36 CFR 223.47 - Date of completion of permanent road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... permanent road construction. 223.47 Section 223.47 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE... Conditions and Provisions § 223.47 Date of completion of permanent road construction. (a) The date of completion of permanent road construction obligations as set forth in the Notice of Sale shall be...

A generic model for camera based intelligent road crowd control ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This research proposes a model for intelligent traffic flow control by implementing camera based surveillance and feedback system. A series of cameras are set minimum three signals ahead from the target junction. The complete software system is developed to help integrating the multiple camera on road as feedback to ...

[Influence of traffic restriction on road and construction fugitive dust].

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Gang; Li, Gang; Qin, Jian-Ping; Fan, Shou-Bin; Huang, Yu-Hu; Nie, Lei

2009-05-15

By monitoring the road and construction dust fall continuously during the "Good Luck Beijing" sport events, the reduction of road and construction dust fall caused by traffic restriction was studied. The contribution rate of road and construction dust to particulate matter of Beijing atmosphere environment, and the emission ratio of it to total local PM10 emission were analyzed. The results show that the traffic restriction reduces road and construction dust fall significantly. The dust fall average value of ring roads was 0.27 g x (m2 x d)(-1) in the "traffic restriction" period, and the values were 0.81 and 0.59 g x (m2 x d)(-1) 1 month and 7 days before. The dust fall average value of major arterial and minor arterial was 0.21 g x (m2 x d)(-1) in the "traffic restriction" period, and the values were 0.54 and 0.58 g x (m2 x d)(-1) 1 month and 7 days before. The roads emission reduced 60%-70% compared with before traffic restriction. The dust fall average values of civil architecture and utility architecture were 0.61 and 1.06 g x (m2 x d)(-1) in the "traffic restriction" period, and the values were 1.15 and 1.55 g x (m2 x d)(-1) 20 days before. The construction dust reduced 30%-47% compared with 20 days before traffic restriction. Road and construction dust emission are the main source of atmosphere particulate matter in Beijing, and its contribution to ambient PM10 concentration is 21%-36%. PM10 emitted from roads and constructions account for 42%-72% and 30%-51% of local emission while the local PM10 account for 50% and 70% of the total emission.

Environmental damages of forest road construction by bulldozer on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2009-09-15

Sep 15, 2009 ... In this study, forest road construction technique by using bulldozer was investigated in forested lands ... example, sediment yield delivered from forest roads to ... minimize the erosional impact of roads on the environ- ... 951 mm. 4570 kg. Figure 2. Proportion of environmental damages on road cross section.

Impact of road construction on malaria incidence and mosquito ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study evaluated the impact of road construction on the incidence of malaria cases reported at Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as well as vector abundance in Abeokuta South and North Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ogun State. Mosquito larvae were collected from randomly selected four road construction sites ...

Emotional Intelligence and Social Interest : are they related constructs?

OpenAIRE

Chamarro Lusar, Andrés

2012-01-01

In the last 15 years, a new psychological construct has emerged in the field of psychology: Emotional Intelligence. Some models of Emotional Intelligence bear ressemblence with aspects of one of the core constructs of Adlerian Psychology: Social Interest. The authors investigated, if both constructs are also empirically related and which is their capacity to predict psychiatric symptoms and antisocial behavior. Results indicate that Social Interest and Emotional Intelligence are empirically d...

Study on Construction Technology of Municipal Road and Bridge Concrete

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Fuyong

2018-03-01

With the continuous development of social economy and the accelerating process of urbanization, municipal road and bridge projects have also shown a trend of rapid development. Municipal road and bridge work can fully reflect the economic and cultural development level of cities and is also an important symbol of urban development. As a basic material of construction, concrete is widely used in engineering construction. This article will analyze the municipal road and bridge concrete construction technology, put forward corresponding measures.

36 CFR 294.23 - Road construction and reconstruction in Idaho Roadless Areas.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Road construction and..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL AREAS Idaho Roadless Area Management § 294.23 Road construction and... Significance, or Primitive. Road construction and reconstruction are prohibited in Idaho Roadless Areas...

Utilization of unbound aggregates for road construction

OpenAIRE

Fladvad, Marit

2017-01-01

Crushed rock aggregate is a non-renewable resource of great interest in road construction and other branches of the construction industry. To prevent resource scarcity, utilization of aggregates should be considered carefully. © 2016 Norsk Bergforening

Constructive thinking, rational intelligence and irritable bowel syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, Enrique; Moreno Ortega, Marta; Garcia Alonso, Monica-Olga; Diaz-Rubio, Manuel

2009-07-07

To evaluate rational and experiential intelligence in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers. We recruited 100 subjects with IBS as per Rome II criteria (50 consulters and 50 non-consulters) and 100 healthy controls, matched by age, sex and educational level. Cases and controls completed a clinical questionnaire (including symptom characteristics and medical consultation) and the following tests: rational-intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd edition); experiential-intelligence (Constructive Thinking Inventory); personality (NEO personality inventory); psychopathology (MMPI-2), anxiety (state-trait anxiety inventory) and life events (social readjustment rating scale). Analysis of variance was used to compare the test results of IBS-sufferers and controls, and a logistic regression model was then constructed and adjusted for age, sex and educational level to evaluate any possible association with IBS. No differences were found between IBS cases and controls in terms of IQ (102.0 +/- 10.8 vs 102.8 +/- 12.6), but IBS sufferers scored significantly lower in global constructive thinking (43.7 +/- 9.4 vs 49.6 +/- 9.7). In the logistic regression model, global constructive thinking score was independently linked to suffering from IBS [OR 0.92 (0.87-0.97)], without significant OR for total IQ. IBS subjects do not show lower rational intelligence than controls, but lower experiential intelligence is nevertheless associated with IBS.

Estimating diesel fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction

Science.gov (United States)

Dan Loeffler; Greg Jones; Nikolaus Vonessen; Sean Healey; Woodam Chung

2009-01-01

Forest access road construction is a necessary component of many on-the-ground forest vegetation treatment projects. However, the fuel energy requirements and associated carbon dioxide emissions from forest road construction are unknown. We present a method for estimating diesel fuel consumed and related carbon dioxide emissions from constructing forest roads using...

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAPABILITIES FOR INCREASING ORGANIZATIONAL-TECHNOLOGICAL RELIABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ginzburg Alexander Vital`evich

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The technology of artificial intelligence is actively being mastered in the world but there is not much talk about the capabilities of artificial intelligence in construction industry and this issue requires additional elaboration. As a rule, the decision to invest in a particular construction project is made on the basis of an assessment of the organizational and technological reliability of the construction process. Artificial intelligence can be a convenient quality tool for identifying, analyzing and subsequent control of the “pure” risks of the construction project, which not only will significantly reduce the financial and time expenditures for the investor’s decision-making process but also improve the organizational-technological reliability of the construction process as a whole. Subject: the algorithm of creation of artificial intelligence in the field of identification and analysis of potential risk events is presented, which will facilitate the creation of an independent analytical system for different stages of construction production: from the sketch to the working documentation and conduction of works directly on the construction site. Research objectives: the study of the possibility, methods and planning of the algorithm of works for creation of artificial intelligence technology in order to improve the organizational-technological reliability of the construction process. Materials and methods: the developments in the field of improving the organizational and technological reliability of construction were studied through the analysis and control of potential “pure” risks of the construction project, and the work was also carried out to integrate the technology of artificial intelligence into the area being studied. Results: An algorithm for creating artificial intelligence in the field of identification of potential “pure” risks of construction projects was presented. Conclusions: the obtained results are useful

Parameterizing road construction in route-based road weather models: can ground-penetrating radar provide any answers?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammond, D S; Chapman, L; Thornes, J E

2011-01-01

A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of a 32 km mixed urban and rural study route is undertaken to assess the usefulness of GPR as a tool for parameterizing road construction in a route-based road weather forecast model. It is shown that GPR can easily identify even the smallest of bridges along the route, which previous thermal mapping surveys have identified as thermal singularities with implications for winter road maintenance. Using individual GPR traces measured at each forecast point along the route, an inflexion point detection algorithm attempts to identify the depth of the uppermost subsurface layers at each forecast point for use in a road weather model instead of existing ordinal road-type classifications. This approach has the potential to allow high resolution modelling of road construction and bridge decks on a scale previously not possible within a road weather model, but initial results reveal that significant future research will be required to unlock the full potential that this technology can bring to the road weather industry. (technical design note)

Environmentally friendly road construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.I. Essawy

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Environmental pollution is a major problem in developing countries like Egypt. Reuse of waste polymers is considered an attractive solution for environmental white pollution and reducing of the costs of road pavement and maintenance. This research aims to prepare environmentally friendly hot mix asphalt (HMA for paving using some industrial wastes as polypropylene and polyester fibers. The solid materials in the mix include normal and highly porous aggregates. 5% and 10% of waste polymers by weight of the asphalt were used to prepare special binders. The samples were tested for their physical properties, chemical properties, aging, scanning electron microscopy (SEM and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA. The results revealed that the prepared HMA using 5% of waste polymer had high performance as compared to the ordinary one and the waste polymer could be used in road construction.

Cost diviation in road construction projects: The case of Palestine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Mahamid

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the statistical relationship between actual and estimated cost of road construction projects using data from road construction projects awarded in the West Bank in Palestine over the years 2004–2008. The study is based on a sample of 169 road construction projects. Based on this data, regression models are developed. The findings reveal that 100% of projects suffer from cost diverge, it is found that 76% of projects have cost under estimation while 24% have cost over estimation. The discrepancy between estimated and actual cost has an average of 14.6%, ranging from -39% to 98%. The relation between the project size (length and width and the cost diverge is discussed.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONCEPT OF AUTOMATION AND INTELLECTUALIZATION OF MANAGEMENT OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivanchura Vladimir Ivanovich

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Subject: management of operating modes of road-building machines, taking into account the implementation of the concept of information modeling of the road. We have reviewed the status and the development problems for directions of improving the control systems of road-construction machine processes. In this work we focus on the road construction stage “laying asphalt-concrete - compaction”, the effective control of which can lead to significant improvement in the quality of road surfaces, increase of durability and reduction of defects in pavements. Research objectives: rationale and directions of realization of the concept of intellectualization of the road construction management. Materials and methods: analysis of the shortcomings of construction of asphalt-concrete pavements, analysis of the methods of workflow management of road-building machines. Results: we have substantiated the methodological background for the development of intellectual control systems of road-building machines. Conclusions: we considered possible ways of introducing the concept of intellectualization of management systems for road-building machines.

Recycling of waste spent catalyst in road construction and masonry blocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Ramzi; Al-Kamyani, Zahran; Al-Jabri, Khalifa; Baawain, Mahad; Al-Shamsi, Khalid

2012-08-30

Waste spent catalyst is generated in Oman as a result of the cracking process of petroleum oil in the Mina Al-Fahl and Sohar Refineries. The disposal of spent catalyst is of a major concern to oil refineries. Stabilized spent catalyst was evaluated for use in road construction as a whole replacement for crushed aggregates in the sub-base and base layers and as a partial replacement for Portland cement in masonry blocks manufacturing. Stabilization is necessary as the waste spent catalyst exists in a powder form and binders are needed to attain the necessary strength required to qualify its use in road construction. Raw spent catalyst was also blended with other virgin aggregates, as a sand or filler replacement, for use in road construction. Compaction, unconfined compressive strength and leaching tests were performed on the stabilized mixtures. For its use in masonry construction, blocks were tested for unconfined compressive strength at various curing periods. Results indicate that the spent catalyst has a promising potential for use in road construction and masonry blocks without causing any negative environmental impacts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Towards high-performance materials for road construction

Science.gov (United States)

Gladkikh, V.; Korolev, E.; Smirnov, V.

2017-10-01

Due to constant increase of traffic, modern road construction is in need of high-performance pavement materials. The operational performance of such materials can be characterized by many properties. Nevertheless, the most important ones are resistance to rutting and resistance to dynamical loads. It was proposed earlier to use sulfur extended asphalt concrete in road construction practice. To reduce the emission of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide during the concrete mix preparation and pavement production stages, it is beneficial to make such a concrete on the base of complex sulfur modifier. In the present work the influence of the complex modifier to mechanical properties of sulfur extended asphalt concrete was examined. It was shown that sulfur extended asphalt concrete is of high mechanical properties. It was also revealed that there as an anomalous negative correlations between strain capacity, fatigue life and fracture toughness.

Natural road construction materials of Southern Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Weinert, HH

1980-01-01

Full Text Available respectively. p. 210. column 4: Insert Notre in rect311glc directly below heading Matrix. p. 240, paragraph 5, line 4: J 770 should read I 700. I ~I -~ r THE NATURAL ROAD CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA ACADEMICA I PRETORIA ICAPE TOWN ISBN... and the author acknowledges gratefully the valuable assistance and the trouble taken by the following persons: Southern African road authorities: Mr W. J. Biesenbach, Mr H. K. Geel, Mr C. L. Laubscher, Mr G. P. Marais, Mr R. L. Mitchell, Mr I. P. A. Smit, Mr C...

Assessing Environmental Impact Indicators in Road Construction Projects in Developing Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Marzouk

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Environmental pollution is considered to be one of the main concerns in the construction industry. Environmental pollution has become a major challenge to construction projects due to the huge amount of pollution caused by construction projects. There are different types of environmental impact indicators, such as the greenhouse gas (GHG footprint, eutrophication potential (EP, acidification potential (AP, human health (HH particulate, ozone depletion, and smog. Each of these environmental impact indicators can be linked to different phases of the construction projects. The overall environmental impact indicators can be divided into direct, indirect, and operational emissions. This paper presents a Building Information Modeling (BIM-based methodology for the assessment of environmental impacts in road construction projects. The model takes into account the overall life cycle of the road construction project, which is divided into: manufacturing phase, transportation phase, construction phase, maintenance phase, operational phase, recycling phase, and deconstruction phase. A case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model. The proposed model solves a major problem for road construction project teams who want to assess the environmental impact indicators associated with their project prior to the start of the execution of their projects.

Safety, mobility and comfort assessment methodologies of intelligent transport systems for vulnerable road users

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Malone, K.; Silla, A.; Johanssen, C.; Bell, D.

2017-01-01

Introduction: This paper describes the modification and development of methodologies to assess the impacts of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) applications for Vulnerable Road users (VRUs) in the domains of safety, mobility and comfort. This effort was carried out in the context of the VRUITS

36 CFR 223.84 - Small business bid form provisions on sales with specified road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... provisions on sales with specified road construction. 223.84 Section 223.84 Parks, Forests, and Public... specified road construction. For each sale described in § 223.82(b), the bid form must include provision for a small business concern: (a) To elect road construction by the Forest Service and where such...

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Prediction of Road Freight Transportation

OpenAIRE

Bogna Mrowczynska; Maria Ciesla; Aleksander Krol; Aleksander Sladkowski

2017-01-01

Road freight transport often requires the prediction of volume. Such knowledge is necessary to capture trends in the industry and support decision making by large and small trucking companies. The aim of the presented work is to demonstrate that application of some artificial intelligence methods can improve the accuracy of the forecasts. The first method employed was double exponential smoothing. The modification of this method has been proposed. Not only the parameters but also the initial ...

Leaching behaviour of copper slag, construction and demolition waste and crushed rock used in a full-scale road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lidelöw, Sofia; Mácsik, Josef; Carabante, Ivan; Kumpiene, Jurate

2017-12-15

The leaching behaviour of a road construction with fayalitic copper slag, recycled concrete and crushed rock as sub-base materials was monitored over ten years. All studied materials used in the road construction, including crushed rock, contained concentrations of several elements exceeding the guideline values recommended by the Swedish EPA for total element concentrations for waste materials used in constructions. Despite that, leaching from the road construction under field conditions in general was relatively low. The leachates from the recycled materials contained higher concentrations of several constituents than the leachates from the reference section with crushed rock. The leaching of the elements of interest (Cr, Mo, Ni, Zn) reached peak concentrations during the second and fourth (Cu) years and decreased over the observation period to levels below the Swedish recommended values. Carbonation of the concrete aggregates caused a substantial but short-term increase in the leaching of oxyanions such as chromate. The environmental risks related to element leaching are highest at the beginning of the road life. Ageing of materials or pre-treatment through leaching is needed prior to their use in construction to avoid peak concentrations. Also, the design of road constructions should be adjusted so that recycled materials are covered with low-permeability covers, which would minimize the exposure to atmospheric precipitation and weathering. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Logistics Solution for Choosing Location of Production of Road Construction Enterprise

Science.gov (United States)

Gavrilina, I.; Bondar, A.

2017-11-01

The current state of construction of highways indicates that not all the resources of the construction organization are implemented and supported by the modern approaches in logistics problems solving. This article deals with the solution of these problems and considers the features of basic road linear works organization, their large extent and different locations of enterprises. Analyzing these data, it is proposed to simulate the logistics processes and substantiate the methods of transport operations organizing by linking the technology and the organization road construction materials delivery which allows one to optimize the construction processes, to choose the most economically advantageous options, and also to monitor the quality of work.

Construction demolition wastes, Waelz slag and MSWI bottom ash: a comparative technical analysis as material for road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Vegas, I; Ibañez, J A; San José, J T; Urzelai, A

2008-01-01

The objective of the study is to analyze the technical suitability of using secondary materials from three waste flows (construction and demolition waste (CDW), Waelz slag and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash), under the regulations and standards governing the use of materials for road construction. A detailed technical characterization of the materials was carried out according to Spanish General Technical Specifications for Road Construction (PG3). The results show that Waelz slag can be adequate for using in granular structural layers, while CDW fits better as granular material in roadbeds. Likewise, fresh MSWI bottom ash can be used as roadbed material as long as it does not contain a high concentration of soluble salts. This paper also discusses the adequacy of using certain traditional test methods for natural soils when characterizing secondary materials for use as aggregates in road construction.

Emotional Intelligence: Popular but Elusive Construct.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Steven I.

2001-01-01

Important work of Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey and John Mayer on emotional intelligence (EI) is discussed to illustrate recent theorizing on EI. The article discusses conceptual and measurement problems that presently challenge the usefulness of the EI construct and urges further research. (Author/CR)

Hygienic assessment of using rocks with high content of natural radionuclides in road construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kornilov, A.N.; Ryabchikov, S.G.

1983-01-01

Experimental investigations on radiation hygienic assessment of the possibilities of using rocks with an increased content of natural radionuclides (NRN) are carried out. At experimental road portions constructed using such rocks, γ-radiation levels have been measured and radioactive contamination of the ad-- jacent territory has been determined. The danger presented by such roads for highway engineering workers and population also has been assessed. The results obtained permit to express a possitive opinion on the use of solid wastes with an increased NRN content for construction of roads with asphalt coating. Rocks with specific α-activity 3 Bq/kg are recommended to be used for any types of road construction, whereas wastes with specific α-activity 3 Bq/kg - only for road construction in an industrial zone, between populated areas and for thoroughfares and highways. The use of wastes with a higher NRN content is unreasonable as it leads to a growth of annular dose to population and excessive exposure of construction workers engaged in highway engineering operations

Construction of road network vulnerability evaluation index based on general travel cost

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Jun-qiang; Zhai, Jing; Li, Qian-wen; Zhao, Lin

2018-03-01

With the development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of her urban road network, the vulnerability of the urban road network has attracted increasing attention. Based on general travel cost, this work constructs the vulnerability evaluation index for the urban road network, and evaluates the vulnerability of the urban road network from the perspective of user generalised travel cost. Firstly, the generalised travel cost model is constructed based on vehicle cost, travel time, and traveller comfort. Then, the network efficiency index is selected as an evaluation index of vulnerability: the network efficiency index is composed of the traffic volume and the generalised travel cost, which are obtained from the equilibrium state of the network. In addition, the research analyses the influence of traffic capacity decrease, road section attribute value, and location of road section, on vulnerability. Finally, the vulnerability index is used to analyse the local area network of Harbin and verify its applicability.

25 CFR 163.30 - Revocable road use and construction permits for removal of commercial forest products.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Revocable road use and construction permits for removal... Revocable road use and construction permits for removal of commercial forest products. (a) In accordance... revocable road use and construction permits to users for the purpose of removing forest products. (b) When a...

Bio fuel ash in a road construction: impact on soil solution chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Thurdin, R T; van Hees, P A W; Bylund, D; Lundström, U S

2006-01-01

Limited natural resources and landfill space, as well as increasing amounts of ash produced from incineration of bio fuel and municipal solid waste, have created a demand for useful applications of ash, of which road construction is one application. Along national road 90, situated about 20 km west of Sollefteå in the middle of Sweden, an experiment road was constructed with a 40 cm bio fuel ash layer. The environmental impact of the ash layer was evaluated from soil solutions obtained by centrifugation of soil samples taken on four occasions during 2001-2003. Soil samples were taken in the ash layer, below the ash layer at two depths in the road and in the ditch. In the soil solutions, pH, conductivity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the total concentration of cations (metals) and anions were determined. Two years after the application of the ash layers in the test road, the concentrations in the ash layer of K, SO4, Zn, and Hg had increased significantly while the concentration of Se, Mo and Cd had decreased significantly. Below the ash layer in the road an initial increase of pH was observed and the concentrations of K, SO4, Se, Mo and Cd increased significantly, while the concentrations of Cu and Hg decreased significantly in the road and also in the ditch. Cd was the element showing a potential risk of contamination of the groundwater. The concentrations of Ca in the ash layer indicated an ongoing hardening, which is important for the leaching rate and the strength of the road construction.

Common risks affecting time overrun in road construction projects in Palestine: Contractors’ perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Mahamid

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The construction sector is one of the key economic sectors and is the main force motivating the Palestinian national economy. However, it suffers from number of problems that affect time, cost and quality performances. This study aims at identifying the common risks affecting time overrun in road construction projects in the West Bank in Palestine from contractors’ viewpoint. 45 factors that might cause delays of road construction projects were defined through a detailed literature review. A questionnaire survey was performed to rank the considered factors in terms of severity and frequency. The analysis of the survey indicated that the top risks affecting time overrun in road construction projects in Palestine are: financial status of the contractors, payments delay by the owner, political situation, segmentation of the West Bank, poor communication between construction parties, lack of equipment efficiency, and high competition in bids.

Quality of road construction projects in Sweden between 1990 and 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abukar Warsame

2014-03-01

Full Text Available It has been reported that productivity developments in construction are slow compared to other sectors. Measuring productivity is however not easy and it might have been underestimated due to deficiencies in the index that is used when the value added in current prices is converted into value added at constant prices. A central problem when deflating nominal prices is that the deflation should only take away price changes for identical products and not price changes related to quality changes and improvements necessitated by new environmental conditions and legislation as well as demand for higher safety. The aim of this project is to help fill this gap by looking at the quality changes over time in road construction. A combination of comparative studies and interviews with practitioners from public and private sectors that are involved in road construction projects were conducted. It was found that there had been both direct quality changes in the roads, primarily to improve safety on the roads and for noise protection, and indirect quality changes related to building in more difficult circumstances because of giving higher weight to other social objectives, especially environmental objectives. As these quality increases are not taken into account when productivity is measured, productivity improvements could be underestimated by around 1% per year.

The assessment of environmentally sensitive forest road construction in Calabrian pine forest areas of Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Tunay, Metin

2006-07-01

Forest road construction by bulldozers in Calabrian Pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) forests on mountainous terrain of Turkey causes considerable damage to the environment and the forest standing alongside the road. This situation obliges a study of environmentally sound road construction in Turkey. This study was carried out in 4 sample sites of Antalya Forest Directorate in steep (34-50% gradient) and very steep terrain (51-70% gradient) conditions with bulldozer and excavator machine and direct damages to forest during road construction was determined, including forest area losses and damages to downhill trees in mountainous areas. It was determined that in steep terrain when excavators were used, less forest area (22.16%) was destroyed compared to bulldozers and 26.54% less area in very steep terrain. The proportion of damage on trees where bulldozer worked was nearly twofold higher than excavator was used. The results of this research show that the environmentally sensitive techniques applied for the road construction projects are considerably superior to the traditional use of bulldozers on steep slopes. The environmentally sound forest road construction by use of excavator must be considered an appropriate and reliable solution for mountainous terrain where areas of sensitive forest ecosystems are to be opened up.

PROSPECTS FOR APPLICATION OF COMPLEX-MODIFIED SAND ASPHALT CONCRETE IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Yu. Alexandrov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers a possibility to use sand asphalt concrete as a material for protection of asphalt concrete and cement concrete road pavements against affection of external destructive factors. Advantages and disadvantages of sand asphalt concrete road pavements have been determined in the paper. The paper provides recommendations on improvement of sand asphalt concrete properties and contains an analysis of possible variants for usage of complex-modified sand asphalt concrete in the road construction. It has been noted that according to its potentially possible physical and mechanical properties activated quartz sand being micro-reinforced by dispersive industrial wastes is considered as an efficient component for creation of constructive layers in road asphalt concrete pavements. The paper reveals only specific aspects of the efficient application of quartz sand in road asphalt concrete. The subject of the paper loоks rather interesting for regions where there are no rock deposits for obtaining broken-stone ballast but there is rather significant spreading of local quarts sand. Its successful application is connected with the necessity to develop special equipment for physical and chemical activation of sand grain surface that permits strongly to increase an adhesive strength in the area of phase separation within the “bitumen–SiO2” system. The considered problem is a topical one and its solution will make it possible to local sand in a maximum way and partially to exclude application of broken stone in road construction.

Some problems for natural radiation impact assessment in road construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xutong; Chen Xiaoqiu; Li Yuanxin

2002-01-01

Some instances have occurred for that road constructions were likely to meet with some high grade uranium mine in some provinces with abundant uranium resource and developed economy. Some of the constructions have made assessment for the radiation risk. The author discusses the problems existent in the assessments

Application of Wireless Intelligent Control System for HPS Lamps and LEDs Combined Illumination in Road Tunnel

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Jinxing; Qiu, Junling; Chen, Jianxun; Wang, Yaqiong; Fan, Haobo

2014-01-01

Because of the particularity of the environment in the tunnel, the rational tunnel illumination system should be developed, so as to optimize the tunnel environment. Considering the high cost of traditional tunnel illumination system with high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps as well as the effect of a single light source on tunnel entrance, the energy-saving illumination system with HPS lamps and LEDs combined illumination in road tunnel, which could make full use of these two kinds of lamps, was proposed. The wireless intelligent control system based on HPS lamps and LEDs combined illumination and microcontrol unit (MCU) Si1000 wireless communication technology was designed. And the remote monitoring, wireless communication, and PWM dimming module of this system were designed emphatically. Intensity detector and vehicle flow detector can be configured in wireless intelligent control system, which gather the information to the master control unit, and then the information is sent to the monitoring center through the Ethernet. The control strategies are got by the monitoring center according to the calculated results, and the control unit wirelessly sends parameters to lamps, which adjust the luminance of each segment of the tunnel and realize the wireless intelligent control of combined illumination in road tunnel. PMID:25587266

Use of oil shale ash in road construction: results of follow-up environmental monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinik, Janek; Irha, Natalya; Koroljova, Arina; Meriste, Tõnis

2018-01-05

Oil shale ash (OSA) was used for road construction in a pristine swamp area in East-Estonia during 2013-2014. OSA was used as a binder both in mass stabilization of soft peat soil and in the upper layer. Use of OSA in civil engineering always raises questions about the environmental safety of such activities. Post-construction environmental monitoring of the pilot section was carried out in 2014 and 2015. The monitoring program involved surface water and soil sampling campaigns. Samples were analyzed for selected constituents and parameters of environmental concern. The paper gives data for assessing the environmental impact and evaluation of potential risks associated with construction of roads using OSA. Leaching of hazardous compounds from the pilot section to surrounding aqueous environment was not observed during the monitoring program. Still, the road construction affected the concentration of sulfates in surrounding surface water. Also, the water-soluble content of barium in surface water correlated significantly with the concentrations of chloride and sulfate ion and electric conductivity of the surface water. Therefore, it is recommended to monitor the electric conductivity, concentrations of sulfates, chlorides, and barium in nearby surface water when OSA is used in road construction.

Literature review of levels and determinants of exposure to potential carcinogens and other agents in the road construction industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Burstyn, I; Kromhout, H; Boffetta, P

2000-01-01

Workers in the road construction industry include asphalt plant, ground construction, and road paving workers. These individuals can be exposed to a wide range of potentially hazardous substances. A summary of levels of exposure to different substances measured during road construction is presented. In modern road paving, workers typically are exposed to 0.1 to 2 mg/m3 of bitumen fume, which includes 10 to 200 ng/m3 of benzo(a)pyrene. Sampling strategies and analytical methods employed in each reviewed survey are described briefly. The published reports provide some insight into the identity of factors that influence exposure to bitumen among road construction workers: type of work performed, meteorological conditions, temperature of paved asphalt. However, there is a lack of (a) comprehensive and well-designed studies that evaluate determinants of exposure to bitumen in road construction, and (b) standard methods for bitumen sampling and analysis. Information on determinants of other exposures in road construction is either absent or limited. It is concluded that data available through published reports have limited value in assessing historical exposure levels in the road construction industry.

Solidification/stabilization of dredged marine sediments for road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dong Xing; Abriak, Nor Edine; Zentar, Rachid; Xu, WeiYa

2012-01-01

Cement/lime-based solidification is an environmentally sound solution for the management of dredged marine sediments, instead of traditional solutions such as immersion. Based on the mineralogical composition and physical characteristics of Dunkirk sediments, the effects of cement and lime are assessed through Atterberg limits, modified Proctor compaction, unconfined compressive strength and indirect tensile strength tests. The variation of Atterberg limits and the improvement in strength are discussed at different binder contents. The potential of sediments solidified with cement or lime for road construction is evaluated through a proposed methodology from two aspects: I-CBR value and material classification. The test results show the feasibility of solidified dredged sediments for beneficial use as a material in road construction. Cement is superior to lime in terms of strength improvement, and adding 6% cement is an economic and reasonable method to stabilize fine sediments.

Application of an Intelligent Fuzzy Regression Algorithm in Road Freight Transportation Modeling

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Pooya Najaf

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Road freight transportation between provinces of a country has an important effect on the traffic flow of intercity transportation networks. Therefore, an accurate estimation of the road freight transportation for provinces of a country is so crucial to improve the rural traffic operation in a large scale management. Accordingly, the focused case study database in this research is the information related to Iran’s provinces in the year 2008. Correlation between road freight transportation with variables such as transport cost and distance, population, average household income and Gross Domestic Product (GDP of each province is calculated. Results clarify that the population is the most effective factor in the prediction of provinces’ transported freight. Linear Regression Model (LRM is calibrated based on the population variable, and afterwards Fuzzy Regression Algorithm (FRA is generated on the basis of the LRM. The proposed FRA is an intelligent modified algorithm with an accurate prediction and fitting ability. This methodology can be significantly useful in macro-level planning problems where decreasing prediction error values is one of the most important concerns for decision makers. In addition, Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN is developed to evaluate the prediction capability of the models and to be compared with FRA. According to the final results, the modified FRA estimates road freight transportation values more accurately than the BPNN and LRM. Finally, in order to predict the road freight transportation values, the reliability of the calibrated models is analyzed using the information of the year 2009. Results show higher reliability for the proposed modified FRA.

Influence of low impact development construction on pollutant process of road-deposited sediments and associated heavy metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yukun; Gong, Manli; Zhao, Hongtao; Li, Xuyong

2018-02-01

Intense Low-Impact Development (LID) construction in China could lead to increasingly severe stormwater and receiving water pollution due to the lack of appropriate regulation for mitigating pollution from LID construction. Samples of road-deposited sediments (RDS) were collected from 50 study sites at seven LID construction stages and four road hierarchies to analyze the pollution process and determine the size of the region influenced by LID construction. Six heavy metals were analyzed, and the RDS index model was adopted to estimate the potential heavy metal load washed off by stormwater runoff. Analysis of variance revealed that the excavation and gravel filling of rain gardens and excavation of porous pavements were critical LID construction stages that contributed the largest masses of RDS per unit area to road surfaces. Although the concentration of heavy metals at LID construction sites was lower than at sites without LID construction, the load of heavy metals washed off from LID construction was much higher. In addition, the sizes of regions influenced by accumulated RDS from LID construction descended in the following order: arterial road (600-775m)>collector road (150-200m)>access road (100-150m)>laneway (20-30m). According to the characteristics of LID construction at the study sites, the potential total solid loads in stormwater throughout China were estimated to reach 36,694t by 2020 and 146,777t by 2030. According to the results of analysis, several recommendations are provided for designing LID construction regulations to mitigate stormwater pollution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Traffic condition with road upgrading during construction and operation stages based on level-of-service (LOS)

Science.gov (United States)

Tay, A. C.; Lee, H. H.

2018-04-01

In this study, traffic survey was done at signalized intersection of both ends of an upgrading road during morning and afternoon peak hours throughout construction period. The intersections of Tudan Road located at Miri City in Sarawak State, Malaysia were chosen as study sites. The aim of this research was to investigate the traffic condition for the signalized intersections of a R3 secondary road that being upgrading to standard U5 dual carriageway during peak hours for construction and operation stages. Data collected from these sites were analyzed according to Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 2010. From the results, the level-of-services (LOS) of Kuala Baram By Pass Road intersection improved from Level F to Level E at operation stage for weekday during peak hours in the morning. LOS of Lutong-Kuala Baram Road intersection at construction stage were Level C during peak hours in the morning and Level D during peak hours in the afternoon for weekends. However, the LOS during both peak hours for weekends were projected to improve to Level B at the operation stage. It proved that the road construction has affected LOS, and this temporary issue can be solved after the upgraded road is in operation.

Methodology for construction compliance monitoring in the crediting of investment projects for road construction

Science.gov (United States)

Vaynshtok, Natalia

2017-10-01

The article provides the results of development of the methodology for construction compliance monitoring in the crediting of investment projects for road construction. Work scope analysis of construction audit was conducted and an algorithm of financial audit in the crediting investment projects was developed. Furthermore, the possible pitfalls and abuses of counterparties were investigated and recommendations were given allowing the bank to receive objective and independent information on the progress of the project in real time. This mechanism is useful for the bank in insurance of possible risks, targeted and rational use of credit funds.

Early cost estimating for road construction projects using multiple regression techniques

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Ibrahim Mahamid

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to develop early cost estimating models for road construction projects using multiple regression techniques, based on 131 sets of data collected in the West Bank in Palestine. As the cost estimates are required at early stages of a project, considerations were given to the fact that the input data for the required regression model could be easily extracted from sketches or scope definition of the project. 11 regression models are developed to estimate the total cost of road construction project in US dollar; 5 of them include bid quantities as input variables and 6 include road length and road width. The coefficient of determination r2 for the developed models is ranging from 0.92 to 0.98 which indicate that the predicted values from a forecast models fit with the real-life data. The values of the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE of the developed regression models are ranging from 13% to 31%, the results compare favorably with past researches which have shown that the estimate accuracy in the early stages of a project is between ±25% and ±50%.

25 CFR 170.405 - Can tribal transportation planning funds be used for road construction and other projects?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... INTERIOR LAND AND WATER INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM Planning, Design, and Construction of Indian... funds be used for road construction and other projects? Yes, any tribe can request to have its planning... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Can tribal transportation planning funds be used for road...

Quantitative Decision Making Model for Carbon Reduction in Road Construction Projects Using Green Technologies

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Woosik Jang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Numerous countries have established policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and have suggested goals pertaining to these reductions. To reach the target reduction amounts, studies on the reduction of carbon emissions have been conducted with regard to all stages and processes in construction projects. According to a study on carbon emissions, the carbon emissions generated during the construction stage of road projects account for approximately 76 to 86% of the total carbon emissions, far exceeding the other stages, such as maintenance or demolition. Therefore, this study aims to develop a quantitative decision making model that supports the application of green technologies (GTs to reduce carbon emissions during the construction stage of road construction projects. First, the authors selected environmental soundness, economic feasibility and constructability as the key assessment indices for evaluating 20 GTs. Second, a fuzzy set/qualitative comparative analysis (FS/QCA was used to establish an objective decision-making model for the assessment of both the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the key indices. To support the developed model, an expert survey was performed to assess the applicability of each GT from a practical perspective, which was verified with a case study using two additional GTs. The proposed model is expected to support practitioners in the application of suitable GTs to road projects and reduce carbon emissions, resulting in better decision making during road construction projects.

Aeolian sands as material to construct low-volume roads

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Paige-Green, P

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Aeolian sands are widespread in many semi-arid to arid areas of the world and often provide the only economic source of construction materials for low volume roads. Experience in southern Africa over a number of decades has shown that provided...

Design, Modelling, and Implementation of a Fuzzy Controller for an Intelligent Road Signaling System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Manuel Lozano Domínguez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Crossing points are not always 100% visible for drivers due to different factors (e.g., poor road maintenance, occlusion of vertical signs, and adverse weather conditions. USA estimated in 2015 the number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles in 70,000 of whom 5,376 resulted in deceased people. To contribute in this field, this paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a smart prototype system applied to pedestrian crossings—not regulated by semaphores—which try to reduce the accident rate on roads. The hardware and software system consists of a set of autonomous, intelligent, and wireless low-cost devices that generate a visual warning barrier perceived by drivers from a suitable distance when pedestrians traverse a crosswalk. In this way, drivers can reduce the speed of their vehicles and stop safely. The system’s intelligence is carried out by a fuzzy controller that performs sensory fusion at both low level and high level with various types of sensors from local and neighboring devices. The tests conducted have determined an average success of 94.64% and a precision of 100%, thus corresponding with a very good test according to a ROC analysis. As a result, the system proposed has been patented and extended to international PCT.

Experimental Autonomous Road Vehicle with Logical Artificial Intelligence

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Sergey Sergeevich Shadrin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes some technical issues regarding the adaptation of a production car to a platform for the development and testing of autonomous driving technologies. A universal approach to performing the reverse engineering of electric power steering (EPS for the purpose of external control is also presented. The primary objective of the related study was to solve the problem associated with the precise prediction of the dynamic trajectory of an autonomous vehicle. This was accomplished by deriving a new equation for determining the lateral tire forces and adjusting some of the vehicle parameters under road test conductions. A Mivar expert system was also integrated into the control system of the experimental autonomous vehicle. The expert system was made more flexible and effective for the present application by the introduction of hybrid artificial intelligence with logical reasoning. The innovation offers a solution to the major problem of liability in the event of an autonomous transport vehicle being involved in a collision.

Estimation of resource savings due to fly ash utilization in road construction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kumar, Subodh; Patil, C.B. [Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016 (India)

2006-08-15

A methodology for estimation of natural resource savings due to fly ash utilization in road construction in India is presented. Analytical expressions for the savings of various resources namely soil, stone aggregate, stone chips, sand and cement in the embankment, granular sub-base (GSB), water bound macadam (WBM) and pavement quality concrete (PQC) layers of fly ash based road formation with flexible and rigid pavements of a given geometry have been developed. The quantity of fly ash utilized in these layers of different pavements has also been quantified. In the present study, the maximum amount of resource savings is found in GSB followed by WBM and other layers of pavement. The soil quantity saved increases asymptotically with the rise in the embankment height. The results of financial analysis based on Indian fly ash based road construction cost data indicate that the savings in construction cost decrease with the lead and the investment on this alternative is found to be financially attractive only for a lead less than 60 and 90km for flexible and rigid pavements, respectively. (author)

The potential of bioash for utilization in road construction in eastern Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Zagvozda, Martina; Dimter, Sanja; Rukavina, Tatjana

2017-12-01

In recent years usage of biomass as energy source has intensified in eastern Croatia. Newly built biomass power plants generate great amounts of bioash that is being disposed at landfills. Due to its favorable properties bioashes could be reused as alternative materials in road construction or road fundation. Therefore, research on application of bioashes in construction industry is being conducted at Faculty of Civil Engineering in Osijek. The main motivation behind this research, in a form of biomass and bioash production in eastern Croatia as well as international research on potential application of this types of bioashes, is show in this paper.

The adoption of innovative asphalt equipment in road construction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Habets, M.J.M.; Voordijk, Johannes T.; van der Sijde, Peter

2011-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the adoption process of innovative asphalt equipment in road construction and how the level of knowledge as characterised by the level of education in the companies affects this process. The emphasis is on equipment used for transporting

The influence of management and construction methods in the repair costs of Spain’s low-volume road network

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Eutiquio Gallego

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the entire process of the implementation of the Spanish low volume road network, including the design criteria, the construction techniques and the management policies during all the periods. The current situation of low volume roads in Spain was analyzed with respect to the legal framework and their actual condition. In addition, the budget required for the repair of 41 low volume roads throughout Spain was calculated in order to statistically analyze the influence of the pavement materials and the period of construction. The main conclusions were that low volume roads constructed during the 1970´s are currently those in the best state of repair and those requiring the lower repair costs, even lower than those constructed after 1980´s. In addition, low volume roads constructed with higher quality materials and using standardized techniques required five times lower repair costs than those made of lower quality materials.

EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF STEEL-MAKING SLAG IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION

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A. K. Коstenkо

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The paper provides an estimation of ecological and economic efficiency of utilization of the electric steel-melting slag of the Belarussian Steel Works in the road construction. The obtained results  give us a reason to consider that involvement of this type of industrial waste into economic turnover is an economically expedient and ecologically justified measure that will allow road-construction enterprises to reduce the cost of installation and construction works and enlarge their resource potential as well as to help the producer of wastes to release funds for innovation development and solve the problem of waste accumulation in the near future.

Intelligent technology for construction of tutoring integrated expert systems: new aspects

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Galina V. Rybina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to acquaint readers of the journal “Open Education” with the accumulated experience of construction and practical use in the educational process of Cybernetics Department of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI of a special class of intelligent tutoring systems, based on the architectures of tutoring integrated expert systems. The development is carried out on the problem-oriented methodology basis and intelligent software environment of AT-TECHNOLOGY workbench. They provide automation of support of all the stages of construction and maintenance of the life cycle of such systems.In the context of basic models, methods, algorithms and tools that implement the conceptual foundations of a problem-oriented methodology, and which are evolutionarily developed and experimentally investigated in the process of constructing various architectures of training integrated expert systems, including webbased ones, some features of the generalized model of intellectual learning and its components are considered (in particular, the competence-based model of the trainee, the adaptive tutoring model, the ontology model of the course /discipline et al. as well as methods and means of their realization in the current versions of tutoring integrated expert systems.In current versions of tutoring integrated expert systems examples of implementation of typical intelligent tutoring problems are described for the generalized ontology “Intelligent systems and technologies” (individual planning of the method of studying the training course, intelligent analysis of training tasks, intelligent support for decision making.A brief description of the conceptual foundations of the model of the intelligent software environment of the AT-TECHNOLOGY workbench is given and a description of some components of the model is presented with a focus on the basic components – intelligent planner, standard design procedures and reusable

A framework of analysis for field experiments with alternative materials in road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

François, D; Jullien, A

2009-01-01

In France, a wide variety of alternative materials is produced or exists in the form of stockpiles built up over time. Such materials are distributed over various regions of the territory depending on local industrial development and urbanisation trends. The use of alternative materials at a national scale implies sharing local knowledge and experience. Building a national database on alternative materials for road construction is useful in gathering and sharing information. An analysis of feedback from onsite experiences (back analysis) is essential to improve knowledge on alternative material use in road construction. Back analysis of field studies has to be conducted in accordance with a single common framework. This could enable drawing comparisons between alternative materials and between road applications. A framework for the identification and classification of data used in back analyses is proposed. Since the road structure is an open system, this framework has been based on a stress-response approach at both the material and structural levels and includes a description of external factors applying during the road service life. The proposal has been shaped from a review of the essential characteristics of road materials and structures, as well as from the state of knowledge specific to alternative material characterisation.

Artificial Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Information Technology Quarterly, 1985

1985-01-01

This issue of "Information Technology Quarterly" is devoted to the theme of "Artificial Intelligence." It contains two major articles: (1) Artificial Intelligence and Law" (D. Peter O'Neill and George D. Wood); (2) "Artificial Intelligence: A Long and Winding Road" (John J. Simon, Jr.). In addition, it contains two sidebars: (1) "Calculating and…

Using remote sensing data to predict road fill areas and areas affected by fill erosion with planned forest road construction: a case study in Kastamonu Regional Forest Directorate (Turkey).

Science.gov (United States)

Aricak, Burak

2015-07-01

Forest roads are essential for transport in managed forests, yet road construction causes environmental disturbance, both in the surface area the road covers and in erosion and downslope deposition of road fill material. The factors affecting the deposition distance of eroded road fill are the slope gradient and the density of plant cover. Thus, it is important to take these factors into consideration during road planning to minimize their disturbance. The aim of this study was to use remote sensing and field surveying to predict the locations that would be affected by downslope deposition of eroding road fill and to compile the data into a geographic information system (GIS) database. The construction of 99,500 m of forest roads is proposed for the Kastamonu Regional Forest Directorate in Turkey. Using GeoEye satellite images and a digital elevation model (DEM) for the region, the location and extent of downslope deposition of road fill were determined for the roads as planned. It was found that if the proposed roads were constructed by excavators, the fill material would cover 910,621 m(2) and the affected surface area would be 1,302,740 m(2). Application of the method used here can minimize the adverse effects of forest roads.

Responsible vendors, intelligent consumers: Silk Road, the online revolution in drug trading.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hout, Marie Claire; Bingham, Tim

2014-03-01

Silk Road is located on the Deep Web and provides an anonymous transacting infrastructure for the retail of drugs and pharmaceuticals. Members are attracted to the site due to protection of identity by screen pseudonyms, variety and quality of product listings, selection of vendors based on reviews, reduced personal risks, stealth of product delivery, development of personal connections with vendors in stealth modes and forum activity. The study aimed to explore vendor accounts of Silk Road as retail infrastructure. A single and holistic case study with embedded units approach (Yin, 2003) was chosen to explore the accounts of vendor subunits situated within the Silk Road marketplace. Vendors (n=10) completed an online interview via the direct message facility and via Tor mail. Vendors described themselves as 'intelligent and responsible' consumers of drugs. Decisions to commence vending operations on the site centred on simplicity in setting up vendor accounts, and opportunity to operate within a low risk, high traffic, high mark-up, secure and anonymous Deep Web infrastructure. The embedded online culture of harm reduction ethos appealed to them in terms of the responsible vending and use of personally tested high quality products. The professional approach to running their Silk Road businesses and dedication to providing a quality service was characterised by professional advertising of quality products, professional communication and visibility on forum pages, speedy dispatch of slightly overweight products, competitive pricing, good stealth techniques and efforts to avoid customer disputes. Vendors appeared content with a fairly constant buyer demand and described a relatively competitive market between small and big time market players. Concerns were evident with regard to Bitcoin instability. The greatest threat to Silk Road and other sites operating on the Deep Web is not law enforcement or market dynamics, it is technology itself. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier

Intelligent tires for identifying coefficient of friction of tire/road contact surfaces using three-axis accelerometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuzaki, Ryosuke; Kamai, Kazuto; Seki, Ryosuke

2015-01-01

Intelligent tires equipped with sensors as well as the monitoring of the tire/road contact conditions are in demand for improving vehicle control and safety. With the aim of identifying the coefficient of friction of tire/road contact surfaces during driving, including during cornering, we develop an identification scheme for the coefficient of friction that involves estimation of the slip angle and applied force by using a single lightweight three-axis accelerometer attached on the inner surface of the tire. To validate the developed scheme, we conduct tire-rolling tests using an accelerometer-equipped tire with various slip angles on various types of road surfaces, including dry and wet surfaces. The results of these tests confirm that the estimated slip angle and applied force are reasonable. Furthermore, the identified coefficient of friction by the developed scheme agreed with that measured by standardized tests. (paper)

Phytosociological studies on vegetation change caused by road construction in natural park. III

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kameyama, A

1975-06-01

An attempt has been made to explain how forests have been destroyed by road construction in a natural park in Japan. The author discussed the methods of analyzing the problem, as well as the impact of the construction on various developmental stages in plants. A survey of the plant community was taken and a vegetation map on a scale of 1:3,000 was made. According to the map, vegetation was affected in an area 10-20m from the road, sometimes 50 m, by exhaust fumes from the traffic.

Investigation into the Application of Construction and Demolition Waste in Urban Roads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youyun Li

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The recycling and reuse of waste materials is a topic of global concern and great international interest for those interested in sustainable development and protecting the environment. In recent decades, global production of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste has significantly increased and became a worldwide problem. This research proposes to evaluate the feasibility of using aggregate from recycled C&D waste for urban road embankment applications based on the Sanhuan road construction project in eastern Xi’an. An extensive suite of laboratory and field compaction tests were carried out to determine the physical properties and engineering characteristics of the C&D waste. The effect of curing on the strength of the C&D waste was investigated using unconfined compression strength (UCS, California bearing ratio (CBR, and deflection tests. The results show that the C&D waste has the characteristics of high strength and significant stability after simple treatment and further suggest that the use of these materials for paving urban road embankments is feasible. This study is of value for the reasonable and effective promotion of using C&D waste recycled materials in road subgrade applications.

Assessing changes to in-stream turbidity following construction of a forest road in West Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

Jingxin Wang; Pamela J. Edwards; William A. Goff

2011-01-01

Two forested headwater watersheds were monitored to examine changes to in-stream turbidity following the construction of a forest haul road. One watershed was used as an undisturbed reference, while the other had a 0.92-km (0.57-mi) haul road constructed in it. The channels in both are intermittent tributaries of the Left Fork of Clover Run in the Cheat River watershed...

A cost-benefit analysis of tracking and tracing systems in road construction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voordijk, Johannes T.; Akintoye, A

2001-01-01

A major problem in road construction is the lack of timely and accurate information about the location and productivity of equipment. As a result, the productivity rate of certain types of construction equipment is low and equipment has to be hired in from third parties. Lack of co-ordination

Dynamic Analysis of an Office Building due to Vibration from Road Construction Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Chik, T. N. T.; Kamil, M. R. H.; Yusoff, N. A.; Ibrahim, M. H. W.

2018-04-01

Construction activities are widely known as one of the predominant sources of man-made vibrations that able to create nuisance towards any adjacent building, and this includes the road construction operations. Few studies conclude the construction-induced vibration may be harmful directly and indirectly towards the neighbouring building. This lead to the awareness of study the building vibration response of concrete masonry load bearing system and its vibrational performance towards the road construction activities. This study will simulate multi-storey office building of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bandar Enstek at Negeri Sembilan by using finite element vibration analyses. The excitation of transient loads from ground borne vibrations which triggered by the road construction activities are modelled into the building. The vibration response was recorded during in-situ ambient vibration test by using Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV), which specifically performed on four different locations. The finite element simulation process was developed in the commercial FEA software ABAQUS. Then, the experimental data was processed and evaluated in MATLAB ModalV to assess the vibration criteria of the floor in building. As a result, the vibration level of floor in building is fall under VC-E curve which was under the maximum permissible level for office building (VC-ISO). The vibration level on floor is acceptable within the limit that have been referred.

Experience in statistical quality control for road construction in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mitchell, MF

1977-06-01

Full Text Available of statistically oriented acceptance control procedures to a major road construction project is examined and it is concluded that such procedures promise to be of benefit to both the client and the contractor....

Knowledge Construction in a Teachers' Community of Enquiry: A Possible Road Map

Science.gov (United States)

Zellermayer, Michal; Tabak, Edith

2006-01-01

This action research is targeted at academic researchers who facilitate the construction of communities of enquiry in school-university partnerships and are interested in understanding the process of such an enterprise as well as the knowledge constructed within such communities. Our action research study provides a possible road map for such a…

HYDRAULIC UNITS FOR DRIVING SYSTEMS OF RUNNING EQUIPMENT IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Ja. Kotlobai

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Operational efficiency of multi-functional road construction machines depends on number of working bodies which are simultaneously performing technological operations. Systems for propulsion pto to the running equipment drive and active working bodies of road construction machines are developing in the way of using three-axis hydraulic drives. When designing a hydraulic system for road construction machinery dividing of power flow from propulsion to the running equipment drive and active working bodies is considered as rather essential problem. Leading companies do not pay attention to the development of flow divider designs, preferring to produce more expensive multi-flow pumps. One of the ways to increase efficiency of multi-functional road construction machinery is an implementation of running equipment hydraulic driving system based on a mono-aggregate pump unit which consists of a pump and a volumetric divider of power fluid flow. A principle of volumetric division and summing-up of power fluid flows, technical realization and methodology for calculation of key parameters of discrete flow distributors has been developed on the basis of discrete hydraulics regulations. The paper presents results of mathematical modeling of hydraulic systems equipped with the discrete flow distributor. Analysis of a dual-motor hydraulic drive operation has shown the following results: a discrete flow distributor ensures independent load mode of the current consumer circuit operation from the load mode of the second consumer circuit within a wide range of loads; rational value of working fluid flow discretization parameter is the following value interval k = 4–6, maximum value of parameter efficiency is reached when an angular velocity of a distributor rotor coincides with the angular velocity of a pump shaft; discrete flow distributor provides a possibility to change parameters of hydraulic flow feeding in consumers’ pressure lines within a wide range

On construction method of shipborne and airborne radar intelligence and related equipment knowledge graph

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Ruizhe; Huang, Jian

2017-08-01

Knowledge graph construction in military intelligence domain is sprouting but technically immature. This paper presents a method to construct the heterogeneous knowledge graph in the field of shipborne and airborne radar and equipment. Based on the expert knowledge and the up-to-date Internet open source information, we construct the knowledge graph of radar characteristic information and the equipment respectively, and establish relationships between two graphs, providing the pipeline and method for the intelligence organization and management in the context of the crowding battlefields big data.

Construction of Intelligence Knowledge Map for Complex Product Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan-jie LV,

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The complex product design and development is an integrated discipline. A lot of knowledge overloads and knowledge trek phenomenon appeared with the raise of product complexity and the explosion of knowledge and information. To improve the utilization efficiency of the knowledge using and shorten the time and effort spent on the Knowledge screening, avoid missing the knowledge, which is required, the paper proposes a method for the intelligence knowledge map construct model based on knowledge requirements and knowledge connection. Analyzing the context information of the user and giving the method of acquiring the knowledge requirement based on the context information and the user’s personal knowledge structure. This method can get the knowledge requirements of the users to generate the knowledge retrieval expressions to obtain the knowledge points and then construct the intelligent knowledge map through the analysis of multiple dimensions and using the knowledge related to the development of aircraft landing gear as an example to verify the feasibility of this method.

Comparing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Poland and Denmark for Road Construction in Relation to Wildlife and Nature Protection : Synopsis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sienkiewicz, J.; Briggs, L; Elmeros, M.

Project : Fauna Passages under Selected Roads in Poland - Education, Monitoring and Construction - Part A.......Project : Fauna Passages under Selected Roads in Poland - Education, Monitoring and Construction - Part A....

A Location Intelligence System for the Assessment of Pluvial Flooding Risk and the Identification of Storm Water Pollutant Sources from Roads in Suburbanised Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szymon Szewrański

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The interplay of an ever-growing number of inhabitants, sprawl development, soil sealing, changes in urban traffic characteristics, as well as observed climate trends gives rise to more frequent pluvial flooding in cities, a higher run-off of water, and an increasing pollution of surface water. The aim of this research is to develop a location intelligence system for the assessment of pluvial flooding risks and the identification of storm water pollutant sources from roads in newly-developed areas. The system combines geographic information systems and business intelligence software, and it is based on the original Pluvial Flood Risk Assessment tool. The location intelligence system effectively identifies the spatial and temporal distribution of pluvial flood risks, allows to preliminarily evaluate the total run-off from roads, and helps localise potential places for new water management infrastructure. Further improvements concern the modelling of a flow accumulation and drainage system, the application of weather radar precipitation data, and traffic monitoring and modelling.

Soil retention of hexavalent chromium released from construction and demolition waste in a road-base-application scenario

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Butera, Stefania; Trapp, Stefan; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

2015-01-01

We investigated the retention of Cr(VI) in three subsoils with low organic matter content in laboratory experiments at concentration levels relevant to represent leachates from construction and demolition waste (C&DW) reused as unbound material in road construction. The retention mechanism appeared...... depth. However, in rigid climates and with high water infiltration through the road pavement, the reduction reaction could be so slow that Cr(VI) might migrate as deep as 200 cm under the road. The reaction parameters and the model can form the basis for systematically assessing under which scenarios Cr...

How is the older road users’ perception of risk constructed?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siren, Anu Kristiina; Kjær, Marlene Rishøj

2011-01-01

limitations but by perceiving other road users behaving dangerously. While the self-regulation practices adapted by the participants may have been responses to age-related changes, they were constructed as practices based on the driver’s skills, experience and preferences, and presented as responses...... in their driving behaviour, but there is no unequivocal proof for this in the research literature. The present study aims to help to understand the risk perception of this group by studying how older persons construct their perceptions about risk and safety. The study uses material from focus groups conducted...

Selection and ranking of occupational safety indicators based on fuzzy AHP: A case study in road construction companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janackovic, Goran Lj.

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the factors, performance, and indicators of occupational safety, as well as a method to select and rank occupational safety indicators based on the expert evaluation method and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP. A case study is done on road construction companies in Serbia. The key safety performance indicators for the road construction industry are identified and ranked according to the results of a survey that included experts who assessed occupational safety risks in these companies. The case study confirmed that organisational factors have a dominant effect on the quality of the occupational health and safety management system in Serbian road construction companies.

Geochemical anomalies from bottom ash in a road construction--comparison of the leaching potential between an ash road and the surroundings.

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Bo B; Norrman, Jenny; Larsson, Lennart B; Ohlsson, Sten-Ake; Bristav, Henrik

2008-01-01

A study was performed between June 2001 and December 2004 with the primary objective of assessing long-term leaching from municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash in a test road construction in relation to a reference road made up of conventional materials and the natural geochemical conditions in the surroundings. The metal leaching from the test road and the reference road was compared with the natural weathering in the regional surroundings for three time scales: 16, 80 and 1000 years. The results show that Cu and Zn cause a geochemical anomaly from the test road compared with the surroundings. The leaching of Cu from the test road is initially high but will decline with time and will in the long term be exceeded by natural weathering. Zn on the other hand has low initial leaching, which will increase with time and will in the long term exceed that of the test road and the surroundings by a factor of 100-300. For the other metals studied, Al, Na, K and Mg, there is only very limited leaching over time and the potential accumulation will not exceed the background values in a 1000 years.

Safety impacts of rural road construction

Science.gov (United States)

2001-02-01

Crash data in Kentucky show that the fatal crash rate on two-lane rural roads is substantially higher than on any other type of road. Improvements have been proposed at some locations on this type of road which involve either upgrading the existing t...

Recommendations for Constructing Roadside Vegetation Barriers to Improve Near-Road Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

The EPA report, Recommendations for Constructing Roadside Vegetation Barriers to Improve Near-Road Air Quality, summarizes the research findings on the best practices for building roadside vegetative barriers to improve air quality. This fact sheet describ

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA OF FUNCTIONALITY GEOTEXTILES USED IN ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LUCA Cristinel

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This work was performed in order to assess the functionality of geotextiles used in road construction. To increase the quality of road works requires the use of geotextiles in their structure. Depending on the role and the benefits they offer, geotextiles have a number of physical properties, hydraulic, endurance and optimal characteristics regarding their degradation. Geotextile properties were identified and divided according to their characteristics area. Thus, there were obtained textile properties oriented towards geotextiles and properties geared to the application field respectively reinforcement, drainage, and filtration. Value engineering works at the level of constructive product conception and production. The instrumentation is done by functional analysis, value functions and design or redesign of geotextile based on the necessary functions. Systematic research method allowed geotextiles dimensioning functions in order to obtain products in terms of quality, reliability and maximum operational performance. Functions obtained from the analysis are appropriate for a single property. After obtaining the set of decisions was possible functions geotextiles hierarchy after the significance of their use. Establishing the importance of the coefficients or characteristics hierarchy after their weight requires the comparison of the features between them and grading them in proportion to their degree of importance. The ranking of these functions is beneficial when designing or redesigning geotextiles.

Testing the possibility for reusing mswi bottom ash in Greenlandic road construction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkelund, Gunvor Marie; Jørgensen, Anders Stuhr; Villumsen, Arne

2012-01-01

requirements (a grain size distribution, wear resistance, visual fraction analysis and bearing capacity) for reuse as fill material in road construction [2]. Environmental classification based on heavy metal content and leachability was also investigated. The tests showed that it will not be possible to use......, which can influence the quality of MWSI residues. About 15,000 tons MSWI bottom ash is produced annually in Greenland and is disposed of at the open disposal sites without leachate collection or encapsulation. The MSWI bottom ash could have value as a secondary resource in construction work in Greenland...... the bottom ash directly after the incineration as the bottom ash did not comply with all the requirements specified by the Danish Road Directorate. These technical requirements could be improved by removing large fractions (> 45mm) and metal parts as well as changing the grain size distribution...

Efficient Geo-Computational Algorithms for Constructing Space-Time Prisms in Road Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui-Ping Chen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The Space-time prism (STP is a key concept in time geography for analyzing human activity-travel behavior under various Space-time constraints. Most existing time-geographic studies use a straightforward algorithm to construct STPs in road networks by using two one-to-all shortest path searches. However, this straightforward algorithm can introduce considerable computational overhead, given the fact that accessible links in a STP are generally a small portion of the whole network. To address this issue, an efficient geo-computational algorithm, called NTP-A*, is proposed. The proposed NTP-A* algorithm employs the A* and branch-and-bound techniques to discard inaccessible links during two shortest path searches, and thereby improves the STP construction performance. Comprehensive computational experiments are carried out to demonstrate the computational advantage of the proposed algorithm. Several implementation techniques, including the label-correcting technique and the hybrid link-node labeling technique, are discussed and analyzed. Experimental results show that the proposed NTP-A* algorithm can significantly improve STP construction performance in large-scale road networks by a factor of 100, compared with existing algorithms.

An empirical study for ranking risk factors using linear assignment: A case study of road construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Foroughi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Road construction projects are considered as the most important governmental issues since there are normally heavy investments required in such projects. There is also shortage of financial resources in governmental budget, which makes the asset allocation more challenging. One primary step in reducing the cost is to determine different risks associated with execution of such project activities. In this study, we present some important risk factors associated with road construction in two levels for a real-world case study of rail-road industry located between two cities of Esfahan and Deligan. The first group of risk factors includes the probability and the effects for various attributes including cost, time, quality and performance. The second group of risk factors includes socio-economical factors as well as political and managerial aspects. The study finds 21 main risk factors as well as 193 sub risk factors. The factors are ranked using groups decision-making method called linear assignment. The preliminary results indicate that the road construction projects could finish faster with better outcome should we carefully consider risk factors and attempt to reduce their impacts.

Carbon Nanomaterials for Road Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaporotskova Irina Vladimirovna

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The requirement of developing and modernizing the roads in Russia and in the Volgograd region in particular, is based on need of expanding the directions of scientific research on road and transport complexes. They have to be aimed at the development of the theory of transport streams, traffic safety increase, and, first of all, at the application of original methods of road development and modernization, introduction of modern technologies and road-building materials.On the basis of the analysis of the plans for transportation sphere development in the Volgograd region assuming the need to apply the new technologies allowing to create qualitative paving, the authors propose the technology of creating a heavy-duty paving with the use of carbon nanomaterial. The knowledge on strengthening the characteristics of carbon nanotubes is a unique material for nanotechnology development which allowed to assume the analysis of general information about asphalt concrete. The analysis showed that carbon nanotubes can be used for improvement of operational characteristics of asphalt concrete, and it is possible to carry out additives of nanotubes in hot as well as in cold bitumen. The article contains the basic principles of creation of the new road material received by means of bitumen reinforcing by carbon nanotubes. The structures received by the offered technique binding on the basis of the bitumens modified by carbon nanomaterial can be used for coverings and bases on highways of all categories in all road and climatic zones of Russia. The technical result consists in increasing the durability and elasticity of the received asphalt covering, and also the increase of water resistance, heat resistance and frost resistance, the expansion of temperature range of its laying in the field of negative temperatures.

Planning of road construction projects with a view to stimulating economic growth and development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wessel Pienaar

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an outline of how the economic evaluation and selection of road construction projects can be complemented by social evaluation with a view to achieving a more equitable welfare distribution within a developing country. The article commences by elaborating on the general economic benefits that can arise from investment in economically justified road infrastructure. The different classes of non-road-user beneficiaries are idenified and discussed. The operational characteristics of road transport that are conducive to the stimulation of economic activity are identified and described. The present inequality of income distribution in South Africa is dealt with briefly, followed by a discussion and analysis on the use of equity weights in project evaluation to help bring about a more equitable welfare distribution.

Characterisation of MSWI bottom ash for potential use as subbase in Greenlandic road construction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkelund, Gunvor Marie; Jørgensen, Anders Stuhr; Ingeman-Nielsen, Thomas

2012-01-01

of infrastructure due to increased oil and mineral exploitation. Thus, in this study MSWI bottom ash from a Greenlandic incinerator was tested for possible reuse as subbase in road construction. The mechanical properties (grain size distribution, wear resistance and bearing capacity) showed that the bottom ash...... grain sizes and could be reduced by removing some of these smaller grain sizes to obtain the stability requirement of the bottom ash. All in all, this study showed that the Greenlandic bottom ash has potential for being reused in road construction....... was acceptable for reuse after some small adjustments in the grain size distribution to prevent frost sensitivity. Results obtained from heavy metal content and heavy metal leaching complied with the Danish guideline values for reuse of waste materials in construction. Leaching of Cu and Cr was high from small...

Improving Role of Construction Industry for More Effective Post-Disaster Emergency Response To Road Infrastructure in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pribadi Krishna S.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Geo- and hydro-meteorological disasters typically caused disruptive impact to road networks due to damaged road infrastructure, which in turn disconnect access to and isolate the disaster affected areas. Road clearing work and emergency road recovery operation are considered a priority to reconnect the access during post-disaster emergency response. However, the operation is not always smooth and in many cases delayed due to various problems. An investigation is conducted to understand the current practice of post-disaster emergency road recovery operation in Indonesia and to study possible participation of construction industry in order to improve its effectiveness. In-depth interviews with Local Disaster Management Agencies (BPBDs and local road agencies in West Java Province were conducted to understand current practices in emergency road recovery operation and to view perspectives on local contractor participation. The surveys showed supports from the local governments for contractor involvement as long as it is still under guidance of related agencies (Ministry of Public Works and Housing despite some possible obstacles from the current regulation that may hamper contractors’ participation, which indicate that there is a potential role of construction industry for more effective post-disaster emergency response, provided that contractor associations are involved and existing procurement regulation is improved.

Recent trends of the emission characteristics from the road construction industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Chauhan, Sippy K; Sharma, Sangita; Shukla, Anuradha; Gangopadhyay, S

2010-11-01

Bitumen is a black, thermoplastic, hydrocarbon material derived from the processing of crude oil. At ambient temperature, bitumen is solid and does not present any health/environmental risks. This is one of the main reasons that bitumen is widely used for road construction all over the world. But during manufacturing/modification according to its application, storage, transportation, and use of bitumen is heated giving off various hydrocarbons emissions. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in investigating the potential of bitumen emissions to cause health effects. This is mainly because of the reason that bitumen has small amount of poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, along with some other volatiles like benzene, toluene, etc., which are known to be carcinogenic in nature. Thus, assessment of the emission characteristics and health hazards of bitumen fumes may have far reaching industrial economic and public health implications. In this review, we will discuss about the emission characteristics from bitumen, asphalts, or road construction, which is mainly contributed by bitumen fumes. Sampling strategies and analytical methods employed are also described briefly.

Carbon footprint comparison of innovative techniques in the construction and maintenance of road infrastructure in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keijzer, E.E.; Leegwater, G.A.; Vos-Effting, S.E. de; Wit, M.S. de

2015-01-01

The ambition of European countries to reduce their national greenhouse gas emissions, has been translated in the Netherlands in green procurement policy of the national road administration. An increasing amount of innovative techniques and approaches in road infrastructure construction and

Characterisation of Beaver Habitat Parameters That Promote the Use of Culverts as Dam Construction Sites: Can We Limit the Damage to Forest Roads?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geneviève Tremblay

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The use of forest roads as foundations for dam construction by beavers is a recurrent problem in the management of forest road networks. In order to limit the damage to forest roads, our goal was to calculate the probability of beaver dam installation on culverts, according to surrounding habitat parameters, which could allow for improvement in the spatial design of new roads that minimise conflicts with beavers. Comparisons of culverts with (n = 77 and without (n = 51 dams in northwestern Quebec showed that catchment surface, cumulate length of all local streams within a 2-km radius, and road embankment height had a negative effect on the probability of dam construction on culverts, while flow level and culvert diameter ratio had a positive effect. Nevertheless, predicted probabilities of dam construction on culverts generally exceeded 50%, even on sites that were less favourable to beavers. We suggest that it would be more reasonable to take their probable subsequent presence into account at the earliest steps of road conception. Installing mitigation measures such as pre-dams during road construction would probably reduce the occurrence of conflicts with beavers and thus reduce the maintenance costs of forest roads.

Trajectory of a road vehicle during road maintenance

OpenAIRE

Stachová Darina

2017-01-01

Consider a vehicle moving on a road whose usage over time creates an uneven surface on the road. Road unevenness that we encounter on surface communications often arises as a consequence of dynamical effects of moving vehicles, of weather changes, and due to road construction works. This article concerns with mathematical modeling of the trajectory of a road vehicle moving on such a surface during the course of road maintenance.

Application of liquid-based cytology preparation in micronucleus assay of exfoliated buccal epithelial cells in road construction workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Arul, P

2017-01-01

Asphalts are bitumens that consist of complex of hydrocarbon mixtures and it is used mainly in road construction and maintenance. This study was undertaken to evaluate the micronucleus (MN) assay of exfoliated buccal epithelial cells in road construction workers using liquid-based cytology (LBC) preparation. Three different stains (May-Grunwald Giemsa, hematoxylin and eosin, and Papanicolaou) were used to evaluate the frequency of MN in exfoliated buccal epithelial of 100 participants (fifty road construction workers and fifty administrative staff) using LBC preparation. Statistical analysis was performed with Student's t-test, and Proad construction exhibit a higher frequency of MN in exfoliated buccal epithelial cells and they are under the significant risk of cytogenetic damage. LBC preparation has potential application for the evaluation of frequency of MN. This technique may be advocated in those who are occupationally exposed to potentially carcinogenic agents in view of improvement in the smear quality and visualization of cell morphology.

Assessment of the underground construction details of a road pavement using GPR antenna systems with different frequencies

Science.gov (United States)

Alani, Amir M.; Tosti, Fabio; Bianchini Ciampoli, Luca; Benedetto, Francesco; Benedetto, Andrea

2017-04-01

The assessment of the underground construction details of a road infrastructure is a problem of great concern in highway engineering. The case becomes complicated especially when damages reoccur after carrying out remedial surface maintenance and repair works over the life cycle of the infrastructure. The challenge will be exacerbated at the presence of underground watercourses, such that the geotechnical stability of the entire road structure could be threatened. In this respect, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been recognised and accepted as one of the most effective non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques that could be employed in identifying the cause/s of such problems. The recent advancements and developments made in the field of GPR hardware as well as the current level of understanding of the applications and processing techniques of the GPR data have immensely added to the reliability in the utilisation of this tool in variety of subsurface investigation projects. In view of this, the work presented in here focuses on the assessment of the underground construction details of a road pavement using different frequency GPR antenna systems. In addition to this, the possible presence and location of an underground watercourse was investigated in this work. The existence of the latter problem was perceived due to reoccurrence of longitudinal and traversal road surface cracking as well as subsidence at a particular location of the road. Reoccurrence of this damage was interpreted and related to the possible existence of an underground watercourse. The original design and the construction of the road were as such to prevent this movement. Therefore it seemed necessary to perform a GPR survey to investigate and confirm the underground construction details of the road. To this purpose, the identified area was surveyed using high to low frequency antennas with 2000 MHz, 900 MHz, 600 MHz and 200 MHz central frequencies of investigation. Scans were performed at 1m

Investigation of the construct of trait emotional intelligence in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Mavroveli, Stella; Petrides, K V; Shove, Chloe; Whitehead, Amanda

2008-12-01

This paper discusses the construct of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI or trait emotional self-efficacy) with emphasis on measurement in children. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Child Form (TEIQue-CF) is introduced and its development and theoretical background are briefly explained. It is shown in two independent studies that the TEIQue-CF has satisfactory levels of internal consistency (alpha = 0.76 and alpha = 0.73, respectively) and temporal stability [r = 0.79 and r ((corrected)) = 1.00]. Trait EI scores were generally unrelated to proxies of cognitive ability, as hypothesized in trait EI theory (Petrides et al. in Matthews et al. (eds) Emotional intelligence: knowns and unknowns -- series in affective science. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 151-166). They also differentiated between pupils with unauthorized absences or exclusions from school and controls. Trait EI correlated positively with teacher-rated positive behavior and negatively with negative behavior (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, and hyperactivity).

Road user behaviour changes following a self-explaining roads intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackie, Hamish W; Charlton, Samuel G; Baas, Peter H; Villasenor, Pablo C

2013-01-01

The self-explaining roads (SER) approach uses road designs that evoke correct expectations and driving behaviours from road users to create a safe and user-friendly road network. Following the implementation of an SER process and retrofitting of local and collector roads in a suburb within Auckland City, lower speeds on local roads and less variation in speed on both local and collector roads were achieved, along with a closer match between actual and perceived safe speeds. Preliminary analyses of crash data shows that the project has resulted in a 30% reduction crash numbers and an 86% reduction in crash costs per annum, since the road changes were completed. In order to further understand the outcomes from this project, a study was carried out to measure the effects of the SER intervention on the activity and behaviour of all road users. Video was collected over nine separate days, at nine different locations, both before and after SER construction. Road user behaviour categories were developed for all potential road users at different location types and then used to code the video data. Following SER construction, on local roads there was a relatively higher proportion of pedestrians, less uniformity in vehicle lane keeping and less indicating by motorists along with less through traffic, reflecting a more informal/low speed local road environment. Pedestrians were less constrained on local roads following SER construction, possibly reflecting a perceptually safer and more user-friendly environment. These behaviours were not generally evident on collector roads, a trend also shown by the previous study of speed changes. Given that one of the objectives of SER is to match road user behaviour with functionally different road categories, the road user behaviour differences demonstrated on different road types within the SER trial area provides further reinforcement of a successful SER trial. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impacts of disturbance initiated by road construction in a subtropical cloud forest in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

Lydia P. Olander; F.N Scatena; Whendee L. Silver

1998-01-01

The impacts of road construction and the spread of exotic vegetation, which are common threats to upper elevation tropical forests, were evaluated in the subtropical cloud forests of Puerto Rico. The vegetation, soil and microclimate of 6-month-old road®lls, 35-year-old road®lls and mature forest with and without grass understories were compared. Recent road®lls had...

Complex solution of problem of all-season construction of roads and pipelines on universal composite pontoon units

Science.gov (United States)

Ryabkov, A. V.; Stafeeva, N. A.; Ivanov, V. A.; Zakuraev, A. F.

2018-05-01

A complex construction consisting of a universal floating pontoon road for laying pipelines in automatic mode on its body all year round and in any weather for Siberia and the Far North has been designed. A new method is proposed for the construction of pipelines on pontoon modules, which are made of composite materials. Pontoons made of composite materials for bedding pipelines with track-forming guides for automated wheeled transport, pipelayer, are designed. The proposed system eliminates the construction of a road along the route, ensures the buoyancy and smoothness of the self-propelled automated stacker in the form of a "centipede", which has a number of significant advantages in the construction and operation of the entire complex in the swamp and watered areas without overburden.

Environmental impact assessment of wood ash utilization in forest road construction and maintenance--A field study.

Science.gov (United States)

Oburger, Eva; Jäger, Anna; Pasch, Alexander; Dellantonio, Alex; Stampfer, Karl; Wenzel, Walter W

2016-02-15

The ever increasing use of wood material as fuel for green energy production requires innovative, environmentally safe strategies for recycling of the remaining wood ash. Utilizing wood ash in forest road construction and maintenance to improve mechanical stability has been suggested as a feasible recycling option. To investigate the environmental impact of wood ash application in forest road maintenance, a two-year field experiment was conducted at two Austrian forest sites (Kobernausserwald (KO) (soil pH 5.5) and Weyregg (WE) (pH 7.7)) differing in their soil chemical properties. Two different ashes, one produced by grate incineration (GA) and the other by fluidized bed incineration in a mixture with 15 vol% burnt lime (FBA), were incorporated in repeated road sections at a 15:85% (V/V) ash-to-soil rate. Leaching waters from the road body were collected and analyzed for 32 environmentally relevant parameters over two years. Upon termination of the experiment, sub-road soil samples were collected and analyzed for ash-related changes in soil chemistry. Even though a larger number of parameters was affected by the ash application at the alkaline site (WE), we observed the most pronounced initial increases of pH as well as Al, As, Fe, Mn, Ni, Co, Cu, Mo, and NO2(−) concentrations in leachates beneath GA-treated road bodies at Kobernausserwald due to the lower soil buffer capacity at this site. Despite the observed effects our results indicate that, when specific requirements are met (i.e. appropriate ash quality, sufficient soil buffer capacity below the road body, and single time-point ash incorporation within several decades), wood ash application in forest road construction is generally environmentally acceptable.

Some effects of logging and associated road construction on northern California streams

Science.gov (United States)

James W. Burns

1972-01-01

Abstract - The effects of logging and associated road construction on four California trout and salmon streams were investigated from 1966 through 1969. This study included measurements of streambed sedimentation, water quality, fish food abundance, and stream nursery capacity. Logging was found to be compatible with anadromous fish production when adequate attention...

Developing design methods of concrete mix with microsilica additives for road construction

Science.gov (United States)

Dmitrienko, Vladimir; Shrivel, Igor; Kokunko, Irina; Pashkova, Olga

2017-10-01

Based on the laboratory test results, regression equations having standard cone and concrete strength, to determine the available amount of cement, water and microsilica were obtained. The joint solution of these equations allowed the researchers to develop the algorithm of designing heavy concrete compositions with microsilica additives for road construction.

Cost of and soil loss on "minimum-standard" forest truck roads constructed in the central Appalachians

Science.gov (United States)

J. N. Kochenderfer; G. W. Wendel; H. Clay Smith

1984-01-01

A "minimum-standard" forest truck road that provides efficient and environmentally acceptable access for several forest activities is described. Cost data are presented for eight of these roads constructed in the central Appalachians. The average cost per mile excluding gravel was $8,119. The range was $5,048 to $14,424. Soil loss was measured from several...

Construction of Three-Dimensional Road Surface and Application on Interaction between Vehicle and Road

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Yongjie

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The quantitative description is given to three-dimensional micro and macro self-similar characteristics of road surface from the perspective of fractal geometry using FBM stochastic midpoint displacement and diamond-square algorithm in conjunction with fractal characteristics and statistical characteristics of standard pavement determined by estimation method of box-counting dimension. The comparative analysis between reconstructed three-dimensional road surface spectrum and theoretical road surface spectrum and correlation coefficient demonstrate the high reconstruction accuracy of fractal reconstructed road spectrum. Furthermore, the bump zone is taken as an example to reconstruct a more arbitrary 3D road model through isomorphism of special road surface with stochastic road surface model. Measurement is taken to assume the tire footprint on road surface to be a rectangle, where the pressure distribution is expressed with mean stiffness, while the contact points in the contact area are replaced with a number of springs. Two-DOF vehicle is used as an example to analyze the difference between three-dimensional multipoint-and-plane contact and traditional point contact model. Three-dimensional road surface spectrum provides a more accurate description of the impact effect of tire on road surface, thereby laying a theoretical basis for studies on the dynamical process of interaction of vehicle-road surface and the road friendliness.

Comparing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Poland and Denmark for Road Construction in Relation to Wildlife and Nature Protection : Report for Poland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sienkiewicz, J.; Adrados, L. C.; Briggs, L

Project : Fauna Passages under Selected Roads in Poland - Education, Monitoring and Construction - Part A. DANCEE M124/031-0212......Project : Fauna Passages under Selected Roads in Poland - Education, Monitoring and Construction - Part A. DANCEE M124/031-0212...

[Purveyors of technology: provincial engineers and the construction of road infrastructure in Minas Gerais].

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, Lidiany Silva

2011-01-01

The article analyzes the role played by engineers in the construction of road infrastructure in Minas Gerais between the 1840s and 1880s. Building and providing regular maintenance for roads and bridges was a task carried out by the Minas Gerais provincial government, which since the 1830s had a specific agency assigned to designing, building, and maintaining public communication routes. Engineers were part of the agency from its inception, playing a significant role in designing projects and in the actual execution of certain works. The current study is grounded in administrative documentation in which the details of work progress are reported to the provincial government. The gathered records provide technical, administrative, and financial information, along with data on labor power and the agents engaged in construction works.

Impact of a Newly Constructed Motor Vehicle Road on Altitude Illness in the Nepal Himalayas.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisman, Jonathan; Deonarain, Dinesh; Basnyat, Buddha

2017-12-01

This study investigated the impact that motor vehicle travel along a newly constructed road has on altitude illness (including acute mountain sickness, high-altitude cerebral edema, and high-altitude pulmonary edema). The new road from Besisahar (760 m) to Manang (3540 m) in Nepal was completed in December 2014. We enrolled all patients diagnosed with altitude illness at the Himalayan Rescue Association Manang clinic in fall 2016. Phi coefficients were calculated to test for an association between Nepali ethnicity and rapid ascent by motor vehicle. A retrospective review looked at all patients with altitude illness from fall (September-November) 2010 to spring (February-May) 2016. In fall 2016, more than half (54%) of patients with altitude illness traveled to Manang by motor vehicle, and one-third (33%) reached Manang from low altitude (Besisahar) in less than 48 hours. Nepali nationality had a significant association with motor vehicle travel (phi +0.69, P road (P constructed road from Besisahar to Manang appears to be related to a significant increase in the number of patients with all forms of altitude illness, especially among Nepalis. The authors believe that educational interventions emphasizing prevention are urgently needed. Copyright © 2017 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Radiation load of the electro-thermal production of phosphorus. Part 2. The inhalation dose in road construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erkens, W.H.H.; Hermans, P.M.J.A.; Timmermans, C.W.M.

2003-01-01

The phosphate ore which is processed by Thermphos International in Vlissingen, Netherlands, to produce element phosphorus contains circa 1 Bq per gram uranium 238. As a result of this production process radionuclides are emitted and slags that contain natural radioisotopes are formed. The slags can be used as a building material for roads and water works. During the production of phosphorus the waste material calcinate is formed as well. Operators, working in the production process of phosphorus and laborers, working in road construction and hydraulic engineering inhale radioisotopes. In two articles attention will be paid to the inhalation doses, how the doses are measured, measures that were taken to reduce and control the doses, and the ALARA-principles. This article is focused on the inhalation doses for road construction workers [nl

[Effects of road construction on regional vegetation types].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shi-Liang; Liu, Qi; Wang, Cong; Yang, Jue-Jie; Deng, Li

2013-05-01

As a regional artificial disturbance component, road exerts great effects on vegetation types, and plays a substantial role in defining vegetation distribution to a certain extent. Aiming at the tropical rainforest degradation and artificial forest expansion in Yunnan Province of Southwest China, this paper analyzed the effects of road network extension on regional vegetation types. In the Province, different classes of roads had different effects on the vegetation types, but no obvious regularity was observed in the effects on the patch areas of different vegetation types due to the great variations of road length and affected distance. However, the vegetation patch number was more affected by lower class roads because of their wide distribution. As for different vegetation types, the vegetations on cultivated land were most affected by roads, followed by Castanopsis hystrix and Schima wallichii forests. Road network formation contributed most to the vegetation fragmentation, and there existed significant correlations between the human disturbance factors including village- and road distributions.

Assessment of the PCDD/F fate from MSWI residue used in road construction in France.

Science.gov (United States)

Badreddine, R; François, D

2009-01-01

MSWI fly ash is susceptible to contain high amount of polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzo-furans. However, the use of MSWI residue for road construction started in France at a period when MSWI Bottom Ash and MSWI fly ash were not separated. From four old road sites, MSWI residue, road soils, reference soils and geo-textiles were sampled and their PCDD/F contents were analyzed. MSWI residue show a great heterogeneity but also high amounts of PCDD/F (14-2960 ng I-TEQ kg(-1)dm). Soils underlying the road show less heterogeneity and PCDD/F contents between 0.57 and 7.23 ng I-TEQ kg(-1)dm, lower than ordinary soils. Moreover, the specific analysis of the 17 toxic PCDD/F congeners (notably the 2,3,7,8-TetraCDD) indicates the very low harmfulness of road soils. The study also allows to assert the relation between the MSWI residue particle size and the PCDD/F content.

Economic comparisons of haul road construction versus forwarding versus longer skid distances

Science.gov (United States)

Michael D. Erickson; Curt C. Hassler; Chris B. LeDoux

1992-01-01

There currently exists no set of basic guidelines for Appalachian loggers to use in the decision making process for selecting the best way to harvest a tract of timber. Specifically, guidelines are needed for deciding between the alternatives of constructing truck haul roads to access an area or other alternatives such as skidding or forwarding timber longer distances...

Sleep deprivation reduces perceived emotional intelligence and constructive thinking skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Killgore, William D S; Kahn-Greene, Ellen T; Lipizzi, Erica L; Newman, Rachel A; Kamimori, Gary H; Balkin, Thomas J

2008-07-01

Insufficient sleep can adversely affect a variety of cognitive abilities, ranging from simple alertness to higher-order executive functions. Although the effects of sleep loss on mood and cognition are well documented, there have been no controlled studies examining its effects on perceived emotional intelligence (EQ) and constructive thinking, abilities that require the integration of affect and cognition and are central to adaptive functioning. Twenty-six healthy volunteers completed the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQi) and the Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI) at rested baseline and again after 55.5 and 58 h of continuous wakefulness, respectively. Relative to baseline, sleep deprivation was associated with lower scores on Total EQ (decreased global emotional intelligence), Intrapersonal functioning (reduced self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, and self-actualization), Interpersonal functioning (reduced empathy toward others and quality of interpersonal relationships), Stress Management skills (reduced impulse control and difficulty with delay of gratification), and Behavioral Coping (reduced positive thinking and action orientation). Esoteric Thinking (greater reliance on formal superstitions and magical thinking processes) was increased. These findings are consistent with the neurobehavioral model suggesting that sleep loss produces temporary changes in cerebral metabolism, cognition, emotion, and behavior consistent with mild prefrontal lobe dysfunction.

Engineering geological and geophysical investigations for road construction in the municipality of Sisimiut, West Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingeman-Nielsen, Thomas; Clausen, Helle; Foged, Niels Nielsen

2007-01-01

In connection with a road construction project between the towns of Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq in Central West Greenland, the Arctic Technology Centre has been involved in prospecting and site investigations. This paper presents a selection of results concerning the climatic conditions...... and construction work in order to counter the effects of permafrost degradation and increased active layer thickness....

A preliminary study to assess the construct validity of a cultural intelligence measure on a South African sample

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Bright Mahembe

2014-09-01

Research purpose: The purpose of the current study was to assess the construct validity of the CQS on a South African sample. The results of the psychometric assessment offer some important insights into the factor structure of the cultural intelligence construct. Motivation for the study: The current study sought to provide some practical validity confirmation of the CQS for the effective management of cultural diversity in the South African context. Research approach, design and method: The CQS was administered on a non-probability sample of 229 young adults in South Africa. Item analysis was performed to ascertain reliability. Exploratory factor analysis was used to test the unidimensionality of CQS subscales. The first-order and second-order factor structures underlying contemporary models of cultural intelligence were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Main findings: Results indicated that the CQS is a reliable and valid measure of cultural intelligence as evidenced by the high internal consistency coefficients in all the subscales. Good construct validity for both the first-order and second-order models was obtained via confirmatory factor analysis. Practical/managerial implications: The study finds good measurement properties of the CQS in a South African context. The CQS can be confidently used for applications such as selecting, training and developing a more culturally competent workforce. Contribution: The study extends the body of knowledge on the reliability and construct validity of the CQS in the South African milieu. It further indicates that cultural intelligence can be represented by a general cultural intelligence factor that drives more specific dimensions of cultural intelligence.

Mindwaves: Story of How a Girl Constructs Higher Order, Verbal Linguistic Intelligence in a Multiple Intelligences Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Fluellen, Jerry

Howard Gardner and Jerome Bruner have given much to teachers who want to know how the minds of children grow. This story of a girl's construction of higher order, verbal linguistic intelligence is also theirs. Ideas they created have been cloned to fit a big city, public school classroom of African American 4th graders, each with a set of multiple…

IMPROVEMENT OF TRAFFIC SAFETY BY ROAD-VEHICLE COOPERATIVE SMART CRUISE SYSTEMS

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Akio HOSAKA

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Hopes have been pinned on the development of intelligent systems for road traffic as a way of solving road traffic safety and other such issues. To be sure, work is moving ahead with the incorporation of intelligent systems into automobiles but, with automobiles alone, there are limits in areas such as environment recognition. Compensation for the limits imposed by automobiles can be provided by the support given to environment recognition and related areas of road infrastructure. This paper examines the special features of vehicles and road infrastructure, and describes what role is played by roads and what role is played by vehicles. On the basis of the observations made, road-vehicle cooperative support systems called “smart cruise systems”, which are currently being developed, will be introduced and the expected effects of these systems will be outlined.

Hydrologic Impact of Harvesting and Road Construction in Mountainous Regime of Pacific Northwest

Science.gov (United States)

Du, E.; Hubbart, J.; Gravelle, J.; Link, T.

2006-12-01

The impact of forest management practices on hydrologic flow regimes have been debated for years. Vegetation removal and forest road construction are two anthropogenic disturbances that may affect watershed hydrology. The Mica Creek Experimental Watershed (MCEW), ID was initiated by Potlatch Corporation in 1990 to evaluate how contemporary forest harvest practices may impact water flows, quality and aquatic health. The study was recently expanded to identify the specific mechanisms producing the observed flow responses. The extensive and long term monitoring program in MCEW enables the validation of simulated internal watershed processes, thereby increasing our confidence in the ability of models to simulate the hydrologic effects of land cover change. The spatially-distributed, physically-based Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM), will be used to deconvolve the effects of canopy change, forest road construction, and climate variability in MCEW. First, the model performance will be assessed for pre-harvest, post-road, and post-harvest experimental periods. The model will then be used to explore how the flow regime would be expected to differ under historical, alternative management and future scenarios. A retrospective study of fully-harvested and increased forest road density (as opposed to current road density of 3 to 5 percent by surface area) will be compared with contemporary management practices. The impact of harvest patterns on sub-catchment flows will be assessed to understand the degree to which flow synchronization or desynchronization on confluent streams might affect cumulative downstream flow regime. Future scenarios will assess the potential impact of climatic variability that is expected to raise the transient snow zone and increase the wintertime rain to snow ratios in the Pacific Northwest. Variables such as harvest patterns and climate variation will be manipulated to project whether the hydrologic effects of land cover and

Development of econometric models for cost and time over-runs: an empirical study of major road construction projects in pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, A.; Chaudhary, M.A.

2016-01-01

The construction industry is flourishing worldwide and contributes about 10% to the GDP of the world i.e. up to the tune of 4.6 Trillion US dollars. It employs almost 7% of the total employee dpersons and, consumes around 40% of the total energy. The Pakistani construction sector has displayed impressive growth in recent past years. The efficient road network is a key part of construction business and plays a significant role in the economic uplift of country. The overruns in costs and delays in completion of projects are very common phenomena and it has also been observed that the projects involving construction of roads also face problems of delays and cost over runs especially in developing countries. The causes of cost overruns and delays in road projects being undertaken by the premier road construction organization of Pakistan National Highway Authority (NHA) have been considered in this study. It has been done specifically in the context of impact of cause(s) determined from project report of a total of one hundred and thirty one (131) projects. The ten causative factors which we recognize as Design, Planning and Scheduling Related problems, Financial Constraint Related reasons, Social Problem Related reasons, Technical Reasons, Administrative Reasons, Scope Increase, Specification Changes, Cost Escalation Related reasons, Non-Availability of Equipment or Material and Force Majeure play a commanding role in determination of the cost and time over runs. It has also been observed that among these identified causes, the factors of Administrative Reason, Design, Planning and Scheduling Related, Technical Reasons and Force Majeure are the most significant reasons in cost and time overruns. Whereas, the Cost Escalation related reasons has the least impact on cost increase and delays. The NHA possesses a financial worth of around Rs. 36 billion and with an annual turn over amounting to Rs. 22 billion is responsible to perform road construction project in entire

Identifying unstable sites on logging roads

Science.gov (United States)

R. M. Rice; J. Lewis

1986-01-01

Logging roads are an important source of forestry-related erosion. The amount of erosion on a forest road is determined by the interaction between how the road is constructed and maintained and the environment in which it is built. The roads in this study were constructed with large bulldozers, and most excavated material was sidecast. The roads studied were...

Map Matching for Intelligent Speed Adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tradisauskas, Nerius; Juhl, Jens; Lahrmann, Harry

2007-01-01

The availability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems enables sophisticated vehicle guidance and advisory systems such as Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) systems. In ISA systems, it is essential to be able to position vehicles within a road network. Because digital road networks as well as G...

ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE IN SLOVAKIA

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Dávid Šimko

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the risks associated with the process of constructing the road infrastructure. It´s showing us how many different types of risks threats this process and what can happen if we ignore them. In the article are these risks divided in different groups according to the place in this process where they arise, they are also singly defined and described. In the end of the article is possible to find different proposals for the elimination of these risks and also there are mentioned a few reasons why is building of the road infrastructure in Slovakia so slow.

Soil density and moisture content on two unused forest roads during first 30 months after construction

Science.gov (United States)

J.D. Helvey; J.N. Kochenderfer; J.N. Kochenderfer

1990-01-01

Reports results of soil density and soil moisture measurements on two roads in the central Appalachians over a 30-month period. Density increased slightly during the measurement period at most locations. Almost all of the density changes occurred during the first few months after construction. Moisture content decreased during the first few months after construction,...

Research Algorithm on Building Intelligent Transportation System based on RFID Technology

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Chuanqi Chen

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Intelligent transportation system to all aspects of organic integration of human, vehicle, road and environment of the transport system, so that the operation of functional integration and intelligent vehicle, road. Intelligent transportation system (ITS to improve the efficiency of traffic system by increasing the effective use and management of traffic information is mainly composed of information collection and input, output, control strategy, implementation of the subsystems of data transmission and communication subsystem. The RFID reader to wireless communication through the antenna and RFID tag can achieve a write operation on the tag identification codes and memory read data. The paper proposes research on building intelligent transportation system based on RFID technology. Experimental results show that ITS system can effectively improve the traffic situation, improve the utilization rate of the existing road resource and save social cost.

Behavior of crushed rock aggregates used in road construction exposed to cold climate conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Kuznetsova, Elena; Pérez Fortes, Ana Patricia; Anastasio, Sara; Willy Danielsen, Svein

2016-04-01

Presently, about 90% of the aggregate production in Europe comes from naturally occurring resources: quarries and pits. Due to the increased demand for sand and gravel for construction purposes, not only in building but also in road construction, the last decade has seen a significant trend towards the use of more crushed rock aggregates. This resource has been more and more preferred to sand and gravel thanks to the significant technological development of its process and use phase. The performance of the aggregates is generally evaluated depending on three main factors: the geological origin (mineral composition, texture, structure, degree of weathering), the aggregate processing (crushing, sieving, washing, storing) and the user technology for a specific area of use (e.g. road construction, asphalt binders). Nevertheless climatic conditions should carefully be taken into account in application such as road construction. Large temperature gradients and high levels of humidity are known to significantly affect the performance of the material. Although the problem is, at least in the asphalt field, considered mostly from the binder point of view, this article aims to investigate the effect of aggregate properties on road performance in cold climatic conditions. Two different climatic areas will be taken into account: Norway and Spain. While both these countries are listed among the main European producers of aggregates, they represent significantly different climatic regions. While Norwegian weather is characterized by humid cold winters and relatively mild summers, Spain has temperate climate with cold regions in mountainous and internal areas. Both countries have been significantly affected by climate change with increasing temperature variations and instability. At the same time, similar winter maintenance measures, including the use of a considerable amount of solid and liquid chemicals to avoid ice formation (e.g. NaCl) and/or to provide better friction, are

Quantification of the effects of environmental leaching factors on emissions from bottom ash in road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Ecke, Holger; Aberg, Annika

2006-06-01

The re-use of bottom ash in road construction necessitates a tool to predict the impact of trace metals on the surroundings over the lifetime of the road. The aim of this work was to quantify the effect of environmental factors that are supposed to influence leaching, so as to suggest guidelines in developing a leaching procedure for the testing of incineration residues re-used in road constructions. The effects of pH, L/S (liquid-to-solid ratio), leaching time, and leaching atmosphere on the leachate concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were studied using a two-level full factorial design. The most significant factor for all responses was the pH, followed by L/S, though the importance of pH and L/S is often ignored in leaching tests. Multiple linear regression models describing the variation in leaching data had R(2) values ranging from 61-97%. A two-step pH-stat leaching procedure that considers pH as well as L/S and leaching time was suggested.

Marine dredged sediments as new materials resource for road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Siham, Kamali; Fabrice, Bernard; Edine, Abriak Nor; Patrick, Degrugilliers

2008-01-01

Large volumes of sediments are dredged each year in Europe in order to maintain harbour activities. With the new European Union directives, harbour managers are encouraged to find environmentally sound solutions for these materials. This paper investigates the potential uses of Dunkirk marine dredged sediment as a new material resource for road building. The mineralogical composition of sediments is evaluated using X-ray diffraction and microscopy analysis. Since sediments contain a high amount of water, a dewatering treatment has been used. Different suitable mixtures, checking specific geotechnical criteria as required in French standards, are identified. The mixtures are then optimized for an economical reuse. The mechanical tests conducted on these mixtures are compaction, bearing capacity, compression and tensile tests. The experimental results show the feasibility of the beneficial use of Dunkirk marine dredged sand and sediments as a new material for the construction of foundation and base layers for roads. Further research is now needed to prove the resistance of this new material to various environmental impacts (e.g., frost damage).

Analysis on the Long Term Effect of Trial Test Road Constructed on Batu Pahat Soft Clay (BPSC) at Recess UTHM

Science.gov (United States)

Idrus, M. M. M.; Edayu, A. E.; Adnan, Z.; Ismail, B.

2016-07-01

The reinforcement used in soil for construction of roads on the soft clay is very important as it will determine the level of service of the road after it was built. Damage or defects on the road surface to be an indicator of the level of the road has dropped and shows the deformation of the road. For this research, an analysis has carried out on the long-term effect of trial test road constructed on Batu Pahat Soft Clay (BPSC) at RECESS UTHM. Through this research, the reinforcement using Rawell Geosynthetic Clay Liner (RGCL) was the best with the stability is 14964 N, a low flow is 2.69mm, stiffness modulus is 1766 MPa, the peak load is 739.4 N and a lower horizontal deformation which is 1.71 µm compared Woven Geotextile section and section without geotextile [1] [9]. In terms of deformation can be seen clearly from physical observations that section without geotextile suffered significant damage than others. Settlement of road can also be analyzed by a longitudinal section that plotted based on the result of leveling work. After that, settlements are more visible way on the right side of the road trial. Through lab tests conducted, it indicate that the coring samples obtained from sites of each section meets the specifications set by the Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) in terms of stability, flow and stiffness [1]. Through this study, a trial road built on soft soil can be used as a test site because of the uniqueness of these roads which has three different types of reinforcements.

GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE IT ROAD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

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Jacek CHMIELEWSKI

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article presents the role, need and idea of implementing an IT system to manage road safety, which is a proposal of the practical implementation of the Gambit programme elements prepared for the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. The usefulness of constructing the system has been presented, together with its users, the proposed content and possibility of its funding. The whole article has been summarised by outlining the opportunities and threats that may occur in the course of system implementation.

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE FOREST ROAD PLANNING AND ROAD GROUND

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Hafız Hulusi ACAR

2001-01-01

Full Text Available It is required that the capital used for construction of road must be technical, economical and used in its location. For this reason, the projects must be prepared for forest roads and all operations belong to roads must be guided according to these projects. In this investigation, available forest road network plan and constructed forest roads were investigated at the point of view technical and forest transportation. After this, it were studied to reach the highest exploitation rate as can as possible. Available forest road density were found as 11.9 m/ha in forest areas for Yesiltepe District. In this condition, exploitation rate was 78 %. After that, optimum forest road network were planned and road density were reached to 22 m/ha and exploitation rate to 86 %. Directed sample method were used from taking soil sample methods and samples were took in mixed system. According to results of the experiments, available forest roads were found in a good degree at the point of view endurance, pressing and transportation capacity. With these results, it is aimed to reach higher exploitation rate with given attention to landslide areas during planning of forest roads on the mountain areas such as Black Sea Region. For this reason, required importance must be given to planning of truck and logging roads. Ground analysis must be done and took care before during planning process of forest road network.

Neurobiomimetic constructs for intelligent unmanned systems and robotics

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Jerome J.; Shah, Danelle C.; DeAngelus, Marianne A.

2014-06-01

This paper discusses a paradigm we refer to as neurobiomimetic, which involves emulations of brain neuroanatomy and neurobiology aspects and processes. Neurobiomimetic constructs include rudimentary and down-scaled computational representations of brain regions, sub-regions, and synaptic connectivity. Many different instances of neurobiomimetic constructs are possible, depending on various aspects such as the initial conditions of synaptic connectivity, number of neuron elements in regions, connectivity specifics, and more, and we refer to these instances as `animats'. While downscaled for computational feasibility, the animats are very large constructs; the animats implemented in this work contain over 47,000 neuron elements and over 720,000 synaptic connections. The paper outlines aspects of the animats implemented, spatial memory and learning cognitive task, the virtual-reality environment constructed to study the animat performing that task, and discussion of results. In a broad sense, we argue that the neurobiomimetic paradigm pursued in this work constitutes a particularly promising path to artificial cognition and intelligent unmanned systems. Biological brains readily cope with challenges of real-life tasks that consistently prove beyond even the most sophisticated algorithmic approaches known. At the cross-over point of neuroscience, cognitive science and computer science, paradigms such as the one pursued in this work aim to mimic the mechanisms of biological brains and as such, we argue, may lead to machines with abilities closer to those of biological species.

Computational Intelligence for Engineering Systems

CERN Document Server

Madureira, A; Vale, Zita

2011-01-01

"Computational Intelligence for Engineering Systems" provides an overview and original analysis of new developments and advances in several areas of computational intelligence. Computational Intelligence have become the road-map for engineers to develop and analyze novel techniques to solve problems in basic sciences (such as physics, chemistry and biology) and engineering, environmental, life and social sciences. The contributions are written by international experts, who provide up-to-date aspects of the topics discussed and present recent, original insights into their own experien

Study on road sign recognition in LabVIEW

Science.gov (United States)

Panoiu, M.; Rat, C. L.; Panoiu, C.

2016-02-01

Road and traffic sign identification is a field of study that can be used to aid the development of in-car advisory systems. It uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to extract the road signs from outdoor images acquired by a camera in uncontrolled lighting conditions where they may be occluded by other objects, or may suffer from problems such as color fading, disorientation, variations in shape and size, etc. An automatic means of identifying traffic signs, in these conditions, can make a significant contribution to develop an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) that continuously monitors the driver, the vehicle, and the road. Road and traffic signs are characterized by a number of features which make them recognizable from the environment. Road signs are located in standard positions and have standard shapes, standard colors, and known pictograms. These characteristics make them suitable for image identification. Traffic sign identification covers two problems: traffic sign detection and traffic sign recognition. Traffic sign detection is meant for the accurate localization of traffic signs in the image space, while traffic sign recognition handles the labeling of such detections into specific traffic sign types or subcategories [1].

Determining the optimal index of heat stress in foundry, die casting and road construction industries using FAHP_Topsis

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Maryam Dehghanipoor

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Heat stress is one of the harmful risks in casting and die casting industries, which can not only cause work-related diseases but also can impair the performance and safety of workers. Since the indicators that are used to evaluate heat stress are very different, it is very difficult to choose a suitable index. The aim of this study was to determine the optimum heat stress index in foundry, die-cast, and road construction industries using FAHP and Topsis methods. Material and Method: In order to determine optimum heat stress index in foundry, die-cast, and road construction industries, first, the prioritization criteria were defined by experts (including ease of measurement, measurement accuracy, comprehensiveness, time, cost, and correlation. Then, considering these criteria, the best heat stress index was determined based on experts’ opinions and using FAHP and Topsis methods. Result: The results of this study suggest that given the current conditions and criteria, WBGT and P4SR is the best indices for foundry, die casting and construction. Conclusion: The results showed that according to comprehensiveness, accuracy and correlation criteria, the WBGT index is considered as the best indicator of heat stress assessment in foundry, die-cast and road construction industries. Moreover, the HSI ranked in the last place due to the complexity and cost of its calculation.

Impact of government and corporate strategy on the performance of technology projects in road construction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Caerteling, Jasper; Halman, Johannes I.M.; Song, Michael; Song, Michael; Doree, Andries G.

2009-01-01

In this study, we focus on road construction and analyze technology development projects. Based on the business strategy literature and literature on technology policy, we test the relative importance of a firm's strategies and government as a buyer and champion. Our empirical findings stress the

Developing improved opportunities for the recycling and reuse of materials in road, bridge, and construction projects.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

The use of recycled and reused materials in transportation construction reduces consumption of non-renewable : resources. The objective of this research was to develop opportunities for improving the recycling and reuse of : materials in road and bri...

THE RELATION BETWEEN DRIVER BEHAVIOR AND INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM

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Alica Kalašová

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The main objective of Slovakia’s transport policy is to reduce the number of traffic accidents and increase safety on our roads. Implementation of intelligent transport systems presents one of the possibilities how to meet this goal. Acceptance of these systems by motor vehicle drivers and other road traffic participants is necessary in order for them to fulfill their purpose. Only if the drivers will accept intelligent transport systems, it is possible to flexibly and effectively manage road traffic flexibly and effectively. From the perspective of a driver it concerns, in particular, the possibility of using alternative routes when traffic accidents or other obstacles occurs on the route that would significantly affect the continuity and safety of road traffic. Thanks to these technologies, it is possible to choose the appropriate route while driving, of course based on the criterion, which the driver considers the most important during the transport from origin to destination (driving time, distance from origin to destination, fuel consumption, quality of infrastructure. Information isare provided to the driver through variable message signs or directly in the vehicle (RDS-TMC. Another advantage of intelligent transport systems is a positive impact on psychological well-being of the driver while driving. Additional information about the possible obstacles, weather conditions and dangerous situations that occur on the roads as well as alternative routes are provided to the driver well in advance. This paper is mainly focused on how the drivers perceive the influence of intelligent transport systems in Žilina region.

Beyond the material grave: Life Cycle Impact Assessment of leaching from secondary materials in road and earth constructions.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwab, Oliver; Bayer, Peter; Juraske, Ronnie; Verones, Francesca; Hellweg, Stefanie

2014-10-01

In industrialized countries, large amounts of mineral wastes are produced. They are re-used in various ways, particularly in road and earth constructions, substituting primary resources such as gravel. However, they may also contain pollutants, such as heavy metals, which may be leached to the groundwater. The toxic impacts of these emissions are so far often neglected within Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of products or waste treatment services and thus, potentially large environmental impacts are currently missed. This study aims at closing this gap by assessing the ecotoxic impacts of heavy metal leaching from industrial mineral wastes in road and earth constructions. The flows of metals such as Sb, As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, V and Zn originating from three typical constructions to the environment are quantified, their fate in the environment is assessed and potential ecotoxic effects evaluated. For our reference country, Germany, the industrial wastes that are applied as Granular Secondary Construction Material (GSCM) carry more than 45,000 t of diverse heavy metals per year. Depending on the material quality and construction type applied, up to 150 t of heavy metals may leach to the environment within the first 100 years after construction. Heavy metal retardation in subsoil can potentially reduce the fate to groundwater by up to 100%. One major challenge of integrating leaching from constructions into macro-scale LCA frameworks is the high variability in micro-scale technical and geographical factors, such as material qualities, construction types and soil types. In our work, we consider a broad range of parameter values in the modeling of leaching and fate. This allows distinguishing between the impacts of various road constructions, as well as sites with different soil properties. The findings of this study promote the quantitative consideration of environmental impacts of long-term leaching in Life Cycle Assessment, complementing site-specific risk

Strabo's roads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bekker-Nielsen, Tønnes

2017-01-01

in the Geography, and the world-view, of Strabo. Strabo did not take much interest in roads as artefacts or monuments, in the technology of road construction, or in the mythological and historical background of individual roads. He is primarily interested in roads from a functional point of view. For the general......To ancient geographers, roads were important not only as arteries of communication, but also as sources of information, since mileages measured along the Roman highways were among the very few precise distances available to the ancient geographer. This chapter explores the place of roads...... or the statesman, roads provide routes of communication; for the systematic geographer, they provide measured distances and directions. Through case studies of Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece and Anatolia, this chapter attempts to reach a better understanding of the place of roads in Strabo’s universe, especially two...

The study of KBP of road construction workers of highway AIDS prevention project before and after intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dan; Dong, Si-Ping; Gao, Guang-Ming; Fan, Ming-Yu; Zhang, Zong-Jiu; Fang, Peng-Qian

2013-10-01

To get scientific basis for further health education through the research of the road construction workers' KBP before and after the interventions of highway AIDS prevention project. Multi-stage random sampling method was employeed to select workers of 8 sites from 14 sites along highway to investigate their AIDS knowledge, belief and performance (KBP) before and after highway AIDS prevention project. Over 90% of the investigated workers had ever heard about AIDS, and the non-skilled workers of lower educational level improved more after intervention. The correct answer rate of the three transmitting ways of AIDS of drivers which is the focused group of highway before and after intervention had the obvious statistical significance (Proad construction workers is effective and further health education of HIV prevention should be carried out among the road construction workers to improve their knowledge and awareness of avoiding the high-risk behaviors. Copyright © 2013 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Evaluation of Forest Road Standards and Road Gradients in Turkey in View of FAO Criteria and Some EU Practices

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Sadık Çağlar

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Forest roads are one of the inevitable infrastructures in conducting forestry operations. Around 1000 km under standardized forest roads have been largely repaired in addition to construction of 1000 km new forest roads in Turkey. Implementing uniform road gradient along the road sections is very important in terms of transportation techniques and safety, as well as the geometrical standardizations of the forest road. In this study, current road standards, longitudinal gradient values and their limitations in forest road constructions recommended by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO and some Europe Union (EU countries were examined. Firstly, the forest road standards and their gradient values have been defined in Turkish forest road construction practices. Afterwards, the forest road standards and the gradient values applied by FAO and some EU countries were presented, and finally, the specifications were examined by comparing them with the current practices in Turkish forestry.

Application of Artificial Intelligence in Prediction of Road Freight Transportation

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Bogna Mrowczynska

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Road freight transport often requires the prediction of volume. Such knowledge is necessary to capture trends in the industry and support decision making by large and small trucking companies. The aim of the presented work is to demonstrate that application of some artificial intelligence methods can improve the accuracy of the forecasts. The first method employed was double exponential smoothing. The modification of this method has been proposed. Not only the parameters but also the initial values were set in order to minimize the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE using the artificial immune system. This change resulted in a marked improvement in the effects of minimization, and suggests that the variability of the initial value of S2 has an impact on this result. Then, the forecasting Bayesian networks method was applied. The Bayesian network approach is able to take into account not only the historical data concerning the volume of freight, but also the data related to the overall state of the national economy. This significantly improves the quality of forecasting. The application of this approach can also help in predicting the trend changes caused by overall state of economy, which is rather impossible when analysing only the historical data.

Developmental Psychology and the Construction of Intelligent System%发展心理学与智能系统构造

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

危辉

2002-01-01

A number of issues on cognitive development are researched in developmental psychology, that will be very beneficial for us to understand the essence of intelligence. In artificial intelligence giving our attention to the process of cognitive development namely is not to separate the knowledge and its acquisition process, and to study intelligence roundly while it is going to be simulated. To do so make us not only know the appearance of intelligence, but also know the inside mechanism of its working. This inspires us with a method to construct the artificial intelligent system developmentally.

The Construction of Intelligent English Teaching Model Based on Artificial Intelligence

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Xiaoguang Li

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In order to build a modernized tool platform that can help students improve their English learning efficiency according to their mastery of knowledge and personality, this paper develops an online intelligent English learning system that uses Java and artificial intelligence language Prolog as the software system. This system is a creative reflection of the thoughts of expert system in artificial intelligence. Established on the Struts Spring Hibernate lightweight JavaEE framework, the system modules are coupled with each other in a much lower degree, which is convenient to future function extension. Combined with the idea of expert system in artificial intelligence, the system developed appropriate learning strategies to help students double the learning effect with half the effort; Finally, the system takes into account the forgetting curve of memory, on which basis the knowledge that has been learned will be tested periodically, intending to spare students’ efforts to do a sea of exercises and obtain better learning results.

Beyond the material grave: Life Cycle Impact Assessment of leaching from secondary materials in road and earth constructions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwab, Oliver; Bayer, Peter; Juraske, Ronnie; Verones, Francesca; Hellweg, Stefanie

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We model environmental impacts of leaching from secondary construction material. • Industrial wastes in construction contain up to 45,000 t heavy metals per year (D). • In a scenario, 150 t are leached to the environment within 100 years after construction. • All heavy metals but As, Sb and Mo are adsorbed by 20 cm subsoil in this scenario. • Environmental impacts depend on material, pollutant, construction type, and geography. - Abstract: In industrialized countries, large amounts of mineral wastes are produced. They are re-used in various ways, particularly in road and earth constructions, substituting primary resources such as gravel. However, they may also contain pollutants, such as heavy metals, which may be leached to the groundwater. The toxic impacts of these emissions are so far often neglected within Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of products or waste treatment services and thus, potentially large environmental impacts are currently missed. This study aims at closing this gap by assessing the ecotoxic impacts of heavy metal leaching from industrial mineral wastes in road and earth constructions. The flows of metals such as Sb, As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, V and Zn originating from three typical constructions to the environment are quantified, their fate in the environment is assessed and potential ecotoxic effects evaluated. For our reference country, Germany, the industrial wastes that are applied as Granular Secondary Construction Material (GSCM) carry more than 45,000 t of diverse heavy metals per year. Depending on the material quality and construction type applied, up to 150 t of heavy metals may leach to the environment within the first 100 years after construction. Heavy metal retardation in subsoil can potentially reduce the fate to groundwater by up to 100%. One major challenge of integrating leaching from constructions into macro-scale LCA frameworks is the high variability in micro-scale technical and geographical factors

Beyond the material grave: Life Cycle Impact Assessment of leaching from secondary materials in road and earth constructions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwab, Oliver [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Geography and Geoecology, Adenauerring 20, 76131 Karlsruhe (Germany); Bayer, Peter, E-mail: bayer@erdw.ethz.ch [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Geological Institute, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092 Zurich (Switzerland); Juraske, Ronnie [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Verones, Francesca [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Department of Environmental Science, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen (Netherlands); Hellweg, Stefanie [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, John-von-Neumann-Weg 9, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland)

2014-10-15

Highlights: • We model environmental impacts of leaching from secondary construction material. • Industrial wastes in construction contain up to 45,000 t heavy metals per year (D). • In a scenario, 150 t are leached to the environment within 100 years after construction. • All heavy metals but As, Sb and Mo are adsorbed by 20 cm subsoil in this scenario. • Environmental impacts depend on material, pollutant, construction type, and geography. - Abstract: In industrialized countries, large amounts of mineral wastes are produced. They are re-used in various ways, particularly in road and earth constructions, substituting primary resources such as gravel. However, they may also contain pollutants, such as heavy metals, which may be leached to the groundwater. The toxic impacts of these emissions are so far often neglected within Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of products or waste treatment services and thus, potentially large environmental impacts are currently missed. This study aims at closing this gap by assessing the ecotoxic impacts of heavy metal leaching from industrial mineral wastes in road and earth constructions. The flows of metals such as Sb, As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, V and Zn originating from three typical constructions to the environment are quantified, their fate in the environment is assessed and potential ecotoxic effects evaluated. For our reference country, Germany, the industrial wastes that are applied as Granular Secondary Construction Material (GSCM) carry more than 45,000 t of diverse heavy metals per year. Depending on the material quality and construction type applied, up to 150 t of heavy metals may leach to the environment within the first 100 years after construction. Heavy metal retardation in subsoil can potentially reduce the fate to groundwater by up to 100%. One major challenge of integrating leaching from constructions into macro-scale LCA frameworks is the high variability in micro-scale technical and geographical factors

Study on Plastic Coated Overburnt Brick Aggregate as an Alternative Material for Bituminous Road Construction

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Dipankar Sarkar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available There are different places in India where natural stone aggregates are not available for constructional work. Plastic coated OBBA can solve the problem of shortage of stone aggregate to some extent. The engineers are always encouraged to use locally available materials. The present investigation is carried out to evaluate the plastic coated OBBA as an alternative material for bituminous road construction. Shredded waste plastics are mixed with OBBA in different percentages as 0.38, 0.42, 0.46, 0.50, 0.54, and 0.60 of the weight of brick aggregates. Marshall Method of mix design is carried out to find the optimum bitumen content of such bituminous concrete mix prepared by plastic coated OBBA. Bulk density, Marshall Stability, flow, Marshall Quotient, ITS, TSR, stripping, fatigue life, and deformations have been determined accordingly. Marshall Stability value of 0.54 percent of plastic mix is comparatively higher than the other mixes except 0.60 percent of plastic mix. Test results are within the prescribed limit for 0.54 percent of plastic mix. There is a significant reduction in rutting characteristics of the same plastic mix. The fatigue life of the mix is also significantly higher. Thus plastic coated OBBA is found suitable in construction of bituminous concrete road.

Measured effect of emotional intelligence education in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study investigated the effects of Emotional Intelligence education in the remediation of aggressive behaviours among the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ibadan metropolis. Eighty-nine (89) member of the NURTW who were randomly selected from Gate, Molete and Iwo Road ...

The Vaendoera test road, Sweden: A case study of long-term properties of roads constructed with MSWI bottom ash; Projekt Vaendoera: En studie av laangtidsegenskaper hos vaegar anlagda med bottenaska fraan avfallsfoerbraenning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bendz, David; Arm, Maria; Westberg, Gunnar; Sjoestrand, Karin; Lyth, Martin; Wik, Ola [Swedish Geotechnical Inst., Linkoeping (Sweden); Flyhammar, Peter [Lund Inst. of Technology (Sweden). Dept. of Water Resources Engineering

2006-03-15

The accumulated effects of leaching and aging in a subbase layer of bottom ash were investigated in this study. The paved test road were constructed in 1987 in Linkoeping, Sweden, and has been used until the start of this study. The objective of this study was to investigate: (i) the accumulated effects of leaching and aging (ii) the accumulated effects of load and aging on the geotechnical properties (iii) the prerequisites for separate excavation of the bottom ash for possible reuse. The study started in September 2003 and included tests with falling weight deflectometer, triax testing on undisturbed core samples of bottom ash, sampling for chemical analysis. Three trenches were excavated in the test road, samples of the subbase layer and the subgrade were taken in the shaft walls and brought to the laboratory for leaching tests (EN 12457-2) and extraction, respectively. The extraction procedure was used to estimate extractable and chemically available fractions. It was found that the steady increase of stiffness which had been detected by falling weight deflectometer during the first years after construction had ceased. The undisturbed samples showed stiffness comparable with recently produced bottom ash from the same incineration plant, but lower stiffness if compared with the reference material of crushed rock. The permanent deformation was significantly larger for the samples compared with the crushed rock and recent (1999-2001) bottom ash from other incineration plants. The spatial distribution patterns of leachable easily soluble constituents reveal the existence of horizontal gradients, directed from the center of the road towards the shoulders of the road. This implies that horizontal transport by diffusion is the rate limiting leaching process for all easily soluble constituents underneath the pavement in a road. The bottom ash that was used in the sub-base layer was fresh at the time of the construction of the test road with a pH of about 11. Measured p

Using Intelligent Techniques in Construction Project Cost Estimation: 10-Year Survey

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Abdelrahman Osman Elfaki

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cost estimation is the most important preliminary process in any construction project. Therefore, construction cost estimation has the lion’s share of the research effort in construction management. In this paper, we have analysed and studied proposals for construction cost estimation for the last 10 years. To implement this survey, we have proposed and applied a methodology that consists of two parts. The first part concerns data collection, for which we have chosen special journals as sources for the surveyed proposals. The second part concerns the analysis of the proposals. To analyse each proposal, the following four questions have been set. Which intelligent technique is used? How have data been collected? How are the results validated? And which construction cost estimation factors have been used? From the results of this survey, two main contributions have been produced. The first contribution is the defining of the research gap in this area, which has not been fully covered by previous proposals of construction cost estimation. The second contribution of this survey is the proposal and highlighting of future directions for forthcoming proposals, aimed ultimately at finding the optimal construction cost estimation. Moreover, we consider the second part of our methodology as one of our contributions in this paper. This methodology has been proposed as a standard benchmark for construction cost estimation proposals.

The Application of The Double Queue Asymmetric Gated Service Polling Control Theory in Intelligent Traffic System

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Zhao Yi Fan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available paper presents a new use of double queues asymmetric gated service polling system in the intelligent traffic light control system.Usually there are more vehicles in main road than minor road,so there are more green light time be needed in the main road.From the computer simulation and theory analysis,we can find that the application of double queues asymmetric gated service polling theory in intelligent traffic system can balance intersections load and set suitable passing time for vehicles to assure the roads open.

Density and moisture measurements by nuclear method and its application to compaction control in road construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Azmi Ismail

1994-01-01

The application of nuclear technique in civil engineering sector which emphasises on the in-situ density and moisture measurements of soil in road construction is discussed. The nuclear density-moisture gauge utilises both gamma-rays and neutrons for the determination of the density and moisture content, respectively. The knowledge on the density and moisture content will be used to evaluate the degree of compaction of the compacted layers. The technique offers not only a fast and non-destructive measurement but it is also accurate, economical and repeatable. A calibration equation which is stored in the built-in microprocessor is applicable for any type of soil. Corrections for the interferences from needless gamma-rays produced as a result of thermal neutrons interaction with certain nuclei for the density measurement and effects of hydrogen other than absorbed water for the moisture measurement are considered in the equation. This paper describes briefly the theory and the characteristics of the nuclear gauge and its application in road construction work

Road construction replaceable materials. An alternative to oil-based materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deneuvillers, C.; Chappat, M.

2008-01-01

For some time the world has been subjected enormous upheavals with regard to energy resources: on one hand there is the steep rise in the price of oil and the other energy sources whose price depends on it; on the other hand, the prospects are that during the next 25 to 30 years oil resources will become increasingly scarce, which raises the problem of its replacement. This situation obviously raises the vital question of the present and future energy needs of each country, and, consequently, what type of energy. These are not only political issues but also issues for society. How could the roads sector help to find at least partial solutions? This paper will describe a policy adopted by a private sector construction company which is determined to apply the criteria of sustainable development and green chemistry in its products. Bitumen is a derivative of oil, can it be replaced? Most of the chemical products used in roads are petrochemical in nature, can they be replaced? Turning towards vegetable resources provides one way of reducing energy dependency. The paper demonstrates how this could be done, and at what price and with what precautions. This topic inevitably involves a discussion of the criteria of life-cycle analysis and an examination of how they can be applied in a clear manner. This response from industry has already provided some excellent results, which are described in this paper. It also attempts to show how vegetable resources may provide an opportunity for both developing and developed countries. The first could produce a new energy resource and increase their standard of living. The second could be a partial solution to their energy resources problems. Roads, which provide a universal link between different peoples, may still provide a future and hope. (authors)

Life cycle assessment of disposal of residues from municipal solid waste incineration: recycling of bottom ash in road construction or landfilling in Denmark evaluated in the ROAD-RES model.

Science.gov (United States)

Birgisdóttir, H; Bhander, G; Hauschild, M Z; Christensen, T H

2007-01-01

Two disposal methods for MSWI bottom ash were assessed in a new life cycle assessment (LCA) model for road construction and disposal of residues. The two scenarios evaluated in the model were: (i) landfilling of bottom ash in a coastal landfill in Denmark and (ii) recycling of bottom ash as subbase layer in an asphalted secondary road. The LCA included resource and energy consumption, and emissions associated with upgrading of bottom ash, transport, landfilling processes, incorporation of bottom ash in road, substitution of natural gravel as road construction material and leaching of heavy metals and salts from bottom ash in road as well as in landfill. Environmental impacts associated with emissions to air, fresh surface water, marine surface water, groundwater and soil were aggregated into 12 environmental impact categories: Global Warming, Photochemical Ozone Formation, Nutrient Enrichment, Acidification, Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, Human Toxicity via air/water/soil, Ecotoxicity in water/soil, and a new impact category, Stored Ecotoxicity to water/soil that accounts for the presence of heavy metals and very persistent organic compounds that in the long-term might leach. Leaching of heavy metals and salts from bottom ash was estimated from a series of laboratory leaching tests. For both scenarios, Ecotoxicity(water) was, when evaluated for the first 100 yr, the most important among the twelve impact categories involved in the assessment. Human Toxicity(soil) was also important, especially for the Road scenario. When the long-term leaching of heavy metals from bottom ash was evaluated, based on the total content of heavy metals in bottom ash, all impact categories became negligible compared to the potential Stored Ecotoxicity, which was two orders of magnitudes greater than Ecotoxicity(water). Copper was the constituent that gave the strongest contributions to the ecotoxicities. The most important resources consumed were clay as liner in landfill and the

Model architecture of intelligent data mining oriented urban transportation information

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bogang; Tao, Yingchun; Sui, Jianbo; Zhang, Feizhou

2007-06-01

Aiming at solving practical problems in urban traffic, the paper presents model architecture of intelligent data mining from hierarchical view. With artificial intelligent technologies used in the framework, the intelligent data mining technology improves, which is more suitable for the change of real-time road condition. It also provides efficient technology support for the urban transport information distribution, transmission and display.

Impacts of road construction and removal on the hydrologic and geochemical function of a fen peatland

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, C. M.; Petrone, R. M.; Sutherland, G.; Price, J. S.

2015-12-01

Linear disturbances such as roads cover vast swaths of northeastern Alberta, the majority of which are wetlands with shallow and local hydrologic connections. Thus, the effects of road construction on wetland hydrological pathways can have significant implications on water movement within the region, and by extension the productivity of vegetation communities and carbon sequestration. However, little is known about the effect that roads have on wetland hydrology. In 2013, a gravel road built within a fen peatland was reclaimed to evaluate hydrologic impacts post removal. Prior to removal, ground and surface water flow was obstructed leading to surface ponding, and vegetation mortality was observed on the up-gradient (wet) side of the road. Rebounding of the peat column was observed throughout the fen immediately following road removal in 2013 (maximum of 12 cm, mean of 2 cm), with modest but slightly smaller expansion in 2014. For both years, peat rebound was greatest in areas where the road was removed. Peat physical properties contrasted sharply between the reclaimed road (RR) peat and the adjacent, unimpacted peatland (UP). Surface bulk densities (pb, 0-10 cm) ranged from 0.1-0.25 g cm-3 along the RR compared to 0.02-0.07 g cm-3 for the UP and on average, pb for all depths were lower at the RR compared to the UP. Similar spatial patterns were observed for peat porosity. Correspondingly low horizontal saturated hydraulic conductivities (Kh) were observed along the RR compared to the UP, averaging 5.7x10-4 m s-1 and 1.7x10-3 m s-1, respectively. The local flow system across the RR and thus subsurface flow was impeded by almost half (0.4 m d-1) compared to flow observed within the UP (0.8 m d-1), leading to ponding on the upgradient side. A marked change in hydrophysical properties and ground and surface water flow patterns post road removal has implications for plant reestablishment and restoration and will form the basis of further study.

Assessing Road Traffic Expression

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Fábio Silva

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Road traffic is a problem which is increasing in cities with large population. Unrelated to this fact the number of portable and wearable devices has also been increasing throughout the population of most countries. With this advent, the capacity to monitor and register data about people habits and locations as well as more complex data such as intensity and strength of movements has created an opportunity to contribute to the general wealth and comfort within these environments. Ambient Intelligence and Intelligent Decision Making processes can benefit from the knowledge gathered by these devices to improve decisions on everyday tasks such as deciding navigation routes by car, bicycle or other means of transportation and avoiding route perils. The concept of computational sustainability may also be applied to this problem. Current applications in this area demonstrate the usefulness of real time system that inform the user of certain conditions in the surrounding area. On the other hand, the approach presented in this work aims to describe models and approaches to automatically identify current states of traffic inside cities and use methods from computer science to improve overall comfort and the sustainability of road traffic both with the user and the environment in mind. Such objective is delivered by analyzing real time contributions from those mobile ubiquitous devices to identifying problematic situations and areas under a defined criteria that have significant influence towards a sustainable use of the road transport infrastructure.

Integrated Modeling for Road Condition Prediction (IMRCP)

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-17

Intelligent transportation system deployments have enabled great advances in operational awareness and response based on the data they gather on the current state of the roadways. The next step in decision support is to forecast road conditions and b...

Bio-monitoring for the genotoxic assessment in road construction workers as determined by the buccal micronucleus cytome assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Çelik, Ayla; Yildirim, Seda; Ekinci, Seda Yaprak; Taşdelen, Bahar

2013-06-01

Buccal micronucleus cytome (BMCyt) assay monitors genetic damage, cell proliferation and cell death in humans exposed to occupational and environmental agents. BMCyt is used as an indicator of genotoxic exposure, since it is associated with chromosomal instability. There is little research on the occupational exposure among road construction workers for genotoxicity testing. In the present study, we evaluated MN frequencies and other nuclear changes, karyorrhexis (KR), karyolysis (KL), broken egg (BE), binucleate (BN), condensed chromatin cell (CCC), and picnotic cell (PC) in buccal mucosa cells of 40 road construction workers (twenty smokers and twenty non-smokers) and 40 control groups consisting of healthy persons (twenty smokers and twenty non-smokers). Microscopic observation was performed of 2000 cells per individual in both road construction workers and control group. In control and worker groups, for each person repair index (RI) was calculated via formula KR+L/BE+MN. The results showed a statistically significant increase in the frequency of MN in buccal epithelial cells of exposed group compared with control group (proad construction workers, RI is lower than the control group. There is a significant difference between workers and control group (proad paving operations are absorbed by workers and that asphalt fume exposure is able to significantly induce cytogenetic damage in buccal mucosa cells of workers after controlling some possible confounding factors, such as age, sex and smoking habits. In addition to determination of nuclear changes and the micronucleus, the determination of RI value presents a new approach to genotoxic bio-monitoring assessment studies of occupationally exposed population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

LUR models for particulate matters in the Taipei metropolis with high densities of roads and strong activities of industry, commerce and construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jui-Huna; Wu, Chang-Fu; Hoek, Gerard; de Hoogh, Kees; Beelen, Rob; Brunekreef, Bert; Chan, Chang-Chuan

2015-05-01

Traffic intensity, length of road, and proximity to roads are the most common traffic indicators in the land use regression (LUR) models for particulate matter in ESCAPE study areas in Europe. This study explored what local variables can improve the performance of LUR models in an Asian metropolis with high densities of roads and strong activities of industry, commerce and construction. By following the ESCAPE procedure, we derived LUR models of PM₂.₅, PM₂.₅ absorbance, PM₁₀, and PMcoarse (PM₂.₅-₁₀) in Taipei. The overall annual average concentrations of PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, and PMcoarse were 26.0 ± 5.6, 48.6 ± 5.9, and 23.3 ± 3.1 μg/m(3), respectively, and the absorption coefficient of PM₂.₅ was 2.0 ± 0.4 × 10(-5)m(-1). Our LUR models yielded R(2) values of 95%, 96%, 87%, and 65% for PM₂.₅, PM₂.₅ absorbance, PM₁₀, and PMcoarse, respectively. PM₂.₅ levels were increased by local traffic variables, industrial, construction, and residential land-use variables and decreased by rivers; while PM₂.₅ absorbance levels were increased by local traffic variables, industrial, and commercial land-use variables in the models. PMcoarse levels were increased by elevated highways. Road area explained more variance than road length by increasing the incremental value of 27% and 6% adjusted R(2) for PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ models, respectively. In the PM₂.₅ absorbance model, road area and transportation facility explain 29% more variance than road length. In the PMcoarse model, industrial and new local variables instead of road length improved the incremental value of adjusted R(2) from 39% to 60%. We concluded that road area can better explain the spatial distribution of PM₂.₅ and PM₂.₅ absorbance concentrations than road length. By incorporating road area and other new local variables, the performance of each PM LUR model was improved. The results suggest that road area is a better indicator of traffic intensity rather

30 CFR 816.151 - Primary roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Primary roads. 816.151 Section 816.151 Mineral... roads. Primary roads shall meet the requirements of section 816.150 and the additional requirements of this section. (a) Certification. The construction or reconstruction of primary roads shall be certified...

INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES FOR MONITORING AND INTELLECTUAL ROAD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

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G. Belov

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Review of automatic management of road traffic technologies in major cities of Ukraine is carried out in the given article. Priority directions of studies are determined for producing modern and perspective technologies in the given area. The facilities for monitoring and intelligence management of the road traffic on the basis of the programmed logical controller, using the device of fuzzy logic are considered.

Employment creation, technological efficiency, and distributional judgements : a case study in road construction / [by] G.W. Irvin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.W. Irvin (George)

1975-01-01

textabstractThe present article is concerned with the relationship between distributional and efficiency criteria and the objective of employment creation in a single sector, that of road construction. The work is based on a series of case studies carried out in Iran, one such study being presented

30 CFR 817.151 - Primary roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Primary roads. 817.151 Section 817.151 Mineral... roads. Primary roads shall meet the requirements of § 817.150 and the additional requirements of this section. (a) Certification. The construction or reconstruction of primary roads shall be certified in a...

Erosion and sedimentation control on roads and construction sites in the Federated States of Micronesia

Science.gov (United States)

Robert R. Ziemer; Walter F. Megahan

1991-01-01

Enclosed is the report that Walt Megahan and I prepared following our trip to States of Micronesia. As we discussed earlier, we felt that it was redundant to produce a set of guidelines for road construction since the FAO Conservation Guide 13/5 that was issued in 1989 (ISBN 92-5-102789-X) covers the subject extensively. We felt that we could best tailor this report to...

25 CFR 265.3 - Roads prohibited.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Roads prohibited. 265.3 Section 265.3 Indians BUREAU OF... ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS § 265.3 Roads prohibited. (a) Within the boundaries of this officially... highways, roads, truck trails, work roads, and all other types of ways constructed to make possible the...

Neuro-Fuzzy Prediction of Cooperation Interaction Profile of Flexible Road Train Based on Hybrid Automaton Modeling

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Banjanovic-Mehmedovic Lejla

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate prediction of traffic information is important in many applications in relation to Intelligent Transport systems (ITS, since it reduces the uncertainty of future traffic states and improves traffic mobility. There is a lot of research done in the field of traffic information predictions such as speed, flow and travel time. The most important research was done in the domain of cooperative intelligent transport system (C-ITS. The goal of this paper is to introduce the novel cooperation behaviour profile prediction through the example of flexible Road Trains useful road cooperation parameter, which contributes to the improvement of traffic mobility in Intelligent Transportation Systems. This paper presents an approach towards the control and cooperation behaviour modelling of vehicles in the flexible Road Train based on hybrid automaton and neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS prediction of cooperation profile of the flexible Road Train. Hybrid automaton takes into account complex dynamics of each vehicle as well as discrete cooperation approach. The ANFIS is a particular class of the ANN family with attractive estimation and learning potentials. In order to provide statistical analysis, RMSE (root mean square error, coefficient of determination (R2 and Pearson coefficient (r, were utilized. The study results suggest that ANFIS would be an efficient soft computing methodology, which could offer precise predictions of cooperative interactions between vehicles in Road Train, which is useful for prediction mobility in Intelligent Transport systems.

Soil retention of hexavalent chromium released from construction and demolition waste in a road-base-application scenario.

Science.gov (United States)

Butera, Stefania; Trapp, Stefan; Astrup, Thomas F; Christensen, Thomas H

2015-11-15

We investigated the retention of Cr(VI) in three subsoils with low organic matter content in laboratory experiments at concentration levels relevant to represent leachates from construction and demolition waste (C&DW) reused as unbound material in road construction. The retention mechanism appeared to be reduction and subsequent precipitation as Cr(III) on the soil. The reduction process was slow and in several experiments it was still proceeding at the end of the six-month experimental period. The overall retention reaction fit well with a second-order reaction governed by actual Cr(VI) concentration and reduction capacity of the soil. The experimentally determined reduction capacities and second-order kinetic parameters were used to model, for a 100-year period, the one-dimensional migration of Cr(VI) in the subsoil under a layer of C&DW. The resulting Cr(VI) concentration would be negligible below 7-70 cm depth. However, in rigid climates and with high water infiltration through the road pavement, the reduction reaction could be so slow that Cr(VI) might migrate as deep as 200 cm under the road. The reaction parameters and the model can form the basis for systematically assessing under which scenarios Cr(VI) from C&DW could lead to an environmental issue for ground- and receiving surface waters. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Road traffic safety in conjunction with in-vehicle ITS

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Darja TOPOLŠEK

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Interest in Intelligent Transportation Systems comes from the problems caused by traffic congestion, road accidents and air pollution. Traffic congestion continues to grow worldwide as a result of increased motorization, population growth, changes in population density and urbanization. Interest in ITS can also be attributed to reducing road accidents and increasing traffic safety. The most common causes for road accidents are excessive speed, inattentive driving and ignorance of the right-of-way rules. To eliminate these causes, experience, knowledge of traffic regulations and a new car are not enough – vehicle safety systems have to take part as well. Therefore, the European Union issued a directive on the installation of intelligent systems, whose functions are active support during driving, warning the driver in dangerous situations and alerting passengers of the car in case of irregularities in motor function or actions carried out by the driver that may cause danger, such as swerving while falling asleep. These systems help drivers to avoid accidents, and in the event of a collision, an emergency call is automatically made. Furthermore, they can be used to regulate traffic patterns or to reduce engine performance, which would reduce pollution. With these benefits in mind, the EU has indicated to the automotive industry that installation of these new Intelligent Transportation Systems should be mandatory in their new vehicles.

Simulation of tunneling construction methods of the Cisumdawu toll road

Science.gov (United States)

Abduh, Muhamad; Sukardi, Sapto Nugroho; Ola, Muhammad Rusdian La; Ariesty, Anita; Wirahadikusumah, Reini D.

2017-11-01

Simulation can be used as a tool for planning and analysis of a construction method. Using simulation technique, a contractor could design optimally resources associated with a construction method and compare to other methods based on several criteria, such as productivity, waste, and cost. This paper discusses the use of simulation using Norwegian Method of Tunneling (NMT) for a 472-meter tunneling work in the Cisumdawu Toll Road project. Primary and secondary data were collected to provide useful information for simulation as well as problems that may be faced by the contractor. The method was modelled using the CYCLONE and then simulated using the WebCYCLONE. The simulation could show the duration of the project from the duration model of each work tasks which based on literature review, machine productivity, and several assumptions. The results of simulation could also show the total cost of the project that was modeled based on journal construction & building unit cost and online websites of local and international suppliers. The analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the method was conducted based on its, wastes, and cost. The simulation concluded the total cost of this operation is about Rp. 900,437,004,599 and the total duration of the tunneling operation is 653 days. The results of the simulation will be used for a recommendation to the contractor before the implementation of the already selected tunneling operation.

Economic and cultural correlates of road-traffic accident fatality rates in OECD countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaygisiz, Esma

2009-10-01

The relationships between economic conditions, cultural characteristics, personality dimensions, intelligence scores, and road-traffic accident mortality rates were investigated in 30 member and five accession countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Economic indicators included the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, the unemployment rate, and the Gini index. Cultural variables included five Hofstede's cultural dimensions, seven Schwartz cultural value dimensions, NEO-PI-R scales, and the intelligence quotient (IQ). The results showed positive associations between favorable economic conditions (high income per capita, high employment rate, and low income inequality) and high traffic safety. Countries with higher road-traffic accident fatality rates were characterized by higher power distance and uncertainty avoidance as well as embeddedness and emphasis on social hierarchy. Countries with lower road-traffic accident fatality rates were more individualistic, egalitarian, and emphasized autonomy of individuals. Conscientiousness (from NEO-PI-R) and IQ correlated negatively with road-traffic accident fatalities.

Beyond Artificial Intelligence toward Engineered Psychology

Science.gov (United States)

Bozinovski, Stevo; Bozinovska, Liljana

This paper addresses the field of Artificial Intelligence, road it went so far and possible road it should go. The paper was invited by the Conference of IT Revolutions 2008, and discusses some issues not emphasized in AI trajectory so far. The recommendations are that the main focus should be personalities rather than programs or agents, that genetic environment should be introduced in reasoning about personalities, and that limbic system should be studied and modeled. Engineered Psychology is proposed as a road to go. Need for basic principles in psychology are discussed and a mathematical equation is proposed as fundamental law of engineered and human psychology.

Degradation in urban air quality from construction activity and increased traffic arising from a road widening scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Font, Anna; Baker, Timothy; Mudway, Ian S; Purdie, Esme; Dunster, Christina; Fuller, Gary W

2014-11-01

Road widening schemes in urban areas are often proposed as a solution to traffic congestion and as a means of stimulating economic growth. There is however clear evidence that new or expanded roads rapidly fill with either displaced or induced traffic, offsetting any short-term gains in eased traffic flows. What has not been addressed in any great detail is the impact of such schemes on air quality, with modelled impact predictions seldom validated by measurements after the expansion of road capacity. In this study we made use of a road widening project in London to investigate the impact on ambient air quality (particulate matter, NOX, NO2) during and after the completion of the road works. PM10 increased during the construction period up to 15 μg m(-3) during working hours compared to concentrations before the road works. A box modelling approach was used to determine a median emission factor of 0.0022 kg PM10 m(-2) month(-1), three times larger than that used in the UK emission inventory (0.0007 kg PM10 m(-2) month(-1)). Peaks of activity released 0.0130 kg PM10 m(-2) month(-1), three and eight times smaller than the peak values used in the European and US inventories. After the completion of the widening there was an increase in all pollutants from the road during rush hour: 2-4 μg m(-3) for PM10; 1 μg m(-3) for PM2.5; 40 and 8 μg m(-3) for NOX and NO2, respectively. NO2 EU Limit Value was breached after the road development illustrating a notable deterioration in residential air quality. Additionally, PM10, but not PM2.5, glutathione dependent oxidative potential increased after the road was widened consistent with an increase in pro-oxidant components in the coarse particle mode, related to vehicle abrasion processes. These increased air pollution indices were associated with an increase in the number of cars, taxis and LGVs. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Enhanced sensitivity of a mountain bog to climate change as a delayed effect of road construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. von Sengbusch

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Trees of Pinus rotundata (bog pine characterise many bogs in the mid-altitude mountains of central Europe (Switzerland, East and South Germany, Czech Republic. The research described here focuses on recent changes in the growth of bog pine on the Ennersbacher Moor, a mountain mire in the Black Forest (south-west Germany. An increase in the cover of bog pine is usually caused by drainage and subsequent drawdown of the water table. However, this bog has not been drained or directly disturbed in any other way. One possible explanation is that a road constructed in 1983 along one margin of the bog has diverted part of its water supply. Even though the road was designed to conduct potentially salt-contaminated drainage water away from the bog, its construction did not cause an immediate vegetation response in the 1980s and 1990s. Therefore, I hypothesise that it enhanced the sensitivity of the bog to climatic stress, predisposing it to a succession that was eventually triggered by a series of drought years in 2009–2011. Data collected near the centre of the bog over the period 1998–2014 indicate not only a distinct change in the relationship between height and trunk circumference of the trees, but also an increase of dwarf shrub cover and changes in the composition of Sphagnum communities. Although the pH of near-surface water may have increased slightly over this period, pH and EC values remain within typical ranges for raised bogs in the Black Forest. Examination of peat profiles reveals that the peat is more highly humified now than it was in 2002, and water table records from 2012–2014 show a greater amplitude of fluctuation than water table data collected in 1998–2001. Even though its mean level is only 105 mm below the ground surface, the water table is now observed to fall rapidly to depths of at least 350 mm during both wet and dry summers. Mapping surface (mesotopography and flow lines from the adjacent slope shows that the

Recycled aggregate in road construction following the Spanish General Technical Specifications for Roads and Bridge Works (PG-3: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martín-Morales, M.

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This research characterizes four samples of recycled aggregate for their potential use in road construction projects in consonance with the Spanish General Technical Specifications for Roads and Bridge Works (PG-3. Although some fractions were of sufficient quality for the construction of embankments, backfills, and quarry-run fills, they were ultimately found to be unsuitable for the construction of underground drainage, granular structural layers, soil stabilization and concrete pavements. They were negatively evaluated because of their particle size distribution and sulfate content. Nevertheless, the quality of this recycled aggregate could be substantially improved by manually removing the gypsum before the crushing process at the plant or by selecting the material with greater care at the beginning of the process. Finally, we suggest that Construction and Demolition (C&D waste plant managers should modify the manufacturing process to obtain a suitable particle size distribution in accordance with PG-3 requirements and the projected use of the aggregate.

En esta investigación se han caracterizado cuatro muestras de árido reciclado para su potencial uso en obras de carreteras en España siguiendo el Pliego de Prescripciones Técnicas Generales para Obras de Carreteras y Puentes (PG-3. Aunque algunas fracciones presentaron suficiente calidad para la construcción de terraplenes, rellenos localizados y rellenos todo en uno, resultaron inadecuadas para la construcción de drenes subterráneos, zahorras, suelos estabilizados y pavimentos de hormigón. Obtuvieron una evaluación negativa en cuanto a distribución granulométrica y contenido en sulfatos. No obstante, la calidad de este árido reciclado podría mejorar sustancialmente eliminando manualmente el yeso antes de la trituración en planta o seleccionando el material con un mayor cuidado al inicio del proceso. Finalmente, recomendamos que los empresarios de las plantas de residuos

Prerequisites for an effective use of ashes in road construction; Foerutsaettningar foer att askor kommer till anvaendning i vaegar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaerrman, Erik; Moeffaert, Denis van [Scandiaconsult Sverige AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Bjurstroem, Henrik; Berg, Magnus [AaF Energi och Miljoe AB, Stockholm (Sweden); Svedberg, Bo [Luleaa Univ. of Technology (Sweden)

2004-01-01

The aim of this project was to compile how different EU-countries have overcome the obstacles for the use of ashes in road constructions and conclude what has to be done in Sweden. An assumption and starting point for the study is that the use of ashes is beneficial. The study is focused on other EU countries through interviews with relevant actors in Belgium, Netherlands, France, England, Finland and Denmark. The conditions in these countries vary. Netherlands and Denmark were pioneers and have today many years of experience of using ashes in road construction. At the time for this investigation there were however drawbacks - in Netherlands due to mismanagement of ashes in large road constructions and in Denmark because of the introduction of stricter regulations. Belgium and England are making efforts towards recycling of ashes although only small amounts have been used hitherto. In some regions of France, ashes are used to a vast degree, which is mainly due to a strong network of material suppliers marketing ashes together. In Finland, finally, a comprehensive program for research and development were undertaken during the 1990s. An output of this program was guidelines, which facilitate the use of ashes. Typical obstacles for the use of recycled materials in constructions in Sweden have in previous projects been identified as 1) ambiguous laws and regulations, 2) lack of experiences, 3) weak economical incentives, 4) material-related decisions are made too late in project planning and, 5) lack of methods for showing the benefits of recycling. The experiences from the studied countries confirm that points 1, 3 and partly 2 also are valid there. Lack of competence can only be reconciled by active marketing. Point 5 can be overcome by the use of environmental system analysis (ESA) in which both the road construction and alternative management (e.g. disposal) of ashes are included. This type of analyses has not been carried out in the studied countries (except a

Providing an efficient intelligent transportation system through ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

present view point, analysis of traffic signs are first considered via intelligence based ... colour information has been only used in segmentation, once detection .... Because number of road sign shapes is more than two classes, multi-class ...

Construct validity of the Italian version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) v2.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Curci, Antonietta; Lanciano, Tiziana; Soleti, Emanuela; Zammuner, Vanda Lucia; Salovey, Peter

2013-01-01

In 2 studies, we assessed the construct validity of the Italian version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) version 2.0. In Study 1, we administered the MSCEIT together with measures of crystallized and fluid intelligence, personality, and affect. In Study 2, we administered the MSCEIT together with indexes of dispositional coping, emotion regulation strategies, alexithymia, state-trait anxiety, depression, and depressive rumination. We evaluated the factorial structure of the MSCEIT with a confirmatory factor analysis model using data combined from Study 1 and 2. The results confirm that the MSCEIT Italian version satisfactorily discriminates emotional intelligence ability from crystallized and fluid intelligence, personality, and affect, and exhibits significant correlations with various psychological well-being criteria. Furthermore, data from both studies confirm that the factorial structure of MSCEIT is consistent with the theory on which it is based, although it was difficult to rule out alternative structures.

Practical implications of the relation between the clay mineral content and the plasticity index of dolerite road construction material

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kleyn, E

2009-04-01

Full Text Available or the introduction of more expensive commercially manufactured materials. For this reason the naturally occurring materials have to be better assessed and utilised. The weathered rock most widely used for road construction in South Africa, yet also notorious for its...

Moral Intelligence in the Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Clarken, Rodney H.

2009-01-01

Moral intelligence is newer and less studied than the more established cognitive, emotional and social intelligences, but has great potential to improve our understanding of learning and behavior. Moral intelligence refers to the ability to apply ethical principles to personal goals, values and actions. The construct of moral intelligence consists…

36 CFR 212.5 - Road system management.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... construction, reconstruction, decommissioning, and maintenance. (2) Identification of unneeded roads... share of the costs. (d) Maintenance and reconstruction of National Forest System roads by users—(1... to cover maintenance or reconstruction of roads shall be used for the purposes deposited, except that...

Construction dust amelioration techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-01

Dust produced on seasonal road construction sites in Alaska is both a traffic safety and environmental concern. Dust emanating from : unpaved road surfaces during construction severely reduces visibility and impacts stopping sight distance, and contr...

Spanish experiences with marginal and special materials on the construction of road embankments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cano Linares, H.; Perucho Martinez, A.

2015-01-01

The use of existing materials along the alignment of a road is an essential problem within the Sustainable Development policies, which is being promoting worldwide since a long time. In the Word road Association (PIARC-AIPCR) this subject has being investigated by different Technical Committees during last decades. Additionally, the review of the article 330 Embankment of PG-3 (FOM 1382/2002) has opened the door to new non-conventional materials, as wastes and artificial materials, to be used on embankments. This could come to adequate solutions, technically, and environmentally, contributing with national legislation on valorisation policies. In this sense, the use of marginal materials and wastes con represent and important save on natural resources and dumping sites. In Spain, some experiences with marginal materials and wastes have being carried out. The work presented has consisted in compiling and analysing the experiences executed with marginal materials and wastes on Spanish road embankments. Although there are many other cases, 24 cases published with adequate information have being analysed, summarising aspects as: materials problems arrangement solutions or treatments employed. Analysing these experiences and making them public can be a way to transmit confidence, help to improve knowledge, and progress on the preparation of recommendations. This work has being carried out on the frame of the Project Geotechnical Engineering, Materials and Structures and Impact of Infrastructure in Civil engineering (TTIGEM), within the frame Program Border Cooperation Spain-External Borders (POCTEFEX); particularly in the Activity 2 related to Technology Transfer of Construction Materials, including marginal materials and wastes. (Author)

Quantification of Gravel Rural Road Sediment Production

Science.gov (United States)

Silliman, B. A.; Myers Toman, E.

2014-12-01

Unbound rural roads are thought to be one of the largest anthropogenic sources of sediment reaching stream channels in small watersheds. This sediment deposition can reduce water quality in the streams negatively impacting aquatic habitat as well as impacting municipal drinking water sources. These roads are thought to see an increase in construction and use in southeast Ohio due to the expansion of shale gas development in the region. This study set out to quantify the amount of sediment these rural roads are able to produce. A controlled rain event of 12.7 millimeters of rain over a half hour period was used to drive sediment production over a 0.03 kilometer section of gravel rural road. These 8 segments varied in many characteristics and produced from 2.0 to 8.4 kilograms of sediment per 0.03 kilometers of road with the average production over the 8 segments being 5.5 kilograms of sediment. Sediment production was not strongly correlated with road segment slope but traffic was found to increase sediment production from 1.1 to 3.9 times as much sediment after traffic use. These results will help inform watershed scale sediment budgeting, and inform best management practices for road maintenance and construction. This study also adds to the understanding of the impacts of rural road use and construction associated with the changing land use from agricultural to natural gas extraction.

Cost, performance, and esthetic impacts of an experimental forest road in Montana

Science.gov (United States)

Rulon B. Gardner

1978-01-01

An experimental logging road designed to minimize environmental and esthetic impact was constructed in northwest Montana. The road was single-lane (14-foot finished surface, 3-foot ditch), constructed along the contour. Esthetically, the single-lane experimental road was judged far superior to existing roads on the forest.

Quantification of carbon footprint of urban roads via life cycle assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mao, Ruichang; Duan, Huabo; Dong, Dan

2017-01-01

assessment method. For given years (ranged from 2004 to 2013), various activities of urban roads (e.g. newly planned road construction, maintenance of road in use, and road renovation and demolition) have been examined in this study. The results show that the total carbon footprint from urban roads...... in Shenzhen was 260 (±20) thousand tons CO2e in 2013. The major contributor was the materials use (embodied impact) from newly constructed roads, which accounts for 52.3% of the total carbon footprint, followed by the maintenance stage (24.3%). The eco-design process of road construction plays a vital role...... studies attempted to examine the impacts from transport infrastructure, especially at a city or country level. This paper, taking Shenzhen in China (a fast developing megacity) as the case study, is specially designed to quantify the carbon footprint of the urban roads by using streamlined life cycle...

Reliability, construct and criterion-related validity of the Serbian adaptation of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire (TEIQue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jolić-Marjanović Zorana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents evidence on the reliability and validity of the Serbian adaptation of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue, an instrument designed to comprehensively assess emotional intelligence conceived as a constellation of emotionrelated self-perceptions. Study participants were 254 adults, who completed the Serbian TEIQue, NEO-FFI, MSCEIT, EQ-short, and RSPWB. The results indicate that the adapted TEIQue is a psychometrically sound assessment tool: internal consistencies were mostly acceptable at facet, generally good at factor, and excellent at whole-scale level; the fourfactor structure was confirmed by means of CFA; convergent-discriminant validity was established through meaningful associations with related constructs, indicating that trait EI is closely aligned with affect and self-efficacy related constructs from the realm of personality (i.e., E, N, C, and Empathy, but shows only moderate overlap with ability EI; finally, incremental validity was demonstrated in the prediction of psychological wellbeing, over and above the Big Five. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179018

Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs: comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005).

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Michael J; Hambrick, David Z; Conway, Andrew R A

2005-01-01

The authors agree with P. L. Ackerman, M. E. Beier, and M. O. Boyle (2005; see record 2004-22408-002) that working memory capacity (WMC) is not isomorphic with general fluid intelligence (Gf) or reasoning ability. However, the WMC and Gf/reasoning constructs are more strongly associated than Ackerman et al. (2005) indicate, particularly when considering the outcomes of latent-variable studies. The authors' reanalysis of 14 such data sets from 10 published studies, representing more than 3,100 young-adult subjects, suggests a strong correlation between WMC and Gf/reasoning factors (median r=.72), indicating that the WMC and Gf constructs share approximately 50% of their variance. This comment also clarifies the authors' "executive attention" view of WMC, it demonstrates that WMC has greater discriminant validity than Ackerman et al. (2005) implied, and it suggests some future directions and challenges for the scientific study of the convergence of WMC, attention control, and intelligence. Copyright (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Reliability-based optimization design of geosynthetic reinforced road embankment.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-01

Road embankments are typically large earth structures, the construction of which requires for large amounts of competent fill soil. In order to limit costs, the utilization of geosynthetics in road embankments allows for construction of steep slopes ...

Snow as building material for construction of technological along-the-route roads of main pipelines

Science.gov (United States)

Merdanov, S. M.; Egorov, A. L.; Kostyrchenko, V. A.; Madyarov, T. M.

2018-05-01

The article deals with the process of compacting snow in a closed volume with the use of vacuum processing for the construction of technological along-the-route roads of main pipelines. The relevance of the chosen study is substantiated; methods and designs for snow compaction are considered. The publication activity and defenses of doctoral and candidate dissertations on the research subject are analyzed. Patent analysis of existing methods and equipment for snow compaction with indication of their disadvantages is carried out. A design calculation was carried out using computer programs in which a strength calculation was performed to identify the most stressed places in the construction of a vibrating hydraulic tyre-type roller. A 3D model of the experimental setup was developed.

Research on architecture of intelligent transportation cloud platform for Guangxi expressway

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Pan; Huang, Zhongxiang; He, Zengzhen

2017-04-01

In view of the practical needs of the intelligent transportation business collaboration, a model on intelligent traffic business collaboration is established. Aarchitecture of intelligent traffic cloud platformfor high speed road is proposed which realizes the loose coupling of each intelligent traffic business module. Based on custom technology in database design, it realizes the dynamic customization of business function which means that different roles can dynamically added business functions according to the needs. Through its application in the development and implementation of the actual business system, the architecture is proved to be effective and feasible.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUTOMATED ROAD TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS IN MINSK AS PART OF THE INTELLECTUAL CITY TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. V. Kapskiy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The results of the analysis of Minsk city transport system performance. It is shown that the growth of car ownership has caused a number of problems, among which the low-speed communication, bad driving modes, the presence of elevated levels of congestion and accidents. The corresponding figures for accidents in Minsk and some cities in the world that allow to characterize the transport system of the city of Minsk, as satisfactory. To improve the system and improve the quality of traffic necessary to create intelligent transport system of the city of Minsk. Intelligent Transportation System, being a global trend, enables dramatically improve road quality. Automated traffic control system and other subsystems as part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems are tools for achieving the goals for improving the safety and comfort of road users. It is proposed as a base for its creation to choose an automated traffic control system, which has a corresponding functional, structural, organizational and institutional provisions for its development. The technological requirements for the functioning of an integrated system, which relate to the level of efficiency, including accidents on sections of the road network included in the created system. Modernization of the automated traffic control system and its transformation into an intelligent transport system will reduce emergency, economic and environmental, and social costs in the road traffic is not less than 15 % from their current level, despite the steady growth of car ownership in the city. It is planned to create a complete intelligent transportation system.

Use of wood ash for road stabilisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lagerkvist, A.; Lind, B.

2009-01-01

Due to warmer winters in Sweden, the bearing capacity of forestry roads has become increasingly problematic in recent years. Road stabilization is needed in order to get timber out from the forests. This usually involves the addition of cement to the road body. However, wood ash is a possible substitute for cement because it has similar properties. Using wood ash has the added advantage of saving landfill space. This paper presented an ongoing laboratory study on leaching and mechanical stability, as well as frost-sensitivity using a 30 per cent ash addition to natural soils for reinforcing a forestry road near Timra in central Sweden. The road was being monitored with regard to environmental impact and mechanical properties. The paper discussed the potential of biofuel ashes and the increasing need to reinforce infrastructure due to climate change. The environmental impact from ash use in road constructions was then addressed. It was concluded that the application of ash in road construction would help to strengthen forest roads, make them more resistant to climatic change and render them accessible year-round. 32 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs.

Intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Robert J

2012-03-01

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience and to adapt to, shape, and select environments. Intelligence as measured by (raw scores on) conventional standardized tests varies across the lifespan, and also across generations. Intelligence can be understood in part in terms of the biology of the brain-especially with regard to the functioning in the prefrontal cortex-and also correlates with brain size, at least within humans. Studies of the effects of genes and environment suggest that the heritability coefficient (ratio of genetic to phenotypic variation) is between .4 and .8, although heritability varies as a function of socioeconomic status and other factors. Racial differences in measured intelligence have been observed, but race is a socially constructed rather than biological variable, so such differences are difficult to interpret.

Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Robert J.

2012-01-01

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience and to adapt to, shape, and select environments. Intelligence as measured by (raw scores on) conventional standardized tests varies across the lifespan, and also across generations. Intelligence can be understood in part in terms of the biology of the brain—especially with regard to the functioning in the prefrontal cortex—and also correlates with brain size, at least within humans. Studies of the effects of genes and environment suggest that the heritability coefficient (ratio of genetic to phenotypic variation) is between .4 and .8, although heritability varies as a function of socioeconomic status and other factors. Racial differences in measured intelligence have been observed, but race is a socially constructed rather than biological variable, so such differences are difficult to interpret. PMID:22577301

Role of asphalt paver productivity in direction development of road mechanical engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karpushko Marina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Road construction machinery is one of the largest and stable sectors of national economy. With the help of road-building machinery, construction, maintenance and repair of highways are carried out. Modern system of road and building machines is a complex of high-performance machines and mechanisms, of large and small capacity and productivity. Expansion of paved roads network of both federal and local values, use of resource-saving technologies, increasing of pace and quality of work, ensuring of reliability and durability of highways have a major impact on the development of road construction machinery. The level of foreign road and construction machinery puts forward complex requirements for compliance with world safety and environmental standards, increasing equipment mobility, expanding areas of effective use and, finally, increasing its capacity and productivity. Article contains approach to the calculation of the operational productivity of asphalt pavers that takes into account technical characteristics and conditions of works production and contributes to the reliability of decisions on organization and management of road maintenance works on urban roads.

Ex-ante assessment of the safety effects of intelligent transport systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulmala, Risto

2010-07-01

There is a need to develop a comprehensive framework for the safety assessment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This framework should: (1) cover all three dimensions of road safety-exposure, crash risk and consequence, (2) cover, in addition to the engineering effect, also the effects due to behavioural adaptation and (3) be compatible with the other aspects of state of the art road safety theories. A framework based on nine ITS safety mechanisms is proposed and discussed with regard to the requirements set to the framework. In order to illustrate the application of the framework in practice, the paper presents a method based on the framework and the results from applying that method for twelve intelligent vehicle systems in Europe. The framework is also compared to two recent frameworks applied in the safety assessment of intelligent vehicle safety systems. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Road identification for its-integrated systems of automotive active safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Ivanov

2005-04-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses several aspects of active safety control for automotive application. Particular emphasis is placed on the fuzzy logic determination of friction properties of a tyre-road contact. An example of vehicle control systems equipped with off-board sensors of road roughness, temperature, moisture and rain intensity demonstrates the implementation of this approach. The paper proposes conceptual solutions for preventive active safety control applied to vehicles which are integrated in an intelligent transportation system.

Learning How to Construct Models of Dynamic Systems: An Initial Evaluation of the Dragoon Intelligent Tutoring System

Science.gov (United States)

VanLehn, Kurt; Wetzel, Jon; Grover, Sachin; van de Sande, Brett

2017-01-01

Constructing models of dynamic systems is an important skill in both mathematics and science instruction. However, it has proved difficult to teach. Dragoon is an intelligent tutoring system intended to quickly and effectively teach this important skill. This paper describes Dragoon and an evaluation of it. The evaluation randomly assigned…

Emotional Intelligence and Nursing Student Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Victoria Jane

2013-01-01

The study examined the constructs of a Multi-Intelligence Model of Retention with four constructs: cognitive and emotional-social intelligence, student characteristics, and environmental factors. Data were obtained from sophomore students entering two diploma, nine associate, and five baccalaureate nursing programs. One year later, retention and…

An Intelligent Assistant for Construction of Terrain Databases

OpenAIRE

Rowe, Neil C.; Reed, Chris; Jackson, Leroy; Baer, Wolfgang

1998-01-01

1998 Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, Monterey CA, June 1998, 481-486. We describe TELLUSPLAN, an intelligent assistant for the problem of bargaining between user goals and system resources in the integration of terrain databases from separate source databases. TELLUSPLAN uses nondeterministic methods from artificial intelligence and a detailed cost model to infer the most reasonable compromise with the user's needs. Supported by the Army Artificial Int...

Constructing an Intelligent Patent Network Analysis Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao-Chan Wu

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Patent network analysis, an advanced method of patent analysis, is a useful tool for technology management. This method visually displays all the relationships among the patents and enables the analysts to intuitively comprehend the overview of a set of patents in the field of the technology being studied. Although patent network analysis possesses relative advantages different from traditional methods of patent analysis, it is subject to several crucial limitations. To overcome the drawbacks of the current method, this study proposes a novel patent analysis method, called the intelligent patent network analysis method, to make a visual network with great precision. Based on artificial intelligence techniques, the proposed method provides an automated procedure for searching patent documents, extracting patent keywords, and determining the weight of each patent keyword in order to generate a sophisticated visualization of the patent network. This study proposes a detailed procedure for generating an intelligent patent network that is helpful for improving the efficiency and quality of patent analysis. Furthermore, patents in the field of Carbon Nanotube Backlight Unit (CNT-BLU were analyzed to verify the utility of the proposed method.

Before and Beyond Anticipatory Intelligence: Assessing the Potential for Crowdsourcing and Intelligence Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Halman

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Crowdsourcing is a new tool for businesses, academics, and now intelligence analysts. Enabled by recent technology, crowdsourcing allows researchers to harness the wisdom of crowds and provide recommendations and insight into complex problems. This paper examines the potential benefits and limitations of crowdsourcing for intelligence analysis and the intelligence community beyond its primary use: anticipatory intelligence. The author constructs a model and compares it to existing crowdsourcing theories in business, information science, and public policy. Finally, he offers advice for intelligence analysis and public policy.

Mortality of a cohort of road construction and maintenance workers with work disability compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

d'Errico, A; Mamo, C; Tomaino, A; Dalmasso, M; Demaria, M; Costa, G

2002-01-01

Surveillance systems of occupational mortality are useful tools to identify cases of diseases suspected as occupational and to monitor their occurrence over time, in space and in population subgroups. Many surveillance systems make use of administrative data in which information about occupations and/or economic sectors of the subjects enrolled is reported, such as death certificates, hospital discharge data, census data, tax and pension records, and workers' compensation archives. In the present study we analyzed the mortality of a cohort of road construction and maintenance workers enrolled through the Italian national archive of work disability compensations, also in order to evaluate the possible use of this administrative source to monitor occupational mortality. 8,000 subjects (7,879 males) receiving a disability compensation while working in the "road construction and maintenance" sector were identified from INAIL (National Institute for Insurance of Accidents at Work) archives. Vital status of these subjects was ascertained using the information available in INAIL archives and in the national tax register. For those found to be deceased from INAIL or tax archives, or without any information on vital status, a mail follow-up was started. We considered as observation period the years from 1980 to 1993. A record linkage with the ISTAT (Italian Institute of Statistics) national mortality registry was performed and the cause of death was retrieved for 964 out of 1,259 subjects. The analysis was restricted to males, leaving altogether 863 observed deaths with ascertained cause (84.7% of 1,019 total male deaths). SMR for overall mortality and PMR for specific cause mortality were computed, using the general Italian male population as reference. Overall mortality was significantly reduced (SMR = 79.0; 95% CI = 74.2-84.0). Proportional mortality analysis revealed significant excess risks for all malignant tumours (332 deaths, PMR = 1.08) and for digestive diseases

The Application of the Exhaustive Polling Theory in Intelligent Traffic System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Meng Yao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new use of exhaustive service polling system in the intelligent traffic light control system.Vehicles arrival rate is measured in the system. Through the relationship between arrival rate and mean waiting time ,mean queue length in exhaustive service polling system, achieved an technology that intelligent adjust the length of traffic light time according to the arrive rate.The more arrive rate the longer green light time. With the intelligent control, the road capacity is more.

Intelligent mechatronics; Intelligent mechatronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashimoto, H. [The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan). Institute of Industrial Science

1995-10-01

Intelligent mechatronics (IM) was explained as follows: a study of IM essentially targets realization of a robot namely, but in the present stage the target is a creation of new values by intellectualization of machine, that is, a combination of the information infrastructure and the intelligent machine system. IM is also thought to be constituted of computers positively used and micromechatronics. The paper next introduces examples of IM study, mainly those the author is concerned with as shown below: sensor gloves, robot hands, robot eyes, tele operation, three-dimensional object recognition, mobile robot, magnetic bearing, construction of remote controlled unmanned dam, robot network, sensitivity communication using neuro baby, etc. 27 figs.

Road binders and energy savings. Strassenbau und Energie, Verwendung energiesparender Bindemittel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-01-01

This report is the outcome of a joint research project carried through by an international group of experts. The object was to establish whether current advances in research and practice permit to reduce energy consumption, especially the consumption of petroleum products, by making substitution, either in part or in full, for traditional binders in the construction, maintenance and strengthening of road pavements. The first part deals with bituminous binders, the second part is dedicated to hydraulic binders. As regards the possibility to make substitution for bitumen, the following materials are investigated: coal tar, sulfur, plastics, lignin, and natural rock impregnated with carbohydrates. The modification of the properties of bitumens (through polymers or rubber wastes), the use of emulsions, and the recovery of old road construction materials are dealt with in separate chapters. As regards hydraulic binders, the report investigates cements of low energy content, industrial by-products, and natural materials with hydraulic or pozzolanic properties as well as substandard materials. A separate chapter is dedicated to the possibility of reducing the thickness of the bituminous road cover over road bases with hydraulic binders. The appendix contains detailed energy balances for current road construction materials and pavement constructions. The report is meant to constitute a decision-aid for road authorities and contractors working in the public sector in choosing appropriate road construction materials and techniques on the basis of rational criteria. (orig.)

36 CFR 223.37 - Revegetation of temporary roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... roads. 223.37 Section 223.37 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... Provisions § 223.37 Revegetation of temporary roads. Timber sale contracts, permits and other documents... roads constructed or used thereunder so as to permit the reestablishment by artificial or natural means...

Application of the artificial intelligence to estimate the constructed wetland response to heavy metal removal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elektorowicz, M.; Balanzinski, M.; Qasaimeh, A.

2002-01-01

Current design approaches lack essential parameters necessary to evaluate the removal of metals contained in wastewater which is discharged to constructed wetlands. As a result, there is no guideline for an accurate design of constructed wetlands. An artificial intelligence approach was used to assess constructed wetland design. For this purpose concentrations of bioavailable mercury were evaluated in conditions where initial concentrations of inorganic mercury, chloride concentrations and pH values changed. Fuzzy knowledge base was built based on results obtained from previous investigations performed in a greenhouse for floating plants, and from computations for mercury speciation. The Fuzzy Decision Support System (FDSS) used the knowledge base to find parameters that permit to generate the highest amount of mercury available for plants. The findings of this research can be applied to wetlands and all natural processes where correlations between them are uncertain. (author)

Application of the artificial intelligence to estimate the constructed wetland response to heavy metal removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elektorowicz, M. [Concordia Univ., Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)]. E-mail: mariae@civil.concordia.ca; Balanzinski, M. [Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Mechnical Engineering, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Qasaimeh, A. [Concordia Univ., Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

2002-06-15

Current design approaches lack essential parameters necessary to evaluate the removal of metals contained in wastewater which is discharged to constructed wetlands. As a result, there is no guideline for an accurate design of constructed wetlands. An artificial intelligence approach was used to assess constructed wetland design. For this purpose concentrations of bioavailable mercury were evaluated in conditions where initial concentrations of inorganic mercury, chloride concentrations and pH values changed. Fuzzy knowledge base was built based on results obtained from previous investigations performed in a greenhouse for floating plants, and from computations for mercury speciation. The Fuzzy Decision Support System (FDSS) used the knowledge base to find parameters that permit to generate the highest amount of mercury available for plants. The findings of this research can be applied to wetlands and all natural processes where correlations between them are uncertain. (author)

Modelling the impact of roads on regional population of Moor frogs (Rana arvalis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pontoppidan, Maj-Britt

for decisions concerning road lay-out and mitigation measures. As model species was chosen the Moor frog (Rana arvalis). Populations of Moor frogs are assumed to follow a pattern of metapopulation dynamics, with colonisation, extinction and recolonisation of suitable habitat patches. Thus, road constructions...... to be constructed and analysed. The first scenario should be a map of the area as it is before the planned road construction (scenario 0). This analysis measures the ecological performance of the original landscape and is a reference against which other scenarios are to be compared. The second map (scenario 1......) should show the landscape as it is expected to be after the road constructions. In combination, the analyses of scenario 0 and scenario 1 make it possible to assess the effect of road construction on connectivity and population persistence. The analyses also constitute the basis for planning...

Noise Costs from Road Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Margorínová, Martina; Trojanová, Mária; Decký, Martin; Remišová, Eva

2018-06-01

Building and improving road infrastructure in Slovakia is currently influenced by the amount of state funding. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the effectiveness of each proposed solution of road project, which is based on life-cycle costs. Besides capital costs, social costs are also important, which valued the negative impacts due to road construction and operation on road users, the environment, and the population living in the affected area. Some components of social costs have shortcomings in quantifying and valuating, which need to be resolved. The one of important components which affects human health and the value of an area, and have some shortcomings are noise costs. Improvement of this component will lead to more accurate valuation of economic efficiency of roads.

Trend road safety measures : international course on transportation and road engineering in developing countries. Two-year postgraduate Diploma and M.Sc. programme.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

1991-01-01

This course focuses mainly on traffic and transport in developing countries, and deals primarily with matters of infrastructure. Road safety and road safety problems are closely related to the construction and operation of the road network. (See also C 1341 - C1346).

Predictive Estimates of Employees’ Intelligence at Workplace with Special Reference to Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence

OpenAIRE

B. K. Punia; Priyanka Yadav

2015-01-01

The piece of writing investigates the relationship between employees’ emotional and Spiritual intelligence. A conversation of spirituality and emotions within the workplace can be an unthinkable topic. However, emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence are, at present, more widely acknowledged. Drawing a research connected with these construct we suggest that emotional intelligence within the employees in organisations may provide employees with a medium to better understand and mix s...

From iPSC towards cardiac tissue-a road under construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Peischard, Stefan; Piccini, Ilaria; Strutz-Seebohm, Nathalie; Greber, Boris; Seebohm, Guiscard

2017-10-01

The possibility to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) opens the way to generate virtually all cell types of our human body. In combination with modern gene editing techniques like CRISPR/CAS, a new set of powerful tools becomes available for life science. Scientific fields like genotype and cell type-specific pharmacology, disease modeling, stem cell biology, and developmental biology have been dramatically fostered and their faces have been changed. However, as golden as the age of iPSC-derived cells and their manipulation has started, the shine begins to tarnish. Researchers face more and more practical problems intrinsic to the system. These problems are related to the specific culturing conditions which are not yet sufficient to mimic the natural environment of native stem cells differentiating towards adult cells. However, researchers work hard to uncover these factors. Here, we review a common standard approach to generate iPSCs and transduce these to iPSC cardiomyocytes. Further, we review recent achievements and discuss their current limitations and future perspectives. We are on track, but the road is still under construction.

Stress-in-motion (SIM) - tyre/road interface contact stresses

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Beer, Morris

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Tyre or road interface stresses are those induced by vehicular traffic running on roads, and are the primary cause of surfacing problems. The cost of asphalt layers is often the most significant in road construction and maintenance work...

Emotional intelligence as an aspect of general intelligence: what would David Wechsler say?

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufman, A S; Kaufman, J C

2001-09-01

R. D. Roberts, M. Zeidner, and G. Matthews (2001) have carefully examined the controversial issue of whether emotional intelligence (EI) should be classified as an intelligence and whether EI's constructs meet the same psychometric standards as general intelligence's constructs. This article casts their efforts into the framework of both historical and modern IQ-testing theory and research. It details David Wechsler's attempts to integrate EI into his tests and how his conception of a good clinician would be that of an emotionally intelligent clinician. Current theories and research on IQ also have a role in EI beyond what Roberts et al. described, including J. L. Horn's (1989) expanded model and A. R. Luria's (1966) neuropsychological research, and better criteria than the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery should be used in future EI studies. The authors look forward to more research being conducted on EI, particularly in future performance-based assessments.

Emotional Intelligence and Nurse Recruitment: Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis of the trait emotional intelligence questionnaire short form.

Science.gov (United States)

Snowden, Austyn; Watson, Roger; Stenhouse, Rosie; Hale, Claire

2015-12-01

To examine the construct validity of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short form. Emotional intelligence involves the identification and regulation of our own emotions and the emotions of others. It is therefore a potentially useful construct in the investigation of recruitment and retention in nursing and many questionnaires have been constructed to measure it. Secondary analysis of existing dataset of responses to Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short form using concurrent application of Rasch analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. First year undergraduate nursing and computing students completed Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form in September 2013. Responses were analysed by synthesising results of Rasch analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Participants (N = 938) completed Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short form. Rasch analysis showed the majority of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form items made a unique contribution to the latent trait of emotional intelligence. Five items did not fit the model and differential item functioning (gender) accounted for this misfit. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure consisting of: self-confidence, empathy, uncertainty and social connection. All five misfitting items from the Rasch analysis belonged to the 'social connection' factor. The concurrent use of Rasch and factor analysis allowed for novel interpretation of Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short form. Much of the response variation in Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short form can be accounted for by the social connection factor. Implications for practice are discussed. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of new roads on environmental resource use in the Central Himalaya

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Charlery, Lindy Callen; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt; Meilby, Henrik

2016-01-01

Construction of roads into remote rural areas can improve livelihoods by reducing transportation costs, but may also have negative environmental impacts, such as increased deforestation. However, evidence of the effect of rural roads on household environmental income and reliance, as well as local...... income and reliance, and how are they affected by road establishment; and (iii) what are the short-term impacts of the construction of a rural road on local forest conservation? Following the Poverty Environment Network (PEN) methodology, income data from 176 randomly-sampled households were collected...... in 2006 from two similar Himalayan villages, Lete and Lulang, and again in 2012 after a new road was constructed in 2008 in Lete. Forest strata data were collected in Lete through permanent sample plots (n = 59) measured in 2005 and 2010 and used to estimate stock change (before and after road...

Geo-Hazards and Mountain Road Development in Nepal: Understanding the Science-Policy-Governance Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Dugar, Sumit; Dahal, Vaskar

2015-04-01

The foothills of Nepalese Himalayas located in the neotectonic mountain environment are among some of the most unstable and geomorphologically dynamic landscapes in the world. Young fold mountains in this region are characterized by complex tectonics that influence the occurrence of earthquakes, while climatic processes such as intense orographic rainfall often dictate the occurrence of floods and landslides. Development of linear infrastructures, such as roads, in mountainous terrain characterized by high relief and orogeny is considerably challenging where the complexity of landscape in steep and irregular topography, difficult ground conditions and weak geology, presents engineers and planners with numerous difficulties to construct and maintain mountain roads. Whilst application of engineering geology, geomorphic interpretation of terrain in terms of physiography and hydrology, and identification of geo-hazards along the road corridor is critical for long term operation of mountain roads, low-cost arterial roads in the Himalayan foothills generally fail to incorporate standard road slope engineering structures. This research provides unique insights on policy and governance issues in developing mountainous countries such as Nepal, where achieving a sound balance between sustainability and affordability is a major challenge for road construction. Road development in Nepal is a complex issue where socio-economic and political factors influence the budget allocation for road construction in rural hilly areas. Moreover, most mountain roads are constructed without any geological or geo-technical site investigations due to rampant corruption and lack of adequate engineering supervision. Despite having good examples of rural road construction practices such as the Dharan-Dhankuta Road in Eastern Nepal where comprehensive terrain-evaluation methods and geo-technical surveys led to an improved understanding of road construction, learnings from this project have not

Modeling an impact of road geometric design on vehicle energy consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Luin, Blaž; Petelin, Stojan; Al-Mansour, Fouad

2017-11-01

Some roads connect traffic origins and destinations directly, some use winding, indirect routes. Indirect connections result in longer distances driven and increased fuel consumption. A similar effect is observed on congested roads and mountain roads with many changes in altitude. Therefore a framework to assess road networks based on energy consumption is proposed. It has been shown that road geometry has significant impact on overall traffic energy consumption and emissions. The methodology presented in the paper analyzes impact of traffic volume, shares of vehicle classes, road network configuration on the energy used by the vehicles. It can be used to optimize energy consumption with efficient traffic management and to choose optimum new road in the design phase. This is especially important as the energy consumed by the vehicles shortly after construction supersedes the energy spent for the road construction.

Competitiveness in Road Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borgström, Benedikte; Gammelgaard, Britta; Bruun, Poul

Road transport is an important sector, connecting time and space of production and consumption. Its market conditions has changed. The EU single market implementation has increased price pressure due to supply of low cost road freight transport from counties with lower cost structures. Changes...... in the market also encourage strategic development of some road hauliers into providers of unique services. Such road haulier strategic development contributes to efficiency and effectiveness in basically all business sectors of EU. Little research is available of such strategic and operational management....... In this paper we will explore that knowledge gap and analyze what value proposition(s) and capabilities can transform potential cost disadvantages of acting in a market that includes both high- and low-cost-country actors? And in conceptual terminology, how are capabilities deployed and developed to construct...

Challenges of raising road maintenance funds in developing countries: An analysis of road tolling in Zimbabwe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. C. Mbara

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The condition of Zimbabwe's roads has been declining due to insufficient maintenance and rehabilitation. Year on year, budget allocations have compared unfavourably with funding considered adequate to maintain highway networks and conduct modest construction work. Road infrastructure shortcomings have manifested themselves in the form of high vehicle operating costs and rampant potholes, leading to a decline in road safety and a deterioration of service levels for those who use roads to deliver goods or connect to international markets. In order to try and stop this vicious cycle of decline, the Government of Zimbabwe, on 8 August 2009, introduced a new policy of road-user charges, which involved the setting-up of 22 toll gates on the trunk road network. The overall objective was to raise revenue in order to close the funding gap, blamed for declining road quality. Although alternative methods of financing road maintenance have been debated for years, a generally accepted understanding is that road users should pay costs for road provisioning. This paper assesses the implementation of a road tolling system in Zimbabwe and describes matters relating to, inter alia, implementation strategy, initial performance outcomes and sustainability.

Intelligent transport systems (UTS) and driving behaviour: setting the agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijden, R.E.C.M. van der; Marchau, V.A.W.J.; Thissen, W.A.H.; Wieinga, P.; Pantic, M.; Ludema, M.

2004-01-01

The application of intelligent transportation systems (ITS), in particular advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), is expected to improve the performance of road transportation significantly. Public policy makers, among others, are therefore increasingly interested in the implementation

Cultural Resource Investigations for a Multipurpose Haul Road on the Idaho National Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brenda R. Pace; Cameron Brizzee; Hollie Gilbert; Clayton Marler; Julie Braun Williams

2010-08-01

The U. S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office is considering options for construction of a multipurpose haul road to transport materials and wastes between the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) and other Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site facilities. The proposed road will be closed to the public and designed for limited year-round use. Two primary options are under consideration: a new route south of the existing T-25 power line road and an upgrade to road T-24. In the Spring of 2010, archaeological field surveys and initial coordination and field reconnaissance with representatives from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes were completed to identify any resources that may be adversely affected by the proposed road construction and to develop recommendations to protect any listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The investigations showed that 24 archaeological resources and one historic marker are located in the area of potential effects for road construction and operation south of the T-25 powerline road and 27archaeological resources are located in the area of potential effects for road construction and operation along road T-24. Generalized tribal concerns regarding protection of natural resources were also documented in both road corridors. This report outlines recommendations for additional investigations and protective measures that can be implemented to minimize adverse impacts to the identified resources.

Comparisons of sediment losses from a newly constructed cross-country natural gas pipeline and an existing in-road pipeline

Science.gov (United States)

Pamela J. Edwards; Bridget M. Harrison; Daniel J. Holz; Karl W.J. Williard; Jon E. Schoonover

2014-01-01

Sediment loads were measured for about one year from natural gas pipelines in two studies in north central West Virginia. One study involved a 1-year-old pipeline buried within the bed of a 25-year-old skid road, and the other involved a newly constructed cross-country pipeline. Both pipelines were the same diameter and were installed using similar trenching and...

Assessing Cognitive Abilities: Intelligence and More

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith E. Stanovich

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In modern cognitive science, rationality and intelligence are measured using different tasks and operations. Furthermore, in several contemporary dual process theories of cognition, rationality is a more encompassing construct than intelligence. Researchers need to continue to develop measures of rational thought without regard to empirical correlations with intelligence. The measurement of individual differences in rationality should not be subsumed by the intelligence concept.

Application of Artificial Intelligence for Optimization in Pavement Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reus Salini

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Artificial intelligence (AI is a group of techniques that have quite a potential to be applied to pavement engineering and management. In this study, we developed a practical, flexible and out of the box approach to apply genetic algorithms to optimizing the budget allocation and the road maintenance strategy selection for a road network. The aim is to provide an alternative to existing software and better fit the requirements of an important number of pavement managers. To meet the objectives, a new indicator, named Road Global Value Index (RGVI, was created to contemplate the pavement condition, the traffic and the economic and political importance for each and every road section. This paper describes the approach and its components by an example confirming that genetic algorithms are very effective for the intended purpose.

Self-organized natural roads for predicting traffic flow: a sensitivity study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Bin; Zhao, Sijian; Yin, Junjun

2008-01-01

In this paper, we extended road-based topological analysis to both nationwide and urban road networks, and concentrated on a sensitivity study with respect to the formation of self-organized natural roads based on the Gestalt principle of good continuity. Both annual average daily traffic (AADT) and global positioning system (GPS) data were used to correlate with a series of ranking metrics including five centrality-based metrics and two PageRank metrics. It was found that there exists a tipping point from segment-based to road-based network topology in terms of correlation between ranking metrics and their traffic. To our great surprise, (1) this correlation is significantly improved if a selfish rather than utopian strategy is adopted in forming the self-organized natural roads, and (2) point-based metrics assigned by summation into individual roads tend to have a much better correlation with traffic flow than line-based metrics. These counter-intuitive surprising findings constitute emergent properties of self-organized natural roads, which are intelligent enough for predicting traffic flow, thus shedding substantial light on the understanding of road networks and their traffic from the perspective of complex networks

Performance-based contracts for road projects comparative analysis of different types

CERN Document Server

Gajurel, Ashish

2014-01-01

This book focuses on the aspects of contracting contracts, basically related to road construction and management contracts. The book presents an analytical study of Performance-Based Road Management and Maintenance (PMMR), Funktionsbauvertrag (FBV) (Function-Based Construction Contract) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP). A separate chapter is also included about the comparative study of these contract types. The book provides useful material for university libraries, construction companies and government departments of construction.

In–Service Road Safety Audits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Mendoza–Díaz

2009-04-01

Full Text Available A road safety audit is a formal analysis that seeks to guarantee that an existing or future road fulfills optimal safety criteria, conducted by a team of experts who se members are independent of the road project. It can be carried out in one, several or all of the stages of the project (planning, design, construction, before opening the road to traffic, and operation. The development and implementation of a road safety audit process is one of the strategies that have been applied in Mexico in recent years to reduce road accidents and their associated consequences. The objective of this work is to present the procedures that have been developed and applied in Mexico, as well as the benefits and problems that have been encountered. The application of those procedures to a specific case is also shown. Emphasis is made in the audit of high ways in the operation stage, which is the type that greater application and development has had in Mexico.

Introduction to special issue on hydrologic and geomorphic effects of forest roads

Science.gov (United States)

Charles H. Luce; Beverley C. Wemple

2001-01-01

Roads have been a part of human landscapes for more than 40 centuries. During the 20th century, technological advances have increased our ability to construct new roads at unprecedented rates and into steeper terrain. In the last half of that century, an extensive network of roads has been constructed in forests and other wildlands to facilitate use and management of...

Emotional intelligence education in pre-registration nursing programmes: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Kim; McCloughen, Andrea; Delgado, Cynthia; Kefalas, Claudia; Harkness, Emily

2015-03-01

To investigate the state of knowledge on emotional intelligence (EI) education in pre-registration nursing programmes. Integrative literature review. CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, ERIC, and Web of Knowledge electronic databases were searched for abstracts published in English between 1992-2014. Data extraction and constant comparative analysis of 17 articles. Three categories were identified: Constructs of emotional intelligence; emotional intelligence curricula components; and strategies for emotional intelligence education. A wide range of emotional intelligence constructs were found, with a predominance of trait-based constructs. A variety of strategies to enhance students' emotional intelligence skills were identified, but limited curricula components and frameworks reported in the literature. An ability-based model for curricula and learning and teaching approaches is recommended. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

VIRMS: A VEHICLE INFORMATION AND ROAD MONITORING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Arnéz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS are emerging technologies for building collaborative vehicular networks to increase road safety and to improve driver’s experience. Unfortunately these technologies require heavy infrastructure to be deployed inside and outside the vehicle that is difficult to extend. In this article we present VIRMS (Vehicle Information and Road Monitoring System, an ITS that is based on low-cost and small footprint client and server infrastructure that was designed to increase vehicular security and reduce accident rates along highways. The VIRMS remote client device is an on board vehicle electronic device that gathers data from sensors and processes the collected data that is sent to the VIRMS server in order to keep drivers informed with precise context information through the detection and identification of events (accidents, traffic jams, bad weather conditions, etc. along the roads. A prototype running tests on Bolivian highways show that VIRMS can give a technological answer to a real problem where road safety is one of the highest issues and cause of mortality.

A good road lies easy on the land: Water harvesting from low-standard rural roads

OpenAIRE

Zeedyk, B.

2006-01-01

Metadata only record This book addresses the construction and maintenance of unpaved rural roads including strategies, techniques and practices for dealing with problems frequently encountered by landowners, land managers and maintenance personnel. Running water is the primary force affecting road condition and generating the need for maintenance. Economical maintenance means dealing effectively with water, but not just surface runoff. Standing water, seeping water, rain, snow, ice, frost ...

Road Infrastructure and Road User’s Satisfactions: A Case Study of Motorway Route 7, Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suanmali Suthathip

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The development of tourism in Thailand relies on the development of appropriate infrastructure. Road access is the key infrastructure issue for tourist destinations throughout Thailand. Each year Thailand has welcomed over 15 million travelers, accounted approximately 7% of GDP. To support tourist activities, variety types of transportation modes have designed. However, road transportation is one of the most effective modes that connect most places together. Beside high-standard vehicles, road is another mechanism that derive comfort and safety of travelling. For this reason, Motorway networks were initiated and constructed to support high speed traffic with high safety and standard. Motorway route 7 is one of major motorway networks that lies between major cities and tourist landmarks. To raise the road standard could be the key to support tourist industry and economic growth. The road developments may not be precise and accurate without knowing the needs from road users’. Therefore, a questionnaire is developed and distributed to 890 randomly selected road users along Motorway route 7. Factor analysis and t-test are employed to analyze the factors affecting road users’ satisfaction and to compare the satisfaction level between both inbound and outbound travelers.

[Intelligence and irritable bowel syndrome].

Science.gov (United States)

Díaz-Rubio García, Manuel

2006-01-01

The Syndrome of Irritable Intestine (SII) is a chronic functional dysfunction that it is characterized by abdominal pain and changes of intestinal rhythm without demonstrable organic alteration. It is avery prevelent dysfunction in the developed countries, there being involved in its physiopathology, among other, the psychosocial factors (illness behavior, social situation, stress, vital events, neuroticism, anxiety and somatization). However no study has been carried out on the Rational Intelligence and Experiential Intelligence or Constructive Thought in patient with SII in spite of knowing that the cognitive processes participate in its genesis. On the hypothesis that the patients with SII would have an experiencial intelligence smaller that the fellows controls, 100 cases of SII and 100 controls have been studied, being excluded of both patients groups with intellectual deficit or psychiatric illness in the last year. The cases of SII were distributed in two groups, one of 50 cases that habitually consulted with the doctor and other 50 that didn't make it. All the participants completed specific tests to evaluate all the psychological factors and Rational Intelligence and the Constructive Thought. The results show an alteration of the psychological factors in the SII, expressed by the antecedents of vital events, m even significant of anxiety feature and anxiety and a neuroticism statistically significant. As for Rational Intelligence and Experiential Intelligence in the SII, it was observed that to Rational Intelligence is same in the patients with SII that in the controls. Only in the group of SII that habitually consulted with the doctor a slightly significant decrease of the intellectual coefficient it was observed. As for the Experiential Intelligence a significant decrease of the Constructive Thought was observed in the patients with SII in comparison with the group control. Of their components a decrease of the emotionality exists and of the

Intelligence, Race, and Genetics

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Robert J.; Grigorenko, Elena L.; Kidd, Kenneth K.

2005-01-01

In this article, the authors argue that the overwhelming portion of the literature on intelligence, race, and genetics is based on folk taxonomies rather than scientific analysis. They suggest that because theorists of intelligence disagree as to what it is, any consideration of its relationships to other constructs must be tentative at best. They…

Fixed Point Learning Based Intelligent Traffic Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Zongyao, Wang; Cong, Sui; Cheng, Shao

2017-10-01

Fixed point learning has become an important tool to analyse large scale distributed system such as urban traffic network. This paper presents a fixed point learning based intelligence traffic network control system. The system applies convergence property of fixed point theorem to optimize the traffic flow density. The intelligence traffic control system achieves maximum road resources usage by averaging traffic flow density among the traffic network. The intelligence traffic network control system is built based on decentralized structure and intelligence cooperation. No central control is needed to manage the system. The proposed system is simple, effective and feasible for practical use. The performance of the system is tested via theoretical proof and simulations. The results demonstrate that the system can effectively solve the traffic congestion problem and increase the vehicles average speed. It also proves that the system is flexible, reliable and feasible for practical use.

On application of stone filled subgrade construction technique in road construction%填石路基施工技术在公路工程中的应用

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王宁

2017-01-01

介绍了填石路基的施工技术与质量控制要点,并以某公路工程为例,从基底施工、路基清理、边坡码砌、摊铺填料、路基平整等方面,阐述了填石路基的施工技术,提高了路基的性能.%The paper introduces the construction technique and quality control points for the stone filled subgrade,take a road project as an example,expounds the construction technique of the filling stone roadbed from the subgrade construction,subgrade cleaning,slope stone stocking,pavement and filling,and subgrade smoothness,so as to improve the performance of the subgrade.

Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape

OpenAIRE

Gibson, Erin L.S.

2016-01-01

Roads embody the experiences of those who construct, use and maintain them through time. Using a biographical approach I explore how memory and identity are entangled in the material remains of a wagon road in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. First constructed by the Royal Engineers in 1859 to enable miners to reach the Fraser River goldfields, the importance of this road transcends its colonial origins. Entwined in different webs of meaning, the material remains of the wagon road conti...

The place of digital technology on the IEA's energy road-maps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben-Naceur, Kamel

2017-01-01

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has drafted road-maps for the next four decades in collaboration with public and private producers and consumers of energy. For each type of energy, these road-maps indicate the key elements for compliance with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. They emphasize the role of digital technology, in particular smart grids, in the transition toward a more digital and more intelligent energy system. The conditions necessary for successfully transforming this sector are mapped out, while attention is called to the risks inherent in this transition

Road Impact on Deforestation and Jaguar Habitat Loss in the Mayan Forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conde, Dalia Amor

2008-01-01

The construction of roads, either as an economic tool or as necessity for the implementation of other infrastructure projects is increasing in the tropical forest worldwide. However, roads are one of the main deforestation drivers in the tropics. In this study we analyzed the impact of road...... and important role in high developed areas. In the short term, the impact of a road in a low developed area is lower than in a road in a high developed area, which could be the result of the lag effect between road construction and forest colonization. This is consistent since roads resulted to be a significant...... investments on both deforestation and jaguar habitat loss, in the Mayan Forest. As well we used these results to forecast the impact of two road investments planned in the region. Our results show that roads are the single deforestation driver in low developed areas, whether many other drivers play...

Fly ash stabilisation of gravel roads; Flygaska som foerstaerkningslager i grusvaeg

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macsik, Josef

2006-01-15

Majority of the existing gravel roads have low bearing capacity during spring and autumn, due to thaw and/or rain. Low bearing capacity leads often to bad road conditions. This situation results in higher costs for the lumber industry and the public. Management of gravel roads all the year around would traditionally require excavation of frost susceptible soils and replacement with natural materials. Fly ash (from bio fuels) has good technical properties as bearing layer in road constructions. Fly ash stabilised gravel roads have better function and longer life span with less maintenance than traditional gravel roads. The aim of this project is to show how fly ash stabilisation of gravel roads can increase bearing capacity and what its environmental impact is. The overall aim is to make it easier for entrepreneurs and consulting companies to use fly ash during gravel road renovation and/or constructing new gravel roads. This report targets fly ash producers and road constructors as well as environmental agencies. Two different pilot tests were investigated in this study, Norberg with fly ash from Stora Enso Fors AB, and Boerje (Uppsala) with fly ash from Vattenfall Uppsala AB. Both road sections with related reference section were investigated during a two year period. Only fly ash was used in the bearing layer at Norberg and fly ash gravel was used at Boerje. Bearing capacity was investigated twice, for both locations, November 2003 one month after the road renovation and during thawing, April 2004. Water samples from lysimeters, ground water and surface water were only collected and analysed from Norberg. Experience from the fly ash stabilised road sections show that curing and traffic load can with time compensate for less compaction. The same is noticed at Boerje, although deflection measurements show that there are small differences. Stabilisation of gravel roads increases the roads bearing capacity. Two years after stabilisation 90 timber loads were

Soil Stabilization with Lime for the Construction of Forest Roads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reginaldo Sérgio Pereira

2018-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The mechanical performance of soil stabilization using lime to improve forest roads was assessed. This study was conducted with lateritic soil (LVAd30 using lime content of 2% in the municipality of Niquelândia, Goiás state, Brazil. Geotechnical tests of soil characterization, compaction, and mechanical strength were performed applying different compaction efforts and curing periods. The results showed that lime content significantly changed the mechanical performance of natural soil, increasing its mechanical strength and load-carrying capacity. Compaction effort and curing time provided different responses in the unconfined compressive strength (UCS and California Bearing Ratio (CBR tests. The best UCS value (786.59 kPa for the soil-lime mixture was achieved with modified compaction effort and curing time of 28 days. In the CBR test, soil-lime mixtures compacted at intermediate and modified efforts and cured for 28 days were considered for application as subbase material of flexible road pavements, being a promising alternative for use in layers of forest roads.

36 CFR 212.10 - Maximum economy National Forest System roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Forest System roads. 212.10 Section 212.10 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT... economy National Forest System roads. The Chief may acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, and maintain National Forest System roads within and near the National Forests and other lands administered by the...

Towards a reference architecture for a collaborative intelligent transport system infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osório, A.L.; Afsarmanesh, H.; Camarinha-Matos, L.M.

2010-01-01

The intelligent transport systems, which aim at providing smarter transport infrastructures and sustainable mobility, are deeply grounded on the Information and Communication Technologies. Current trends in the development of integrated complex systems, such as integrated road/highway concessions

2015 International Conference on Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems

CERN Document Server

Jain, Lakhmi; Zhao, Xiangmo

2017-01-01

This volume includes the proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITITS 2015) which was held in Xi’an on December 12-13, 2015. The conference provided a platform for all professionals and researchers from industry and academia to present and discuss recent advances in the field of Information Technology and Intelligent Transportation Systems. The presented information technologies are connected to intelligent transportation systems including wireless communication, computational technologies, floating car data/floating cellular data, sensing technologies, and video vehicle detection. The articles focusing on intelligent transport systems vary in the technologies applied, from basic management systems to more application systems including topics such as emergency vehicle notification systems, automatic road enforcement, collision avoidance systems and some cooperative systems. The conference hosted 12 invited speakers and over 200 part...

Construction and Demolition Waste

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Thomas Højlund; Andersen, L.

2011-01-01

Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) is the waste generated during the building, repair, remodeling or removal of constructions. The constructions can be roads, residential housing and nonresidential buildings. C&D waste has traditionally been considered without any environmental problems...... should be managed accordingly. Another reason is that it has been documented that a large fraction of C&D waste (about 90 %) can be easily recycled and thus can conserve landfill capacity. C&D waste may conveniently be divided into three subcategories: Buildings, roads and excavations. This chapter...

Review the new system and its impact on intelligent buildings and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Among the important trends in contemporary architecture, sustainable architecture is ... intelligent and self-healing materials in construction Buildings Hvshmnd.dr this paper, ... Keywords: nano-architecture, sustainable construction, intelligent ...

Artificial intelligence and the future.

Science.gov (United States)

Clocksin, William F

2003-08-15

We consider some of the ideas influencing current artificial-intelligence research and outline an alternative conceptual framework that gives priority to social relationships as a key component and constructor of intelligent behaviour. The framework starts from Weizenbaum's observation that intelligence manifests itself only relative to specific social and cultural contexts. This is in contrast to a prevailing view, which sees intelligence as an abstract capability of the individual mind based on a mechanism for rational thought. The new approach is not based on the conventional idea that the mind is a rational processor of symbolic information, nor does it require the idea that thought is a kind of abstract problem solving with a semantics that is independent of its embodiment. Instead, priority is given to affective and social responses that serve to engage the whole agent in the life of the communities in which it participates. Intelligence is seen not as the deployment of capabilities for problem solving, but as constructed by the continual, ever-changing and unfinished engagement with the social group within the environment. The construction of the identity of the intelligent agent involves the appropriation or 'taking up' of positions within the conversations and narratives in which it participates. Thus, the new approach argues that the intelligent agent is shaped by the meaning ascribed to experience, by its situation in the social matrix, and by practices of self and of relationship into which intelligent life is recruited. This has implications for the technology of the future, as, for example, classic artificial intelligence models such as goal-directed problem solving are seen as special cases of narrative practices instead of as ontological foundations.

An instrument for the measurement of road surface reflection properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corell, Dennis Dan; Sørensen, K.

2017-01-01

surfaces in use have changed - for instance to road surface types with less noise from wheel passages. Because of this, a co-operation between the road administrations of the Nordic countries (abbreviated NMF) decided to construct a portable instrument to be used on selections of traffic roads within......Road surface reflection data in the form of standard r-tables serve as input for design calculations of road lighting installations on traffic roads. However, in several countries the use of the standard r-tables has not been verified by measurement in a long period of time, while the types of road...

Physical soil properties and slope treatments effects on hydraulic excavator productivity for forest road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsakho, Aidin; Hosseini, Seyed Ataollah; Jalilvand, Hamid; Lotfalian, Majid

2008-06-01

Effects of moisture, porosity and soil bulk density properties, grubbing time and terrain side slopes on pc 220 komatsu hydraulic excavator productivity were investigated in Miana forests road construction project which located in the northern forest of Iran. Soil moisture and porosity determined by samples were taken from undisturbed soil. The elements of daily works were measured with a digital stop watch and video camera in 14 observations (days). The road length and cross section profiles after each 20 m were selected to estimate earthworks volume. Results showed that the mean production rates for the pc 220 komatsu excavators were 60.13 m3 h(-1) and earthwork 14.76 m h(-1) when the mean depth of excavation or cutting was 4.27 m3 m(-1), respectively. There was no significant effects (p = 0.5288) from the slope classes' treatments on productivity, whereas grubbing time, soil moisture, bulk density and porosity had significantly affected on excavator earthworks volume (p < 0.0001). Clear difference was showed between the earthwork length by slope classes (p = 0.0060). Grubbing time (p = 0.2180), soil moisture (p = 0.1622), bulk density (p = 0.2490) and porosity (p = 0.2159) had no significant effect on the excavator earthworks length.

Concrete debris assessment for road construction activities : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-01

Two distinct but related issues of importance to FDOT were investigated: (1) the possible impact of : recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) used as road base on the subsurface environment and (2) the : management of concrete grinding residuals (CGR) resu...

An RFID-Based Intelligent Vehicle Speed Controller Using Active Traffic Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshué Pérez

2010-06-01

Full Text Available These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS. One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC, which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver’s attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results.

An RFID-Based Intelligent Vehicle Speed Controller Using Active Traffic Signals

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Joshué; Seco, Fernando; Milanés, Vicente; Jiménez, Antonio; Díaz, Julio C.; de Pedro, Teresa

2010-01-01

These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC), which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver’s attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V) communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results. PMID:22219692

An RFID-based intelligent vehicle speed controller using active traffic signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Joshué; Seco, Fernando; Milanés, Vicente; Jiménez, Antonio; Díaz, Julio C; de Pedro, Teresa

2010-01-01

These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC), which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver's attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V) communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results.

Artificial intelligence and visco-elastic analyses for modelling of pavement structures

OpenAIRE

CHABOT, Armelle

2009-01-01

Since January 1, 2009, Maryam Miradi is working as a software engineer at Logica, Rotterdam. Before that she was working as a PhD student at the department of Road and Railway Engineering of the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology. In 1998 she graduated in software engineering at the Mashad University in Iran. In 2003 she became PhD student at the Road and Railway Engineering Department. The objective of her study was to use Artificial Intelligence (AI...

Public road infrastructure inventory in degraded global navigation satellite system signal environments

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolova, N.; Morrison, A.; Haakonsen, T. A.

2015-04-01

Recent advancement of land-based mobile mapping enables rapid and cost-effective collection of highquality road related spatial information. Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) can provide spatial information with subdecimeter accuracy in nominal operation environments. However, performance in challenging environments such as tunnels is not well characterized. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) manages the country's public road network and its infrastructure, a large segment of which is represented by road tunnels (there are about 1 000 road tunnels in Norway with a combined length of 800 km). In order to adopt mobile mapping technology for streamlining road network and infrastructure management and maintenance tasks, it is important to ensure that the technology is mature enough to meet existing requirements for object positioning accuracy in all types of environments, and provide homogeneous accuracy over the mapping perimeter. This paper presents results of a testing campaign performed within a project funded by the NPRA as a part of SMarter road traffic with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) (SMITS) program. The testing campaign objective was performance evaluation of high end commercial MMSs for inventory of public areas, focusing on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal degraded environments.

Roads, interrupted dispersal, and genetic diversity in timber rattlesnakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Rulon W; Brown, William S; Stechert, Randy; Zamudio, Kelly R

2010-08-01

Anthropogenic habitat modification often creates barriers to animal movement, transforming formerly contiguous habitat into a patchwork of habitat islands with low connectivity. Roadways are a feature of most landscapes that can act as barriers or filters to migration among local populations. Even small and recently constructed roads can have a significant impact on population genetic structure of some species, but not others. We developed a research approach that combines fine-scale molecular genetics with behavioral and ecological data to understand the impacts of roads on population structure and connectivity. We used microsatellite markers to characterize genetic variation within and among populations of timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) occupying communal hibernacula (dens) in regions bisected by roadways. We examined the impact of roads on seasonal migration, genetic diversity, and gene flow among populations. Snakes in hibernacula isolated by roads had significantly lower genetic diversity and higher genetic differentiation than snakes in hibernacula in contiguous habitat. Genetic-assignment analyses revealed that interruption to seasonal migration was the mechanism underlying these patterns. Our results underscore the sizeable impact of roads on this species, despite their relatively recent construction at our study sites (7 to 10 generations of rattlesnakes), the utility of population genetics for studies of road ecology, and the need for mitigating effects of roads.

Developing a 3D Road Cadastral System: Comparing Legal Requirements and User Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Gristina, S.; Ellul, C.; Scianna, A.

2016-10-01

Road transport has always played an important role in a country's growth and, in order to manage road networks and ensure a high standard of road performance (e.g. durability, efficiency and safety), both public and private road inventories have been implemented using databases and Geographical Information Systems. They enable registering and managing significant amounts of different road information, but to date do not focus on 3D road information, data integration and interoperability. In an increasingly complex 3D urban environment, and in the age of smart cities, however, applications including intelligent transport systems, mobility and traffic management, road maintenance and safety require digital data infrastructures to manage road data: thus new inventories based on integrated 3D road models (queryable, updateable and shareable on line) are required. This paper outlines the first step towards the implementation of 3D GIS-based road inventories. Focusing on the case study of the "Road Cadastre" (the Italian road inventory as established by law), it investigates current limitations and required improvements, and also compares the required data structure imposed by cadastral legislation with real road users' needs. The study aims to: a) determine whether 3D GIS would improve road cadastre (for better management of data through the complete life-cycle infrastructure projects); b) define a conceptual model for a 3D road cadastre for Italy (whose general principles may be extended also to other countries).

Road dust emissions from paved roads measured using different mobile systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Pirjola, Liisa; Johansson, Christer; Kupiainen, Kaarle; Stojiljkovic, Ana; Karlsson, Hans; Hussein, Tareq

2010-12-01

Very few real-world measurements of road dust suspension have been performed to date. This study compares two different techniques (referred to as Sniffer and Emma) to measure road dust emissions. The main differences between the systems are the construction of the inlet, different instruments for recording particulate matter (PM) levels, and different loads on the wheel axes (the weight of Sniffer was much higher than that of Emma). Both systems showed substantial small-scale variations of emission levels along the road, likely depending on-road surface conditions. The variations observed correlated quite well, and the discrepancies are likely a result of variations in dust load on the road surface perpendicular to the driving direction that cause variations in the measurements depending on slightly different paths driven by the two vehicles. Both systems showed a substantial influence on the emission levels depending on the type of tire used. The summer tire showed much lower suspension than the winter tires (one nonstudded and one studded). However, the relative importance of the nonstudded versus studded tire was rather different. For the ratio of studded/nonstudded, Emma shows higher values on all road sections compared with Sniffer. Both techniques showed increased emission levels with increasing vehicle speed. When the speed increased from 50 to 80 km hr(-1), the relative concentrations increased by 30-170% depending on the tire type and dust load. However, for road sections that were very dirty, Sniffer showed a much higher relative increase in the emission level with the nonstudded tire. Sniffer's absolute concentrations were mostly higher than Emma's. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed in the paper. Both systems can be used for studying relative road dust emissions and for designing air quality management strategies.

Intelligent energy management control of vehicle air conditioning system coupled with engine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khayyam, Hamid; Abawajy, Jemal; Jazar, Reza N.

2012-01-01

Vehicle Air Conditioning (AC) systems consist of an engine powered compressor activated by an electrical clutch. The AC system imposes an extra load to the vehicle's engine increasing the vehicle fuel consumption and emissions. Energy management control of the vehicle air conditioning is a nonlinear dynamic system, influenced by uncertain disturbances. In addition, the vehicle energy management control system interacts with different complex systems, such as engine, air conditioning system, environment, and driver, to deliver fuel consumption improvements. In this paper, we describe the energy management control of vehicle AC system coupled with vehicle engine through an intelligent control design. The Intelligent Energy Management Control (IEMC) system presented in this paper includes an intelligent algorithm which uses five exterior units and three integrated fuzzy controllers to produce desirable internal temperature and air quality, improved fuel consumption, low emission, and smooth driving. The three fuzzy controllers include: (i) a fuzzy cruise controller to adapt vehicle cruise speed via prediction of the road ahead using a Look-Ahead system, (ii) a fuzzy air conditioning controller to produce desirable temperature and air quality inside vehicle cabin room via a road information system, and (iii) a fuzzy engine controller to generate the required engine torque to move the vehicle smoothly on the road. We optimised the integrated operation of the air conditioning and the engine under various driving patterns and performed three simulations. Results show that the proposed IEMC system developed based on Fuzzy Air Conditioning Controller with Look-Ahead (FAC-LA) method is a more efficient controller for vehicle air conditioning system than the previously developed Coordinated Energy Management Systems (CEMS). - Highlights: ► AC interacts: vehicle, environment, driver components, and the interrelationships between them. ► Intelligent AC algorithm which uses

High Resolution Trichromatic Road Surface Scanning with a Line Scan Camera and Light Emitting Diode Lighting for Road-Kill Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gil Lopes

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a road surface scanning system that operates with a trichromatic line scan camera with light emitting diode (LED lighting achieving road surface resolution under a millimeter. It was part of a project named Roadkills—Intelligent systems for surveying mortality of amphibians in Portuguese roads, sponsored by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. A trailer was developed in order to accommodate the complete system with standalone power generation, computer image capture and recording, controlled lighting to operate day or night without disturbance, incremental encoder with 5000 pulses per revolution attached to one of the trailer wheels, under a meter Global Positioning System (GPS localization, easy to utilize with any vehicle with a trailer towing system and focused on a complete low cost solution. The paper describes the system architecture of the developed prototype, its calibration procedure, the performed experimentation and some obtained results, along with a discussion and comparison with existing systems. Sustained operating trailer speeds of up to 30 km/h are achievable without loss of quality at 4096 pixels’ image width (1 m width of road surface with 250 µm/pixel resolution. Higher scanning speeds can be achieved by lowering the image resolution (120 km/h with 1 mm/pixel. Computer vision algorithms are under development to operate on the captured images in order to automatically detect road-kills of amphibians.

High Resolution Trichromatic Road Surface Scanning with a Line Scan Camera and Light Emitting Diode Lighting for Road-Kill Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Gil; Ribeiro, A Fernando; Sillero, Neftalí; Gonçalves-Seco, Luís; Silva, Cristiano; Franch, Marc; Trigueiros, Paulo

2016-04-19

This paper presents a road surface scanning system that operates with a trichromatic line scan camera with light emitting diode (LED) lighting achieving road surface resolution under a millimeter. It was part of a project named Roadkills-Intelligent systems for surveying mortality of amphibians in Portuguese roads, sponsored by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. A trailer was developed in order to accommodate the complete system with standalone power generation, computer image capture and recording, controlled lighting to operate day or night without disturbance, incremental encoder with 5000 pulses per revolution attached to one of the trailer wheels, under a meter Global Positioning System (GPS) localization, easy to utilize with any vehicle with a trailer towing system and focused on a complete low cost solution. The paper describes the system architecture of the developed prototype, its calibration procedure, the performed experimentation and some obtained results, along with a discussion and comparison with existing systems. Sustained operating trailer speeds of up to 30 km/h are achievable without loss of quality at 4096 pixels' image width (1 m width of road surface) with 250 µm/pixel resolution. Higher scanning speeds can be achieved by lowering the image resolution (120 km/h with 1 mm/pixel). Computer vision algorithms are under development to operate on the captured images in order to automatically detect road-kills of amphibians.

Evolution Engines and Artificial Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Hemker, Andreas; Becks, Karl-Heinz

In the last years artificial intelligence has achieved great successes, mainly in the field of expert systems and neural networks. Nevertheless the road to truly intelligent systems is still obscured. Artificial intelligence systems with a broad range of cognitive abilities are not within sight. The limited competence of such systems (brittleness) is identified as a consequence of the top-down design process. The evolution principle of nature on the other hand shows an alternative and elegant way to build intelligent systems. We propose to take an evolution engine as the driving force for the bottom-up development of knowledge bases and for the optimization of the problem-solving process. A novel data analysis system for the high energy physics experiment DELPHI at CERN shows the practical relevance of this idea. The system is able to reconstruct the physical processes after the collision of particles by making use of the underlying standard model of elementary particle physics. The evolution engine acts as a global controller of a population of inference engines working on the reconstruction task. By implementing the system on the Connection Machine (Model CM-2) we use the full advantage of the inherent parallelization potential of the evolutionary approach.

Long-term leaching from recycled concrete aggregates applied as sub-base material in road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Engelsen, Christian J; van der Sloot, Hans A; Petkovic, Gordana

2017-06-01

In the present study, the metal leaching from recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) used in road sub-base is presented after >10years of exposure. The released levels of inorganic constituents, the effect of small variation of pH and the use of de-icing salt during winter season were studied. In addition, speciation modelling for the major elements has been provided. The pH varied from 7.5 to 8.5 for the sub-base constructed with RCA whereas the pH of around 8 was obtained for the test section not affected by the traffic and de-icing salts. Despite a small variation in pH, the leachability of Al, Ca and Mg was found to be strongly dependent on pH and fair agreement between the measured and predicted concentrations was obtained. The speciation modelling indicated that gibbsite, calcite and magnesite controlled the solubility of Al, Ca and Mg, respectively, which was in agreement with the expected carbonation products. Due to the larger pH fluctuations in the test sections exposed to the road traffic, increased concentrations were observed for the oxyanions. The same effect was not seen for the trace metal cations Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. The distinct pH dependent leaching profile (solubility maximum in the mildly basic pH region) for vanadium could be seen after 10years of exposure. The simplified risk assessment showed that the released quantities did not exceed the chosen acceptance criteria for groundwater and fresh water. The results obtained for the test section not influenced by road dust and de-icing salts, complied with these criteria even without considering any dilution effects caused by the mixing of pore water with groundwater. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Crowd-Sourced Intelligence Agency: Prototyping counterveillance

OpenAIRE

Jennifer Gradecki; Derek Curry

2017-01-01

This paper discusses how an interactive artwork, the Crowd-Sourced Intelligence Agency (CSIA), can contribute to discussions of Big Data intelligence analytics. The CSIA is a publicly accessible Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) system that was constructed using information gathered from technical manuals, research reports, academic papers, leaked documents, and Freedom of Information Act files. Using a visceral heuristic, the CSIA demonstrates how the statistical correlations made by automate...

Tourist Assessment of Croatian Roads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joso Vurdelja

2012-10-01

Full Text Available As environmentally clean industry and as the most significantworld industry regarding the number of employees and theimpact on the social and economic development of a countTy,tourism represents an extremely important social and economicbranch for Croatia.As a functional unit of the mutually interweaving socialand economic relations, tourism is a complex phenomenonwhose development depends on a number of compatible factorsout of which the transport infrastructure is considered to bethe most obvious and almost the most significant one, i.e. thefirst among the equal. This is primarily true for road traffic infrastructure,since road trai!Sportation of tourists by passengercars, buses and motorcycles accounts for more than 90 percentof the overall tourist journeys in Croatia.The topic of this paper is precisely, among other things, thetourist assessment of the Croatian road network by means ofthe so-called econometric model regarding the contribution ofa certain road route to the overall tourist traffic.Practical implementation of the elaborated problematicshould result in the improvement of road infrastructure eitherby constructing new motonvays and/or roads, or by reconstructionand/or modernisation of the existing traffic routes.

SUNRA - a sustainability rating system framework for National Road Administrations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sowerby, Chris; Langstraat, James; Harmer, Clare

National Road Administrations (NRAs) across Europe strive to improve the performance of their road networks. This improvement has been underpinned by significant research in the optimisation of road planning, design, construction and maintenance, which has enhanced the understanding of the social......, environmental and economic aspects of managing a road network. Whilst there is common understanding in some aspects of sustainability there is not a common understanding of sustainability as a whole and thus how to benchmark and improve overall performance. The Sustainability: National Road Administrations...

What have we learned about intelligent transportation systems? Chapter 2, What have we learned about freeway incident and emergency management and electronic toll collection?

Science.gov (United States)

2000-12-01

The intelligent infrastructure is often the most visible manifestation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) along with roads, freeways, and incident management is often among the first ITS elements implemented. They can significantly contribut...

Rehabilitation of a secondary network of forest traffic infrastructure (skid roads - skid trails

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bajrić Muhamed

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Forest transport infrastructure is the key segment of rational forest resource management. One of its constituent and inseparable segments are skid roads and skid trails whose network density significantly exceeds the primary network, i.e. truck roads. Skid road -skid trail network density in high economic forests of FB&H is most often between 40 and 100 m/ha. Simplified way of construction, non-existence of road construction, objects for surface water drainage as well as significant longitudinal inclination (up to 50% in which they are constructed, makes them subject to erosion processes. The lack of rehabilitation measures on skid roads - skid trails causes significant damages in post-exploitation period, and very often to the extent that the ones in the following exploitation round are unusable for skidding. Utilization of skid roads - skid trails damaged by erosion processes for forest operations often represents a significant expense. This paper considers rehabilitation measures efficient from the point of remedying erosion processes, and at the same time, acceptable from the point of financial expenditure for forest operations.

THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF FORMING THE PRODUCT QUALITY CONTROL STRATEGY OF ROAD-BUILDING ENGINEERING ENTERPRISES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariia Sadova

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the work is the need of the theoretical justification and the development of relevant scientific and methodological approaches to the management of the road production quality of machine-building enterprises; it led to the choice of research topics. Methodology. Taking into account the value of existing methods of quality management of road production engineering companies, currently a particular attention requires improvement of the quality control functions: analysis, evaluation, planning and quality control during the operation of road-building equipment, because existing economic practices and quality management approaches are built on classical principles of ISO 9001, and in the practical application do not solve all of the drawbacks of traditional management models, but only smooth them a little. Therefore, the formation of the quality management strategy for the road production of mechanical engineering is essential to ensure the competitiveness of products and enterprises of the road-building complex in the period of development of market relations in the economy. The results showed that the current market conditions impose strict requirements to all production areas of the society. Especially stringent are requirements for the road construction, because the quality of the construction of the subgrade, covering roads and curbs, grading and soil compaction under different conditions of terrain and driving safety depends on people's lives. This factor determines the exceptional quality requirements for roadbuilding equipment, which must be reliable, functional and able to meet the totality of the design and operational characteristics of the road. Further European integration of Ukraine, deepening of external economic relations with the European countries are responsible for the growing needs of the national economy in the development and expansion of the transport network. However, large-scale road construction and repair

Towards Intelligent Supply Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siurdyban, Artur; Møller, Charles

2012-01-01

applied to the context of organizational processes can increase the success rate of business operations. The framework is created using a set of theoretical based constructs grounded in a discussion across several streams of research including psychology, pedagogy, artificial intelligence, learning...... of deploying inapt operations leading to deterioration of profits. To address this problem, we propose a unified business process design framework based on the paradigm of intelligence. Intelligence allows humans and human-designed systems cope with environmental volatility, and we argue that its principles......, business process management and supply chain management. It outlines a number of system tasks combined in four integrated management perspectives: build, execute, grow and innovate, put forward as business process design propositions for Intelligent Supply Chains....

A review of models relevant to road safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, B P; Newstead, S; Anund, A; Shu, C C; Falkmer, T

2015-01-01

It is estimated that more than 1.2 million people die worldwide as a result of road traffic crashes and some 50 million are injured per annum. At present some Western countries' road safety strategies and countermeasures claim to have developed into 'Safe Systems' models to address the effects of road related crashes. Well-constructed models encourage effective strategies to improve road safety. This review aimed to identify and summarise concise descriptions, or 'models' of safety. The review covers information from a wide variety of fields and contexts including transport, occupational safety, food industry, education, construction and health. The information from 2620 candidate references were selected and summarised in 121 examples of different types of model and contents. The language of safety models and systems was found to be inconsistent. Each model provided additional information regarding style, purpose, complexity and diversity. In total, seven types of models were identified. The categorisation of models was done on a high level with a variation of details in each group and without a complete, simple and rational description. The models identified in this review are likely to be adaptable to road safety and some of them have previously been used. None of systems theory, safety management systems, the risk management approach, or safety culture was commonly or thoroughly applied to road safety. It is concluded that these approaches have the potential to reduce road trauma. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Resource Roads demonstration project : final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-15

British Columbia's vast network of resource roads are considered to be amongst the most dangerous, high-risk workplaces in the province. Resource roads, also known as industrial roads, forest service roads, or petroleum development roads, present several unique safety challenges as workplaces. They are built for the purpose of access, egress and transport of materials, resources, equipment and people. However, the lack the same diligence of enforcement and a consistent design, construction, maintenance and standard for use as public highways or municipal roads. There are also safety challenges related to public use of resource roads. This report presented a project, called ResourceRoads by WorkSafe BC that focused on the organization and implementation of a management structure that would provide a system of coordination and a process of compliance for the users of the defined road systems. The project was based on information gathered in two forest districts of Prince George and the South Peace Forest Districts. A committee consisting of the actual owner of the road and other users was formed. The report presented a history of British Columbia's resource road system, and discussed resource roads as industrial workplaces and worksites, as well as resource road fatality statistics. The demonstration project was outlined in terms of project leadership; scope; strategic objectives; project purpose; performance objectives; project communication; demonstration areas; and project stages. Project fundamentals and project findings were also presented along with recommendations and responses to the Auditor General report and the Forest Safety Ombudsman report. It was concluded that potential uses of new technologies for resource road vehicles should be reviewed. tabs., figs.

Chinese Adolescents' Emotional Intelligence, Perceived Social Support, and Resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Shitao

2017-01-01

The constructs of emotional intelligence, perceived social support and resilience have been primarily developed in a Western, individual-oriented societal context. The application of these constructs in Eastern cultures requires further investigation. The aim of the study was to examine the relationships among trait emotional intelligence,…

Artificial Intelligence and Moral intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Pana

2008-07-01

Full Text Available We discuss the thesis that the implementation of a moral code in the behaviour of artificial intelligent systems needs a specific form of human and artificial intelligence, not just an abstract intelligence. We present intelligence as a system with an internal structure and the structural levels of the moral system, as well as certain characteristics of artificial intelligent agents which can/must be treated as 1- individual entities (with a complex, specialized, autonomous or selfdetermined, even unpredictable conduct, 2- entities endowed with diverse or even multiple intelligence forms, like moral intelligence, 3- open and, even, free-conduct performing systems (with specific, flexible and heuristic mechanisms and procedures of decision, 4 – systems which are open to education, not just to instruction, 5- entities with “lifegraphy”, not just “stategraphy”, 6- equipped not just with automatisms but with beliefs (cognitive and affective complexes, 7- capable even of reflection (“moral life” is a form of spiritual, not just of conscious activity, 8 – elements/members of some real (corporal or virtual community, 9 – cultural beings: free conduct gives cultural value to the action of a ”natural” or artificial being. Implementation of such characteristics does not necessarily suppose efforts to design, construct and educate machines like human beings. The human moral code is irremediably imperfect: it is a morality of preference, of accountability (not of responsibility and a morality of non-liberty, which cannot be remedied by the invention of ethical systems, by the circulation of ideal values and by ethical (even computing education. But such an imperfect morality needs perfect instruments for its implementation: applications of special logic fields; efficient psychological (theoretical and technical attainments to endow the machine not just with intelligence, but with conscience and even spirit; comprehensive technical

Faster bridge construction using precast substructures : brief.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-01

Bridge replacement often requires road closures and detours that frustrate road users. It remains a key goal of Wisconsin DOT to reduce construction-related road use interruptions. This will be a challenge with bridges: Bridge inspections in 2007 ide...

Politics of contemporary "Silk Roads"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrey I. Litvinov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently in mass media we can find the idea about a new Silk Road or the concept of "Silk Road Economic Belt" which has been formulated by the Chinese PresidentXi Jinping on September 7,2013, during his official visit to Kazakhstan. This project is not only the creation of a transport, power and trade corridor, and also the project which will promote development of tourism in the region and to strengthening of cultural exchanges of China with the countries of Central Asia, it also includes construction of a network of high-speed fiber-optical networks. The economic strip of the Silk Road will begin in China and pass across the Central and the Southern Asia, part of branches across the territory of the Russian Federation and to leave to Europe. This international investment project assumes creation of a continental transport way. For implementation of overland part of "A great Silk Road is a three railway corridors (northern, central have to be constructed and southern They have form a basis for development of other means of transport, including automobile subsequently. Construction of these three railway corridors acts as the most important and necessary stage of implementation of the project. The government of China declares that creation of an economic belt of the Silk way is a revival of once prospering trade-transport and cultural corridor from Asia to Europe which will promote activization of a friendly exchange between the people of the different countries. Further all this has to connect trade and economic space of Europe and Asia in a whole that has to serve implementation of deeper economic cooperation, between the countries participating in him, to increase in a trade turnover and expansion of scientific and technical exchanges between them.

Conceptual design report, TWRS Privatization Phase I, site development and roads, subproject W-505

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, G.

1997-01-01

This document includes Conceptual Design Report (CDR) for the site development, construction of new roads and improvements at existing road intersections, habitat mitigation, roadway lighting, and construction power needed for the construction of two Private Contractor (PC) Facilities. Approximately 50 hectare (124 acres) land parcel, east of the Grout Facility, is planned for the PC facilities

Utilisation of metallurgical by-products in road construction in the Czech Republic

Science.gov (United States)

Kresta, František

2017-09-01

Metallurgical by-products, primarily blast furnace slag and steel slag, have ranked among important alternative sources of fill as well as of material for the structural layers in highways. Main hazards of metallurgical by-products are closely connected to their chemical and mineralogical composition and they can be resulted in volume changes. Fears from possible deformations similar to the D47 motorway meant that metallurgical by-products were excluded from several public tenders of road construction. Comparison of blast furnace slag, steel slag and other metallurgical by products parameters allow us to define the most hazardous material as steelworks waste. Linear swelling of steelwork waste achieves more than 40% at 75°C and swelling pressure was higher than 1.5 MPa. Compositional heterogeneity of steelworks waste makes it difficult to establish the long-term behaviour of this material. At the present time we cannot ascertain which maximum values can be reached by deformation and what are the swelling pressures acting on the material while the volume changes are in progress.

Multispectral Image Road Extraction Based Upon Automated Map Conflation

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bin

Road network extraction from remotely sensed imagery enables many important and diverse applications such as vehicle tracking, drone navigation, and intelligent transportation studies. There are, however, a number of challenges to road detection from an image. Road pavement material, width, direction, and topology vary across a scene. Complete or partial occlusions caused by nearby buildings, trees, and the shadows cast by them, make maintaining road connectivity difficult. The problems posed by occlusions are exacerbated with the increasing use of oblique imagery from aerial and satellite platforms. Further, common objects such as rooftops and parking lots are made of materials similar or identical to road pavements. This problem of common materials is a classic case of a single land cover material existing for different land use scenarios. This work addresses these problems in road extraction from geo-referenced imagery by leveraging the OpenStreetMap digital road map to guide image-based road extraction. The crowd-sourced cartography has the advantages of worldwide coverage that is constantly updated. The derived road vectors follow only roads and so can serve to guide image-based road extraction with minimal confusion from occlusions and changes in road material. On the other hand, the vector road map has no information on road widths and misalignments between the vector map and the geo-referenced image are small but nonsystematic. Properly correcting misalignment between two geospatial datasets, also known as map conflation, is an essential step. A generic framework requiring minimal human intervention is described for multispectral image road extraction and automatic road map conflation. The approach relies on the road feature generation of a binary mask and a corresponding curvilinear image. A method for generating the binary road mask from the image by applying a spectral measure is presented. The spectral measure, called anisotropy-tunable distance (ATD

Views of Chinese Psychologists toward Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Gonggu; Saklofske, Donald H.; Oakland, Thomas

2009-01-01

The concepts of intelligence and methods to assess it constitute important contributions to psychology and have had a profound impact on school psychology practice. While the perspectives and practices of North American and European psychologists toward the construct and assessment of intelligence generally are well known, the views held by…

Comparison of the yields of downstream migrant salmonids before and after logging and road construction on the South Fork Caspar Creek, Mendocino County

Science.gov (United States)

David S. Graves; James W. Burns

1970-01-01

Yields of juvenile steelhead rainbow trout Salmo gairdnerii gairdnerii) and silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) emigrants were compared in South Fork Caspar Creek, a small coastal stream in Mendocino County, California, before and after construction of a logging road along the stream in the summer of 1967. Numbers, lengths, and age class structures were compared....

Modelling traffic hindrance caused by road construction as part of a multi-criteria assessment framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Berkum, Eric C.; ter Huerne, Henderikus L.; Jacob, B.; Kovarik, J.; Motyka, V.

2014-01-01

One of the consequences of the increased utilization of road infrastructure is more frequent maintenance work. Since generally road works result in less available road capacity, we can witness an increase in traffic hindrance, which involves delays and externalities as noise, air quality, safety and

Intelligence in Construction between Contemporary and Traditional Architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khalid abdul wahab

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The authentic traditional architecture proved that it is very convenient to the environmental and social regulations where it appeared and lasted for hundred of years. This traditional architecture got the intelligence in providing thermal comfort for their occupants by the intelligent usage of the building materials and the intelligent planning and designs which took in consideration the climatic condition and the aerodynamics of the whole city as one ecological system starting from the cold breeze passing through its narrow streets till it enters the dwelling units and glides out through the wind catchers. This architecture had been neglected and replaced by modern imported architecture which had collapsed within few decades not in our region only but all over the world. Now a days the increasing awareness of the global environmental crisis the green or sustainable architecture appeared as a new type of architecture by the eighties of the last century. Today these types of buildings began to enter Arab countries in general and Arabian Gulf countries especially like Masdar city, where smart building can be seen with inelegant treatments which will replace the modern high rise towers with its glass facades. This will lead to the general research problem which concerns the shortage of knowledge about the inelegance in design and planning used in the traditional architecture, and the special research problem concerning the shortage of knowledge concerning the ability to use the inelegant traditional architectural and planning concepts as a base for the future sustainable modern buildings and cites as the aim of this research.

Intelligence and Security: Ingredients for Stable Polity, Food Security ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In Nigeria, intelligence, especially military intelligence became like the Gestapo of Adolf Hitler during the regime of General Sani Abacha. Their allegiance was blindly to the government of the day, constructive intelligence gathering and Analysis was relegated to the background. The country became stagnant and moved ...

Modernization of the Russian Automobile Road Network on the Base of Innovative Technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. A. Zhukov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: the main goal of the article is to build a conceptual model for the organization of effective functioning of the points of economic and innovative growth of the region in modern conditions, taking into account regional and municipal limitations of internal and external nature, with the aim of ensuring economic security, effective interaction of subjects of the "business-power" system Taking into account the influence of institutional factors. Methods: in the present study the following methods were used: systemic approach, methods of social diagnosis, comparative analysis, method of expert evaluations, and method of statistical processing of information. Results: the short characteristic of modern development and technical level of the Russian automobile roads network as the important part of the automobile roads material-technical base is presented. Realization process of the actual task putted by Russian President V.V. Putin to transport builders: two times increasing construction of automobile roads is analyzed. The reality of decision this task due to modernization roads economy material-technical base on the base of innovative technologies and progressive world experience in the field of roads construction is scientifically proved. Conclusions and Relevance: in spite of losing now in decision of the actual task putted by Russian President V.V. Putin to transport builders: two times increasing construction of automobile roads, nevertheless the real possibilities to reach the important aim still remain. It may be done only due to scientifically grounded modernization of the roads economy material-technical base on the base of innovative technologies and progressive world experience in the field of roads construction 

Evaluation of leachate emissions from crushed rock and municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash used in road construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lidelöw, S; Lagerkvist, A

2007-01-01

Three years of leachate emissions from municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash and crushed rock in a full-scale test road were evaluated. The impact of time, construction design, and climate on the emissions was studied, and the predicted release from standard leaching tests was compared with the measured release from the road. The main pollutants and their respective concentrations in leachate from the roadside slope were Al (12.8-85.3 mg l(-1)), Cr (2-125 microg l(-1)), and Cu (0.15-1.9 mg l(-1)) in ash leachate and Zn (1-780 microg l(-1)) in crushed rock leachate. From the ash, the initial Cl(-) release was high ( approximately 20 g l(-1)). After three years, the amount of Cu and Cl(-) was in the same range in both leachates, while that of Al and Cr still was more than one order of magnitude higher in ash leachate. Generally, the release was faster from material in the uncovered slopes than below the pavement. Whether the road was asphalted or not, however, had minor impacts on the leachate quality. During rain events, diluted leachates with respect to, e.g., salts were observed. The leaching tests failed to simulate field leaching from the crushed rock, whereas better agreement was observed for the ash. Comparisons of constituent release from bottom ash and conventional materials solely based on such tests should be avoided.

International Conference on Computational Intelligence 2015

CERN Document Server

Saha, Sujan

2017-01-01

This volume comprises the proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Intelligence 2015 (ICCI15). This book aims to bring together work from leading academicians, scientists, researchers and research scholars from across the globe on all aspects of computational intelligence. The work is composed mainly of original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in all areas of computational intelligence. Specifically, the major topics covered include classical computational intelligence models and artificial intelligence, neural networks and deep learning, evolutionary swarm and particle algorithms, hybrid systems optimization, constraint programming, human-machine interaction, computational intelligence for the web analytics, robotics, computational neurosciences, neurodynamics, bioinspired and biomorphic algorithms, cross disciplinary topics and applications. The contents of this volume will be of use to researchers and professionals alike....

Assessment of Quality of Asphalt Concrete used in Road ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

OLUWASOGO

to layers beneath without compromising durability. The premature failure of road pavement shortly after construction or rehabilitation without meeting its designed life span has become a major challenge to highway engineers, contractors and the government in Nigeria. A study carried out by Federal Road Safety Corps of ...

Urban Road Transportation in Nigeria From 1960 To 2006 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

It was discovered that urban road transport system in Nigeria is inefficient and grossly inadequate even after 46 years of becoming independent from Colonial Rule. The paper suggested the construction of more motor-able roads within cities in order to increase the network; encourage increased public and private ...

The ecological impact assessment of a proposed road development (the Slovak approach)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Igondova, Erika; Pavlickova, Katarina; Majzlan, Oto

2016-01-01

The construction of roads is one of the most widespread forms of natural landscape modification. Over the last 20 years, dozens of road constructions have been assessed in Slovakia, which makes it possible to talk about methodological positives and negatives. A special feature of Slovakia is that many planned or renovated roads are located in protected areas or are in contact with them (including Natura 2000 sites). Therefore, it is important to understand the scope of the roads' ecological impacts and find ways for their appropriate evaluation and incorporation into the Environmental Impact Assessment process. For this reason, the Ecological Impact Assessment methodology can be used as a basis for our research, which consists of three stages. In the first stage (scoping), a buffer circumventing the proposed road is created to determine the area for impact prediction and evaluation. Subsequently, the landscape structure and baseline landscape conditions are discussed, a map of current landscape structure is created and the current ecological status of the affected area is calculated. In the second stage (the evaluation of ecological resources), important ecological parts of the landscape are delineated. This step is based on the importance of previous information and its vulnerability, and leads to the mapping of the road ecological impact zone. In the third stage (impact assessment), important ecological parts are spatially correlated with the proposed road construction. Finally, the significance of ecological impacts of the activity is evaluated by applying specific criteria (duration, reversibility, magnitude, size and road ecological impact zone significance). A scale is proposed for each criterion to evaluate the total significance of impacts. In this way, detailed significant ecological impacts can be found which will help lead to proposed correct mitigation measures and a post-project analysis. - Highlights: • This paper proposes a methodology for the Ec

The ecological impact assessment of a proposed road development (the Slovak approach)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Igondova, Erika, E-mail: erika.igondova@gmail.com; Pavlickova, Katarina, E-mail: pavlickova60@gmail.com; Majzlan, Oto, E-mail: majzlan@fns.uniba.sk

2016-07-15

The construction of roads is one of the most widespread forms of natural landscape modification. Over the last 20 years, dozens of road constructions have been assessed in Slovakia, which makes it possible to talk about methodological positives and negatives. A special feature of Slovakia is that many planned or renovated roads are located in protected areas or are in contact with them (including Natura 2000 sites). Therefore, it is important to understand the scope of the roads' ecological impacts and find ways for their appropriate evaluation and incorporation into the Environmental Impact Assessment process. For this reason, the Ecological Impact Assessment methodology can be used as a basis for our research, which consists of three stages. In the first stage (scoping), a buffer circumventing the proposed road is created to determine the area for impact prediction and evaluation. Subsequently, the landscape structure and baseline landscape conditions are discussed, a map of current landscape structure is created and the current ecological status of the affected area is calculated. In the second stage (the evaluation of ecological resources), important ecological parts of the landscape are delineated. This step is based on the importance of previous information and its vulnerability, and leads to the mapping of the road ecological impact zone. In the third stage (impact assessment), important ecological parts are spatially correlated with the proposed road construction. Finally, the significance of ecological impacts of the activity is evaluated by applying specific criteria (duration, reversibility, magnitude, size and road ecological impact zone significance). A scale is proposed for each criterion to evaluate the total significance of impacts. In this way, detailed significant ecological impacts can be found which will help lead to proposed correct mitigation measures and a post-project analysis. - Highlights: • This paper proposes a methodology for the

Intelligent robot trends for 1998

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Ernest L.

1998-10-01

An intelligent robot is a remarkably useful combination of a manipulator, sensors and controls. The use of these machines in factory automation can improve productivity, increase product quality and improve competitiveness. This paper presents a discussion of recent technical and economic trends. Technically, the machines are faster, cheaper, more repeatable, more reliable and safer. The knowledge base of inverse kinematic and dynamic solutions and intelligent controls is increasing. More attention is being given by industry to robots, vision and motion controls. New areas of usage are emerging for service robots, remote manipulators and automated guided vehicles. Economically, the robotics industry now has a 1.1 billion-dollar market in the U.S. and is growing. Feasibility studies results are presented which also show decreasing costs for robots and unaudited healthy rates of return for a variety of robotic applications. However, the road from inspiration to successful application can be long and difficult, often taking decades to achieve a new product. A greater emphasis on mechatronics is needed in our universities. Certainly, more cooperation between government, industry and universities is needed to speed the development of intelligent robots that will benefit industry and society.

Submicron particle monitoring of paving and related road construction operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Freund, Alice; Zuckerman, Norman; Baum, Lisa; Milek, Debra

2012-01-01

This study identified activities and sources that contribute to ultrafine and other submicron particle exposure that could trigger respiratory symptoms in highway repair workers. Submicron particle monitoring was conducted for paving, milling, and pothole repair operations in a major metropolitan area where several highway repair workers were identified as symptomatic for respiratory illness following exposures at the 2001 World Trade Center disaster site. Exposure assessments were conducted for eight trades involved in road construction using a TSI P-Trak portable condensation particle counter. Direct readings near the workers' breathing zones and observations of activities and potential sources were logged on 7 days on 27 workers using four different models of pavers and two types of millers. Average worker exposure levels ranged from 2 to 3 times background during paving and from 1 to 4 times background during milling. During asphalt paving, average personal exposures to submicron particulates were 25,000-60,000, 28,000-70,000, and 23,000-37,000 particles/ cm(3) for paver operators, screed operators, and rakers, respectively. Average personal exposures during milling were 19,000-111,000, 28,000-81,000, and 19,000 particles/cm(3) for the large miller operators, miller screed operators, and raker, respectively. Personal peak exposures were measured up to 467,000 and 455,000 particles/cm(3) in paving and milling, respectively. Several sources of submicron particles were identified. These included the diesel and electric fired screed heaters; engine exhaust from diesel powered construction vehicles passing by or idling; raking, dumping, and paving of asphalt; exhaust from the hotbox heater; pavement dust or fumes from milling operations, especially when the large miller started and stopped; and secondhand cigarette smoke. To reduce the potential for health effects in workers, over 40 recommendations were made to control exposures, including improved maintenance of

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP

OpenAIRE

Ilić, Egli

2008-01-01

The occurrence of the construct of emotional intelligence in the late twentieth century provoked controversies among scientists, due to connecting two, seemingly exclusive psychological notions – intelligence and emotions, with emotions being considered as an obstacle to rational thinking and quality performance. However, numerous studies have proven that, provided they are appropriately managed, emotions may even facilitate rational thinking, influence the appropriate decision-making and per...

Autonomous Driver Based on an Intelligent System of Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Czubenko, Michał; Kowalczuk, Zdzisław; Ordys, Andrew

The paper presents and discusses a system ( xDriver ) which uses an Intelligent System of Decision-making (ISD) for the task of car driving. The principal subject is the implementation, simulation and testing of the ISD system described earlier in our publications (Kowalczuk and Czubenko in artificial intelligence and soft computing lecture notes in computer science, lecture notes in artificial intelligence, Springer, Berlin, 2010, 2010, In Int J Appl Math Comput Sci 21(4):621-635, 2011, In Pomiary Autom Robot 2(17):60-5, 2013) for the task of autonomous driving. The design of the whole ISD system is a result of a thorough modelling of human psychology based on an extensive literature study. Concepts somehow similar to the ISD system can be found in the literature (Muhlestein in Cognit Comput 5(1):99-105, 2012; Wiggins in Cognit Comput 4(3):306-319, 2012), but there are no reports of a system which would model the human psychology for the purpose of autonomously driving a car. The paper describes assumptions for simulation, the set of needs and reactions (characterizing the ISD system), the road model and the vehicle model, as well as presents some results of simulation. It proves that the xDriver system may behave on the road as a very inexperienced driver.

Detection of the local sliding in the tyre-road contact by measuring vibrations on the inner liner of the tyre

Science.gov (United States)

Niskanen, Arto J.; Tuononen, Ari J.

2017-04-01

Intelligent tyres can provide vital information from the tyre-road contact, especially for autonomous cars and intelligent infrastructure. In this paper, the acceleration measured on the inner liner of a tyre is used to detect the local sliding in the tyre-road contact. The Hilbert-Huang transform is utilized to extract the relevant vibration components and localize them in the wheel rotation angle domain. The energy of the vibration in the trailing part of the contact is shown to increase in low-friction conditions which can be related to the sliding of the tread part as a result of the shear stresses exceeding the local friction limit. To separate the effect of the surface roughness and the friction, different road surfaces were used in the measurements. In addition, the effects of different driving manoeuvres on the measured accelerations and the propagation of the sliding zone in the contact patch during braking are illustrated.

Detection of the local sliding in the tyre-road contact by measuring vibrations on the inner liner of the tyre

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niskanen, Arto J; Tuononen, Ari J

2017-01-01

Intelligent tyres can provide vital information from the tyre-road contact, especially for autonomous cars and intelligent infrastructure. In this paper, the acceleration measured on the inner liner of a tyre is used to detect the local sliding in the tyre-road contact. The Hilbert–Huang transform is utilized to extract the relevant vibration components and localize them in the wheel rotation angle domain. The energy of the vibration in the trailing part of the contact is shown to increase in low-friction conditions which can be related to the sliding of the tread part as a result of the shear stresses exceeding the local friction limit. To separate the effect of the surface roughness and the friction, different road surfaces were used in the measurements. In addition, the effects of different driving manoeuvres on the measured accelerations and the propagation of the sliding zone in the contact patch during braking are illustrated. (paper)

VEHIL: a full-scale test methodology for intelligent transport systems, vehicles and subsystems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeff, L.; Verburg, D.J.; Lupker, H.A.; Kusters, L.J.J.

2000-01-01

To enhance the efficiency and safety of today's road transport, the application of driver support systems and fully automated, intelligent transport systems becomes increasingly important. The safety and reliability requirements of these systems and their complexity are high, which results in a

A research of road centerline extraction algorithm from high resolution remote sensing images

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yushan; Xu, Tingfa

2017-09-01

Satellite remote sensing technology has become one of the most effective methods for land surface monitoring in recent years, due to its advantages such as short period, large scale and rich information. Meanwhile, road extraction is an important field in the applications of high resolution remote sensing images. An intelligent and automatic road extraction algorithm with high precision has great significance for transportation, road network updating and urban planning. The fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering segmentation algorithms have been used in road extraction, but the traditional algorithms did not consider spatial information. An improved fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm combined with spatial information (SFCM) is proposed in this paper, which is proved to be effective for noisy image segmentation. Firstly, the image is segmented using the SFCM. Secondly, the segmentation result is processed by mathematical morphology to remover the joint region. Thirdly, the road centerlines are extracted by morphology thinning and burr trimming. The average integrity of the centerline extraction algorithm is 97.98%, the average accuracy is 95.36% and the average quality is 93.59%. Experimental results show that the proposed method in this paper is effective for road centerline extraction.

Intelligent systems: A semiotic perspective. Volume I: Theoretical semiotics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albus, J.; Meystel, A.; Quintero, R.

1996-12-31

This report contains the papers from the Proceedings of the 1996 International Multidisciplinary Conference - Theoretical Semiotics. General topics covered are: semiotic in biology: biologically inspired complex systems; intelligence in constructed complex systems; intelligence of learning and evolution; fuzzy logic and the mechanisms of generalization; information representation for decision making; sematic foundations; syntactics of intelligent systems: the kind of logic available; intelligence of recognition: the semiotic tools; and multiresolutional methods.

AUTOMATIC ROAD GAP DETECTION USING FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Hashemi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Automatic feature extraction from aerial and satellite images is a high-level data processing which is still one of the most important research topics of the field. In this area, most of the researches are focused on the early step of road detection, where road tracking methods, morphological analysis, dynamic programming and snakes, multi-scale and multi-resolution methods, stereoscopic and multi-temporal analysis, hyper spectral experiments, are some of the mature methods in this field. Although most researches are focused on detection algorithms, none of them can extract road network perfectly. On the other hand, post processing algorithms accentuated on the refining of road detection results, are not developed as well. In this article, the main is to design an intelligent method to detect and compensate road gaps remained on the early result of road detection algorithms. The proposed algorithm consists of five main steps as follow: 1 Short gap coverage: In this step, a multi-scale morphological is designed that covers short gaps in a hierarchical scheme. 2 Long gap detection: In this step, the long gaps, could not be covered in the previous stage, are detected using a fuzzy inference system. for this reason, a knowledge base consisting of some expert rules are designed which are fired on some gap candidates of the road detection results. 3 Long gap coverage: In this stage, detected long gaps are compensated by two strategies of linear and polynomials for this reason, shorter gaps are filled by line fitting while longer ones are compensated by polynomials.4 Accuracy assessment: In order to evaluate the obtained results, some accuracy assessment criteria are proposed. These criteria are obtained by comparing the obtained results with truly compensated ones produced by a human expert. The complete evaluation of the obtained results whit their technical discussions are the materials of the full paper.

Automatic Road Gap Detection Using Fuzzy Inference System

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemi, S.; Valadan Zoej, M. J.; Mokhtarzadeh, M.

2011-09-01

Automatic feature extraction from aerial and satellite images is a high-level data processing which is still one of the most important research topics of the field. In this area, most of the researches are focused on the early step of road detection, where road tracking methods, morphological analysis, dynamic programming and snakes, multi-scale and multi-resolution methods, stereoscopic and multi-temporal analysis, hyper spectral experiments, are some of the mature methods in this field. Although most researches are focused on detection algorithms, none of them can extract road network perfectly. On the other hand, post processing algorithms accentuated on the refining of road detection results, are not developed as well. In this article, the main is to design an intelligent method to detect and compensate road gaps remained on the early result of road detection algorithms. The proposed algorithm consists of five main steps as follow: 1) Short gap coverage: In this step, a multi-scale morphological is designed that covers short gaps in a hierarchical scheme. 2) Long gap detection: In this step, the long gaps, could not be covered in the previous stage, are detected using a fuzzy inference system. for this reason, a knowledge base consisting of some expert rules are designed which are fired on some gap candidates of the road detection results. 3) Long gap coverage: In this stage, detected long gaps are compensated by two strategies of linear and polynomials for this reason, shorter gaps are filled by line fitting while longer ones are compensated by polynomials.4) Accuracy assessment: In order to evaluate the obtained results, some accuracy assessment criteria are proposed. These criteria are obtained by comparing the obtained results with truly compensated ones produced by a human expert. The complete evaluation of the obtained results whit their technical discussions are the materials of the full paper.

Landscapes of Memory and Forgetting: Memorialisation, Emotion and Tourism along Australia’s Great Ocean Road

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosemary Kerr

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article explores the history of the Great Ocean Road, described in its recent National Heritage listing as “Australia’s most famous coastal drive”. The road is unique in Australia as it was purposely constructed as a scenic tourist route and as a memorial to World War I servicemen. Over time the road’s memorial function was largely forgotten in public memory, overtaken by its fame as a tourist route. The history of the road’s setting, construction, promotion and interpretation reveals that it is a route which reflects changing, and sometimes conflicting, cultural preoccupations. Despite attempts to link its sublime setting and challenges of building the road with the heroic struggles of the servicemen in war; in spite of physical commemorative markers along the road; and in spite of the power and endurance of the “Anzac legend” in Australian culture, the connection did not resonate as intended. The road’s construction and subsequent interpretation illustrate the difficulty of inscribing “memory” onto a landscape with no prior connection to the events being memorialised. Its history reveals insights into the road’s cultural construction; tangible and intangible expressions of remembering and forgetting along the road; and the relationship between the road, landscape, memory and emotion.

Improving concrete overlay construction.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

Several road construction projects involving concrete overlays at the state and county levels in Iowa in 2009 were studied for : construction techniques and methods. The projects that were evaluated consisted of sites in four Iowa counties: Osceola, ...

An intelligent IoT emergency vehicle warning system using RFID and Wi-Fi technologies for emergency medical services.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yeong-Lin; Chou, Yung-Hua; Chang, Li-Chih

2018-01-01

Collisions between emergency vehicles for emergency medical services (EMS) and public road users have been a serious problem, impacting on the safety of road users, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and the patients on board. The aim of this study is to develop a novel intelligent emergency vehicle warning system for EMS applications. The intelligent emergency vehicle warning system is developed by Internet of Things (IoT), radio-frequency identification (RFID), and Wi-Fi technologies. The system consists of three major parts: a system trigger tag, an RFID system in an emergency vehicle, and an RFID system at an intersection. The RFID system either in an emergency vehicle or at an intersection contains a controller, an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID reader module, a Wi-Fi module, and a 2.4-GHz antenna. In addition, a UHF ID antenna is especially designed for the RFID system in an emergency vehicle. The IoT system provides real-time visual warning at an intersection and siren warning from an emergency vehicle in order to effectively inform road users about an emergency vehicle approaching. The developed intelligent IoT emergency vehicle warning system demonstrates the capabilities of real-time visual and siren warnings for EMS safety.

THE GREAT SILK ROAD BECOMES THE GREAT OIL AND GAS ROAD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. S. Zonn

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Great Silk Road (GSR called so in the late 19th century by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen started shaping in the 2nd century B.C. In the minds of peoples the Silk Road is a generalized symbol of trade caravan routes crossing Central Asia, connecting until the 16th century the Far East, in particular Japan, China, with Middle Asia. Appearance in the early 21st century of new independent states in Central Asia along the GSR route was a powerful impetus for revival of the ancient trade route. In September 2013 Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, during his visit to the Central Asian countries offered the strategic concept of joint construction of the “economic corridor along the Silk Road” based on innovative cooperation in order to revive and consolidate the economic contacts among the Eurasian countries. Establishment of the modern analog of GSR, a powerful transport and pipeline corridor includes the integrated system of railroads and automobile roads, oil and gas pipelines, airlines, and sea lines.

Development of a Techno-economic Model of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) for Deployment in Ghana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adjin, Daniel Michael Okwabi; Tadayoni, Reza

2011-01-01

The concept of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is about the development and deployment of advanced Traffic Management Systems, Traveler Information Systems, Commercial Vehicle Operations, Public and Private Transportation Systems, and Rural Transportation Systems. Several key technologies....... The results show that deployment of Intelligent Vehicle Tracking Technology (IVTT) will address the problems of inefficiencies experienced in the Ghanaian road transport haulage tracking industry. Research for ITS development and eployment in these countries should be cost effective....

Effects of Roads on Amphibian Populations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hels, T.

is the result of my three year PhD study at the National Environmental Research Institute, Kalø, and University of Copenhagen. Funded by NERI, the Danish Research Academy, and the Danish Road Directorate, it has dealt mainly with the effects of traffic and roads on amphibian populations. The Spadefoot toad...... of Spadefoot toads (Pelobates fuscus Laur.) II The effect of road kills on amphibian populations III Simulating viability of a Spadefoot toad (P. fuscus) metapopulation in a landscape fragmented by a road The manuscripts are preceded by a synopsis which sums up the work and puts it into a broader perspective......, Johan Elmberg, Andreas Seiler, and Per Sjögren-Gulve, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm for science with me. Constructive ideas, different approaches, and elaborate discussions are crucial parts of any scientific process: I thank Lenore Fahrig for dedicated and original teaching and discussions...

Using Probe Vehicle Data for Automatic Extraction of Road Traffic Parameters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roman Popescu Maria Alexandra

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Through this paper the author aims to study and find solutions for automatic detection of traffic light position and for automatic calculation of the waiting time at traffic light. The first objective serves mainly the road transportation field, mainly because it removes the need for collaboration with local authorities to establish a national network of traffic lights. The second objective is important not only for companies which are providing navigation solutions, but especially for authorities, institutions, companies operating in road traffic management systems. Real-time dynamic determination of traffic queue length and of waiting time at traffic lights allow the creation of dynamic systems, intelligent and flexible, adapted to actual traffic conditions, and not to generic, theoretical models. Thus, cities can approach the Smart City concept by boosting, efficienting and greening the road transport, promoted in Europe through the Horizon 2020, Smart Cities, Urban Mobility initiative.

A new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, L; Han, X B; Ding, R; Li, G; Lu, Steven C-Y; Hong, Q

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is a valid approach to solve the increasing transportation issue in cities. Vehicle detection is one of the key technologies in ITS. The ITS collects and processes traffic data (vehicle flow, vehicular speed, vehicle density and occupancy ratios) from vehicle detection sensors buried under the road or installed along the road. Inductive loop detector as one type of the vehicle detector is applied extensively, with the characters of stability, high value to cost ratio and feasibility. On the other hand, most of the existing inductive loop vehicle detection sensors have some weak points such as friability of detective loop, huge engineering for setting and traffic interruption during installing the sensor. The design and reality of a new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor is presented in this paper against these weak points existing now. The sensor consists of the inductive loop detector, the rechargeable batteries, the MCU (microcontroller) and the transmitter. In order to reduce the installing project amount, make the loop durable and easily maintained, the volume of the detective loop is reduced as much as we can. Communication in RF (radio frequency) brings on the advantages of getting rid of the feeder cable completely and reducing the installing project amount enormously. For saving the cable installation, the sensor is supplied by the rechargeable batteries. The purpose of the intelligent management of the energy and transmitter by means of MCU is to minimize the power consumption and prolong the working period of the sensor. In a word, the new sensor is more feasible with smaller volume, wireless communication, rechargeable batteries, low power consumption, low cost, high detector precision and easy maintenance and installation

A new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, L [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Han, X B [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Ding, R [Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin 300222 (China); Li, G [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Lu, Steven C-Y [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China); Hong, Q [Inspiring Technology Research Laboratory, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072 (China)

2005-01-01

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is a valid approach to solve the increasing transportation issue in cities. Vehicle detection is one of the key technologies in ITS. The ITS collects and processes traffic data (vehicle flow, vehicular speed, vehicle density and occupancy ratios) from vehicle detection sensors buried under the road or installed along the road. Inductive loop detector as one type of the vehicle detector is applied extensively, with the characters of stability, high value to cost ratio and feasibility. On the other hand, most of the existing inductive loop vehicle detection sensors have some weak points such as friability of detective loop, huge engineering for setting and traffic interruption during installing the sensor. The design and reality of a new rechargeable intelligent vehicle detection sensor is presented in this paper against these weak points existing now. The sensor consists of the inductive loop detector, the rechargeable batteries, the MCU (microcontroller) and the transmitter. In order to reduce the installing project amount, make the loop durable and easily maintained, the volume of the detective loop is reduced as much as we can. Communication in RF (radio frequency) brings on the advantages of getting rid of the feeder cable completely and reducing the installing project amount enormously. For saving the cable installation, the sensor is supplied by the rechargeable batteries. The purpose of the intelligent management of the energy and transmitter by means of MCU is to minimize the power consumption and prolong the working period of the sensor. In a word, the new sensor is more feasible with smaller volume, wireless communication, rechargeable batteries, low power consumption, low cost, high detector precision and easy maintenance and installation.

Maslow Revisited: Constructing a Road Map of Human Nature

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Dennis; Yballe, Leodones

2007-01-01

Given the scope and intent of Maslow's work, the current textbook treatment is wanting. Therefore, an inductive exercise has been created and is offered here to build "the road map of human nature." This age-old, philosophic focus on our true nature has been a way to successfully engage and inspire both our students and our pedagogy. In the spirit…

Determination of the Main Influencing Factors on Road Fatalities Using an Integrated Neuro-Fuzzy Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Masoud Rahimi

Full Text Available Abstract This paper proposed an integrated algorithm of neuro-fuzzy techniques to examine the complex impact of socio-technical influencing factors on road fatalities. The proposed algorithm could handle complexity, non-linearity and fuzziness in the modeling environment due to its mechanism. The Neuro-fuzzy algorithm for determination of the potential influencing factors on road fatalities consisted of two phases. In the first phase, intelligent techniques are compared for their improved accuracy in predicting fatality rate with respect to some socio-technical influencing factors. Then in the second phase, sensitivity analysis is performed to calculate the pure effect on fatality rate of the potential influencing factors. The applicability and usefulness of the proposed algorithm is illustrated using the data in Iran provincial road transportation systems in the time period 2012-2014. Results show that road design improvement, number of trips, and number of passengers are the most influencing factors on provincial road fatality rate.

Nuclear gauge application in road industry

Science.gov (United States)

Azmi Ismail, Mohd

2017-11-01

Soil compaction is essential in road construction. The evaluation of the degree of compaction relies on the knowledge of density and moisture of the compacted layers is very important to the performance of the pavement structure. Among the various tests used for making these determinations, the sand replacement density test and the moisture content determination by oven drying are perhaps the most widely used. However, these methods are not only time consuming and need wearisome procedures to obtain the results but also destructive and the number of measurements that can be taken at any time is limited. The test can on be fed back to the construction site the next day. To solve these problems, a nuclear technique has been introduced as a quicker and easier way of measuring the density and moisture of construction materials. Nuclear moisture density gauges have been used for many years in pavement construction as a method of non-destructive density testing The technique which can determine both wet density and moisture content offers an in situ method for construction control at the work site. The simplicity, the speed, and non-destructive nature offer a great advantage for quality control. This paper provides an overview of nuclear gauge application in road construction and presents a case study of monitoring compaction status of in Sedenak - Skudai, Johor rehabilitation projects.

Road traffic management based on self-load-balancing approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adnane Ahmed

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Traffic congestion is one of the most challenging problems for nowadays cities. Several contributions mainly based on V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication have been published, but most of them have never been applied due to their communication related problems and costs. In this article, a novel cost-effective approach is introduced inspired by social life of insects where direct (V2V communication does not exist anymore. Vehicles are equipped with devices that perform simple tasks, but their interactions with the environment through RSUs (Road Side Units allow the creation of an intelligence which notifies drivers about congested road segments to avoid them. We call this emerging behavior self-load balancing. Description of the fundamentals of this approach and its performance are detailed in this work.

A Method for Extracting Road Boundary Information from Crowdsourcing Vehicle GPS Trajectories.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wei; Ai, Tinghua; Lu, Wei

2018-04-19

Crowdsourcing trajectory data is an important approach for accessing and updating road information. In this paper, we present a novel approach for extracting road boundary information from crowdsourcing vehicle traces based on Delaunay triangulation (DT). First, an optimization and interpolation method is proposed to filter abnormal trace segments from raw global positioning system (GPS) traces and interpolate the optimization segments adaptively to ensure there are enough tracking points. Second, constructing the DT and the Voronoi diagram within interpolated tracking lines to calculate road boundary descriptors using the area of Voronoi cell and the length of triangle edge. Then, the road boundary detection model is established integrating the boundary descriptors and trajectory movement features (e.g., direction) by DT. Third, using the boundary detection model to detect road boundary from the DT constructed by trajectory lines, and a regional growing method based on seed polygons is proposed to extract the road boundary. Experiments were conducted using the GPS traces of taxis in Beijing, China, and the results show that the proposed method is suitable for extracting the road boundary from low-frequency GPS traces, multi-type road structures, and different time intervals. Compared with two existing methods, the automatically extracted boundary information was proved to be of higher quality.

A Method for Extracting Road Boundary Information from Crowdsourcing Vehicle GPS Trajectories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Yang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Crowdsourcing trajectory data is an important approach for accessing and updating road information. In this paper, we present a novel approach for extracting road boundary information from crowdsourcing vehicle traces based on Delaunay triangulation (DT. First, an optimization and interpolation method is proposed to filter abnormal trace segments from raw global positioning system (GPS traces and interpolate the optimization segments adaptively to ensure there are enough tracking points. Second, constructing the DT and the Voronoi diagram within interpolated tracking lines to calculate road boundary descriptors using the area of Voronoi cell and the length of triangle edge. Then, the road boundary detection model is established integrating the boundary descriptors and trajectory movement features (e.g., direction by DT. Third, using the boundary detection model to detect road boundary from the DT constructed by trajectory lines, and a regional growing method based on seed polygons is proposed to extract the road boundary. Experiments were conducted using the GPS traces of taxis in Beijing, China, and the results show that the proposed method is suitable for extracting the road boundary from low-frequency GPS traces, multi-type road structures, and different time intervals. Compared with two existing methods, the automatically extracted boundary information was proved to be of higher quality.

Preparation of Road Cuts by Usage of Drilling and Blasting Works

OpenAIRE

Dambov, Risto; Mijoski, Goran; Karanakova Stefanovska, Radmila

2011-01-01

This paper shows the basic methods of blasting in the construction of the (one-sided and double sided) road cuts in hilly terrain with different inclinations. By applying of these methods we get stable slopes of manufactured road cuts, minimal (or no) damage of the rest solid rocks. It is important to emphasize that the stable and undeformed slopes of the road cuts, to avoid the additional work of restoration and protection of slopes from landslides on the road. The application of these...

Image-Based Pothole Detection System for ITS Service and Road Management System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seung-Ki Ryu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Potholes can generate damage such as flat tire and wheel damage, impact and damage of lower vehicle, vehicle collision, and major accidents. Thus, accurately and quickly detecting potholes is one of the important tasks for determining proper strategies in ITS (Intelligent Transportation System service and road management system. Several efforts have been made for developing a technology which can automatically detect and recognize potholes. In this study, a pothole detection method based on two-dimensional (2D images is proposed for improving the existing method and designing a pothole detection system to be applied to ITS service and road management system. For experiments, 2D road images that were collected by a survey vehicle in Korea were used and the performance of the proposed method was compared with that of the existing method for several conditions such as road, recording, and brightness. The results are promising, and the information extracted using the proposed method can be used, not only in determining the preliminary maintenance for a road management system and in taking immediate action for their repair and maintenance, but also in providing alert information of potholes to drivers as one of ITS services.

Unofficial Road Building in the Amazon: Socioeconomic and Biophysical Explanations

Science.gov (United States)

Perz, Stephen G.; Caldas, Marcellus M.; Arima, Eugenio; Walker, Robert J.

2007-01-01

Roads have manifold social and environmental impacts, including regional development, social conflicts and habitat fragmentation. 'Road ecology' has emerged as an approach to evaluate the various ecological and hydrological impacts of roads. This article aims to complement road ecology by examining the socio-spatial processes of road building itself. Focusing on the Brazilian Amazon, a heavily-studied context due to forest fragmentation by roads, the authors consider non-state social actors who build 'unofficial roads' for the purpose of gaining access to natural resources to support livelihoods and community development. They examine four case studies of roads with distinct histories in order to explain the socio-spatial processes behind road building in terms of profit maximization, land tenure claims, co-operative and conflictive political ecologies, and constraints as well as opportunities afforded by the biophysical environment. The study cases illustrate the need for a multi-pronged theoretical approach to understanding road building, and call for more attention to the role of non-state actors in unofficial road construction.

Understanding US National Intelligence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leander, Anna

2014-01-01

In July 2010, the Washington Post (WP) published the results of a project on “Top Secret America” on which twenty investigative journalists had been working for two years. The project drew attention to the change and growth in National Intelligence following 9/11 (Washington Post 2010a......). The initial idea had been to work on intelligence generally, but given that this proved overwhelming, the team narrowed down to focus only on intelligence qualified as “top secret.” Even so, the growth in this intelligence activity is remarkable. This public is returning, or in this case expanding...... at an impressive speed confirming the general contention of this volume. Between 2001 and 2010 the budget had increased by 250 percent, reaching $75 billion (the GDP of the Czech Republic). Thirty-three building complexes for top secret work had been or were under construction in the Washington area; 1...

MODERN CONDITIONS OF ROAD FACILITIES AND INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE TRANSPORTATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. M. Tsarenkova

2008-01-01

Full Text Available For analysis of technical and economic conditions of automotive roads and determination of reserves for improvement of financial situation and usage of capital in road facilities operational efficiency of road facilities and automotive freight-traffic services that provide significant currency receipt for Republic budget. The main ways for higher export of construction services are involvement of road facilities enterprises in this activity and introduction of highly-productive technologies in their operation. The paper demonstrates an importance of non-conventional sources of investment attractions such as leasing which is used for renovation of capital assets and invests resources in the basic capital on the return basis in the natural form. For application of new technologies and modern technique it is justifiable to establish joint road-construction enterprises with foreign sub-contractors. The paper reveals main reasons of profit increase due to operation and services of road branch.

Heating of roads. Heat consumption and heat output as a function of climate, construction, demands on surface conditions and principle of heat supply. Uppvaermning av vaegar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Magnusson, R

1977-01-01

In this work analytical formulas for calculation of temperatures in a heated roadbed are given. The heat flux from a heated surface has been studied. The methods for snowclearence on different types of roads have been investigated. The construction work has been studied. The analytical formulas have been evaluated by comparison between calculated temperatures and temperatures measured in field and laboratory. The heat transfer coefficients in those formulas have been developed empirically by tests in laboratory and field. Surfaces with different types of traffic are divided into three classes according to the demands for snow removal. The construction work has been divided into cost elements. This has given a basis for calculating the economic effects of alternative designs. By this work has been developed a method useful on one hand for calculation of the optimum principle of regulation of the supply of heat and on the other hand for the design of the heat installations in the road.

Technology transfer of large aggregate mix base [LAMBS] on Johannesburg roads.

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Horak, E

1994-10-01

Full Text Available [LAMBS] for which new mix design procedures had been developed. An early focus of this research was the constructability issues associated with this road building material. The superior performance of LAMBS was validated by means of accelerated road tests...

Intelligence, creativity, and cognitive control: The common and differential involvement of executive functions in intelligence and creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Benedek, Mathias; Jauk, Emanuel; Sommer, Markus; Arendasy, Martin; Neubauer, Aljoscha C.

2014-01-01

Intelligence and creativity are known to be correlated constructs suggesting that they share a common cognitive basis. The present study assessed three specific executive abilities – updating, shifting, and inhibition – and examined their common and differential relations to fluid intelligence and creativity (i.e., divergent thinking ability) within a latent variable model approach. Additionally, it was tested whether the correlation of fluid intelligence and creativity can be explained by a common executive involvement. As expected, fluid intelligence was strongly predicted by updating, but not by shifting or inhibition. Creativity was predicted by updating and inhibition, but not by shifting. Moreover, updating (and the personality factor openness) was found to explain a relevant part of the shared variance between intelligence and creativity. The findings provide direct support for the executive involvement in creative thought and shed further light on the functional relationship between intelligence and creativity. PMID:25278640

Assessment of noise environment during construction of a major bridge and associated approach road.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, T K; Mukhopadhyay, A R; Ghosh, S K; Majumder, G

2011-10-01

In this paper a methodology to quantify the noise environment, during a major bridge construction and upgrading approach road connectivity, has been provided. Noise levels were monitored at eleven sites. These eleven sites have been classified into three categories - commercial, residential and silence zones. The study was carried out to measure the ambient noise levels in all the eleven sites falling in the above three categories during both day and night times considering both "working" and "non-working" days. It was found that the mean noise level during night time was more, compared to that during day time for commercial, residential as well as silence zones. The likely causes of more noise during night time have been explored. Appropriate remedial measures have been suggested to reduce the noise levels. In addition, the noise levels in the above three zones have been compared, wherever feasible statistically, with the respective zonal standards. Significance has been found in all the cases. The underlying causes and remedies have been provided.

Artificial intelligence executive summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wamsley, S.J.; Purvis, E.E. III

1984-01-01

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a high technology field that can be used to provide problem solving diagnosis, guidance and for support resolution of problems. It is not a stand alone discipline, but can also be applied to develop data bases for retention of the expertise that is required for its own knowledge base. This provides a way to retain knowledge that otherwise may be lost. Artificial Intelligence Methodology can provide an automated construction management decision support system, thereby restoring the manager's emphasis to project management

Large roads reduce bat activity across multiple species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kitzes, Justin; Merenlender, Adina

2014-01-01

Although the negative impacts of roads on many terrestrial vertebrate and bird populations are well documented, there have been few studies of the road ecology of bats. To examine the effects of large roads on bat populations, we used acoustic recorders to survey bat activity along ten 300 m transects bordering three large highways in northern California, applying a newly developed statistical classifier to identify recorded calls to the species level. Nightly counts of bat passes were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models to determine the relationship between bat activity and distance from a road. Total bat activity recorded at points adjacent to roads was found to be approximately one-half the level observed at 300 m. Statistically significant road effects were also found for the Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), and silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans). The road effect was found to be temperature dependent, with hot days both increasing total activity at night and reducing the difference between activity levels near and far from roads. These results suggest that the environmental impacts of road construction may include degradation of bat habitat and that mitigation activities for this habitat loss may be necessary to protect bat populations.

Response of moose to a high‐density road network

Science.gov (United States)

Wattles, David W.; Zeller, Katherine A.; DeStefano, Stephen

2018-01-01

Road networks and the disturbance associated with vehicle traffic alter animal behavior, movements, and habitat selection. The response of moose (Alces americanus) to roads has been documented in relatively rural areas, but less is known about moose response to roads in more highly roaded landscapes. We examined road‐crossing frequencies and habitat use of global positioning system (GPS)‐collared moose in Massachusetts, USA, where moose home ranges have road densities approximately twice that of previous studies. We compared seasonal road‐crossing frequencies of moose with a null movement model. We estimated moose travel speeds during road‐crossing events and compared them with speeds during other home range movements. To estimate the extent of the road effect zone and determine how roads influenced moose habitat use, we fit a third‐order resource selection function. With the exception of the lowest use road class (roads less than expected based on the null movement model and frequency decreased with increasing road size and traffic. Moose crossed roads faster than they traveled during other times. This effect increased with increasing road use intensity. Overall, roads were a major factor determining what portions of Massachusetts moose used and how they moved among habitat patches. Our results suggest that moose in Massachusetts can adapt to a high‐density road network, but the road effect is still strongly negative and, in some cases, is more pronounced than in study areas with lower road densities. Future road construction and the expansion of road networks may have a large effect on moose and other wildlife.

Geotextiles in Flexible Pavement Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Alungbe, Gabriel D.

2004-01-01

People everywhere in the developed world regularly drive on paved roads. Learning about the construction techniques and materials used in paving benefits technology and construction students. This article discusses the use of geosynthetic textiles in pavement construction. It presents background on pavements and describes geotextiles and drainage…

An introduction to the integrated design of surface mine haul roads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, R.J.; Visser, A.T. [University of Pretoria, Pretoria (South Africa). Dept. of Mining Engineering

1997-12-01

The world-wide expansion of surface mining has led to the development of very large off-highway trucks currently capable of hauling layloads in excess of 160 t. Typical axle loads ranging from 110 t to 170 t are applied to haul roads that have been, at best, empirically designed on the premise of `satisfactory` or `failed`, both in terms of structure and function of the road. The use of these empirical pavement design techniques will prove inadequate when high axle loads are encountered. Not only will the maintenance costs of existing haul roads of inadequate thickness increase, but vehicle operating and maintenance costs will also increase prohibitively. Under these conditions there is thus a clearly defined need for improved construction and management techniques for flexible mine haulage roads, appropriate for the wheel loads of vehicles now in use. The aim of this paper is to introduce developments in haul road structural, functional and maintenance design and management which overcome the limitations associated with the previously empirical design techniques and to show how these developments are combined into an integrated design strategy combining construction techniques, available material and road maintenance equipment with hauler choice to realise a reduction in haulage and road maintenance costs. Future contributions will enumerate on the fundamental haul road structural, functional and maintenance design and management research from which these developments originated. 7 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Road traffic crashes and risk groups in India: Analysis, interpretations, and prevention strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raj V. Ponnaluri

2012-03-01

Recommended prevention strategies include: developing a road accident recording system and an access management policy; integrating safety into corridor design and road construction; undertaking capacity-building efforts; and expanding emergency response services.

Products based on the mixes of fly ashes and fibre sludge (fibre-ashes) for road construction; Produkter baserade paa blandningar av flygaska och fiberslam (fiberaskor) foer vaegbyggande

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lahtinen, Pentti; Maijala Aino; Macsik, Josef

2005-03-01

The project has derived benefits from the earlier Finnish research and development as well as from the experience in the fibre-ash materials for geotechnical applications. The fly ashes used for the project have been taken from the same sources as the fly ashes for the earlier Vaermeforsk project 870: FACE. The project's objective was to develop construction materials based on mixtures of fibre sludge and fly ash for geotechnical applications, and for the final commercialisation of the fibre-ash materials. The mixtures are based on fly ashes from energy production (bark, peat and sludge used for incineration) and on kaolin containing fibre sludge from the paper industry. With help of laboratory tests the project has been searching for fibre ashes with excellent technical characteristics like good frost resistance combined with a good bearing capacity and resilience in geotechnical structures. The project's results has given additional knowledge about alternative road construction materials to construct technically good, sustainable and environmentally friendly roads and other constructions with lower costs than the conventional constructions. The results of laboratory tests have shown that this is possible. However, it has to be verified with help of field tests and pilot constructions. The first tasks of the project were to make choices of the appropriate fibre sludge and fly ashes for the project targets. The laboratory tests have been carried out in the geotechnical laboratory of Ramboll Finland Oy (earlier SCC Viatek Oy, SGT - later in the report SGT). After arrival of all test material in the laboratory the test programme started in order to find out the most optimal fibre-ash mixtures with or without any activator. The most potential mixtures were tested for their geotechnical long-term properties (mainly resistance against climatic load) and for their environmental risk potential. The results comprise of several technically, environmentally and

Evaluation of primary DNA damage, cytogenetic biomarkers and genetic polymorphisms for CYP1A1 and GSTM1 in road tunnel construction workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Villarini, M; Moretti, M; Fatigoni, C; Agea, E; Dominici, L; Mattioli, A; Volpi, R; Pasquini, R

2008-01-01

In tunnel construction workers, occupational exposure to dust (alpha-quartz and other particles from blasting), gases (nitrogen dioxide, NO(2)), diesel exhausts, and oil mist has been associated with lung function decline, induction of inflammatory reactions in the lungs with release of mediators that may influence blood coagulation, and increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The present molecular epidemiology study was designed to evaluate whether occupational exposure to indoor pollutants during road tunnel construction might result in genotoxic effects. A study group of 39 underground workers and a reference group of 34 unexposed subjects were examined. Primary and oxidative DNA damage, sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE), and micronuclei (MN) were measured in peripheral blood cells. The possible influences of polymorphisms in gene encoding for CYP1A1 and GSTM1 xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes were also investigated. Exposure assessment was performed with detailed interviews and questionnaires. There were no significant differences in the level of primary and oxidative DNA damage and frequency of SCE between the tunnel workers and controls, whereas the frequency of MN showed a significant increase in exposed subjects compared to controls. No effects of CYP1A1 or GSTM1 variants were observed for the analyzed biomarkers. Since MN in peripheral blood lymphocytes are recognized as a predictive biomarker of cancer risk within a population of healthy subjects, the genotoxic risk of occupational exposure to various indoor environmental pollutants during road tunnel construction cannot be excluded by this biomonitoring study.

Genes, evolution and intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, Thomas J

2014-11-01

I argue that the g factor meets the fundamental criteria of a scientific construct more fully than any other conception of intelligence. I briefly discuss the evidence regarding the relationship of brain size to intelligence. A review of a large body of evidence demonstrates that there is a g factor in a wide range of species and that, in the species studied, it relates to brain size and is heritable. These findings suggest that many species have evolved a general-purpose mechanism (a general biological intelligence) for dealing with the environments in which they evolved. In spite of numerous studies with considerable statistical power, we know of very few genes that influence g and the effects are very small. Nevertheless, g appears to be highly polygenic. Given the complexity of the human brain, it is not surprising that that one of its primary faculties-intelligence-is best explained by the near infinitesimal model of quantitative genetics.

Evaluation of speech transmission in open public spaces affected by combined noises.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Pyoung Jik; Jeon, Jin Yong

2011-07-01

In the present study, the effects of interference from combined noises on speech transmission were investigated in a simulated open public space. Sound fields for dominant noises were predicted using a typical urban square model surrounded by buildings. Then road traffic noise and two types of construction noises, corresponding to stationary and impulsive noises, were selected as background noises. Listening tests were performed on a group of adults, and the quality of speech transmission was evaluated using listening difficulty as well as intelligibility scores. During the listening tests, two factors that affect speech transmission performance were considered: (1) temporal characteristics of construction noise (stationary or impulsive) and (2) the levels of the construction and road traffic noises. The results indicated that word intelligibility scores and listening difficulty ratings were affected by the temporal characteristics of construction noise due to fluctuations in the background noise level. It was also observed that listening difficulty is unable to describe the speech transmission in noisy open public spaces showing larger variation than did word intelligibility scores. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

Estimation of Costs and Durations of Construction of Urban Roads Using ANN and SVM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Peško

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Offer preparation has always been a specific part of a building process which has significant impact on company business. Due to the fact that income greatly depends on offer’s precision and the balance between planned costs, both direct and overheads, and wished profit, it is necessary to prepare a precise offer within required time and available resources which are always insufficient. The paper presents a research of precision that can be achieved while using artificial intelligence for estimation of cost and duration in construction projects. Both artificial neural networks (ANNs and support vector machines (SVM are analysed and compared. The best SVM has shown higher precision, when estimating costs, with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE of 7.06% compared to the most precise ANNs which has achieved precision of 25.38%. Estimation of works duration has proved to be more difficult. The best MAPEs were 22.77% and 26.26% for SVM and ANN, respectively.

Road and railway network of the Paks nuclear power plant, Hungary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szoukup, I.; Komlos, Cs.

1983-01-01

Meeting the demands of reception, unloading and transportation of materials during the construction and later, during the operation of the plant, is ensured by a suitable road and railway network. The tasks of internal roads and tracks, their connection with the national transportation network are presented. (author)

The Actualization of Literary Learning Model Based on Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Ihsan Halil

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This article is inspired by Howard Gardner's concept of linguistic intelligence and also from some authors' previous writings. All of them became the authors' reference in developing ideas on constructing a literary learning model based on linguistic intelligence. The writing of this article is not done by collecting data empirically, but by developing and constructing an existing concept, namely the concept of linguistic intelligence, which is disseminated into a literature-based learning of verbal-linguistic intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of how to apply the literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence. Then, regarding Gardner's concept, the author formulated a literary learning model based on the verbal-linguistic intelligence through a story-telling learning model with five steps namely arguing, discussing, interpreting, speaking, and writing about literary works. In short, the writer draw a conclusion that learning-based models of verbal-linguistic intelligence can be designed with attention into five components namely (1 definition, (2 characteristics, (3 teaching strategy, (4 final learning outcomes, and (5 figures.

Afghanistan’s Road Infrastructure: Sustainment Challenges and Lack of Repairs Put U.S. Investment at Risk

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

requires the MOF to collect the fuel tax revenue and place it into a special account and transfer the funds to the MOPW for road maintenance...objectives of this audit were to determine the extent to which (1) U.S. agencies have fully accounted for the road construction they funded in...335 million for short-term employment programs, including road construction, in support of counterinsurgency efforts. Although USAID could account

Road roughness evaluation using in-pavement strain sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiming; Deng, Fodan; Huang, Ying; Bridgelall, Raj

2015-11-01

The international roughness index (IRI) is a characterization of road roughness or ride quality that transportation agencies most often report. The prevalent method of acquiring IRI data requires instrumented vehicles and technicians with specialized training to interpret the results. The extensive labor and high cost requirements associated with the existing approaches limit data collection to at most once per year for portions of the national highway system. Agencies characterize roughness only for some secondary roads but much less frequently, such as once every five years, resulting in outdated roughness information. This research developed a real-time roughness evaluation approach that links the output of durable in-pavement strain sensors to prevailing indices that summarize road roughness. Field experiments validated the high consistency of the approach by showing that it is within 3.3% of relative IRI estimates. After their installation and calibration during road construction, the ruggedized strain sensors will report road roughness continuously. Thus, the solution will provide agencies a real-time roughness monitoring solution over the remaining service life of road assets.

Environmental sensitive road planning and transportation techniques in forest engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Hulusi Acar

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Forestry management has activities dealing with technical, economic, social and environmental services. Forestry operations which are carried out on forest areas , an important part of the ecosistem are materialized in open space. This forestry activities on large areas and high sloping generally, include many different techniques. It is needed primarily to the forest road network in terms of forest management. Determining the approriate route in the natural environment, planning and road construction affairs for forest roads which are necessary accessing in forest areas, is also of great importance from an environmental viewpoint as well as technical and economic manner. Forest road planning which can not be changed later and left a permanent mark on the natural environment carries much more importance to the environment especially on sloping land. This is because, it is important choosing correct type of roaf structure, and doing periodic maintenance of the roads. Skidding activities, after wood production, is important in terms of its impact on forest soil and by means of effects on saplings and trees on the releated forest areas.The development of environmental sensitive techniques is difficult, limited or expensive for this wood extraction works which are made more difficult conditons in the sloping terrain. Therefore, especially in using some silvicultural methods wood extraction damages are even greater. In this study; some road planning, road construction and wood extraction techniques which performed by me have been made to examine the environmental aspects. Environment-friendly forest roads and primary transport techniques on the forest ecosystem are briefly explained and discussed in the frame of the environmental aspects.

The road to development : the construction and use of 'the Great North Road' in Gold Coast Ghana

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ntewusu, S.A.

2014-01-01

This article is a historical study of a 'motor road' linking the north of the Gold Coast (present day Ghana) to the South. Historians concerned with routes and trade in nineteenth century Gold Coast usually end their accounts at the onset of colonial rule. While studies that concentrate on transport

Polish Adult Reading Test (PART) - construction of Polish test for estimating the level of premorbid intelligence in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Karakuła-Juchnowicz, Hanna; Stecka, Mariola

2017-08-29

In view of unavailability in Poland of the standardized methods to measure PIQ, the aim of the work was to develop a Polish test to assess the premorbid level of intelligence - PART(Polish AdultReading Test) and to measureits psychometric properties, such as validity, reliability as well as standardization in the group of schizophrenia patients. The principles of PART construction were based on the idea of popular worldwide National Adult Reading Test by Hazel Nelson. The research comprised a group of 122 subjects (65 schizophrenia patients and 57 healthy people), aged 18-60 years, matched for age and gender. PART appears to be a method with high internal consistency and reliability measured by test-retest, inter-rater reliability, and the method with acceptable diagnostic and prognostic validity. The standardized procedures of PART have been investigated and described. Considering the psychometric values of PART and a short time of its performance, the test may be a useful diagnostic instrument in the assessment of premorbid level of intelligence in a group of schizophrenic patients.

A decision algorithm for determining safe clearing limits for the construction of skid roads

Science.gov (United States)

Chris LeDoux

2006-01-01

The majority of the timber harvested in the United States is extracted by ground-based skidders and crawler/dozer systems. Ground-based systems generally require a primary transportation network (a network of skid trails/roads) throughout the area being harvested. Logs are skidded or dragged along these skid roads/trails as they are transported from where they were cut...

Recent developments and current policy issues in road pricing in the US and Canada

OpenAIRE

Lindsey, Robin

2005-01-01

The United States and Canada lag Europe and Singapore in implementing road pricing on a large scale. But the two countries have shown interest in tolling roads as a way to curb congestion and to generate revenues. The US is funding congestion pricing demonstration projects through its Value Pricing Pilot Program, and Canada has examined new ways to charge for road use and to finance road construction and maintenance. This paper reviews the current state of road pricing and funding...

Automatic Extraction of Road Markings from Mobile Laser-Point Cloud Using Intensity Data

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, L.; Chen, Q.; Qin, C.; Wu, H.; Zhang, S.

2018-04-01

With the development of intelligent transportation, road's high precision information data has been widely applied in many fields. This paper proposes a concise and practical way to extract road marking information from point cloud data collected by mobile mapping system (MMS). The method contains three steps. Firstly, road surface is segmented through edge detection from scan lines. Then the intensity image is generated by inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation and the road marking is extracted by using adaptive threshold segmentation based on integral image without intensity calibration. Moreover, the noise is reduced by removing a small number of plaque pixels from binary image. Finally, point cloud mapped from binary image is clustered into marking objects according to Euclidean distance, and using a series of algorithms including template matching and feature attribute filtering for the classification of linear markings, arrow markings and guidelines. Through processing the point cloud data collected by RIEGL VUX-1 in case area, the results show that the F-score of marking extraction is 0.83, and the average classification rate is 0.9.

IRI performance models for recently constructed low and medium-traffic two lane roads of the province of Biscay

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez Acebo, H.; Gonzalo-Orden, H.

2016-07-01

Reliable pavement prediction models are needed for pavement management systems (PMS), as they are a key component to forecast future conditions of the pavement and to prioritize maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction strategies. The International Roughness Index (IRI) is the most used parameter worldwide for calibrating pavement roughness and measures reasonably the ride comfort perceived by occupants of passenger cars. The Regional Government of Biscay also collects this value on the road network under its control These surveys are carried out regularly in the XXI century. Several IRI performance models have been proposed by different authors and administrations, varying greatly in their comprehensiveness, the ability to predict performance with accurancy and input data requirements. The aim of this paper is to develop a roughness performance model for Biscay's roads, based on availablbe IRI data, taking into account heavy traffic volume and the age of pavement. Local characteristics as climate conditions and average rainfall are not considered. IRI performance models have been suggested for regional two lane highways with low and medium heavy traffic constructed in the last 20 years in the province of Biscay, with no treatments during their life. They can be applied for flexible pavements, but no logical coherent results have been concluded for semi-rigid pavements. (Author)

Polynomial intelligent states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milks, Matthew M; Guise, Hubert de

2005-01-01

The construction of su(2) intelligent states is simplified using a polynomial representation of su(2). The cornerstone of the new construction is the diagonalization of a 2 x 2 matrix. The method is sufficiently simple to be easily extended to su(3), where one is required to diagonalize a single 3 x 3 matrix. For two perfectly general su(3) operators, this diagonalization is technically possible but the procedure loses much of its simplicity owing to the algebraic form of the roots of a cubic equation. Simplified expressions can be obtained by specializing the choice of su(3) operators. This simpler construction will be discussed in detail

The simulation of emergent dispatch of cars for intelligent driving autos

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Ziao

2018-03-01

It is widely acknowledged that it is important for the development of intelligent cars to be widely accepted by the majority of car users. While most of the intelligent cars have the system of monitoring itself whether it is on the good situation to drive, it is also clear that studies should be performed on the way of cars for the emergent rescue of the intelligent vehicles. In this study, writer focus mainly on how to derive a separate system for the car caring teams to arrive as soon as they get the signal sent out by the intelligent driving autos. This simulation measure the time for the rescuing team to arrive, the cost it spent on arriving on the site of car problem happens, also how long the queue is when the rescuing auto is waiting to cross a road. This can be definitely in great use when there are a team of intelligent cars with one car immediately having problems causing it's not moving and can be helpful in other situations. Through this way, the interconnection of cars can be a safety net for the drivers encountering difficulties in any time.

The road safety audit and road safety inspection.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2007-01-01

A road safety audit (RSA) and a road safety inspection (RSI) are used to test the safety level of the road infrastructure. The RSA tests the design of new roads or the reconstruction of existing roads, whereas the RSI is used for testing existing roads. An RSA, therefore, aims to 'improve' the road

Development in techniques for studying forest roads on peatlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saarilahti, M.

1988-01-01

A light seismic method, a short-pulse radar and a microwave probe are tested in assessing the properties of a forest road constructed on peatland. The light seismic method gave reliable values for estimating the bearing capacity of the road. It was found that bearing capacity was mostly dependent on embankment thickness, but quality of labric might also have an influence. Embankment thickness and peat depth can be measured on the radargram, and some additional information on road bed and peat obtained. The microwave peat probe permits recording of the continuous moisture profile in situ, which improves accuracy of planning

Development in techniques for studying forest roads on peatlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saarilahti, M.

1988-07-01

A light seismic method, a short-pulse radar and a microwave probe are tested in assessing the properties of a forest road constructed on peatland. The light seismic method gave reliable values for estimating the bearing capacity of the road. It was found that bearing capacity was mostly dependent on embankment thickness, but quality of labric might also have an influence. Embankment thickness and peat depth can be measured on the radargram, and some additional information on road bed and peat obtained. The microwave peat probe permits recording of the continuous moisture profile in situ, which improves accuracy of planning.

Sustainable use of oil sands for geotechnical construction and road building

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Anochie-Boateng, Joseph

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Oil sands are natural deposits of bituminous sand materials that are mined and processed for crude oil. They are routinely used in oil sand fields for building temporary and sometimes permanent roads serving mining and hauling activities. Although...

Degree of proximity in the construction of social representations: the case of intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Miguel, Isabel; Valentim, Joaquim Pires; Carugati, Felice

2012-11-01

The present article is devoted to the empirical endeavor of studying the effect of the degree of proximity, defined by specific socio-educational insertions, on the organization of social representations of intelligence. A questionnaire was answered by a sample of 752 participants belonging to five different social categories with different degrees of proximity and knowledge about intelligence: mothers, fathers, mother-teachers and non-parent students (psychology and science students). The questionnaire included different topics, namely concerning the concept of intelligence, its development and the effectiveness of teaching procedures. Results show that the principles organizing the contents of representations are linked to the personal involvement in intelligence, on which subjects more or less implied take different positions. Results produced suggest, therefore, that the content of representations is directly linked to the activation of social roles and the salience of the object, reflecting the functional character that the organization of representations has to specific social dynamics.

Scaling roads and wildlife: The Cinderella principle

Science.gov (United States)

Bissonette, J.A.

2002-01-01

It is clear that a reduction in both direct and indirect effects of roads and road networks must be the goal of management agencies. However, increased permeability of roaded landscapes can only be achieved by up-front planning and subsequent mitigative actions. The key is to understand that roads must be made permeable to the movement of animals. More profoundly, ecosystem services, i.e., clean water, clean air, uncontaminated soil, natural landscapes, recreation opportunities, abundant wildlife, and life sustaining ecological processes must not be seriously impacted. In other words, quality of life as measured by ecosystem services should be a major component of the planning process when roads are constructed or improved. Mitigative structures exist to increase permeability of roads. Wildlife overpasses and underpasses, often referred to as ecoducts or green bridges, with associated structures to enable larger animals to exit the road right of way, e.g., earthen escape ramps (BISSONETTE and HAMMER, 2001), various culvert designs for smaller animals including badger pipes and amphibian and reptile tunnels, and fish ladders are but a small sampling of the structures already in place around the world. What is needed is attention to the big picture. Landscapes need to be reconnected and made more permeable. Responsible agencies and organizations need to be aggressive about promoting mitigations and a conservation ethic into road planning. Only with a broad based effort between a concerned public, a database to work from, and a willingness of responsible agencies, will the now very large virtual footprint of roads and road networks be reduced to more closely approximate the physical footprint. By embracing the Cinderella Principle of making the virtual shoe fit more closely the actual physical footprint of roads, we will be able to achieve a closer connection with ecological harmony with its resultant effect of abundant wildlife.

Aggressiveness and intelligence in adolescence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Munique de Souza Siqueira

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyse the aggressiveness and intelligence in adolescence, and to verify if exists association through these variables. The aggressiveness is inherent in human nature and collaborates in the construction of personality by influencing the behaviors positively or negatively. Intelligence refers to the cognitive skill that every individual has and contributes to the establishment of social relations. As a teenager the aggressiveness and the intelligence become more evident due to change in this phase of development. The sample of 35 adolescents of both sexes participated in this survey. The instruments used were the batch of reasoning tests – BPR-5 and the Aggressiveness scale for children and young people. The results indicated that there is no relationship between aggression and intelligence. However, based on the literature these variables interrelate. Therefore, it is suggested that this research be expanded with the use of other psychological instruments.

Radioactive materials in construction projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrmann, Ralf; Ohlendorf, Frank; Kaltz, Andrea Christine

2014-01-01

Till 1990 residues often of the former uranium mining were partly used as building material for road construction, terrain compensation and house construction in Saxony. These recommendations for action are addressed to applicants, planners and building constructors in the engineering and construction sector. It provides information for planning, preliminary investigations, applications, construction supervision related to radiation protection measures and documentation of construction projects where radioactive materials are expected.

User costs as one of main advantages of precast concrete application in highway construction

Science.gov (United States)

Tomek, Radan

2017-09-01

Road user cost primarily refer to the monetized components of road (re)construction impacts, such as the user delay costs, vehicle operating costs, crash costs and emission costs. Objective of this paper is to analyze and appraise the advantages and benefits of the innovative prefabrication approach in contrast to traditional cast-in-place construction method. The goal is to reduce these additional costs borne by motorists and the community at-large as a result of road construction activity to their minimum through application of the prefabrication. Assessing two basic possible approaches to highway infrastructure construction - casting the road pavements and structures either in place or precast off the site - it can be concluded that the initial capital investment costs do not vary much. Substantial differences can be recognized when comparing their life-cycle costs and an extent to which their construction process affects the public, environment and the local economy. Prefabrication of any structure component off-site offers major construction time and user cost savings in comparison with the traditional cast-in-place methods of construction. Precast prestressed road pavements’ technology and precasting bridges’ parts and elements offers dramatic increase in durability, while it also substantially decreases construction time and resulting user costs.

Quarry Haul Road Ecological Survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-09-01

This biological survey was performed to document the summer flora and fauna found along the haul road constructed as part of the remedial action for the quarry bulk waste. State and Federal species listed as threatened or endangered were noted if encountered while surveying. Sampling locations were equally spaced along the quarry haul road, and a survey for vegetation and birds conducted at each location. Bird observations were conducted as breeding bird surveys once in June of 1991, and again in June of 1992. Each year's survey includes two observations in the early morning and one late in the evening. Vegetation surveys were conducted in 1991 using quadrants and transects. mammal, reptile, and amphibian sightings were noted as encountered

Building lunar roads - An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Rutledge, Bennett

The problems involved in constructing lunar roads are explored. The main challenges are airlessness, low gravity, and solar effects, especially temperature extremes. Also involved are the expense of delivering equipment and material to the job site (especially for bridges and other structures), obtaining skilled labor, and providing maintenance. The lunar road will most likely be gravel, but with the size of the material closer to cobblestone to reduce scattering. They will probably be very winding, even on the flats, and feature numerous bridges and some cuts. This traffic will be mostly automatic or teleoperated cargo carriers with a handful of shirtsleeve-pressurized 'passenger cars' large enough to live in for several days.

Speed regulating Effects of Incentive-based Intelligent Speed Adaptation in the short and medium term

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerholm, Niels

Speed regulating Effects of Incentive-based Intelligent Speed Adaptation in the short and medium term Despite massive improvements in vehicles’ safety equipment, more information and safer road network, inappropriate road safety is still causing that more than 250 people are killed and several...... thousands injured each year in Denmark. Until a few years ago the number of fatalities in most countries had decreased while the amount of traffic increased. However, this trend has been replaced by a more uncertain development towards a constant or even somewhat increasing risk. Inappropriate speeding...... is a central cause for the high number of fatalities on the roads. Despite speed limits, speed limit violating driving behaviour is still widespread in Denmark. Traditional solutions to prevent speed violation have been enforcement, information, and enhanced road design. It seems, however, hard to achieve...

[Do Current German-Language Intelligence Tests Take into Consideration the Special Needs of Children with Disabilities?].

Science.gov (United States)

Mickley, Manfred; Renner, Gerolf

2015-01-01

Do Current German-Language Intelligence Tests Take into Consideration the Special Needs of Children with Disabilities? A review of 23 German intelligence test manuals shows that test-authors do not exclude the use of their tests for children with disabilities. However, these special groups play a minor role in the construction, standardization, and validation of intelligence tests. There is no sufficient discussion and reflection concerning the issue which construct-irrelevant requirements may reduce the validity of the test or which individual test-adaptations are allowed or recommended. Intelligence testing of children with disabilities needs more empirical evidence on objectivity, reliability, and validity of the assessment-procedures employed. Future test construction and validation should systematically analyze construct-irrelevant variance in item format, the special needs of handicapped children, and should give hints for useful test-adaptations.

The brain triuno and the ethical intelligence: fundamental counterfoil of the multifocal intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Seijo

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This study has for aim offer an analysis as for the brain triuno and the ethical intelligence: fundamental Counterfoil of the multifocal intelligence, taking in tells one of the theories that it sustains her like they are the different types of multiple intelligences established by Beauport and Cury (2004. The theoretical sustenance, it is based on the contents of Martin (2005, Belohlavek (2007, Galicians (2002, Beauport and Cury (2004, between others, being realized under a symbolic interpretive approach, across a qualitative methodology, type descriptive and not experimental design, by means of a documentary analysis. In this regard, it is found that the ethical intelligence is a mental mechanism that constructs the structural preconceptos and the rules of game with which an individual approaches the reality, that is to say, it is the capacity of the general formation, predicting the behavior for the achievement of aims organizacionales. As for the final considerations they focused in obtaining the most wide knowledge inside the organizations, allowing to reflect before the weaknesses that they present thinking about the brain triuno applying the multifocal intelligence, fundamental counterfoil of the ethical intelligence and of what way the rationing visualizes the strengths, nevertheless of the weaknesses that they present. 

The Extraction of Road Boundary from Crowdsourcing Trajectory Using Constrained Delaunay Triangulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YANG Wei

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Extraction of road boundary accurately from crowdsourcing trajectory lines is still a hard work.Therefore,this study presented a new approach to use vehicle trajectory lines to extract road boundary.Firstly, constructing constrained Delaunay triangulation within interpolated track lines to calculate road boundary descriptors using triangle edge length and Voronoi cell.Road boundary recognition model was established by integrating the two boundary descriptors.Then,based on seed polygons,a regional growing method was proposed to extract road boundary. Finally, taxi GPS traces in Beijing were used to verify the validity of the novel method, and the results also showed that our method was suitable for GPS traces with disparity density,complex road structure and different time interval.

Research on the Application of Wireless Network in Collecting Road Traffic Information

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DU Hui-jiang

2015-01-01

Due to the characteristics of variability and dispersion in traffic information, to get the reliable real-time traffic information has been a bottleneck in the development of intelligent transportation systems. However, with the development of wireless network technology and mobile Internet, the mobile phones are rapidly developed and more popular, so it is possible to get road traffic information by locating the mobile phones in vehicles. The system structure for the road traffic information collection is designed based on wireless network and mobile phones in vehicles, and the vehicle recognition and its information computation methods are given and discussed. Also the simulation is done for vehicle recognition and computation based on fuzzy cluster analysis method and the results are obtained and analyzed.

Predicting the effectiveness of road safety campaigns through alternative research designs.

Science.gov (United States)

Adamos, Giannis; Nathanail, Eftihia

2016-12-01

A large number of road safety communication campaigns have been designed and implemented in the recent years; however their explicit impact on driving behavior and road accident rates has been estimated in a rather low proportion. Based on the findings of the evaluation of three road safety communication campaigns addressing the issues of drinking and driving, seat belt usage, and driving fatigue, this paper applies different types of research designs (i.e., experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental designs), when estimating the effectiveness of road safety campaigns, implements a cross-design assessment, and conducts a cross-campaign evaluation. An integrated evaluation plan was developed, taking into account the structure of evaluation questions, the definition of measurable variables, the separation of the target audience into intervention (exposed to the campaign) and control (not exposed to the campaign) groups, the selection of alternative research designs, and the appropriate data collection methods and techniques. Evaluating the implementation of different research designs in estimating the effectiveness of road safety campaigns, results showed that the separate pre-post samples design demonstrated better predictability than other designs, especially in data obtained from the intervention group after the realization of the campaign. The more constructs that were added to the independent variables, the higher the values of the predictability were. The construct that most affects behavior is intention, whereas the rest of the constructs have a lower impact on behavior. This is particularly significant in the Health Belief Model (HBM). On the other hand, behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and descriptive norms, are significant parameters for predicting intention according to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The theoretical and applied implications of alternative research designs and their applicability in the evaluation of road safety

Restoring habitat connectivity across roads: where to begin?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grift, van der E.A.; Reijnen, R.; Veen, van der M.; Pelk, M.

2002-01-01

A study of the potential effect of migration measures on the viability of wildlife populations to prioritize the construction of wildlife passages and the restoration of habitat connectivity across roads in The Netherlands.

Blockchain-Based Dynamic Key Management for Heterogeneous Intelligent Transportation Systems

OpenAIRE

Lei, Ao; Cruickshank, Haitham; Cao, Y; Asuquo, Philip; Anyigor Ogah, Chibueze Pascal; Sun, Zhili

2017-01-01

As modern vehicle and communication technologies advanced apace, people begin to believe that Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) would be achievable in one decade.\\ud ITS introduces information technology to the transportation infrastructures and aims to improve road safety and traffic efficiency. However, security is still a main concern in Vehicular Communication Systems (VCS). This can be addressed through secured group broadcast. Therefore, secure key management schemes are considere...

Risk management model in road transport systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sakhapov, R. L.; Nikolaeva, R. V.; Gatiyatullin, M. H.; Makhmutov, M. M.

2016-08-01

The article presents the results of a study of road safety indicators that influence the development and operation of the transport system. Road safety is considered as a continuous process of risk management. Authors constructed a model that relates the social risks of a major road safety indicator - the level of motorization. The model gives a fairly accurate assessment of the level of social risk for any given level of motorization. Authors calculated the dependence of the level of socio-economic costs of accidents and injured people in them. The applicability of the concept of socio-economic damage is caused by the presence of a linear relationship between the natural and economic indicators damage from accidents. The optimization of social risk is reduced to finding the extremum of the objective function that characterizes the economic effect of the implementation of measures to improve safety. The calculations make it possible to maximize the net present value, depending on the costs of improving road safety, taking into account socio-economic damage caused by accidents. The proposed econometric models make it possible to quantify the efficiency of the transportation system, allow to simulate the change in road safety indicators.

Analysis of travel patterns between road and transit-oriented development areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.; Park, D.; Lee, C.

2010-01-01

Rapid economic growth has caused severe traffic congestion and air pollution in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA). As a consequence, traffic demand management (TDM) policies have been implemented to mitigate traffic congestion in the region. This study analyzed travel patterns that occurred as a result of transport policy changes in Seoul between 1996 and 2002. General travel pattern changes in the SMA were compared with the travel patterns of regions with car-oriented road construction policies and public transit-invested regions. Results of the study showed that investment in road construction had no significant impact on reducing traffic congestion. The modal shift to public transit modes caused a reduction in the number of cars on roads. The study demonstrated that transit-oriented policies can be used to overcome severe traffic congestion. 7 refs., 7 tabs., 6 figs.

MANUAL. Fly ash in civil engineering, Gravel roads; HANDBOK. Flygaska i mark- och vaegbyggnad, Grusvaegar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munde, Hanna; Svedberg, Bo; Macsik, Josef; Maijala, Aino; Lahtinen, Pentti; Ekdahl, Peter; Neren, Jens [Vattenfall AB, Stockholm (Sweden). Vaerme Norden

2006-01-15

Fly ash based on biofuels or coal has been used as construction material for a long time in roads and other civil engineering applications. Some example, where it has been used in roadbase and subbase of gravel roads, are in the counties of Uppsala, Soedermanland, Vaestmanland and in Finland. The use of fly ash has contributed to good function for example as bearing capacity, thaw and frost capacity and good durability. This has also reduced costs for maintenance. The objective of this project was to develop a manual to provide a base for contemporary use of fly ash in road constructions. In the manual experience from studies, field tests and regulations has been compiled. The manual handles fly ash as base for products to be used in base and subbase in gravel roads. Future user of the guidelines are mainly consultant engineers and contractors. However the aim of the manual is to also support road administrators, environmental authorities and industry. The project has been carried out parallel to another ongoing national project titled 'Guidelines, Use of alternative materials in civil engineering'. The objective of that project is to establish a base for handling of alternative materials in Sweden. Fly ash in gravel roads are mainly used in two typical applications, one without any additive in a single layer and one with fly ash mixed with gravel. The use of flyash provides functional properties such as increased stiffness, stability and enhanced frost and thaw capacity for the road construction in total. Furthermore the products based on fly ash will have low permeability and good frost and thaw durability. These properties are for example related to fly ash quality, design and construction and are in general expected to be better than for traditional constructions using, for example, sand or gravel. The properties can be enhanced further by using binders such as cement and Merit. Fly ash should always be used above the ground water table with

THE IMPROVEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTION OF BITUMEN FOR THE ROAD PAVING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. Belova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The oil (artificial bitumens, got by conversion of the oil cheese, are broadly used in the road construction. The track record of the development road covering, studies, bound with improvement their characteristic and development of the competitions among technology is presented in this article.Methods. Nowdays the modern developments in the field of production bitumen road marks are implemented using such technological-go acceptance as chemical actuated heavy oil cheese, which principles are based on regulation of the energybetween molecular interactions and optimization their dimensionality, allowing raise quality bitumen.Results. Adjusting the depth of recovery of the oxidized product, it is possible to obtain different composition, plasticity and heat resistance of the bitumen. The residual bitumen obtained by two-stage oxidation with subsequent vacuum distillation of the oxidized product comply with GOST 60/90. Vacuum gas oil in the production of residual bitumen corresponds to the motor fuel for marine installations.Conclusion. Today, the bitumen production leaves on positions packed-valuable segment oil processing industry. The Main customer roads - a state. Herewith important role as ideologues of the development of the culture road construction plays the Federal road agency, supporting developing competition amongst leading technology. Introduction new technology at conversion remaining component oils, founded on do active cheese to account physical and chemical of the influence, with using the modern equipment, including equipment, using subject to influence effects, ultrasonic and electro-magnetic fields, and others, allows to get the qualitative road bitumens from majority of the oils, scanned earlier unfit for production bitumen.

Economical energy use in road traffic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diekmann, A

1980-01-01

The energy situation calls for a more rational use of energy. Although the overall share of road transport in energy consumption is only 12%, this sector is looked upon to make a substantial contribution to the saving of energy. The production of more efficient motor vehicles as well as changing patterns in the use of such vehicles will probably lead to a lower overall consumption of fuel by 1985 regardless of an increase in the number of vehicles registered. This can only be achieved if the progress made in vehicle construction is not annihilated by a deterioration in traffic flow owing to insufficient improvement of the road network.

SNMS: an intelligent transportation system network architecture based on WSN and P2P network

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Li; LIU Yuan-an; TANG Bi-hua

2007-01-01

With the development of city road networks, the question of how to obtain information about the roads is becoming more and more important. In this article, sensor network with mobile station (SNMS), a novel two-tiered intelligent transportation system (ITS) network architecture based on wireless sensor network (WSN) and peer-to-peer (P2P) network, is proposed to provide significant traffic information about the road and thereby, assist travelers to take optimum decisions when they are driving. A detailed explanation with regard to the strategy of each level as well as the design of two main components in the network, sensor unit (SU) and mobile station (MS), is presented. Finally, a representative scenario is described to display the operation of the system.

Report on the Validation of the Emotionally Intelligent Leadership for Students Inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Miguel, Rosanna F.; Allen, Scott J.

2016-01-01

The present study was designed to examine the measurement of the Emotionally Intelligent Leadership (EIL) construct and to provide evidence of validation for the multidimensional Emotionally Intelligence Leadership for Students: Inventory 2.0 (EILS:I 2.0). The EILS:I 2.0 is a self-report assessment of emotionally intelligent leadership in the…

Life Cycle Assessment Of Danish Concrete Waste Recycled In Road Base Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Butera, Stefania; Birgisdottir, H.; Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

2013-01-01

LCA was used to assess the environmental impacts from recycling of C&DW in road construction. The scenario comprised all stages in the end of life of C&D concrete, including recovery of materials, as well as avoided production of the substituted goods. Results show the importance of transportation...... of the material, especially when considering global warming, acidification and human toxicity categories. Ecotoxicity is dominated by leaching of pollutants from the concrete material, where Cr and Sb play a major role. Compared to landfilling of the same waste stream, reuse in road construction provides lower...

Roads Rehabilitation and Environment in Moldova: Some Legal and Normative Harmonization Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cocirta Petru

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the environmental regulatory reforms of the Republic of Moldova to restore roads and problems over time. Goals and objectives are the analysis of the current situation on road rehabilitation and environmental assessments in this area, as well as issues that require in rehabilitation and maintenance of roads in the Republic of Moldova.Are described briefly: general aspects of road rehabilitation issues; legislation and environmental regulations in the road; differences between Moldova and procedures of the World Bank's environmental assessment in the construction and rehabilitation of roads; problem of national legislative and normative acts harmonization to international requirements.The paper discusses specific environmental to appear on completion of the rehabilitation of roads in the Republic of Moldova. In the final part of the paper presents the conclusions and some suggestions on how to facilitate the rehabilitation of roads in accordance with Agenda 21 of the country and European and international requirements.

Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Norman P; Kanazawa, Satoshi

2016-11-01

We propose the savanna theory of happiness, which suggests that it is not only the current consequences of a given situation but also its ancestral consequences that affect individuals' life satisfaction and explains why such influences of ancestral consequences might interact with intelligence. We choose two varied factors that characterize basic differences between ancestral and modern life - population density and frequency of socialization with friends - as empirical test cases. As predicted by the theory, population density is negatively, and frequency of socialization with friends is positively, associated with life satisfaction. More importantly, the main associations of life satisfaction with population density and socialization with friends significantly interact with intelligence, and, in the latter case, the main association is reversed among the extremely intelligent. More intelligent individuals experience lower life satisfaction with more frequent socialization with friends. This study highlights the utility of incorporating evolutionary perspectives in the study of subjective well-being. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Environmental implications of Universal Rural Road Access Program (URRAP roads in Southwestern Ethiopia: The case of Jimma and Buno Bedelle zones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassen Negesso

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Ethiopia has been undertaking numerous development programs and projects with the objective of taking a country to the middle-income countries in the near future. Universal Rural Road Access Program (URRAP roads being constructed in Jimma and Bunno Bedele zones are among the projects in Ethiopia. Although these projects are assumed to bring desirable positive change, there are sometimes negative consequences on environmental issues. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to investigate the negative sides of these projects on environmental elements. Household survey with randomly selected household heads and in-depth interview, focus group discussion (FGD and observation for purposively selected samples were used to collect relevant and required data. Thereby, data were analyzed quantitatively by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS and qualitatively through thematic method. The findings from the analyzed data show that rural roads being constructed by URRAP have both positive and negative impacts on plant species, bird species, reptile species, mammal’s species, amphibians’ species, soil, and climate. Finally, URRAP is in dilemma and needs an extensive and frequent supervision, monitoring, inclusive, interdisciplinary and sound strategies and policies by responsible bodies at all expected levels and contexts.

Intelligence is associated with the modular structure of intrinsic brain networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hilger, K.; Ekman, M.; Fiebach, C.J.; Basten, U.

2017-01-01

General intelligence is a psychological construct that captures in a single metric the overall level of behavioural and cognitive performance in an individual. While previous research has attempted to localise intelligence in circumscribed brain regions, more recent work focuses on functional

RESOURCE SAVING IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WITH HIGHWAY BRANCH AS EXAMPLE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Roudensky

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Consumption of energy is an objective (independent on cost fluctuations technical efficiency criterion of any construction or repair work. Highway/road (particularly bituminous pavement sector is an important construction industry part. Bituminous road pavement construction consists of such components as excavation and preparation of basic materials, manufacture of mixes, ready mix laying/compacting and transportation of all materials. Average energy consumption for every bituminous pavement construction component is assessed. Approach to resource and energy saving presented in the article may be used in construction industry to develop and implement innovativetechnical and organizational solutions both of general application and for individual projects.

The future of forests and orangutans (Pongo abelii) in Sumatra: predicting impacts of oil palm plantations, road construction, and mechanisms for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation

Science.gov (United States)

Gaveau, David L. A.; Wich, Serge; Epting, Justin; Juhn, Daniel; Kanninen, Markku; Leader-Williams, Nigel

2009-09-01

Payments for reduced carbon emissions from deforestation (RED) are now attracting attention as a way to halt tropical deforestation. Northern Sumatra comprises an area of 65 000 km2 that is both the site of Indonesia's first planned RED initiative, and the stronghold of 92% of remaining Sumatran orangutans. Under current plans, this RED initiative will be implemented in a defined geographic area, essentially a newly established, 7500 km2 protected area (PA) comprising mostly upland forest, where guards will be recruited to enforce forest protection. Meanwhile, new roads are currently under construction, while companies are converting lowland forests into oil palm plantations. This case study predicts the effectiveness of RED in reducing deforestation and conserving orangutans for two distinct scenarios: the current plan of implementing RED within the specific boundary of a new upland PA, and an alternative scenario of implementing RED across landscapes outside PAs. Our satellite-based spatially explicit deforestation model predicts that 1313 km2 of forest would be saved from deforestation by 2030, while forest cover present in 2006 would shrink by 22% (7913 km2) across landscapes outside PAs if RED were only to be implemented in the upland PA. Meanwhile, orangutan habitat would reduce by 16% (1137 km2), resulting in the conservative loss of 1384 orangutans, or 25% of the current total population with or without RED intervention. By contrast, an estimated 7824 km2 of forest could be saved from deforestation, with maximum benefit for orangutan conservation, if RED were to be implemented across all remaining forest landscapes outside PAs. Here, RED payments would compensate land users for their opportunity costs in not converting unprotected forests into oil palm, while the construction of new roads to service the marketing of oil palm would be halted. Our predictions suggest that Indonesia's first RED initiative in an upland PA may not significantly reduce

The future of forests and orangutans (Pongo abelii) in Sumatra: predicting impacts of oil palm plantations, road construction, and mechanisms for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaveau, David L A; Leader-Williams, Nigel; Wich, Serge; Epting, Justin; Juhn, Daniel; Kanninen, Markku

2009-01-01

Payments for reduced carbon emissions from deforestation (RED) are now attracting attention as a way to halt tropical deforestation. Northern Sumatra comprises an area of 65 000 km 2 that is both the site of Indonesia's first planned RED initiative, and the stronghold of 92% of remaining Sumatran orangutans. Under current plans, this RED initiative will be implemented in a defined geographic area, essentially a newly established, 7500 km 2 protected area (PA) comprising mostly upland forest, where guards will be recruited to enforce forest protection. Meanwhile, new roads are currently under construction, while companies are converting lowland forests into oil palm plantations. This case study predicts the effectiveness of RED in reducing deforestation and conserving orangutans for two distinct scenarios: the current plan of implementing RED within the specific boundary of a new upland PA, and an alternative scenario of implementing RED across landscapes outside PAs. Our satellite-based spatially explicit deforestation model predicts that 1313 km 2 of forest would be saved from deforestation by 2030, while forest cover present in 2006 would shrink by 22% (7913 km 2 ) across landscapes outside PAs if RED were only to be implemented in the upland PA. Meanwhile, orangutan habitat would reduce by 16% (1137 km 2 ), resulting in the conservative loss of 1384 orangutans, or 25% of the current total population with or without RED intervention. By contrast, an estimated 7824 km 2 of forest could be saved from deforestation, with maximum benefit for orangutan conservation, if RED were to be implemented across all remaining forest landscapes outside PAs. Here, RED payments would compensate land users for their opportunity costs in not converting unprotected forests into oil palm, while the construction of new roads to service the marketing of oil palm would be halted. Our predictions suggest that Indonesia's first RED initiative in an upland PA may not significantly reduce

Cultural Intelligence as a Key Construct for Global Talent Management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bücker, J.J.L.E.; Al Ariss, A.

2014-01-01

This chapter focuses on the competencies needed to undertake global talent management (GTM), according to the concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) and its four main dimensions. Using real-world examples and excerpts from interviews with relevant actors in this field, this chapter outlines the CQ

The present condition of forest roads as a result of their past maintenance

OpenAIRE

Hribernik, Boštjan; Potočnik, Igor

2006-01-01

Forest roads are built for forest management purposes, to which planning of their use and maintenance is adapted. The increasing importance of non-forestry use of forest roads leads to higher maintenance standard, which by formed maintenance system causes permanent shortage of funds. Higher maintenance costs occur due to the past forest roads construction characteristics, which gave priority to quick opening of villages and farms, on the account of building quality. Other funds expenditure re...

Experimental study of collapsing properties of the compacted soil foundation of auto-road embankment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yushkov Boris Semenovich

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The loess collapsing soils are practically ubiquitously distributed in the Perm region. They occupy about 30% of the region area. The mass construction of buildings and structures of different purposes is conducted there. Design and construction of auto-roads on the collapsing soils by ensuring their strength and normal operation is one of the most important and difficult problems of the modern construction. It is recommended to eliminate collapsing properties of soils within the entire collapsing strata with the use of deep compaction by rammers and presoaking of foundation soils, including that with deepwater explosions, chemical or thermal fixing. Multi-year practice of construction on the collapsing soils in the regions of our country showed that during erection of the various structures the removal of the powerful loess soil collapsibility is achieved with the help of methods described above, each of which is selected on the basis of the conditions and possibilities of application. This article describes the following tasks: 1. Study and generalization of the available experience of road construction on the loess soils; 2. Zoning and classification (typing of the loess strata; 3. Selection of the engineering-geological factors influencing the choice of method for compacting collapsing soils; 4. General provisions for road construction on the collapsing soils.

Safer Roads: Comparisons Between Road Assessment Program and Composite Road Safety Index Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Razelan Intan Suhana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In most countries, crash statistics have becoming very crucial in evaluating road’s safety level. In Malaysia, these data are very important in deciding crash-prone areas known as black spot where specific road improvements plan will be proposed. However due to the unavailability of reliable crash data in many developing countries, appropriate road maintenance measures are facing great troubles. In light of that, several proactive methods in defining road’s safety level such as Road Assessment Program (RAP have emerged. This research aim to compare two proactive methods that have been tested in Malaysian roads ; road assessment program and road environment risk index which was developed based on composite index theory in defining road’s safety level. Composite road environment risk index was combining several crucial environment indicators, assigning weight and aggregating the individual index together to form a single value representing the road’s safety level. Based on the results, it can be concluded that both road assessment program and composite road environment risk index are contradicted in six different ways such as type of speed used, type of analysis used and their final outcomes. However, with an aim to promote safer roads, these two methods can be used concurrently as the outcomes in both methods seems to fulfil each other’s gap very well.

Resilience and Emotional Intelligence: which role in achievement motivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Magnano

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In the framework of Positive Organizational Behavior, the construct of Psychological Capital identifies four psychological capacities that affect motivation and performance in the workplace: self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. Emotional Intelligence, then, addresses self-regulatory processes of emotions and motivation that enable people to make adjustments to achieve individual, group, and organizational goals; Emotional Intelligence is strongly correlated with individual advancement and success in an organizational setting and with individual performance. Moreover, Emotional Intelligence is considered an antecedent to resilience. The present study aims to investigate the role of resilience and emotional intelligence in achievement motivation, verifying if emotional intelligence mediates the relationship among resilience and achievement motivation. Participants are 488 Italian workers, aged between 18 and 55 years. The findings confirm the significant role played by emotional intelligence on resilience and on motivation to achievement.

Emotional intelligence and the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ).

Science.gov (United States)

Furnham, Adrian; Race, Mary-Clare; Rosen, Adrienne

2014-01-01

This study explores the relationship between the Bar-on EQ-I and the Occupational Personality Questionnaire OPQ32i to determine if there is a link between self- and other-reported Emotional Intelligence and personality traits. Data was obtained from 329 managers working in the IT and Finance sectors and included multi-source (360°) measures of Emotional Intelligence. Results indicated construct overlap and correlations between some elements of Emotional Intelligence and the OPQ32i with a stronger relationship between 360 measures of Emotional Intelligence and personality. On both the self-report measure of EQ-I and the 360 measure the mood scale showed a strongest link with personality factors. Measures of Emotional Intelligence which include a 360 component may thus provide a more useful indicator of an individual's ability to manage their own feelings and those of others.

Brain anatomical network and intelligence.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yonghui Li

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Intuitively, higher intelligence might be assumed to correspond to more efficient information transfer in the brain, but no direct evidence has been reported from the perspective of brain networks. In this study, we performed extensive analyses to test the hypothesis that individual differences in intelligence are associated with brain structural organization, and in particular that higher scores on intelligence tests are related to greater global efficiency of the brain anatomical network. We constructed binary and weighted brain anatomical networks in each of 79 healthy young adults utilizing diffusion tensor tractography and calculated topological properties of the networks using a graph theoretical method. Based on their IQ test scores, all subjects were divided into general and high intelligence groups and significantly higher global efficiencies were found in the networks of the latter group. Moreover, we showed significant correlations between IQ scores and network properties across all subjects while controlling for age and gender. Specifically, higher intelligence scores corresponded to a shorter characteristic path length and a higher global efficiency of the networks, indicating a more efficient parallel information transfer in the brain. The results were consistently observed not only in the binary but also in the weighted networks, which together provide convergent evidence for our hypothesis. Our findings suggest that the efficiency of brain structural organization may be an important biological basis for intelligence.

Identifying significant predictors of head-on conflicts on two-lane rural roads using inductive loop detectors data.

Science.gov (United States)

Shariat-Mohaymany, Afshin; Tavakoli-Kashani, Ali; Nosrati, Hadi; Ranjbari, Andisheh

2011-12-01

To identify the significant factors that influence head-on conflicts resulting from dangerous overtaking maneuvers on 2-lane rural roads in Iran. A traffic conflict technique was applied to 12 two-lane rural roads in order to investigate the potential situations for accidents to occur and thus to identify the geometric and traffic factors affecting traffic conflicts. Traffic data were collected via the inductive loop detectors installed on these roads, and geometric characteristics were obtained through field observations. Two groups of data were then analyzed independently by Pearson's chi-square test to evaluate their relationship to traffic conflicts. The independent variables were percentage of time spent following (PTSF), percentage of heavy vehicles, directional distribution of traffic (DDT), mean speed, speed standard deviation, section type, road width, longitudinal slope, holiday or workday, and lighting condition. It was indicated that increasing the PTSF, decreasing the percentage of heavy vehicles, increasing the mean speed (up to 75 km/h), increasing DDT in the range of 0 to 60 percent, and decreasing the standard deviation of speed significantly increased the occurrence of traffic conflicts. It was also revealed that traffic conflicts occur more frequently on curve sections and on workdays. The variables road width, slope, and lighting condition were found to have a minor effect on conflict occurrence. To reduce the number of head-on conflicts on the aforementioned roads, some remedial measures are suggested, such as not constructing long "No Passing" zones and constructing passing lanes where necessary; keeping road width at the standard value; constructing roads with horizontal curves and a high radius and using appropriate road markings and overtaking-forbidden signs where it is impossible to modify the radius; providing enough light and installing caution signs/devices on the roads; and intensifying police control and supervision on workdays

Paving the Way for Invasive Species: Road Type and the Spread of Common Ragweed ( Ambrosia artemisiifolia)

Science.gov (United States)

Joly, Martin; Bertrand, Pascale; Gbangou, Roland Y.; White, Marie-Catherine; Dubé, Jean; Lavoie, Claude

2011-09-01

Roads function as prime habitats and corridors for invasive plant species. Yet despite the diversity of road types, there is little research on the influence of these types on the spread of invaders. Common ragweed ( Ambrosia artemisiifolia), a plant producing large amounts of allergenic pollen, was selected as a species model for examining the impact of road type on the spread of invasive plants. We examined this relationship in an agricultural region of Quebec, Canada. We mapped plant distribution along different road types, and constructed a model of species presence. Common ragweed was found in almost all sampling sites located along regional (97%) and local paved (81%) roads. However, verges of unpaved local roads were rarely (13%) colonized by the plant. A model (53% of variance explained), constructed with only four variables (paved regional roads, paved local roads, recently mown road verges, forest cover), correctly predicted (success rate: 89%) the spatial distribution of common ragweed. Results support the hypothesis that attributes associated with paved roads strongly favour the spread of an opportunistic invasive plant species. Specifically, larger verges and greater disturbance associated with higher traffic volume create propitious conditions for common ragweed. To date, emphasis has been placed on controlling the plant in agricultural fields, even though roadsides are probably a much larger seed source. Strategies for controlling the weed along roads have only focused on major highways, even though the considerable populations along local roads also contribute to the production of pollen. Management prioritizations developed to control common ragweed are thus questionable.

Road construction on Caspar Creek watersheds --- 10-year report on impact

Science.gov (United States)

J. S. Krammes; David M. Burns

1973-01-01

In 1960, Federal and State agencies jointly started a long-term study of the effects of logging and road building on streamflow, sedimentation, aquatic habitat, and fish populations on two watersheds of Caspar Creek, in northern California. The experimental watersheds are the North and South Forks of the Creek. The data being collected consist of continuous streamflow...

Methodology for logistic planning of forest roads for harvesting Eucalyptus globulus Labill. using optimization tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leal Robert, Orlando; Lopez, Cesar Amilcar

2011-01-01

Using an un capacitated and non directed network model, we propose a methodology for the preliminary design of second order forests roads to extract products from Eucalyptus globulus plantations using an aerial cable system to minimize road network construction costs. The model takes into account topographical conditions and road construction costs related to the terrain slope. In order to solve the problem the Dijstrak algorithm was used, in which the minimum cost of the shortest paths that connect all the stockyards are defined. In addition, the Kruskal algorithm was used to obtain the minimum spanning tree. Finally, the network was connected to an open road for the timber to be taken to consumption centers. In order to develop the algorithms mentioned above, an application on Mat lab was designed, which gave an easier handling of the cartography data obtained from these algorithms.

A Multi-stage Method to Extract Road from High Resolution Satellite Image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhijian, Huang; Zhang, Jinfang; Xu, Fanjiang

2014-01-01

Extracting road information from high-resolution satellite images is complex and hardly achieves by exploiting only one or two modules. This paper presents a multi-stage method, consisting of automatic information extraction and semi-automatic post-processing. The Multi-scale Enhancement algorithm enlarges the contrast of human-made structures with the background. The Statistical Region Merging segments images into regions, whose skeletons are extracted and pruned according to geometry shape information. Setting the start and the end skeleton points, the shortest skeleton path is constructed as a road centre line. The Bidirectional Adaptive Smoothing technique smoothens the road centre line and adjusts it to right position. With the smoothed line and its average width, a Buffer algorithm reconstructs the road region easily. Seen from the last results, the proposed method eliminates redundant non-road regions, repairs incomplete occlusions, jumps over complete occlusions, and reserves accurate road centre lines and neat road regions. During the whole process, only a few interactions are needed

Ability-versus skill-based assessment of emotional intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradberry, Travis R; Su, Lac D

2006-01-01

Emotional intelligence has received an intense amount of attention in leadership circles during the last decade and continuing debate exists concerning the best method for measuring this construct. This study analyzed leader emotional intelligence scores, measured via skill and ability methodologies, against leader job performance. Two hundred twelve employees from three organizations participated in this study. Scores on the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal, a skill-based assessment, were positively, though not significantly, correlated with scores on the MSCEIT, an ability-based assessment of emotional intelligence. Scores on the MSCEIT did not have a significant relationship with job performance in this study, whereas, scores on the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal had a strong link to leader job performance. The four subcomponents of the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal were examined against job performance. Relationship management was a stronger predictor of leader job performance than the other three subcomponents. Social awareness was the single emotional intelligence skill that did not have a significant link to leader job performance. Factor analyses yielded a two-component model of emotional intelligence encompassing personal and social competence, rather than confirmation of a four-part taxonomy.

75 FR 71144 - Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Solar Millennium, LLC, Amargosa Farm Road...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-22

..., Amargosa Farm Road Solar Energy Project AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of... (ROD) for the Solar Millennium, LLC, Amargosa Farm Road Solar Energy Project Environmental Impact... INFORMATION: The applicant, Solar Millennium, LLC, is authorized to construct the Amargosa Farm Road Solar...

The construction of the spatio-temporal database of the ancient Silk Road within Xinjiang province during the Han and Tang dynasties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bi, Jiantao; Wang, Xingxing; Luo, Guilin; Zhu, Zuojia

2014-01-01

As the bridge over the Chinese and Western civilization, the ancient Silk Road has made a huge contribution to cultural, economic, political exchanges between China and western countries. In this paper, we treated the historical period of Western Han Dynasty, Eastern Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty as the research time domain, and the Western Regions' countries that were existed along the Silk Road at the mean time as the research spatial domain. Then we imported these data into the SQL Server database we constructed, from which we could either query the attribute information such as population, military force, the era of the Central Plains empire, the significant events taking place in the country and some related attribute information of these events like the happened calendar year in addition to some related spatial information such as the present location, the coordinates of the capital and the territory by inputting the name of the Western countries. At the same time we could query the significant events, government institution in Central Plains and the existent Western countries at the mean time by inputting the calendar year. Based on the database, associated with GIS, RS, Flex, C# and other related information technology and network technology, we could not only browsing, searching and editing the information of the ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang Province during the Han and Tang Dynasties, but preliminary analysing as well. This is the combination of archaeology and modern information technology, and the database could also be a reference to further study, research and practice in the related fields in the future

The construction of the spatio-temporal database of the ancient Silk Road within Xinjiang province during the Han and Tang dynasties

Science.gov (United States)

Bi, Jiantao; Luo, Guilin; Wang, Xingxing; Zhu, Zuojia

2014-03-01

As the bridge over the Chinese and Western civilization, the ancient Silk Road has made a huge contribution to cultural, economic, political exchanges between China and western countries. In this paper, we treated the historical period of Western Han Dynasty, Eastern Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty as the research time domain, and the Western Regions' countries that were existed along the Silk Road at the mean time as the research spatial domain. Then we imported these data into the SQL Server database we constructed, from which we could either query the attribute information such as population, military force, the era of the Central Plains empire, the significant events taking place in the country and some related attribute information of these events like the happened calendar year in addition to some related spatial information such as the present location, the coordinates of the capital and the territory by inputting the name of the Western countries. At the same time we could query the significant events, government institution in Central Plains and the existent Western countries at the mean time by inputting the calendar year. Based on the database, associated with GIS, RS, Flex, C# and other related information technology and network technology, we could not only browsing, searching and editing the information of the ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang Province during the Han and Tang Dynasties, but preliminary analysing as well. This is the combination of archaeology and modern information technology, and the database could also be a reference to further study, research and practice in the related fields in the future.

Automatic Road Centerline Extraction from Imagery Using Road GPS Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuqing Cao

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Road centerline extraction from imagery constitutes a key element in numerous geospatial applications, which has been addressed through a variety of approaches. However, most of the existing methods are not capable of dealing with challenges such as different road shapes, complex scenes, and variable resolutions. This paper presents a novel method for road centerline extraction from imagery in a fully automatic approach that addresses the aforementioned challenges by exploiting road GPS data. The proposed method combines road color feature with road GPS data to detect road centerline seed points. After global alignment of road GPS data, a novel road centerline extraction algorithm is developed to extract each individual road centerline in local regions. Through road connection, road centerline network is generated as the final output. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed method can rapidly and accurately extract road centerline from remotely sensed imagery.

Resource-efficient intelligent transportation systems as a basis for sustainable development. Overview of initiatives and strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuriy Vovk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Intelligent transportation systems mostly operate on information exchange principle between vehicles and roadside infrastructure. They are commonly regarded as a base technology for persistent diminution of road accidents and traffic efficiency increase. However, intelligent transportation systems can also be used at all levels of transportation systems as a basis for stable development of cities, enterprises, regions, states, continents. According to the research, the existing intelligent transportation systems not only provide the considerable reduction of greenhouse gases emissions, fuel saving, time of travel cutting, but they don’t marginalize citizens’ mobility as well. Thus, the further development and introduction of modern transportation innovative technologies will allow to guarantee the energy- and resources efficiency and, therefore, the sustainable development of the whole society.

Intelligent type sodium instrumentations for LMFR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daolong Chen

1996-01-01

The constructions and their performances of a lot of newly developed intelligent type sodium instrumentations that consist of the intelligent type sodium flowmeter, the intelligent type immersed sodium flowmeter, the intelligent type sodium manometer and the intelligent type sodium level gauge are described. The graduation characteristic equations for corresponding transducer using the medium temperature as the parameter are given. Because the operating temperature limit of measured medium (sodium) is wide, so the on-line compensation of the temperature effect of their graduation characteristics much be considered. The tests show that these intelligent type sodium instrumentations possess of good linearity. The accurate sodium process parameter (flowrate, pressure and level) measurement data can be obtained by means of their on-line compensation function of the temperature effect. Moreover, these intelligent type sodium instrumentations possess of the self-inspection, the electric shutoff protection, the setting of full-scale, the setting of alarm limits (two upper limits and two lower limits alarms), the thermocouple breaking alarm, each other isolative the 0-10V direct-current analogue output and CENTRONICS standard digital output, and the alarm relay contact output. These intelligent type sodium instrumentations are suitable particularly for the instrument, control and protective systems of LMFR by means of these excellent functions based on microprocessor. The basic error of the intelligent type sodium flowmeter, immersed sodium flowmeter, sodium manometer and sodium level gauge is respectively ±2%, ±2.3%, ±0.3% and ±1.9% of measuring range. (author). 4 refs, 9 figs

On the Nature of Intelligence