{"id":8284,"date":"2025-05-15T10:28:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T08:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/?p=8284"},"modified":"2025-07-29T16:24:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:24:14","slug":"ratp-on-the-front-line-in-the-face-of-climate-challenges-adapting-the-network-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ingenius.ecoledesponts.fr\/en\/articles\/ratp-on-the-front-line-in-the-face-of-climate-challenges-adapting-the-network-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"RATP on the front line in the face of climate challenges: adapting the network of the future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"Titre
Title: Wave of risks \/ Author: Yangzi Qiu \/ Dimensions: 19 cm \u00d7 26.5 cm \/ Material: Watercolor

Inspired by Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, this watercolor depicts the growing vulnerability of our societies to climate upheavals.
In a Paris transformed by climate change, urban infrastructures, and in particular RATP infrastructures, are faced with the growing threat of urban flooding and extreme heat. The composition, designed according to a fractal memory, illustrates the multi-scale approach developed in our study to diagnose climate risks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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As climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, RATP (Parisian Autonomous Transport Administration) infrastructures are ever more exposed to severe climatic episodes such as flooding and heatwaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


For example, in August 2022, Paris was hit by flooding caused by extreme rainfall, accompanied by strong winds.<\/a> The Eiffel Tower weather station recorded gusts of up to 104 km per hour, while the Montsouris station recorded total rainfall of 47 mm, as the storm passed through, including an intense downpour of 16 mm in just 12 minutes. This extreme weather event led to 62 incidents on the RATP network, including water infiltration, temporary saturation of station drainage systems and localized flooding in passenger areas. As a result, 30 subway entrances had to be closed. To better understand and anticipate the impact of climate change on its networks, RATP has set up a research chair in collaboration with the \u00c9cole Nationale des Ponts et Chauss\u00e9es. The Hydrology, Meteorology & Complexity (HM&Co) laboratory focuses on research into adapting RATP’s built heritage to the consequences of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview with Yangzi Qiu<\/strong>, researcher at the Water, Environment and Urban Systems Laboratory (LEESU). This work was carried out as part of her previous research at the HM&Co laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Can you tell us about the context in which the HM&Co laboratory worked in partnership with RATP?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


The HM&Co laboratory<\/a> develops multi-scale analyses and modeling approaches based on complex systems, to better understand and represent urban watersheds and strengthen the resilience of the urban environment. In this context, it has joined forces with the \u201cR\u00e9gie Autonome des Transports Parisiens\u201d (RATP) to develop a new research program as part of a research chair (initiated in 2020) entitled \u201cAdapting RATP’s built heritage to the consequences of climate change (2022-2026)<\/a>“. The aim of this partnership is to address the major challenges of climate change in urban environments. RATP’s built heritage is located in an urban environment that is constantly changing. It is therefore particularly vulnerable to the intensification of extreme climatic events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The project focuses on two major risks: urban flooding resulting from surface runoff and extreme heat. The aim of this partnership is to understand how transport infrastructures will behave in the face of the above-mentioned threats, and to see how they can be made more resilient, using Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for example. NbS are defined by the European Commission as \u201cSolutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience [\u2026] through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions.<\/a>\u201dFor example, we investigated the hydrological performance of some SfNs for stormwater management at the scale of an urban catchment, such as green roofs and rain gardens.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did you focus on these two issues, namely runoff following rainfall and the impact of extreme heat on infrastructures?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Extreme climatic events, due to their sudden and unpredictable nature, are still largely uncontrollable. The risk of urban flooding due to runoff is becoming particularly worrying for RATP. In Paris and its inner suburbs, intensive urban development has considerably reduced the soil\u2019s natural infiltration capacity. When rainfall intensity exceeds the capacity of sewage systems, rainwater cannot be evacuated efficiently. It accumulates on the surface, increasing the risk of urban flooding. Low-lying areas, such as subway entrances, are particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


At the same time, climate change<\/a> is causing global temperatures to rise and heat waves to multiply, becoming more frequent, intense, long-lasting and premature, transforming cities into veritable urban heat islands<\/a>. The risks associated with heat waves have a dual effect on the RATP transport network: on the one hand, they weaken infrastructures through the expansion of materials and the overheating of equipment; on the other, they affect passenger comfort, particularly in underground spaces where heat accumulates and is difficult to evacuate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


These risks therefore require adaptation strategies<\/a> to guarantee resilience in the face of the climate challenges to come.
In order to assess the potential impacts of urban flooding and extreme heat risks on RATP infrastructures in a climate change context, two methodological approaches have been developed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n