Robert Traver, PhD

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering Villanova University

  • Villanova PA

Robert Traver, PhD., P.E., D. WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, is an expert on green stormwater infrastructure.

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4 min

Two Decades Later, Villanova Engineering Professor Who Assisted in Hurricane Katrina Investigation Reflects on Role in the Storm's Aftermath

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit the southeastern coast of the United States, devastating cities and towns across Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and beyond. The storm caused nearly 1,400 fatalities, displaced more than 1 million people and generated over $125 billion in damages. Rob Traver, PhD, P.E., D. WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University, assisted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina, and earned an Outstanding Civilian Service Medal from the Commanding General of USACE for his efforts. Dr. Traver reflected on his experience working in the aftermath of Katrina, and how the findings from the investigation have impacted U.S. hurricane responses in the past 20 years. Q: What was your role in the investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System? Dr. Traver: Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, USACE wanted to assess what went wrong with flood protections that had failed during the storm in New Orleans, but they needed qualified researchers on their team who could oversee their investigation. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), an organization I have been a part of for many years, was hired for this purpose. Our job was to make sure that USACE was asking the right questions during the investigation that would lead to concrete answers about the causes of the failure of the hurricane protection system. My team was focused on analyzing the risk and reliability of the water resource system in New Orleans, and we worked alongside the USACE team, starting with revising the investigation questions in order to get answers about why these water systems failed during the storm. Q: What was your experience like in New Orleans in the aftermath of the hurricane? Dr. Traver: My team went down to New Orleans a few weeks after the hurricane, visited all the sites we were reviewing and met with infrastructure experts along the way as progress was being made on the investigation. As we were flying overhead and looking at the devastated areas, seeing all the homes that were washed away, it was hard to believe that this level of destruction could happen in a city in the United States. As we started to realize the errors that were made and the things that went wrong leading up to the storm, it was heartbreaking to think about how lives could have been saved if the infrastructure in place had been treated as one system and undergone a critical review. Q: What were the findings of the ASCE and USACE investigation team? Dr. Traver: USACE focused on New Orleans because they wanted to figure out why the city’s levee system—a human-made barrier that protects land from flooding by holding back water—failed during the hurricane. The city manages pump stations that are designed to remove water after a rainfall event, but they were not well connected to the levee system and not built to handle major storms. So, one of the main reasons for the levee system failure was that the pump stations and levees were not treated as one system, which was one of the causes of the mass flooding we saw in New Orleans. Another issue we found was that the designers of the levee system never factored in a failsafe for what would happen if a bigger storm occurred and the levee overflowed. They had the right idea by building flood protection systems, but they didn’t think that a larger storm the size of Katrina could occur and never updated the design to bring in new meteorological knowledge on size of potential storms. Since then, the city has completely rebuilt the levees using these lessons learned. Q: What did researchers, scientists and the general population learn from Katrina? Dr. Traver: In areas that have had major hurricanes over the past 20 years, it’s easy to find what went wrong and fix it for the future, so we don’t necessarily worry as much about having a hurricane in the same place as we’ve had one before. What I worry about is if a hurricane hits a new town or city that has not experienced one and we have no idea what the potential frailties of the prevention systems there could be. Scientists and researchers also need to make high-risk areas for hurricane activity in the United States known for those who live there. People need to know what their risk is if they are in areas where there is increased risk of storms and flooding, and what they should do when a storm hits, especially now with the changes we are seeing in storm size.

Robert Traver, PhD

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Areas of Expertise

Flooding
Green Infrastructure
Stormwater Management
Urban Watersheds
Water Resources

Biography

Dr. Robert G. Traver has been a member of the Water Resources and Environmental Engineering Program at Villanova since 1988. He previously served as Director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems (VCRWS), which joins with government and industry partners to advance the field of comprehensive stormwater management. In taking the lead with VCRWS, Dr. Traver has transformed the Villanova campus into a living laboratory with on-site experimental projects such as a green roof, rain gardens, stormwater wetlands, pervious concrete and porous asphalt.

Dr. Traver played a significant role in the Corps of Engineers' investigation of the failure of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System during Hurricane Katrina as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers External Panel (ERP). Dr. Traver has previously testified before Congress and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Education

Pennsylvania State University

PhD

Villanova University

MCE

Virginia Military Institute

BSCE

Select Accomplishments

2023 Philadelphia Civil Engineer of the Year Award

Presented annually by the Philadelphia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers for remarkable accomplishments in the civil engineering profession, the award is the Philadelphia Section’s highest recognition.

2023 AAWRE Outstanding Research & Innovation Award

The award recognized Dr. Traver for his outstanding body of work and involvement in advancing the scientific basis for resilient stormwater green infrastructure practices.

2019 Recipient of Environmental and Water Resources Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

This award is presented to a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers for demonstrating a life-long level of commitment to environmental or water resources engineering through public service, research or education.

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Affiliations

  • Associate Editor and Co-Founder of the ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment
  • Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE)
  • Diplomat and Former President of the American Academy of Water Resource Engineers
  • Committee Member of the National Research Council Committee that authored “Urban Stormwater Management in the United States” (2009)
  • Steering committee of the Water Environmental Federation Stormwater Institute

Select Media Appearances

With the 100-year Flood Model Seemingly Obsolete, What Now?

American Society of Civil Engineers  online

2024-11-06

“Research over the past 20 years shows us increases in precipitation over time – and that’s a pretty short period of time,” said Robert Traver, Ph.D., P.E., BC.WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE, director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems. “It’s not just that the 100-year event – the 1% every year being equal or exceeded – needs to be updated, but we also need to update our models based on the mechanisms in the atmosphere that are changing now due to climate change and will continue to change as we move forward.”

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MSD Asks Voters to Increase Their Sewer Bills. If They Don’t say Yes, Massive Hikes Await.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch  online

2024-03-21

Policies like Prop S that take aim at runoff from impervious surfaces are becoming increasingly common around the country, as cities and towns grapple with how to address problems from “water off pavement,” said Rob Traver, a Villanova University professor of water resource engineering and an urban stormwater expert.

“It is directly related to what causes the problem,” he said. “It’s definitely growing. I’m seeing more and more areas doing this.”

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Study Shows Federal Weather Model Underplays Flooding, Putting Infrastructure Spending at Risk

Politico  online

2023-06-26

Some states and cities are updating their design standards on their own to account for climate-driven precipitation changes, said Robert Traver, a professor and director of the Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems. Traver is working with Pennsylvania to update its design specifications to use the upper bounds of the Atlas 14 rainfall range. He said doing so would better account for how climate change is driving more intense rainfall events.

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Select Academic Articles

Quantifying the Impact of Soil Moisture Sensor Measurements in Determining Green Stormwater Infrastructure Performance

Sensors

Matina Shakya, Amanda Hess, Bridget M. Wadzuk and Robert G. Traver

2024

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Quantitative Analysis of the Water Budget of a Rain Garden in Pennsylvania

Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment

Andrea Welker, Sara Baghalian, Megan Farnsworth, and Robert Traver

2024

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A 15-year analysis of precipitation and rain garden response

Hydrological Processes

Achira Amur, Bridget Wadzuk, Robert Traver

2022

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