICR based on its resilience.The risk index maps for the four possible occurrence scenarios are created and summed to extract the most repeated section of the ICR with a very high-risk Index.The resultant risk index map shows that approximately 74% of the ICR is prone to one or more hazards.Furthermore, visual field investigations confirmed the obtained results for most portions of the ICR's susceptibility to multiple hazards. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe International Coastal Road (ICR) in Egypt's Nile Delta is a critical transportation corridor that supports the region's economy and connects major coastal cities.However, it faces escalating risks from climate change, including coastal flooding, heatwaves, and land subsidence.This study offers a comprehensive, data-driven framework for assessing the multi-hazard risks affecting the ICR, integrating advanced remote sensing techniques, satellite imagery, and expert-based modeling.By mapping hazards, evaluating road vulnerability, and quantifying resilience using real-world displacement data, the research identifies the most at-risk sections of the ICR-especially between Dakahlia and Dumyat governorates.For practitioners and decision-makers, the generated risk maps and resilience assessments are practical tools for prioritizing maintenance, upgrades, and protective interventions.The study's findings enable targeted actions such as reinforcing road segments, improving drainage systems, and implementing early warning and monitoring strategies.By adopting this multi-hazard, resilience-focused approach, infrastructure planners can better allocate resources, reduce disruption risks, and enhance the long-term safety and functionality of the ICR.These methods and insights are transferable to similar coastal infrastructure projects, supporting climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts in other vulnerable regions.