Ed Sniffen. Deputy Director of the Transportation for Highways, Hawaii DOT.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently released a video highlighting how the Hawaii Department of Transportation incorporates resiliency into its infrastructure strategy.

[Above image via AASHTO]

AASHTO’s Transportation TV interviewed Edwin Sniffen, Hawaii DOT deputy director for highways, as part of its “2 Minute State DOT Update” video news series that illustrates how state departments of transportation build, maintain, and improve America’s multimodal transportation network.

During the interview, Sniffen explained what making a transportation system “more resilient” means and how Hawaii DOT incorporates that philosophy into its infrastructure planning, construction, and delivery processes.

Sniffen is a recognized state DOT leader on the topic of resilience. For example, he participated in a knowledge session on infrastructure resilience hosted during AASHTO’s 2022 Spring Meeting in New Orleans.

Moderated by David Sweeney, president and CEO of engineering and architectural firm RS&H, the panel explored how “resilience” is becoming a critical factor in extending the overall lifecycle of infrastructure assets while also hardening them against potential damage from both natural and man-made disasters.

That knowledge session also included Marc Williams, executive director of the Texas DOT; Will Watts, assistant secretary for engineering and operations at Florida DOT; and Aimee Flannery, a surface transportation analyst from the Office of the USDOT Secretary.