Possible Use of Fly-Ash in Road Building Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krlièková Edita

1998-09-01

Full Text Available Problems concerning the use of waste from industrial and other productions have been dealt with at out workplace for several years. The reason is not only a lack of natural material resources but mainly economical and environmental aspects. Current research at our workplace has been aimed at finding solutions to problems concerning the use of fly-ash in road building.

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...

Modelling heavy metals build-up on urban road surfaces for effective stormwater reuse strategy implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Nian; Zhu, Panfeng; Liu, An

2017-12-01

Urban road stormwater is an alternative water resource to mitigate water shortage issues in the worldwide. Heavy metals deposited (build-up) on urban road surface can enter road stormwater runoff, undermining stormwater reuse safety. As heavy metal build-up loads perform high variabilities in terms of spatial distribution and is strongly influenced by surrounding land uses, it is essential to develop an approach to identify hot-spots where stormwater runoff could include high heavy metal concentrations and hence cannot be reused if it is not properly treated. This study developed a robust modelling approach to estimating heavy metal build-up loads on urban roads using land use fractions (representing percentages of land uses within a given area) by an artificial neural network (ANN) model technique. Based on the modelling results, a series of heavy metal load spatial distribution maps and a comprehensive ecological risk map were generated. These maps provided a visualization platform to identify priority areas where the stormwater can be safely reused. Additionally, these maps can be utilized as an urban land use planning tool in the context of effective stormwater reuse strategy implementation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Road building, land use and climate change: prospects for environmental governance in the Amazon.

Science.gov (United States)

Perz, Stephen; Brilhante, Silvia; Brown, Foster; Caldas, Marcellus; Ikeda, Santos; Mendoza, Elsa; Overdevest, Christine; Reis, Vera; Reyes, Juan Fernando; Rojas, Daniel; Schmink, Marianne; Souza, Carlos; Walker, Robert

2008-05-27

Some coupled land-climate models predict a dieback of Amazon forest during the twenty-first century due to climate change, but human land use in the region has already reduced the forest cover. The causation behind land use is complex, and includes economic, institutional, political and demographic factors. Pre-eminent among these factors is road building, which facilitates human access to natural resources that beget forest fragmentation. While official government road projects have received considerable attention, unofficial road building by interest groups is expanding more rapidly, especially where official roads are being paved, yielding highly fragmented forest mosaics. Effective governance of natural resources in the Amazon requires a combination of state oversight and community participation in a 'hybrid' model of governance. The MAP Initiative in the southwestern Amazon provides an example of an innovative hybrid approach to environmental governance. It embodies a polycentric structure that includes government agencies, NGOs, universities and communities in a planning process that links scientific data to public deliberations in order to mitigate the effects of new infrastructure and climate change.

Analysis of the build-up of semi and non volatile organic compounds on urban roads.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahbub, Parvez; Ayoko, Godwin A; Goonetilleke, Ashantha; Egodawatta, Prasanna

2011-04-01

Vehicular traffic in urban areas may adversely affect urban water quality through the build-up of traffic generated semi and non volatile organic compounds (SVOCs and NVOCs) on road surfaces. The characterisation of the build-up processes is the key to developing mitigation measures for the removal of such pollutants from urban stormwater. An in-depth analysis of the build-up of SVOCs and NVOCs was undertaken in the Gold Coast region in Australia. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multicriteria Decision tools such as PROMETHEE and GAIA were employed to understand the SVOC and NVOC build-up under combined traffic scenarios of low, moderate, and high traffic in different land uses. It was found that congestion in the commercial areas and use of lubricants and motor oils in the industrial areas were the main sources of SVOCs and NVOCs on urban roads, respectively. The contribution from residential areas to the build-up of such pollutants was hardly noticeable. It was also revealed through this investigation that the target SVOCs and NVOCs were mainly attached to particulate fractions of 75-300 μm whilst the redistribution of coarse fractions due to vehicle activity mainly occurred in the >300 μm size range. Lastly, under combined traffic scenario, moderate traffic with average daily traffic ranging from 2300 to 5900 and average congestion of 0.47 were found to dominate SVOC and NVOC build-up on roads. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Backyard Spaceships - Passenger-Related Microlights for Hobby Rocketry

Science.gov (United States)

Sivier, D.

The FINDS and CATS prizes have introduced to contemporary astronautics the competitive spirit, which led to such spectacular advances in the fledgling aviation industry. This pioneering spirit is also shared by present day microlight aircraft enthusiasts. If the expected expansion of commercial passenger spaceflight with mass space tourism occurs, then it may create a demand for extreme short-range crewed rockets as a new form of leisure craft, just as microlight aircraft recreate the experience of large aircraft flight on a smaller scale. If the technologies, materials and procedures used in microlight and balloon aviation are applied to those of high power solid propellant rocketry, then similar `microlight' rockets with a mass of 500 kg, powered by 20 kg of fuel and able to reach altitudes of c.3,200 m, may be a possibility. Apart from the leisure and sporting opportunities offered by such craft, which would also encourage technological experimentation and progress, they would also greatly benefit astronautical education by adding the practical human experience of rocket flight to ground studies' curricula.

Role of urban surface roughness in road-deposited sediment build-up and wash-off

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hongtao; Jiang, Qian; Xie, Wenxia; Li, Xuyong; Yin, Chengqing

2018-05-01

Urban road surface roughness is one of the most important factors in estimation of surface runoff loads caused by road-deposited sediment (RDS) wash-off and design of its control measures. However, because of a lack of experimental data to distinguish the role of surface roughness, the effects of surface roughness on RDS accumulation and release are not clear. In this study, paired asphalt and concrete road surfaces and rainfall simulation designs were used to distinguish the role of surface roughness in RDS build-up and wash-off. Our results showed that typical asphalt surfaces often have higher depression depths than typical concrete surfaces, indicating that asphalt surfaces are relatively rougher than concrete surface. Asphalt surfaces can retain a larger RDS amount, relative higher percentage of coarser particles, larger RDS wash-off loads, and lower wash-off percentage, than concrete surfaces. Surface roughness has different effects in RDS motilities with different particle sizes during rainfall runoff, and the settleable particles (44-149 μm) were notably influenced by it. Furthermore, the first flush phenomenon tended to be greater on relatively smooth surfaces than relatively rough surfaces. Overall, surface roughness plays an important role in influencing the complete process of RDS build-up and wash-off on different road characteristics.

Road building, land use and climate change: prospects for environmental governance in the Amazon

OpenAIRE

Perz, Stephen; Brilhante, Silvia; Brown, Foster; Caldas, Marcellus; Ikeda, Santos; Mendoza, Elsa; Overdevest, Christine; Reis, Vera; Reyes, Juan Fernando; Rojas, Daniel; Schmink, Marianne; Souza, Carlos; Walker, Robert

2008-01-01

Some coupled land?climate models predict a dieback of Amazon forest during the twenty-first century due to climate change, but human land use in the region has already reduced the forest cover. The causation behind land use is complex, and includes economic, institutional, political and demographic factors. Pre-eminent among these factors is road building, which facilitates human access to natural resources that beget forest fragmentation. While official government road projects have received...

Lessons from half a century experience of Japanese solid rocketry since Pencil rocket

Science.gov (United States)

Matogawa, Yasunori

2007-12-01

50 years have passed since a tiny rocket "Pencil" was launched horizontally at Kokubunji near Tokyo in 1955. Though there existed high level of rocket technology in Japan before the end of the second World War, it was not succeeded by the country after the War. Pencil therefore was the substantial start of Japanese rocketry that opened the way to the present stage. In the meantime, a rocket group of the University of Tokyo contributed to the International Geophysical Year in 1957-1958 by developing bigger rockets, and in 1970, the group succeeded in injecting first Japanese satellite OHSUMI into earth orbit. It was just before the launch of OHSUMI that Japan had built up the double feature system of science and applications in space efforts. The former has been pursued by ISAS (the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) of the University of Tokyo, and the latter by NASDA (National Space Development Agency). This unique system worked quite efficiently because space activities in scientific and applicational areas could develop rather independently without affecting each other. Thus Japan's space science ran up rapidly to the international stage under the support of solid propellant rocket technology, and, after a 20 year technological introduction period from the US, a big liquid propellant launch vehicle, H-II, at last was developed on the basis of Japan's own technology in the early 1990's. On October 1, 2003, as a part of Governmental Reform, three Japanese space agencies were consolidated into a single agency, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Japan's space efforts began to walk toward the future in a globally coordinated fashion, including aeronautics, astronautics, space science, satellite technology, etc., at the same time. This paper surveys the history of Japanese rocketry briefly, and draws out the lessons from it to make a new history of Japan's space efforts more meaningful.

Policy networking as capacity building : An analysis of regional road development conflict in Indonesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hudalah, Delik; Winarso, Haryo; Woltjer, Johan

2010-01-01

This article explores the potential of policy networking as an important aspect of capacity building. It deals with a road development project related to the regional planning issue of North Bandung Area (NBA), a water catchment area facing the expansion of Bandung Metropolitan Area, West Java,

Policy networking as capacity building : An analysis of regional road development conflict in Indonesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hudalah, Delik; Winarso, Haryo; Woltjer, Johan

This article explores the potential of policy networking as an important aspect of capacity building. It deals with a road development project related to the regional planning issue of North Bandung Area (NBA), a water catchment area facing the expansion of Bandung Metropolitan Area, West Java,

Early educator-supervised student rocketry: The galcit rocket research project, 1936-1939. A tribute to Frank J. Malina

Science.gov (United States)

James, George S.; Winter, Frank H.

Dr. Frank J. Malina, (1912-1981) is best known to members of the International Astronautical Federation and the International Academy of Astronautics for his deep commitment to, and active involvement in, both organizations; to his associates at UNESCO for his leadership in organizing the UNESCO Division of Scientific Research; to members of the art world for his kinetic paintings and editorship of the journal Leonardo; and to aerospace historians for his co-founding, with Dr. Theodore von Karman (1881-1963), of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with its World War II development of rocket takeoff assist units for aircraft and, after WWII, America's first production sounding rocket, the WAC Corporal. However, Frank Malina has received little recognition from aerospace educators for his equally pioneering efforts on their behalf. This paper highlights Dr. Malina's efforts not only as an early participant in educator-supported student rocketry but also in helping establishing some of the guiding principles of this field of science motivation. As Dr. Malina noted in 1968, upon becoming one of the founding members of the Supervision of Youth Research Experiments (SYRE) subcommittee of the IAF's Education Committee, the fundamental safety and educational ground rules of: (A) qualified supervision, (B) proper safety facilities, and (C) professionally designed equipment, conceived almost fifty years ago, are equally valid to today's supervised youth rocketry space-related experiment educational programs.

Characterization of the influence of building a road on the stability of the tunnel lining in a Banska Bystrica railway tunnel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vavrek Pavol

2001-06-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with solving the problem of tunnel lining stability in a railway tunnel. The road cut was made into the overburden of the tunnel. I investigated the effect of the road cut on the stability of tunnel lining. The FLAC3D mathematical modelling technique was used for this purpose. The solution consist of: - - - - - - - - - - - -modelling the initial situation before building the intervention,Determing the internal characteristics of the tunnel lining in its original state,modelling the situation after making the road cut,Determing the internal characteristics of the tunnel lining after the building intervention,Comparison of the internal characteristics of the tunnel lining before and after the building intervention.In the model, I used these general geotechnical properties of the rock environment and the tunnel lining:Material Youngus modulus [MPa] Poissons RatioClay 8 0,42Weakly wheathered calcite 3 000 0,25Hard wheathered calcite 600 0,30Fill 300 0,25Lining 20 000 0,20The arbitration of the tunnel lining stability was executed on the basis of the Mohr – Coulomb limit of the state. Building the road cut does not lead to loss of stability in the tunnel a at Station 1.225 00 or at Station 1.300 00.

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.

Impacts of traffic composition and street-canyon geometry on on-road air quality in a high-rise building area

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Kyung-Hwan; Kim, Kyung Hwan; Lee, Seung-Bok; Woo, Sung Ho; Bae, Gwi-Nam; Sunwoo, Young; Baik, Jong-Jin

2016-04-01

Mobile measurements using a mobile laboratory and numerical simulations using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model were conducted over different time periods of multiple days in a high-rise building area, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Mobile measurement can provide actual on-road emission levels of air pollutants from vehicles as well as validation dataset of a CFD model. On the other hand, CFD modeling is required for the process analysis of mobile measurement data and the quantitative estimation of determining factors in complex phenomena. The target area is characterized as a busy street canyon elongated along a major road with hourly traffic volumes of approximately 4000 vehicles during working hours on weekdays. Nitrogen oxides (NOx), black carbon (BC), particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pPAH), and particle number (PN) concentrations were measured during 39 round trips of mobile laboratory. The associations of the measured NOx, BC, pPAH, and PN concentrations with the traffic volumes of individual compositions are analyzed by calculating the correlation coefficients (R2) based on linear regressions. It is found that SUV, truck, van, and bus are heavy emitters responsible for the on-road air pollution in the street canyon. Among the measured pollutants, the largest R2 is shown for pPAH. The measured NOx, BC, pPAH, and PN concentrations are unevenly distributed in the street canyon. The measured concentrations around an intersection are higher than those in between intersections, particularly for NOx and pPAH. The CFD modeling for different dispersion scenarios reveals that the intersection has counterbalancing roles in determining the on-road concentrations. The emission process acts to increase the on-road concentrations due to accelerating and idling vehicles, whereas the dispersion process acts to decrease the on-road concentrations due to lateral ventilations along the crossing street. It is needed to control the number of heavy emitters and

Seismic strengthening of overhead roads between reactor buildings of WWER-1000 MW type NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoyanov, G.; Jordanov, M.

2005-01-01

This paper presents results obtained during the upgrading design of overhead roads (OHR) between WWER-1000 MW Reactor Units at Kozloduy NPP. In order to avoid the deficiencies of OHR seismic capacity different approaches were developed based on the site and structure specifics. Overhead roads are precasted RC structures. They consist of pedestrian gallery and pipeline RC box, connecting reactor buildings with auxiliary building. They are mounted at approximately 10 m above ground level. The overhead roads are evaluated at their as-is status and a seismic upgrading of the structure is designed. The analysis of the upgraded structure is performed for Review Level Earthquake (RLE). Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) effects are taken into account through equivalent soil springs with frequency adjusted stiffnesses. The upgraded structure is checked for conformance with the specially developed technical design specification based on International, US and Bulgarian standards and codes, taking into account site specific conditions. The general approach is consistent with up-to-date practice for evaluation and upgrade of nuclear power plant facilities. The existing site conditions and Owner's requirements are taken into account during development of the upgrading. The proposed upgrading measures can be divided in two major categories global and local. Special attention is paid to improvement of the ductile behavior of the structure through new detailing and upgrading of existing connection. These measures are grouped in two final design concepts and after a comparative study one of them is chosen for implementation. For the upgraded structure response spectra are derived at locations where equipment is attached. (authors)

Cambridge Rocketry Simulator – A Stochastic Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Rocket Flight Simulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willem J. Eerland

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The Cambridge Rocketry Simulator can be used to simulate the flight of unguided rockets for both design and operational applications. The software consists of three parts: The first part is a GUI that enables the user to design a rocket. The second part is a verified and peer-reviewed physics model that simulates the rocket flight. This includes a Monte Carlo wrapper to model the uncertainty in the rocket’s dynamics and the atmospheric conditions. The third part generates visualizations of the resulting trajectories, including nominal performance and uncertainty analysis, e.g. a splash-down region with confidence bounds. The project is available on SourceForge, and is written in Java (GUI, C++ (simulation core, and Python (visualization. While all parts can be executed from the GUI, the three components share information via XML, accommodating modifications, and re-use of individual components.

The use of coal mining wastes in building road beds; Utilizacion de los Esteriles del Carbon como Materiales para Capas de Firmes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-31

This project was aimed at carrying out a study in order to determine the nature and characteristics of coal mining wastes for its possible use in building road beds and to establish the acceptance, implementation and quality control criteria, which can be included in the Spanish General Technical Standard of Road and Bridges Works (PG-3). With that aim, six types of coal mining wastes were selected out of an inventory and several tests were conducted and following the results, the most appropriate coal mining wastes, the acceptance limits and the quality control tests to be applied to the materials obtained from coal mining wastes to road beds were established. A grinding and classification plant was designed in order to obtain the necessary granular materials for conducting real scale compaction tests in road stages. Several types of coal mining wastes were tested: red, black, treated (in the above mentioned plant) untreated, with different bed thickness and runs in the compactors. Likewise, laboratory tests were carried out on black and red coal mining wastes by adding binder materials. The results proved that coal mining wastes can be used as granular material for building different road beds, such as bound with cement, gravel-emulsion or on their own. As a result of this study 53,000 tons of black coal mining wastes mixed with 6% of cement as binder were used for building a 5 km stage of the Highway Oviedo-Mieres, as well as 16,000 tons of red coal mining wastes in the Ujo-Caborana road, which is still being used in the works carried out a present. (Author)

Seismic evaluation and upgrading design of overhead roads between reactor buildings of WWER-1000 MW type NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jordanov, M.J.; Stoyanov, G.S.; Geshanov, I.H.; Kirilov, K.P.; Schuetz, W.

2003-01-01

This paper presents results obtained during the study of overhead roads between Reactor Building (RB) of WWER-1000 MW NPP and possible measures for their seismic upgrade. The main objective of this project is to evaluate the behavior of overhead roads under site-specific seismic loading and to determine whether this structure satisfies current international safety regulations, followed by development of upgrading concepts. Overhead roads are pre-cast RC structure, which can be divided to separate substructures. They comprise of pedestrian gallery and pipeline box, connecting reactor buildings with auxiliary building. They are mounted at approximately 10 m above ground level. The overhead roads are evaluated for Review Level Earthquake (RLE) as seismic category II structures. As seismic input motion is RLE, free field response spectra anchored to 0.2 g PGA are used with 0.5 scaling factor. Soil-Structure Interaction effects are taken into account through equivalent soil springs with frequency adjusted stiffness. In order to meet the objective of the project a technical design specification is developed for conformance with International, US and Bulgarian standards and codes, taking into account site specific conditions. The general approach is consistent with up-to-date practice for evaluation and upgrade of nuclear power plant facilities. The separate steps comprising the overall fulfillment of project's major objectives may be summarized as follows: study of all available data for initial design and as built conditions, creation of 3-D detailed finite element models for as-built structure, determination of dynamic characteristics, evaluation of adequacy of initial design under new seismic loading (calculation of D/C ratios for structural members and connections, evaluation of embedment lengths for embedded parts and rebars, deformation evaluation, stability checks), development of upgrading concepts for enhancement, verification of capability of upgraded structure

Road Transport Entrepreneurs and Road Transportation Revolution ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Toshiba

upon a massive road-building programme throughout the colony. The rapid expansion ..... transportation problems of his textile customers and palm produce producers and ... unflinching loyalty and solidarity with their illustrious son, General.

Self-compacting concrete mixtures for road BUILDING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tran Tuan My

2012-10-01

Therefore, effective concrete road pavements require self-compacting though non-segregating concrete mixtures to comply with the pre-set values of their properties, namely, bending and compressive strength, corrosion resistance, freeze resistance, etc. Acting in cooperation with Department of Technology of Binders and Concretes of MSUCE, NIIMosstroy developed and examined a self-compacting cast concrete mixture designated for durable monolithic road pavements. The composition in question was generated by adding a multi-component modifier into the mix. The modifier was composed of a hyperplasticiser, active (structureless fine and crystalline silica, and a concrete hardening control agent.

Mayan Forest Road Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conde, Dalia Amor

2008-01-01

Road-building projects in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve to connect Mexico and Guatemala were subjected to a cost-benefit evaluation. Up to an estimated 311,000 hectares of jaguar habitat were found to be at risk of deforestation due to these projects. Some of the projects were shown to have negativ...... of continued conservation rather than road development....

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.

Young driver education programs that build resilience have potential to reduce road crashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Senserrick, Teresa; Ivers, Rebecca; Boufous, Soufiane; Chen, Huei-Yang; Norton, Robyn; Stevenson, Mark; van Beurden, Eric; Zask, Avigdor

2009-11-01

The research aimed to explore associations between participation in 2 education programs for school-based learner drivers and subsequent road traffic offenses and crashes among a large cohort of newly licensed drivers. DRIVE is a prospective cohort study of 20822 first-year drivers aged 17 to 24 in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Participants completed a detailed questionnaire and consented to data linkage in 2003-2004. Questionnaire items included year of participation in 2 specific education programs: a 1-day workshop-only program focusing on driving risks ("driver-focused") and a whole-of-community program also including a 1-day workshop but also longer term follow-up activities and a broader focus on reducing risk-taking and building resilience ("resilience-focused"). Survey data were subsequently linked to police-reported crash and offense data for 1996-2005. Poisson regression models that adjusted for multiple confounders were created to explore offenses and crashes as a driver (dichotomized as 0 vs >or=1) after program participation. Offenses did not differ between groups; however, whereas the driver-focused program was not associated with reduced crash risk, the resilience-focused program was associated with a 44% reduced relative risk for crash (0.56 [95% confidence interval: 0.34-0.93]). The large effect size observed and complementary findings from a comparable randomized, controlled trial in the United States suggest programs that focus more generally on reducing risks and building resilience have the potential to reduce crashes. A large, representative, randomized, controlled trial is urgently needed to confirm road safety benefits and ensure evidence-based spending and practitioner recommendations in this field.

Design-Build-Finance in the US: The case of iROX, I-75 Road Expansion Project

OpenAIRE

Forcael,E; Ellis, JR,R; Jaramillo,F

2011-01-01

This project is part of the Interstate 75 road expansion, located in Southwest Florida and consisted of an expansion from four to six lanes along a 30-mile stretch. The paper presents a design, build and finance (DBF) approach applied to a US highway. This work focuses on the financial structure of the project, which did not include a concession (operation); the bidding procedure, which took into account an interesting bid evaluation criterion and; project management matters. The information ...

27 CFR 555.103 - Transactions among licensees/permittees and transactions among licensees and holders of user...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... organization showing the name, address, and date and place of birth of each representative or agent. A licensee... explosive materials, e.g., resale, mining, quarrying, agriculture, construction, sport rocketry, road... certified statement of intended use must specify the name, address, date and place of birth, and social...

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.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with road deposited solid and their ecological risk: Implications for road stormwater reuse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Liang; Liu, An; Li, Yang; Zhang, Lixun; Zhang, Guijuan; Guan, Yuntao

2016-01-01

Reusing stormwater is becoming popular worldwide. However, urban road stormwater commonly contains toxic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which could undermine reuse safety. This study investigated pollution level of PAHs and their composition build-up on urban roads in a typical megacity in South China. The potential ecological risk posed by PAHs associated with road deposited solid (RDS) was also assessed. Results showed that ecological risk levels varied based on different land use types, which could be significantly influenced by the composition of PAHs and characteristics of RDS. A higher percentage of high-ring PAHs, such as more than four rings, could pose higher ecological risk and are more likely to undermine stormwater reuse safety. Additionally, the degree of traffic congestion rather than traffic volume was found to exert a more significant influence on the generation of high-ring PAH generation. Therefore, stormwater from more congested roads might need proper treatment (particularly for removing high-ring PAHs) before reuse or could be suitable for purposes requiring low-water-quality. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to adequate stormwater reuse strategy development and to enhance the safety of urban road stormwater reuse. - Highlights: • PAHs build-up on road surfaces varies with traffic and land use conditions. • RDS characteristics and PAH composition were considered in ecological risk assessment. • ΣPAH concentration attached to RDS cannot represent their overall ecological risk. • Higher percentage of 5–6 rings PAHs can pose higher ecological risk. • TC exerts more important influences on 5–6 rings PAHs build-up compared with TV.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with road deposited solid and their ecological risk: Implications for road stormwater reuse

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Liang [Graduate school at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055 (China); Liu, An [College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060 (China); Li, Yang; Zhang, Lixun; Zhang, Guijuan [Graduate school at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055 (China); State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microorganism Application and Risk Control (MARC), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong (China); Guan, Yuntao, E-mail: guanyt@tsinghua.edu.cn [Graduate school at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055 (China); State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microorganism Application and Risk Control (MARC), Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong (China)

2016-09-01

Reusing stormwater is becoming popular worldwide. However, urban road stormwater commonly contains toxic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which could undermine reuse safety. This study investigated pollution level of PAHs and their composition build-up on urban roads in a typical megacity in South China. The potential ecological risk posed by PAHs associated with road deposited solid (RDS) was also assessed. Results showed that ecological risk levels varied based on different land use types, which could be significantly influenced by the composition of PAHs and characteristics of RDS. A higher percentage of high-ring PAHs, such as more than four rings, could pose higher ecological risk and are more likely to undermine stormwater reuse safety. Additionally, the degree of traffic congestion rather than traffic volume was found to exert a more significant influence on the generation of high-ring PAH generation. Therefore, stormwater from more congested roads might need proper treatment (particularly for removing high-ring PAHs) before reuse or could be suitable for purposes requiring low-water-quality. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to adequate stormwater reuse strategy development and to enhance the safety of urban road stormwater reuse. - Highlights: • PAHs build-up on road surfaces varies with traffic and land use conditions. • RDS characteristics and PAH composition were considered in ecological risk assessment. • ΣPAH concentration attached to RDS cannot represent their overall ecological risk. • Higher percentage of 5–6 rings PAHs can pose higher ecological risk. • TC exerts more important influences on 5–6 rings PAHs build-up compared with TV.

Conceptual design and analysis of roads and road construction machinery for initial lunar base operations

Science.gov (United States)

Sines, Jeffrey L.; Banks, Joel; Efatpenah, Keyanoush

1990-01-01

Recent developments have made it possible for scientists and engineers to consider returning to the Moon to build a manned lunar base. The base can be used to conduct scientific research, develop new space technology, and utilize the natural resources of the Moon. Areas of the base will be separated, connected by a system of roads that reduce the power requirements of vehicles traveling on them. Feasible road types for the lunar surface were analyzed and a road construction system was designed for initial lunar base operations. A model was also constructed to show the system configuration and key operating features. The alternate designs for the lunar road construction system were developed in four stages: analyze and select a road type; determine operations and machinery needed to produce the road; develop machinery configurations; and develop alternates for several machine components. A compacted lunar soil road was selected for initial lunar base operations. The only machinery required to produce this road were a grader and a compactor. The road construction system consists of a main drive unit which is used for propulsion, a detachable grader assembly, and a towed compactor.

Road safety performance indicators : country profiles. SafetyNet, Building the European Road Safety Observatory, Workpackage 3, Deliverable 3.7b.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riguelle, F. Eksler, V. Holló, P. Morsink, P. Gent, A. van Gitelman, V. Assum, T. & Rackliff, L.

2009-01-01

The EC 6th Framework Integrated Project SafetyNet aims to accelerate the availability and use of harmonised road safety data in Europe. Having such data available throughout Europe would be tremendously beneficial for road safety, since it would enable the evaluation of road safety measures, the

Effects of traffic infrastructure and road design on safe driving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Horst, A.R.A. van der

2014-01-01

One of the building blocks of the Dutch success in road safety is the Sustainable Safety approach. This philosophy specifies that road safety should be a design requirement in road traffic with a focus on the use of human characteristics as a starting point, considering both humans’ physical

Estimation of Road Friction Coefficient in Different Road Conditions Based on Vehicle Braking Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, You-Qun; Li, Hai-Qing; Lin, Fen; Wang, Jian; Ji, Xue-Wu

2017-07-01

The accurate estimation of road friction coefficient in the active safety control system has become increasingly prominent. Most previous studies on road friction estimation have only used vehicle longitudinal or lateral dynamics and often ignored the load transfer, which tends to cause inaccurate of the actual road friction coefficient. A novel method considering load transfer of front and rear axles is proposed to estimate road friction coefficient based on braking dynamic model of two-wheeled vehicle. Sliding mode control technique is used to build the ideal braking torque controller, which control target is to control the actual wheel slip ratio of front and rear wheels tracking the ideal wheel slip ratio. In order to eliminate the chattering problem of the sliding mode controller, integral switching surface is used to design the sliding mode surface. A second order linear extended state observer is designed to observe road friction coefficient based on wheel speed and braking torque of front and rear wheels. The proposed road friction coefficient estimation schemes are evaluated by simulation in ADAMS/Car. The results show that the estimated values can well agree with the actual values in different road conditions. The observer can estimate road friction coefficient exactly in real-time and resist external disturbance. The proposed research provides a novel method to estimate road friction coefficient with strong robustness and more accurate.

Road safety analysis on Achmad Yani frontage road Surabaya

Science.gov (United States)

Machsus; Prayogo, I.; Chomaedhi; Hayati, D. W.; Utanaka, A.

2017-11-01

This research discusses road safety analysis on the operation of frontage road on the west side of Achmad Yani Road Surabaya. This research began by conducting survey on secondary data of traffic accidents. In addition, primary data survey was conducted to obtain traffic data, geometric road data, and other supporting data at the study site along the west side frontage of Ahmad Yani Road Surabaya. Devices used in this research include camera, handy cam, speed gun, counters of vehicles, rolling meter, computer and others. In outline, the stages to conduct this research are divided into 4 stages, namely 1.the preparation stage, 2.data collection and processing, 3. analysis and discussion, and 4. conclusion. The results of this study showed that the accident characteristics of the frontage road are (i) 3 accidents occured per month, (ii) motorcycles was accounted for the largest proportion of accidents which amounted to 74.6 percent, (iii) there were 3 accident victims per month, and (iv) material losses per month worths 1.2 million. The accident rate in 2016 was 0.04 crashes per one million vehicle travels per kilometer, while during 2 months in 2017 it was 0.15 accidents per one million vehicle travels per kilometer. Black spot area of accident is located on Sta 2 + 800 to 2 + 900 which is in front of Graha Pena building and DBL Arena. The high rate of accidents is influenced by the speed of the vehicle which 85 percentile exceeds the speed limit of 40km per hour.

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.

Road Gregory closed between 18 and 22 August

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

A first intervention in the refurbishment of the "Château d'Eau" (bldg. 227) on Meyrin site will be carried out between the 18th and 22nd August. The work requires the use of a mobile crane to be installed in the Road Gregory and therefore this road shall be closed to traffic during the works. Please use the roads Fermi and Rutherford. Buildings 606 and 598 will be accessible as usual. We apologize for the inconvenience. M. Nonis / Tel. 72701

Case study: the Argentina Road Safety Project: lessons learned for the decade of action for road safety, 2011-2020.

Science.gov (United States)

Raffo, Veronica; Bliss, Tony; Shotten, Marc; Sleet, David; Blanchard, Claire

2013-12-01

This case study of the Argentina Road Safety Project demonstrates how the application of World Bank road safety project guidelines focused on institution building can accelerate knowledge transfer, scale up investment and improve the focus on results. The case study highlights road safety as a development priority and outlines World Bank initiatives addressing the implementation of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury's recommendations and the subsequent launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety, from 2011-2020. The case study emphasizes the vital role played by the lead agency in ensuring sustainable road safety improvements and promoting the shift to a 'Safe System' approach, which necessitated the strengthening of all elements of the road safety management system. It summarizes road safety performance and institutional initiatives in Argentina leading up to the preparation and implementation of the project. We describe the project's development objectives, financing arrangements, specific components and investment staging. Finally, we discuss its innovative features and lessons learned, and present a set of supplementary guidelines, both to assist multilateral development banks and their clients with future road safety initiatives, and to encourage better linkages between the health and transportation sectors supporting them.

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

Effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons

Science.gov (United States)

Baik, Jong-Jin; Kwak, Kyung-Hwan; Park, Seung-Bu; Ryu, Young-Hee

2012-12-01

Building roof greening is a successful strategy for improving urban thermal environment. It is of theoretical interest and practical importance to study the effects of building roof greening on urban air quality in a systematic and quantitative way. In this study, we examine the effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that includes the thermodynamic energy equation and the transport equation of passive, non-reactive pollutants. For simplicity, building roof greening is represented by specified cooling. Results for a simple building configuration with a street canyon aspect ratio of one show that the cool air produced due to building roof greening flows into the street canyon, giving rise to strengthened street canyon flow. The strengthened street canyon flow enhances pollutant dispersion near the road, which decreases pollutant concentration there. Thus, building roof greening improves air quality near the road. The degree of air quality improvement near the road increases as the cooling intensity increases. In the middle region of the street canyon, the air quality can worsen when the cooling intensity is not too strong. Results for a real urban morphology also show that building roof greening improves air quality near roads. The degree of air quality improvement near roads due to building roof greening depends on the ambient wind direction. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for constructing green roofs for the purpose of improving air quality near roads or at a pedestrian level as well as urban thermal environment. Further studies using a CFD model coupled with a photochemistry model and a surface energy balance model are required to evaluate the effects of building roof greening on air quality in street canyons in a more realistic framework.

Distributed modeling for road authorities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luiten, G.T.; Bõhms, H.M.; Nederveen, S. van; Bektas, E.

2013-01-01

A great challenge for road authorities is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their core processes by improving data exchange and sharing using new technologies such as building information modeling (BIM). BIM has already been successfully implemented in other sectors, such as

does road safety projects relate to community capacity building?

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

The AARSI organization is currently based in Lagos State and its mission is to ... organizational structures, resources and commitments to health promotion, .... donated breathalyzer equipment worth of $90,000 to Road Safety Personnel as at.

ROAD AND ROADSIDE FEATURE EXTRACTION USING IMAGERY AND LIDAR DATA FOR TRANSPORTATION OPERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Ural

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Transportation agencies require up-to-date, reliable, and feasibly acquired information on road geometry and features within proximity to the roads as input for evaluating and prioritizing new or improvement road projects. The information needed for a robust evaluation of road projects includes road centerline, width, and extent together with the average grade, cross-sections, and obstructions near the travelled way. Remote sensing is equipped with a large collection of data and well-established tools for acquiring the information and extracting aforementioned various road features at various levels and scopes. Even with many remote sensing data and methods available for road extraction, transportation operation requires more than the centerlines. Acquiring information that is spatially coherent at the operational level for the entire road system is challenging and needs multiple data sources to be integrated. In the presented study, we established a framework that used data from multiple sources, including one-foot resolution color infrared orthophotos, airborne LiDAR point clouds, and existing spatially non-accurate ancillary road networks. We were able to extract 90.25% of a total of 23.6 miles of road networks together with estimated road width, average grade along the road, and cross sections at specified intervals. Also, we have extracted buildings and vegetation within a predetermined proximity to the extracted road extent. 90.6% of 107 existing buildings were correctly identified with 31% false detection rate.

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...

Transport roads on peatland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jonsson, G

1984-01-01

Laboratory tests have given good experiences to develop the technology of building transport roads for truck on peat bogs. The experiences can be summarized in the following points: The bearing capacity can be increased 15-20 times by mixing down, to the depth of 0,5 m, a mixture of gypsum and T-lime. high bearing surface capacity has been achieved at laboratory tests by mixing sulfonated lignin/sodiumbichromate or cement into peat. These mixtures can take a load of 610 kPa will be tested in the field. An ordinary base machine can be used with some modifications for the new technique. Costs for building roads and stores with the new technique can save 6 MSEK/year in Sweden. Remainig problems at full scale tests are: Testroads should be built to get knowledge of settlement, bearing capacity cost of maintenance etc. Heavy metals pollution. Machinery for transportation and admixture of the stabilizing agents must be deloped. By experience a good mixture between firm soil and peat is difficult to achieve. Technique and dimensioning to make a soft mixture ought to be studied.

A road safety course with a difference!

CERN Document Server

2008-01-01

Are you feeling brave? Then why not sign up for a road safety session. 10 to 14 November is road safety week at CERN and the Touring Club Suisse (TCS) will be in the Main Building, 500, with several hair-raising activities to try. If you walk into the foyer of building 500 between 10 and 14 November you might, at first glance, think that you have walked into a fairground. But the machines designed to spin you upside down and slide you also are actually part of CERN’s road safety week. Every day during the week there will six sessions each lasting about an hour where you can try out a series of exhilarating activities. If you are feeling brave enough you could try and get yourself out of the crash simulator. Not as easy as it sounds - after being spun over several times you can experience what it’s like to try and escape from an overturned car - dangling upside down attached only by your seatbelt! During the course instructors from the Touring Club Suisse (TC...

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.

The Public Debate about Roads on the National Forest: An Analysis of the News Media

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Bengston; David P. Fan

1999-01-01

Roads and road building on the US national forests have become the focus of intense public debate in recent years. Timber companies and others argued that forest roads are an essential transportation system for the production of commodities that society needs. Environmentalists and others reply that national forest roads constitute ecologically destructive "...

Where the rubber meets the road

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carter, R.A.

1998-12-01

The basic principles of haul-road design are well-known by most mine operators. Build a road with the proper surface, crown, width, and grade, and production will likely benefit while operating costs may come down. Likewise, the elements of tire maintenance are familiar throughout the industry. Choose the right compound for the application, keep the haul roads in good shape, maintain proper tire inflation, and you can reasonably expect truck tires to wear evenly and predictably throughout their useful lives. What is not so apparent is the interplay between these two important areas of mine operation and the benefits that can accrue from increased attention to their needs. This interaction and its effects on cost and service life are discussed. 5 figs.

Road Traffic Noise Pollution Analysis for Cernavoda City

Science.gov (United States)

Manea, L.; Manea, A.; Florea, D.; Tarulescu, S.

2017-10-01

In the present paper was studied the noise pollution in Cernavodă city. The noise measurements were made for nine intersections from different city areas. Noise measurements were taken for three chosen routes with high population density, heavy traffic, commercial and residential buildings. Average, maximum and minimum values were collected and compared with standards. The impact of road traffic noise on the community depends on various factors such as road location and design, land use planning measures, building design, traffic composition, driver behaviour and the relief. In the study area 9 locations are identified to measure noise level. By using sound level meter noise levels are measured at different peak sessions i.e. morning, afternoon and evening. The presented values were collected for evening rush hour.

GIS Data Based Automatic High-Fidelity 3D Road Network Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jie; Shen, Yuzhong

2011-01-01

3D road models are widely used in many computer applications such as racing games and driving simulations_ However, almost all high-fidelity 3D road models were generated manually by professional artists at the expense of intensive labor. There are very few existing methods for automatically generating 3D high-fidelity road networks, especially those existing in the real world. This paper presents a novel approach thai can automatically produce 3D high-fidelity road network models from real 2D road GIS data that mainly contain road. centerline in formation. The proposed method first builds parametric representations of the road centerlines through segmentation and fitting . A basic set of civil engineering rules (e.g., cross slope, superelevation, grade) for road design are then selected in order to generate realistic road surfaces in compliance with these rules. While the proposed method applies to any types of roads, this paper mainly addresses automatic generation of complex traffic interchanges and intersections which are the most sophisticated elements in the road networks

Study on the complex network characteristics of urban road system based on GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Zhonghua; Chen, Zhenjie; Liu, Yongxue; Huang, Kang

2007-06-01

Urban road system is the basic bone of urban transportation and one of the most important factors that influent and controls the urban configuration. In this paper, an approach of modeling, analyzing and optimizing urban road system is described based on complex network theory and GIS technology. The urban road system is studied on three focuses: building the urban road network, modeling the computational procedures based on urban road networks and analyzing the urban road system of Changzhou City as the study case. The conclusion is that the urban road network is a scale-free network with small-world characteristic, and there is still space for development of the whole network as a small-world network, also the key road crosses should be kept expedite.

The public debate about roads on the National Forests : an analysis of the new media : 1994-98

Science.gov (United States)

David N. Bengston; David P. Fan

1999-01-01

Roads and road building on the US national forests have become the focus of intense public debate in recent years. Timber companies and others argue that forest roads are an essential transportation system for the production of commodities that society needs. Environmentalists and others reply that national forest roads constitute ecologically destructive "...

Very fast road database verification using textured 3D city models obtained from airborne imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Bulatov, Dimitri; Ziems, Marcel; Rottensteiner, Franz; Pohl, Melanie

2014-10-01

Road databases are known to be an important part of any geodata infrastructure, e.g. as the basis for urban planning or emergency services. Updating road databases for crisis events must be performed quickly and with the highest possible degree of automation. We present a semi-automatic algorithm for road verification using textured 3D city models, starting from aerial or even UAV-images. This algorithm contains two processes, which exchange input and output, but basically run independently from each other. These processes are textured urban terrain reconstruction and road verification. The first process contains a dense photogrammetric reconstruction of 3D geometry of the scene using depth maps. The second process is our core procedure, since it contains various methods for road verification. Each method represents a unique road model and a specific strategy, and thus is able to deal with a specific type of roads. Each method is designed to provide two probability distributions, where the first describes the state of a road object (correct, incorrect), and the second describes the state of its underlying road model (applicable, not applicable). Based on the Dempster-Shafer Theory, both distributions are mapped to a single distribution that refers to three states: correct, incorrect, and unknown. With respect to the interaction of both processes, the normalized elevation map and the digital orthophoto generated during 3D reconstruction are the necessary input - together with initial road database entries - for the road verification process. If the entries of the database are too obsolete or not available at all, sensor data evaluation enables classification of the road pixels of the elevation map followed by road map extraction by means of vectorization and filtering of the geometrically and topologically inconsistent objects. Depending on the time issue and availability of a geo-database for buildings, the urban terrain reconstruction procedure has semantic models

Towards successful SPP treatment of local materials for road building

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Paige-Green, P

2009-06-17

Full Text Available This report discusses the use of certain proprietary soil stabilisers in low volume roads in South Africa. Although ionic soil stabilisers have been in use for many years, they have not been marketed to their fullest potential and in many cases have...

Building Road-Sign Classifiers Using a Trainable Similarity Measure

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Paclík, P.; Novovičová, Jana; Duin, R.P.W.

2006-01-01

Roč. 7, č. 3 (2006), s. 309-321 ISSN 1524-9050 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA2075302 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 507752 - MUSCLE Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : classifier system design * road-sign classification * similarity data representation Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 1.434, year: 2006 http://www.ewh.ieee.org/tc/its/trans.html

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...

Bridge management systems: An asset management tool for road structures

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Nordengen, Paul A

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Culverts Ret Walls Buildings Traffic Storm water Etc ? Combined Priorities and Budget Optimised Programme Bridge Project Funding ? Road projects and bridge projects compete for the same ?pot? of funds ? Road failures are more common and more... & retaining walls 18. Longitudinal members 8. Surfacing/ballast (decks & arches) 9. Deck drainage 19. Transverse members 10. Kerbs/sidewalks 20. Deck slabs & arches 11. Parapets & handrails 21. Miscellaneous Condition Survey ? Survey is required...

Building Minds, Minding Buildings: Our Union's Road Map to Green and Sustainable Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Spake, Amanda

2008-01-01

Late in 2006, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) released the first report in this series, "Building Minds, Minding Buildings: Turning Crumbling Schools into Environments for Learning." This second report, which covers the green schools movement is a natural follow-up; it highlights the work of AFT members and affiliates involved…

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

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.

Road safety campaign is a great success

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

Rolf Heuer, the next Director-General of CERN, and Sigurd Lettow, the Director of Finance and Human Resources (photo below), completed all the tests of the CERN road safety campaign under the supervision of TCS instructors. The road safety campaign, which took place in the Main Building during the week of 10 November, attracted large numbers of participants. More than 300 CERN personnel and users took part in, and in some cases were literally bowled over by, the activities set up by instructors from the TCS (Touring Club Suisse). The campaign’s aim was to raise driver awareness of several aspects of road safety, including speed, use of mobile phones at the wheel, pedestrian priority, unlawful parking and driving with a valid licence. The campaign was an unqualified success! Even CERN’s directors joined in, testing their own reactions as drivers on the various pieces of apparatus in place.

Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program Using Functional and Structural Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Setianingsih, A. I.; Sangaji, S.; Setyawan, A.

2017-02-01

Road sector development policy in Bangka Belitung emphasis on equitable development, which is opening up new areas for industrial development zones of potential marine and coastal tourism, so that having an impact on the budget priority to build a new road. This led to a minimal budget provided for the maintenance of the existing road. This study aimed to evaluate the condition of the pavement both functionally and structurally, the growth of traffic density and the availability of existing road maintenance costs. Then, to analyze the influence of existing road conditions, traffic density and road maintenance costs to the type of road maintenance management. The results are compared with the results of the existing maintenance conducted by the Public Works Department of Bangka Belitung province. Evaluation of pavement conditions consists of visual assessment of pavement condition using IRI, pavement condition assessment functionally with deflection method using test data tool Benkelman Beam (BB) and the actual traffic load. IRI value, deflections and traffic growth gained from years 2011-2015 subsequently created regression models to obtain the relationship and the correlation coefficient. The analysis showed that using the same relative magnitude of the budget from 2011 to 2015, giving priority to the maintenance of the road with good conditions capable of providing the road with a steady state of 100%. Recommendations can be given that maintain the road with good conditions reflecting that preservation provide maximum results with the more efficient maintenance cost.

Paving the way : road-building wave good as gold

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenz, A.

2001-01-01

Canadian bitumen and heavy oil producers benefited from a busy road construction season in 2001. The high demand for asphalt in Canada and the United States was a result of massive efforts to improve roads for an expected increase in trade between Canada and the U.S. The trade corridor provided a temporary boost to asphalt sales, a strong growth in demand from the U.S. has bolstered the longer-term health of heavy oil. Sales of Canadian-made asphalt were made easier with a change in U.S. transportation legislation. Western Canadian heavy oil-based asphalt is considered to be better than others produced in North America. The quality depends on the manufacturing process and Husky invested in making a high-grade product at its Lloydminster refinery using a very heavy crude of about 17 degrees API. In June 1998, the U.S. government enacted the Transportation Equity Act which authorized US$218 billion for highway construction and improvement. It followed a 10 year research project on the importance of using high-quality asphalt. This new standard has allowed Canadian producers to better compete because customers in the U.S. are now more willing to pay for high-grade Canadian asphalt. The five companies that manufacture asphalt in Western Canada are Husky, Imperial Oil, Shell Canada, Chevron Canada and Moose Jaw Asphalt. The total Western Canadian sales for the year 2000 were 976,680 cubic metres. The transportation requirements of asphalt are such that it must be carried hot from refinery to customers on trucks and trains. It is currently difficult to ship asphalt overseas and therefore, marketing asphalt beyond North America is not logistically viable. For the present time, the North-South Corridor fills a healthy demand for asphalt. Projects include a portion of the CANAMEX Highway, a 2,800 km road system linking Canada, the U.S. and Mexico via Interstate 15. Other four-lane divided highways are being constructed to move long-combination vehicles (LCVs) in order to

Search and localisation of CERN buildings

CERN Multimedia

TS/FM - Patrimony and Site Information Section

2005-01-01

A new, updated version of the web application allowing search and localisation of CERN buildings has been available since 20 May 2005. You can now find a specific building, road, car-park and other information regarding the CERN sites. For comments or enquiries please contact SIG.Support@cern.ch TS/FM - Patrimony and Site Information Section (ISP)

Explaining the road accident risk: weather effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergel-Hayat, Ruth; Debbarh, Mohammed; Antoniou, Constantinos; Yannis, George

2013-11-01

This research aims to highlight the link between weather conditions and road accident risk at an aggregate level and on a monthly basis, in order to improve road safety monitoring at a national level. It is based on some case studies carried out in Work Package 7 on "Data analysis and synthesis" of the EU-FP6 project "SafetyNet-Building the European Road Safety Observatory", which illustrate the use of weather variables for analysing changes in the number of road injury accidents. Time series analysis models with explanatory variables that measure the weather quantitatively were used and applied to aggregate datasets of injury accidents for France, the Netherlands and the Athens region, over periods of more than 20 years. The main results reveal significant correlations on a monthly basis between weather variables and the aggregate number of injury accidents, but the magnitude and even the sign of these correlations vary according to the type of road (motorways, rural roads or urban roads). Moreover, in the case of the interurban network in France, it appears that the rainfall effect is mainly direct on motorways--exposure being unchanged, and partly indirect on main roads--as a result of changes in exposure. Additional results obtained on a daily basis for the Athens region indicate that capturing the within-the-month variability of the weather variables and including it in a monthly model highlights the effects of extreme weather. Such findings are consistent with previous results obtained for France using a similar approach, with the exception of the negative correlation between precipitation and the number of injury accidents found for the Athens region, which is further investigated. The outlook for the approach and its added value are discussed in the conclusion. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Building a road map for tailoring multilayer polyelectrolyte films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ankner, John Francis; Bardoel, Agatha A.; Sukishvili, Svetlana

2012-01-01

Researchers are moving a step closer to a definite road map for building layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled polyelectrolyte films, with the assistance of the Liquids Reflectometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Spallation Neutron Source, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Scientists using the liquids reflectometer have successfully taken snapshots in close to real time of these multilayered structures for different applications when they modify the structure and function parameters. Polyelecrolytes are polymers that carry charge in aqueous solutions. They contain chemical groups that dissociate in water, making such polymers charged. Most polyelectrolytes are water soluble. They are important components in foods, soaps, shampoos, and cosmetics products. They show promise for such environmental work as oil recovery and water treatment. Polyelectrolytes are compelling because researchers can chemically modify how they interact with water for multiple applications. When two types of polyelectrolytes of opposite charge are assembled at a surface in a sequential way using the LbL assembly technique, 'the result is the forming of surface films, useful for coatings, biomedical implants and devices, controlling adhesion of biological molecules, and controlling delivery of therapeutic molecules from surfaces,' said Svetlana Sukhishvili of the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, the lead chemist on the collaboration. 'Medical doctors often prefer to deliver multiple therapeutic compounds from the coatings in a time-resolved manner,' Sukhishvili said. 'To assist them, material scientists need to learn how to build coatings in which polymer layering will not be compromised when exposed to normal physiological conditions.' 'Being able to control these properties, understanding how what you do to the materials affects their properties, this allows you to apply them to situations where interacting with an environment is very helpful, whether in a biological context or any other

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.

Road networks predict human influence on Amazonian bird communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Sadia E; Lees, Alexander C; Moura, Nárgila G; Gardner, Toby A; Barlow, Jos; Ferreira, Joice; Ewers, Robert M

2014-11-22

Road building can lead to significant deleterious impacts on biodiversity, varying from direct road-kill mortality and direct habitat loss associated with road construction, to more subtle indirect impacts from edge effects and fragmentation. However, little work has been done to evaluate the specific effects of road networks and biodiversity loss beyond the more generalized effects of habitat loss. Here, we compared forest bird species richness and composition in the municipalities of Santarém and Belterra in Pará state, eastern Brazilian Amazon, with a road network metric called 'roadless volume (RV)' at the scale of small hydrological catchments (averaging 3721 ha). We found a significant positive relationship between RV and both forest bird richness and the average number of unique species (species represented by a single record) recorded at each site. Forest bird community composition was also significantly affected by RV. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between RV and forest cover, suggesting that road networks may impact biodiversity independently of changes in forest cover. However, variance partitioning analysis indicated that RV has partially independent and therefore additive effects, suggesting that RV and forest cover are best used in a complementary manner to investigate changes in biodiversity. Road impacts on avian species richness and composition independent of habitat loss may result from road-dependent habitat disturbance and fragmentation effects that are not captured by total percentage habitat cover, such as selective logging, fire, hunting, traffic disturbance, edge effects and road-induced fragmentation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Road networks predict human influence on Amazonian bird communities

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Sadia E.; Lees, Alexander C.; Moura, Nárgila G.; Gardner, Toby A.; Barlow, Jos; Ferreira, Joice; Ewers, Robert M.

2014-01-01

Road building can lead to significant deleterious impacts on biodiversity, varying from direct road-kill mortality and direct habitat loss associated with road construction, to more subtle indirect impacts from edge effects and fragmentation. However, little work has been done to evaluate the specific effects of road networks and biodiversity loss beyond the more generalized effects of habitat loss. Here, we compared forest bird species richness and composition in the municipalities of Santarém and Belterra in Pará state, eastern Brazilian Amazon, with a road network metric called ‘roadless volume (RV)’ at the scale of small hydrological catchments (averaging 3721 ha). We found a significant positive relationship between RV and both forest bird richness and the average number of unique species (species represented by a single record) recorded at each site. Forest bird community composition was also significantly affected by RV. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between RV and forest cover, suggesting that road networks may impact biodiversity independently of changes in forest cover. However, variance partitioning analysis indicated that RV has partially independent and therefore additive effects, suggesting that RV and forest cover are best used in a complementary manner to investigate changes in biodiversity. Road impacts on avian species richness and composition independent of habitat loss may result from road-dependent habitat disturbance and fragmentation effects that are not captured by total percentage habitat cover, such as selective logging, fire, hunting, traffic disturbance, edge effects and road-induced fragmentation. PMID:25274363

Towards a political economy of roads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wilson, Fiona

2004-01-01

by the state and the mobility practices of Andean indigenous/rural society. While a location 'off the beaten track' could be a source of autonomy in the past, the article outlines reasons why people in post-conflict, neo-liberal Peru now dedicate much time and effort to road-building, even though this may...... potentially lead to loss of land, community control and greater impoverishment....

Overview of approaches to sustain forest productivity during forest road development and timber harvesting activities

Science.gov (United States)

Charles R. Blinn; Rick Dahlamn; James A. Mattson; Michael A. Thompson

1999-01-01

Various approaches are available to minimize impacts on forest productivity during forest road building and timber harvesting activities. These approaches include a variety of practices and technologies. They include practices such as reducing road and trail development, using designated trails, and leaving slash at the stump on nutrient deficient sites. Technology...

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.

Road simulation for four-wheel vehicle whole input power spectral density

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jiangbo; Qiang, Baomin

2017-05-01

As the vibration of running vehicle mainly comes from road and influence vehicle ride performance. So the road roughness power spectral density simulation has great significance to analyze automobile suspension vibration system parameters and evaluate ride comfort. Firstly, this paper based on the mathematical model of road roughness power spectral density, established the integral white noise road random method. Then in the MATLAB/Simulink environment, according to the research method of automobile suspension frame from simple two degree of freedom single-wheel vehicle model to complex multiple degrees of freedom vehicle model, this paper built the simple single incentive input simulation model. Finally the spectrum matrix was used to build whole vehicle incentive input simulation model. This simulation method based on reliable and accurate mathematical theory and can be applied to the random road simulation of any specified spectral which provides pavement incentive model and foundation to vehicle ride performance research and vibration simulation.

Emissions of road transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maekelae, K.; Tuominen, A.

2001-01-01

Information on the emissions and energy consumption of different vehicles per transported amount of goods has up to last years been minimal. The unit emissions mean the amount of harmful compounds in the flue gases of a vehicle per service, time or energy unit. National three-year MOBILE 2-research program, started in 1999, determines the unit emissions of all the traffic sectors in Finland. VTT Building and Transport mainly carry out the research, but the Institute of Transportation Engineering of the Tampere University of Technology (TTKK) is responsible for a part of the research. The objective of the project is to create common rules for the determination of unit emissions values, and to determine the best possible values for Finnish conditions. Unit emission data is mainly needed for evaluation of the environmental impacts of production plants and other activities containing transportation of commodities. At the web sites of VTT Building and Transport there are about 60 pages of text and tables (about 4000 values) on unit emissions. The URL of the pages is http://www.vtt.fi/rte/projects/lipastoe/index.htm. These web pages present data on all the transportation sectors (road, railroad, water and air transportation), most of the materials concerning road transportation. Following compounds and values are included: CO, HC, NO x , particulates, SO 2 , CO 2 and energy consumption. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions values have also been presented

Radiological Assessment Survey of the Vance road Facility Source Vault Building Materials, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morton, J. R.

2000-01-01

From the 1950s, the Vance Road laboratory was the site of extensive nuclear medical research and involved the used of numerous radionuclides. These nuclides were stored in a source vault stored on the first floor of the facility. Nuclear medical research is no longer conducted in this facility, and the source vault was remediated in preparation for converting the area to office space and general use. The Environmental Survey and Site Assessment Program (ESSAP) of ORISE performed a radiological assessment survey of the source vault and its associated miscellaneous building materials and laboratory equipment in preparation for the conversion to general use space

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.

Road safety in practice

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

On the 23 and 25 September come and test your driving skills and your reflexes on the two days of road safety in practice! To conclude the poster and article campaign on this topic which started last year, CERN now comes to the practical part with demonstrations, like a spectacular overturning test, information stands, where you can meet safety personnel from France, Switzerland and CERN, and discussions & debates. Come to ... ... the Meyrin site on 23 September: - From 8:30 hrs, stands and demonstrations on the parking site Cèdres, behind the Restaurant no. 1. - From 9:30 hrs, discussions and debates in the main auditorium. ... the Prévessin site on 25 September: - From 8:30 hrs, stands and demonstrations on the parking site of the building 866. - From 14:00 hrs, discussions and debates in the AB auditorium, building 864.

An ArcGIS analysis of Stand-alone GPS quality for Road Pricing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zabic, Martina

2006-01-01

The paper presents the methods and some of the result maps from a study of GPS quality in relation to road pricing in a dense urban area. Data from 500 cars were colleted over a two-year period in the Copenhagen region (Denmark). The data was analyzed in ArcGIS in order to determine whether the GPS...... quality and reliability is adequate for implementation of a road pricing system. The GPS log files was imported into ArcGIS and analyzed in relation to the digital road network and the density of the high rise areas in order to examine where the high buildings and narrow street canyons causes too many...

Error Correction of Measured Unstructured Road Profiles Based on Accelerometer and Gyroscope Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinhua Han

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a noncontact acquisition system composed of several time synchronized laser height sensors, accelerometers, gyroscope, and so forth in order to collect the road profiles of vehicle riding on the unstructured roads. A method of correcting road profiles based on the accelerometer and gyroscope data is proposed to eliminate the adverse impacts of vehicle vibration and attitudes change. Because the power spectral density (PSD of gyro attitudes concentrates in the low frequency band, a method called frequency division is presented to divide the road profiles into two parts: high frequency part and low frequency part. The vibration error of road profiles is corrected by displacement data obtained through two times integration of measured acceleration data. After building the mathematical model between gyro attitudes and road profiles, the gyro attitudes signals are separated from low frequency road profile by the method of sliding block overlap based on correlation analysis. The accuracy and limitations of the system have been analyzed, and its validity has been verified by implementing the system on wheeled equipment for road profiles’ measuring of vehicle testing ground. The paper offers an accurate and practical approach to obtaining unstructured road profiles for road simulation test.

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.

Hierarchical graph-based segmentation for extracting road networks from high-resolution satellite images

Science.gov (United States)

Alshehhi, Rasha; Marpu, Prashanth Reddy

2017-04-01

Extraction of road networks in urban areas from remotely sensed imagery plays an important role in many urban applications (e.g. road navigation, geometric correction of urban remote sensing images, updating geographic information systems, etc.). It is normally difficult to accurately differentiate road from its background due to the complex geometry of the buildings and the acquisition geometry of the sensor. In this paper, we present a new method for extracting roads from high-resolution imagery based on hierarchical graph-based image segmentation. The proposed method consists of: 1. Extracting features (e.g., using Gabor and morphological filtering) to enhance the contrast between road and non-road pixels, 2. Graph-based segmentation consisting of (i) Constructing a graph representation of the image based on initial segmentation and (ii) Hierarchical merging and splitting of image segments based on color and shape features, and 3. Post-processing to remove irregularities in the extracted road segments. Experiments are conducted on three challenging datasets of high-resolution images to demonstrate the proposed method and compare with other similar approaches. The results demonstrate the validity and superior performance of the proposed method for road extraction in urban areas.

Semantic Road Segmentation Via Multi-Scale Ensembles of Learned Features

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alvarez, J.M.; LeCun, Y.; Gevers, T.; Lopez, A.M.

2012-01-01

Semantic segmentation refers to the process of assigning an object label (e.g., building, road, sidewalk, car, pedestrian) to every pixel in an image. Common approaches formulate the task as a random field labeling problem modeling the interactions between labels by combining local and contextual

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.

Verification of road databases using multiple road models

Science.gov (United States)

Ziems, Marcel; Rottensteiner, Franz; Heipke, Christian

2017-08-01

In this paper a new approach for automatic road database verification based on remote sensing images is presented. In contrast to existing methods, the applicability of the new approach is not restricted to specific road types, context areas or geographic regions. This is achieved by combining several state-of-the-art road detection and road verification approaches that work well under different circumstances. Each one serves as an independent module representing a unique road model and a specific processing strategy. All modules provide independent solutions for the verification problem of each road object stored in the database in form of two probability distributions, the first one for the state of a database object (correct or incorrect), and a second one for the state of the underlying road model (applicable or not applicable). In accordance with the Dempster-Shafer Theory, both distributions are mapped to a new state space comprising the classes correct, incorrect and unknown. Statistical reasoning is applied to obtain the optimal state of a road object. A comparison with state-of-the-art road detection approaches using benchmark datasets shows that in general the proposed approach provides results with larger completeness. Additional experiments reveal that based on the proposed method a highly reliable semi-automatic approach for road data base verification can be designed.

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...

Road profile estimation of city roads using DTPS

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi; McDaniel, J. Gregory; Sun, Nian X.; Wang, Ming L.

2013-04-01

This work presents a non-destructive and non-contact acoustic sensing approach for measuring road profile of road and bridge deck with vehicles running at normal speed without stopping traffic. This approach uses an instantaneous and real-time dynamic tire pressure sensor (DTPS) that can measure dynamic response of the tire-road interaction and increases the efficiency of currently used road profile measuring systems with vehicle body-mounted profilers and axle-mounted accelerometers. In this work, a prototype of real-time DTPS system has been developed and demonstrated on a testing van at speeds from 5 to 80 miles per hour (mph). A data analysis algorithm has been developed to remove axle dynamic motions from the measured DTPS data and to find the transfer function between dynamic tire pressure change and the road profile. Field test has been performed to estimate road profiles. The road profile resolution is approximately 5 to 10 cm in width and sensitivity is 0. 3 cm for the height road surface features at driving speeds of 5 to 80 mph.

Automatic extraction of road features in urban environments using dense ALS data

Science.gov (United States)

Soilán, Mario; Truong-Hong, Linh; Riveiro, Belén; Laefer, Debra

2018-02-01

This paper describes a methodology that automatically extracts semantic information from urban ALS data for urban parameterization and road network definition. First, building façades are segmented from the ground surface by combining knowledge-based information with both voxel and raster data. Next, heuristic rules and unsupervised learning are applied to the ground surface data to distinguish sidewalk and pavement points as a means for curb detection. Then radiometric information was employed for road marking extraction. Using high-density ALS data from Dublin, Ireland, this fully automatic workflow was able to generate a F-score close to 95% for pavement and sidewalk identification with a resolution of 20 cm and better than 80% for road marking detection.

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

Sensors Fusion based Online Mapping and Features Extraction of Mobile Robot in the Road Following and Roundabout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Mohammed A H; Yussof, Wan Azhar B.; Hamedon, Zamzuri B; Yussof, Zulkifli B.; Majeed, Anwar P P; Mailah, Musa

2016-01-01

A road feature extraction based mapping system using a sensor fusion technique for mobile robot navigation in road environments is presented in this paper. The online mapping of mobile robot is performed continuously in the road environments to find the road properties that enable the robot to move from a certain start position to pre-determined goal while discovering and detecting the roundabout. The sensors fusion involving laser range finder, camera and odometry which are installed in a new platform, are used to find the path of the robot and localize it within its environments. The local maps are developed using camera and laser range finder to recognize the roads borders parameters such as road width, curbs and roundabout. Results show the capability of the robot with the proposed algorithms to effectively identify the road environments and build a local mapping for road following and roundabout. (paper)

Research on Large-Scale Road Network Partition and Route Search Method Combined with Traveler Preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

De-Xin Yu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Combined with improved Pallottino parallel algorithm, this paper proposes a large-scale route search method, which considers travelers’ route choice preferences. And urban road network is decomposed into multilayers effectively. Utilizing generalized travel time as road impedance function, the method builds a new multilayer and multitasking road network data storage structure with object-oriented class definition. Then, the proposed path search algorithm is verified by using the real road network of Guangzhou city as an example. By the sensitive experiments, we make a comparative analysis of the proposed path search method with the current advanced optimal path algorithms. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can increase the road network search efficiency by more than 16% under different search proportion requests, node numbers, and computing process numbers, respectively. Therefore, this method is a great breakthrough in the guidance field of urban road network.

management practices in the ghanaian house building industry

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

Building and Road Research Institute, Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research,. Fumuesua ... expected production target amidst an acute .... the responsibility for the management of design .... substitutes already being manufactured since.

Object-oriented Method of Hierarchical Urban Building Extraction from High-resolution Remote-Sensing Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TAO Chao

2016-02-01

Full Text Available An automatic urban building extraction method for high-resolution remote-sensing imagery,which combines building segmentation based on neighbor total variations with object-oriented analysis,is presented in this paper. Aimed at different extraction complexity from various buildings in the segmented image,a hierarchical building extraction strategy with multi-feature fusion is adopted. Firstly,we extract some rectangle buildings which remain intact after segmentation through shape analysis. Secondly,in order to ensure each candidate building target to be independent,multidirectional morphological road-filtering algorithm is designed which can separate buildings from the neighboring roads with similar spectrum. Finally,we take the extracted buildings and the excluded non-buildings as samples to establish probability model respectively,and Bayesian discriminating classifier is used for making judgment of the other candidate building objects to get the ultimate extraction result. The experimental results have shown that the approach is able to detect buildings with different structure and spectral features in the same image. The results of performance evaluation also support the robustness and precision of the approach developed.

Is road safety management linked to road safety performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Papadimitriou, Eleonora; Yannis, George

2013-10-01

This research aims to explore the relationship between road safety management and road safety performance at country level. For that purpose, an appropriate theoretical framework is selected, namely the 'SUNflower' pyramid, which describes road safety management systems in terms of a five-level hierarchy: (i) structure and culture, (ii) programmes and measures, (iii) 'intermediate' outcomes'--safety performance indicators (SPIs), (iv) final outcomes--fatalities and injuries, and (v) social costs. For each layer of the pyramid, a composite indicator is implemented, on the basis of data for 30 European countries. Especially as regards road safety management indicators, these are estimated on the basis of Categorical Principal Component Analysis upon the responses of a dedicated road safety management questionnaire, jointly created and dispatched by the ETSC/PIN group and the 'DaCoTA' research project. Then, quasi-Poisson models and Beta regression models are developed for linking road safety management indicators and other indicators (i.e. background characteristics, SPIs) with road safety performance. In this context, different indicators of road safety performance are explored: mortality and fatality rates, percentage reduction in fatalities over a given period, a composite indicator of road safety final outcomes, and a composite indicator of 'intermediate' outcomes (SPIs). The results of the analyses suggest that road safety management can be described on the basis of three composite indicators: "vision and strategy", "budget, evaluation and reporting", and "measurement of road user attitudes and behaviours". Moreover, no direct statistical relationship could be established between road safety management indicators and final outcomes. However, a statistical relationship was found between road safety management and 'intermediate' outcomes, which were in turn found to affect 'final' outcomes, confirming the SUNflower approach on the consecutive effect of each layer

Automated road network extraction from high spatial resolution multi-spectral imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiaoping

For the last three decades, the Geomatics Engineering and Computer Science communities have considered automated road network extraction from remotely-sensed imagery to be a challenging and important research topic. The main objective of this research is to investigate the theory and methodology of automated feature extraction for image-based road database creation, refinement or updating, and to develop a series of algorithms for road network extraction from high resolution multi-spectral imagery. The proposed framework for road network extraction from multi-spectral imagery begins with an image segmentation using the k-means algorithm. This step mainly concerns the exploitation of the spectral information for feature extraction. The road cluster is automatically identified using a fuzzy classifier based on a set of predefined road surface membership functions. These membership functions are established based on the general spectral signature of road pavement materials and the corresponding normalized digital numbers on each multi-spectral band. Shape descriptors of the Angular Texture Signature are defined and used to reduce the misclassifications between roads and other spectrally similar objects (e.g., crop fields, parking lots, and buildings). An iterative and localized Radon transform is developed for the extraction of road centerlines from the classified images. The purpose of the transform is to accurately and completely detect the road centerlines. It is able to find short, long, and even curvilinear lines. The input image is partitioned into a set of subset images called road component images. An iterative Radon transform is locally applied to each road component image. At each iteration, road centerline segments are detected based on an accurate estimation of the line parameters and line widths. Three localization approaches are implemented and compared using qualitative and quantitative methods. Finally, the road centerline segments are grouped into a

Trends in road freight transportation carbon dioxide emissions and policies in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hongqi; Lu, Yue; Zhang, Jun; Wang, Tianyi

2013-01-01

We adopted the simple average Divisia index approach to explore the impacts of factors on the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from road freight transportation in China from 1985 to 2007. CO 2 emissions were investigated using the following as influencing factors: the emission coefficient, vehicle fuel intensity, working vehicle stock per freight transport operator, market concentration level, freight transportation distance, market share of road freight transportation, ton-kilometer per value added of industry, industrialization level and economic growth. Building on the results, we suggest that economic growth is the most important factor in increasing CO 2 emissions, whereas the ton-kilometer per value added of industry and the market concentration level contribute significantly to decreasing CO 2 emissions. We also discussed some recent important policies concerning factors contained in the decomposition model. - Highlights: ► We estimated road freight fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions in China. ► Factors implying features of road freight were considered in decomposition model. ► Some policies were discussed to affect CO 2 emissions from road freight

The Roman Road System in the Golan: Highways, Paths and Tracks in Quotidian Life

OpenAIRE

Pažout Adam

2017-01-01

Roman Imperial Roads (highways) built, maintained and organized by the Roman army and provincial authorities were studied in the Golan Heights since Schumacher’s surveys in the 1880s. However, most of these were obliterated by building and agricultural activity since the beginning of the 20th century. Local ancient road system, linking individual communities and their agricultural land was never studied, since it barely leaves a trace in archaeological record. This paper presents reconstructi...

Rockets: An Educator's Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC.

This educational guide discusses rockets and includes activities in science, mathematics, and technology. It begins with background information on the history of rocketry, scientific principles, and practical rocketry. The sections on scientific principles and practical rocketry focus on Sir Isaac Newton's Three Laws of Motion. These laws explain…

Rockets: Educator's Guide with Activities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Deborah A.; Vogt, Gregory L.

2008-01-01

This guide provides teachers and students many opportunities. Chapters within the guide present the history of rocketry, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) 21st Century Space Exploration Policy, rocketry principles, and practical rocketry. These topics lay the foundation for what follows--a wealth of dynamic rocket science…

Distributed road assessment system

Science.gov (United States)

Beer, N. Reginald; Paglieroni, David W

2014-03-25

A system that detects damage on or below the surface of a paved structure or pavement is provided. A distributed road assessment system includes road assessment pods and a road assessment server. Each road assessment pod includes a ground-penetrating radar antenna array and a detection system that detects road damage from the return signals as the vehicle on which the pod is mounted travels down a road. Each road assessment pod transmits to the road assessment server occurrence information describing each occurrence of road damage that is newly detected on a current scan of a road. The road assessment server maintains a road damage database of occurrence information describing the previously detected occurrences of road damage. After the road assessment server receives occurrence information for newly detected occurrences of road damage for a portion of a road, the road assessment server determines which newly detected occurrences correspond to which previously detected occurrences of road damage.

IEA-NEA Nuclear Technology Road-map Update - Asia Stakeholder Engagement Workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tam, Cecilia; ); Paillere, Henri; ); Guoxing, Gu; Tianmin, Xin; Autebert, Remy; Murphy, Paul; Barkatullah, Nadira; Nkong-Njock, Vincent; Dubinsky, Melissa; Cordero, Didier

2014-01-01

In 2010, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) released a Nuclear Energy Technology Road-map which outlined the steps needed to accelerate the development of nuclear power and its role in achieve deep greenhouse-gas emissions reduction. Both the global energy sector and the outlook for nuclear have changed significantly since then and an update of this Road-map is currently underway. The IEA and NEA held a stakeholder dialogue meeting focused on nuclear develop in Asia on 25 February 2014 in Hong Kong. The meeting brought together key stakeholders from industry, government, finance and other relevant organisations from Asia and beyond to help define and prioritise key items to be discussed in the IEA/NEA's Nuclear Road-map Update. One of the expected outcomes of this intensive brainstorming and Road-map development session was to discus key targets, milestones, policy measures and other actions needed to support the development and deployment of nuclear power. The workshop was organized in 3 sessions dealing with: Session 1 - Technology development needs for nuclear (Reactor technology, Fuel cycle and decommissioning); Session 2 - Breakout Discussion: - Group I: Financing nuclear. This session focussed on today's reality for financing nuclear and the current economics of nuclear. Mechanisms such as government loan guarantees, vendor financing and role of export credit agencies were discussed. Participants were asked to share lessons learnt and current practices on financing nuclear as well as recommendations (if needed) for additional policy support or changes in technology development (e.g. SMR) which would facilitate greater deployment of nuclear technologies. - Group II: Nuclear regulation and safety. This session focussed on regulatory needs for enhanced security and regulation for new build programmes, institutional development requirements for new nuclear countries. Safety research following the Fukushima Daiichi accident

The effect of Cryogenic Crumb Rubber in cold recycled mixes for road pavements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pettinari, Matteo; Dondi, Giulio; Sangiorgi, Cesare

2014-01-01

of cold recycled mixes for road bases is considerable. Furthermore, new products are continuously being introduced or developed for recycling purposes. The objective of this research project was to test the effects, both mechanically and environmentally, of crumb rubber included in 100% Reclaimed Asphalt......Over recent years, the necessity of reducing the environmental mpact of building new infrastructures has increasingly directed research toward developing innovative manufacturing methods and materials that can satisfy these objectives. Cold recycling, widely used in renovating road pavements...

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE FOREST ROAD PLANNING AND ROAD GROUND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Miscellaneous Roads

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data set contains roadway centerlines for miscellanous roads, a catch-all category for all road types not present in the other DNR derived products. These road...

A study of the horizontal and vertical profile of submicrometer particles in relation to a busy road

Science.gov (United States)

Morawska, Lidia; Thomas, Stephen; Gilbert, Dale; Greenaway, Chris; Rijnders, Esther

Epidemiological studies are consistently reporting an association between fine particulate pollution and ill-health. Motor vehicle emissions are considered to be the main source of fine particles in ambient urban air of cities which are not directly influenced by industrial emissions. The aim of this work was to assess the influence of a major arterial road on concentration levels of airborne fine particles in its vicinity. Measurements of over 500 particle size distributions in the particle size range 16-626 nm, were made using two scanning mobility particle sizers (SMPS). A subsequent comparison of the recorded values from differing locations is discussed, with reference made to topographic and climatic influences. Both horizontal and vertical profile measurements of fine particle number size distributions are described; the combination of the two yielding information as to the relative exposures of occupants of buildings in the vicinity of a major arterial route. With the exception of measurements in close proximity to the freeway (about 15 m), the horizontal profile measurements did not provide any evidence of a statistically significant difference in fine particle number concentration with respect to distance at ground level up to a distance of 200 m within the study area. The vertical profile measurements also revealed no significant correlation between particle concentration and height. However, for buildings in the immediate proximity to the arterial road (about 15 m) concentrations around the building envelope are very high, comparable to those in the immediate vicinity of the road, indicating undiluted concentrations drawn directly from the freeway. This finding has a significant implication for management of indoor air quality in the buildings located in the immediate vicinity of major roads.

A sonification algorithm for developing the off-roads models for driving simulators

Science.gov (United States)

Chiroiu, Veturia; Brişan, Cornel; Dumitriu, Dan; Munteanu, Ligia

2018-01-01

In this paper, a sonification algorithm for developing the off-road models for driving simulators, is proposed. The aim of this algorithm is to overcome difficulties of heuristics identification which are best suited to a particular off-road profile built by measurements. The sonification algorithm is based on the stochastic polynomial chaos analysis suitable in solving equations with random input data. The fluctuations are generated by incomplete measurements leading to inhomogeneities of the cross-sectional curves of off-roads before and after deformation, the unstable contact between the tire and the road and the unreal distribution of contact and friction forces in the unknown contact domains. The approach is exercised on two particular problems and results compare favorably to existing analytical and numerical solutions. The sonification technique represents a useful multiscale analysis able to build a low-cost virtual reality environment with increased degrees of realism for driving simulators and higher user flexibility.

Invasive Brown Treesnake movements at road edges indicate road-crossing avoidance

Science.gov (United States)

Siers, Shane R.; Savidge, Julie S; Reed, Robert N.

2014-01-01

Roads have significant impacts on the dispersal of wildlife. Although this poses a threat to the abundance and diversity of desirable flora and fauna, it also affords some opportunity for enhancing control of invasive species. Roads are the most common terrain features that may affect the rate of landscape-scale movements of invasive Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) throughout Guam. We radio tracked 45 free-ranging Brown Treesnakes in close proximity to two roads in Guam and recorded instances where daily relocations of snakes spanned roads. Then we reconstructed observed movement histories with randomized turning angles, which served as a useful null hypothesis for assessing the effect of roads or road edge habitat on Brown Treesnake movement patterns. Random walk simulations demonstrated that Brown Treesnakes crossed these roads at a rate far lower than would be expected if snake movement was random with respect to roads and road edge habitat. We discuss two alternative hypotheses for these results: 1) habitat gaps posed by roads physically or behaviorally restrict snake movement; or 2) road edges provide preferred foraging habitat from which snakes are reluctant to depart. Because roads often form the boundaries of jurisdictional and management units, the effects of roads on the movement of invasive Brown Treesnakes will influence the prospects for success of future landscape-level suppression efforts.

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…

Road Lane Detection Robust to Shadows Based on a Fuzzy System Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Toan Minh; Baek, Na Rae; Cho, Se Woon; Kim, Ki Wan; Park, Kang Ryoung

2017-10-28

Recently, autonomous vehicles, particularly self-driving cars, have received significant attention owing to rapid advancements in sensor and computation technologies. In addition to traffic sign recognition, road lane detection is one of the most important factors used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles for maintaining the safety of semi-autonomous and fully autonomous systems. Unlike traffic signs, road lanes are easily damaged by both internal and external factors such as road quality, occlusion (traffic on the road), weather conditions, and illumination (shadows from objects such as cars, trees, and buildings). Obtaining clear road lane markings for recognition processing is a difficult challenge. Therefore, we propose a method to overcome various illumination problems, particularly severe shadows, by using fuzzy system and line segment detector algorithms to obtain better results for detecting road lanes by a visible light camera sensor. Experimental results from three open databases, Caltech dataset, Santiago Lanes dataset (SLD), and Road Marking dataset, showed that our method outperformed conventional lane detection methods.

AN EFFICIENT METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC ROAD EXTRACTION BASED ON MULTIPLE FEATURES FROM LiDAR DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Li

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The road extraction in urban areas is difficult task due to the complicated patterns and many contextual objects. LiDAR data directly provides three dimensional (3D points with less occlusions and smaller shadows. The elevation information and surface roughness are distinguishing features to separate roads. However, LiDAR data has some disadvantages are not beneficial to object extraction, such as the irregular distribution of point clouds and lack of clear edges of roads. For these problems, this paper proposes an automatic road centerlines extraction method which has three major steps: (1 road center point detection based on multiple feature spatial clustering for separating road points from ground points, (2 local principal component analysis with least squares fitting for extracting the primitives of road centerlines, and (3 hierarchical grouping for connecting primitives into complete roads network. Compared with MTH (consist of Mean shift algorithm, Tensor voting, and Hough transform proposed in our previous article, this method greatly reduced the computational cost. To evaluate the proposed method, the Vaihingen data set, a benchmark testing data provided by ISPRS for “Urban Classification and 3D Building Reconstruction” project, was selected. The experimental results show that our method achieve the same performance by less time in road extraction using LiDAR data.

An Efficient Method for Automatic Road Extraction Based on Multiple Features from LiDAR Data

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Y.; Hu, X.; Guan, H.; Liu, P.

2016-06-01

The road extraction in urban areas is difficult task due to the complicated patterns and many contextual objects. LiDAR data directly provides three dimensional (3D) points with less occlusions and smaller shadows. The elevation information and surface roughness are distinguishing features to separate roads. However, LiDAR data has some disadvantages are not beneficial to object extraction, such as the irregular distribution of point clouds and lack of clear edges of roads. For these problems, this paper proposes an automatic road centerlines extraction method which has three major steps: (1) road center point detection based on multiple feature spatial clustering for separating road points from ground points, (2) local principal component analysis with least squares fitting for extracting the primitives of road centerlines, and (3) hierarchical grouping for connecting primitives into complete roads network. Compared with MTH (consist of Mean shift algorithm, Tensor voting, and Hough transform) proposed in our previous article, this method greatly reduced the computational cost. To evaluate the proposed method, the Vaihingen data set, a benchmark testing data provided by ISPRS for "Urban Classification and 3D Building Reconstruction" project, was selected. The experimental results show that our method achieve the same performance by less time in road extraction using LiDAR data.

[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.

Wrong-way driving crashes on French divided roads.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemel, Emmanuel

2015-02-01

The objective of divided roads is to increase users' safety by posting unidirectional traffic flows. It happens however that drivers proceed in the wrong direction, endangering themselves as well as other users. The crashes caused by wrong-way drivers are generally spotlighted by the media and call for public intervention. This paper proposes a characterization of wrong-way driving crashes occurring on French divided road on the 2008-2012 period. The objective is to identify the factors that delineate between wrong-way driving crashes and other crashes. Building on the national injury road crash database, 266 crashes involving a wrong-way driver were identified. Their characteristics (related to timing, location, vehicle and driver) are compared to those of the 22,120 other crashes that occurred on the same roads over the same period. The comparison relies on descriptive statistics, completed by a logistic regression. Wrong-way driving crashes are rare but severe. They are more likely to occur during night hours and on non-freeway roads than other crashes. Wrong-way drivers are older, more likely to be intoxicated, to be locals, to drive older vehicles, mainly passenger cars without passengers, than other drivers. The differences observed across networks can help prioritizing public intervention. Most of the identified WW-driving factors deal with cognitive impairment. Therefore, the specific countermeasures such as alternative road signs should be designed for and tested on cognitively impaired drivers. Nevertheless, WW-driving factors are also risk factors for other types of crashes (e.g. elderly driving, drunk driving and age of the vehicle). This suggests that, instead of (or in addition to) developing WW-driving specific countermeasures, managing these risk factors would help reducing a larger number of crashes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Road Service Performance Based On Integrated Road Design Consistency (IC) Along Federal Road F0023

OpenAIRE

Zainal Zaffan Farhana; Prasetijo Joewono; Musa Wan Zahidah

2017-01-01

Road accidents are one of the world’s largest public health and injury prevention problems. In Malaysia, the west coast area of Malaysia been stated as the highest motorcycle fatalities and road accidents are one of the factors that cause of death and injuries in this country. The most common fatal accident is between a motorcycle and passenger car. The most of the fatal accidents happened on Federal roads with 44 fatal accidents reported, which is equal to 29%. Lacks of road geometric design...

Predictability by recognizable road design. [previously called: Recognizable road design.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2007-01-01

One of the Sustainable Safety principles is that a road should have a recognizable design and a predictable alignment. If this is the case, road users know how they are expected to behave and what they can expect from other road users, so that crashes may be prevented. For roads to be recognizable,

Road analysis: a tool for cost-effective rehabilitation measures for Finnish roads

Science.gov (United States)

Roimela, Petri; Salmenkaita, Seppo; Maijala, Pekka; Saarenketo, Timo

2000-04-01

Public funding for road network maintenance has decreased 30% during the last few years in Finland. Reduced resources, together with the current rehabilitation strategies, will in the long term result in increasing deterioration of the Finnish road network. For this reason road rehabilitation funding should be focused more specifically on those roads and road sections requiring measures and these measures should be optimized to ensure that only the specific problem structure will be repaired. Roadscanners Oy, in cooperation with the Finnish National Road Administration (Finnra), has developed a new and effective Road Analysis technique to survey the condition of roads and road networks. Road Analysis is based on the integrated analysis of the measured data collected from the road under survey. The basic survey methods used in Road Analysis include Ground Penetrating Data (GPR), falling weight deflectometer (FWD), roughness and rutting measurements, pavement distress mapping and GPS-positioning, as well as reference drilling based on preliminary GPR data analysis. The collected road survey data is processed, interpreted, analyzed and classified using Road Doctor software, specifically developed for this purpose. GPR measurements in road analysis are carried out using a 400 MHz ground-coupled antenna and a 1.0 GHz horn antenna. Horn antenna data is used to measure the thickness of the pavement and base course layers, as well as to evaluate their quality based on their dielectric properties. The 400 MHz ground-coupled data is used to estimate the thickness of the pavement structure and embankment. Ground-coupled antenna data is used for subgrade quality estimations and in evaluating the causes of subgrade- related frost defects. GPR data also provides important location information about special structures, such as steel reinforcements, cables and pipelines. Road Analysis includes a classification of the critical elements affecting the lifetime of the road: (1

An empirical model to predict road dust emissions based on pavement and traffic characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Padoan, Elio; Ajmone-Marsan, Franco; Querol, Xavier; Amato, Fulvio

2018-06-01

The relative impact of non-exhaust sources (i.e. road dust, tire wear, road wear and brake wear particles) on urban air quality is increasing. Among them, road dust resuspension has generally the highest impact on PM concentrations but its spatio-temporal variability has been rarely studied and modeled. Some recent studies attempted to observe and describe the time-variability but, as it is driven by traffic and meteorology, uncertainty remains on the seasonality of emissions. The knowledge gap on spatial variability is much wider, as several factors have been pointed out as responsible for road dust build-up: pavement characteristics, traffic intensity and speed, fleet composition, proximity to traffic lights, but also the presence of external sources. However, no parameterization is available as a function of these variables. We investigated mobile road dust smaller than 10 μm (MF10) in two cities with different climatic and traffic conditions (Barcelona and Turin), to explore MF10 seasonal variability and the relationship between MF10 and site characteristics (pavement macrotexture, traffic intensity and proximity to braking zone). Moreover, we provide the first estimates of emission factors in the Po Valley both in summer and winter conditions. Our results showed a good inverse relationship between MF10 and macro-texture, traffic intensity and distance from the nearest braking zone. We also found a clear seasonal effect of road dust emissions, with higher emission in summer, likely due to the lower pavement moisture. These results allowed building a simple empirical mode, predicting maximal dust loadings and, consequently, emission potential, based on the aforementioned data. This model will need to be scaled for meteorological effect, using methods accounting for weather and pavement moisture. This can significantly improve bottom-up emission inventory for spatial allocation of emissions and air quality management, to select those roads with higher emissions

Road pricing and road safety : possible effects on road safety of 23 variants of road pricing.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eenink, R.G. Dijkstra, A. Wijnen, W. & Janssen, S.T.M.C.

2007-01-01

The Nouwen Committee (National Platform Paying Differently for Mobility) advised the Cabinet in 2005 about the introduction of a system of road pricing. Part of this advice consisted of a calculation of the expected road safety effects of such a system. In a letter to the Minister of Transport, SWOV

Road Service Performance Based On Integrated Road Design Consistency (IC Along Federal Road F0023

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zainal Zaffan Farhana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Road accidents are one of the world’s largest public health and injury prevention problems. In Malaysia, the west coast area of Malaysia been stated as the highest motorcycle fatalities and road accidents are one of the factors that cause of death and injuries in this country. The most common fatal accident is between a motorcycle and passenger car. The most of the fatal accidents happened on Federal roads with 44 fatal accidents reported, which is equal to 29%. Lacks of road geometric designs consistency where the drivers make mistakes errors due to the road geometric features causes the accident kept rising in Malaysia. Hence, models are based on operating speed to calculate design consistency of road. The profiles were obtained by continuous speed profile using GPS data. The continuous operating speed profile models were plotted based on operating speed model (85th percentile. The study was conduct at F0023 from km 16 until km 20. The purpose of design consistency is to know the relationship between the operating speed and elements of geometric design on the road. As a result, the integrated design consistency motorcycle and cars along a segment at F0023, the threshold shows poor design quality for motorcycles and cars.

Distraction and workload : Driving on the A10 ring road around Amsterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoedemaeker, D.M.; Hogema, J.H.; Pauwelussen, J.J.A.

2010-01-01

A simulator study was performed to establish the effects of motorway environment complexity on driver distraction and workload. In this study environment complexity refers to the visual complexity of static objects on or next to the road and in its vicinity (e.g. traffic signs, buildings,

Road traffic air and noise pollution exposure assessment - A review of tools and techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Jibran; Ketzel, Matthias; Kakosimos, Konstantinos; Sørensen, Mette; Jensen, Steen Solvang

2018-09-01

Road traffic induces air and noise pollution in urban environments having negative impacts on human health. Thus, estimating exposure to road traffic air and noise pollution (hereafter, air and noise pollution) is important in order to improve the understanding of human health outcomes in epidemiological studies. The aims of this review are (i) to summarize current practices of modelling and exposure assessment techniques for road traffic air and noise pollution (ii) to highlight the potential of existing tools and techniques for their combined exposure assessment for air and noise together with associated challenges, research gaps and priorities. The study reviews literature about air and noise pollution from urban road traffic, including other relevant characteristics such as the employed dispersion models, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool, spatial scale of exposure assessment, study location, sample size, type of traffic data and building geometry information. Deterministic modelling is the most frequently used assessment technique for both air and noise pollution of short-term and long-term exposure. We observed a larger variety among air pollution models as compared to the applied noise models. Correlations between air and noise pollution vary significantly (0.05-0.74) and are affected by several parameters such as traffic attributes, building attributes and meteorology etc. Buildings act as screens for the dispersion of pollution, but the reduction effect is much larger for noise than for air pollution. While, meteorology has a greater influence on air pollution levels as compared to noise, although also important for noise pollution. There is a significant potential for developing a standard tool to assess combined exposure of traffic related air and noise pollution to facilitate health related studies. GIS, due to its geographic nature, is well established and has a significant capability to simultaneously address both exposures. Copyright �

The Eurasian Silk Road: Its historical roots and the Chinese imagination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sally Church

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This article takes a long historical perspective on the Silk Road, attempting to see it from a Chinese point of view. It focuses on five themes that figure in the Chinese imagination of the Silk Road, all rooted in China’s history. These include influences that came to China via the Silk Road in prehistoric and early historic times, patterns of military expansion of Chinese power in the Western regions, the threat of invasion from the northern and north-western frontiers, commercial exchanges and individual travel. Individuals journeyed across the Silk Road for diplomatic, military, commercial and sometimes religious reasons and the various themes overlap to some extent. Some myths are also dispelled: first, the Silk Road was not one route but many; second, other commodities besides silk travelled along it and third, the maritime Silk Road should also be included in the concept. Under Mongol rule, the route was at times an unbroken corridor between East and West on which many people travelled in both directions. When the Mongol empire broke up, travel overland was restricted again, which may have been why China took to the seas in the Ming. At present, China is building a New Silk Road to connect with the rest of the world in a more integrated way than ever before. The focus of this article is on establishing the patterns of the past in the hopes that it will contribute to the discussion of whether these patterns will be repeated in the present or if we are in completely uncharted territory.

a Novel Approach to Camera Calibration Method for Smart Phones Under Road Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Bijun; Zhou, Jian; Ye, Maosheng; Guo, Yuan

2016-06-01

Monocular vision-based lane departure warning system has been increasingly used in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). By the use of the lane mark detection and identification, we proposed an automatic and efficient camera calibration method for smart phones. At first, we can detect the lane marker feature in a perspective space and calculate edges of lane markers in image sequences. Second, because of the width of lane marker and road lane is fixed under the standard structural road environment, we can automatically build a transformation matrix between perspective space and 3D space and get a local map in vehicle coordinate system. In order to verify the validity of this method, we installed a smart phone in the `Tuzhi' self-driving car of Wuhan University and recorded more than 100km image data on the road in Wuhan. According to the result, we can calculate the positions of lane markers which are accurate enough for the self-driving car to run smoothly on the road.

Sensitivity Analysis Based SVM Application on Automatic Incident Detection of Rural Road in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingliang Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional automatic incident detection methods such as artificial neural networks, backpropagation neural network, and Markov chains are not suitable for addressing the incident detection problem of rural roads in China which have a relatively high accident rate and a low reaction speed caused by the character of small traffic volume. This study applies the support vector machine (SVM and parameter sensitivity analysis methods to build an accident detection algorithm in a rural road condition, based on real-time data collected in a field experiment. The sensitivity of four parameters (speed, front distance, vehicle group time interval, and free driving ratio is analyzed, and the data sets of two parameters with a significant sensitivity are chosen to form the traffic state feature vector. The SVM and k-fold cross validation (K-CV methods are used to build the accident detection algorithm, which shows an excellent performance in detection accuracy (98.15% of the training data set and 87.5% of the testing data set. Therefore, the problem of low incident reaction speed of rural roads in China could be solved to some extent.

Road safety performance indicators for the interurban road network.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yannis, G. Weijermars, W.A.M. Gitelman, V. Vis, M. Chazirisa, A. Papadimitriou, E. & Lima Azevedo, C.

2013-01-01

Various road safety performance indicators (SPIs) have been proposed for different road safety research areas, mainly as regards driver behaviour (e.g. seat belt use, alcohol, drugs, etc.) and vehicles (e.g. passive safety); however, no SPIs for the road network and design have been developed. The

Findings from the villages of Gradac and Ubosko on the road communication Narona-Ad Zizio

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samardžić Gligor M.

2014-01-01

direction of the road. The direction of the road communication in the field was determined by a number of milestones previously found in some parts of the communication and the remains of settlements. In conclusion to this study, we believe that the route communication Narona-Ad Zizio, proposed by D. Sergejevski and I. Bojanovski, generally cannot be put in doubt. However, changes are possible only on some sections, as indicated by the facts from the field. In the vicinity of the place of the findings of milestones in the southwestern part of Ubosko polje, there is a road passing along the southern rim from west to east, so it is possible that the Roman road went along this edge where a milestone with the implant was found in situ. This route runs along the southern edge of the field, 300 m more to the south of the road line suggested by I. Bojanovski. An alternative route passed some tens of meters in front of the remnants of the settlements on the location of the Križava tilth field and Grebuša which are located on the southwestern edge of the field. At this location there is a number of buildings with fragments of Roman pottery everywhere. Slightly to the east at distance of about 200 m from the first milestone, we found, with the help of the antiques patrons, another milestone on this section of the road, near the medieval inscriptions dedicated to the deceased Dabiživ Radovanović. The fragment of the milestone is 110 cm long with a diameter of about 40 cm, and it is located on the left side of the Ubosko-Hrđusi road at exiting the Ubosko polje. It is possible that the remains of these buildings suggest that they were the ancient complex, the so-called villa rustica. However, nothing more precise could be said about the perceived remains of these buildings foundations without detailed research. This section is a part of the Salona-Dyrrhachium-via Egnatia road and it was probably built during the Dolabella's Regency of the province of Dalmatia (years 16 to 20

Estimation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Generated by Building and Traffic in Taichung City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chou-Tsang Chang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The emissions of carbon dioxide generated by urban traffic is generally reflected by urban size. In order to discuss the traffic volume generated in developed buildings and road crossings in a single urban block, with the metropolitan area in Taichung, Taiwan as an example, this study calculates the mutual relationship between the carbon dioxide generated by the traffic volume and building development scale, in order to research energy consumption and relevance. In this research, the entire-day traffic volume of an important road crossing is subject to statistical analysis to obtain the prediction formula of total passenger car units in the main road crossing within 24 h. Then, the total CO2 emissions generated by the traffic volume in the entire year is calculated according to the investigation data of peak traffic hours within 16 blocks and the influential factors of the development scale of 95 buildings are counted. Finally, this research found that there is a passenger car unit of 4.72 generated in each square meter of land in the urban block every day, 0.99 in each square meter of floor area in the building and the average annual total CO2 emissions of each passenger car unit is 41.4 kgCO2/yr. In addition, the basic information of an integrated road system and traffic volume is used to present a readable urban traffic hot map, which can calculate a distribution map of passenger car units within one day in Taichung. This research unit can be used to forecast the development scale of various buildings in future urban blocks, in order to provide an effective approach to estimate the carbon dioxide generated by the traffic volume.

How effective is road mitigation at reducing road-kill? A meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A.G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C.S.; Houlahan, Jeff; Ree, van der Rodney; Grift, van der Edgar A.

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners,

Automatic Centerline Extraction of Coverd Roads by Surrounding Objects from High Resolution Satellite Images

Science.gov (United States)

Kamangir, H.; Momeni, M.; Satari, M.

2017-09-01

This paper presents an automatic method to extract road centerline networks from high and very high resolution satellite images. The present paper addresses the automated extraction roads covered with multiple natural and artificial objects such as trees, vehicles and either shadows of buildings or trees. In order to have a precise road extraction, this method implements three stages including: classification of images based on maximum likelihood algorithm to categorize images into interested classes, modification process on classified images by connected component and morphological operators to extract pixels of desired objects by removing undesirable pixels of each class, and finally line extraction based on RANSAC algorithm. In order to evaluate performance of the proposed method, the generated results are compared with ground truth road map as a reference. The evaluation performance of the proposed method using representative test images show completeness values ranging between 77% and 93%.

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.

Road Lane Detection Robust to Shadows Based on a Fuzzy System Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toan Minh Hoang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Recently, autonomous vehicles, particularly self-driving cars, have received significant attention owing to rapid advancements in sensor and computation technologies. In addition to traffic sign recognition, road lane detection is one of the most important factors used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles for maintaining the safety of semi-autonomous and fully autonomous systems. Unlike traffic signs, road lanes are easily damaged by both internal and external factors such as road quality, occlusion (traffic on the road, weather conditions, and illumination (shadows from objects such as cars, trees, and buildings. Obtaining clear road lane markings for recognition processing is a difficult challenge. Therefore, we propose a method to overcome various illumination problems, particularly severe shadows, by using fuzzy system and line segment detector algorithms to obtain better results for detecting road lanes by a visible light camera sensor. Experimental results from three open databases, Caltech dataset, Santiago Lanes dataset (SLD, and Road Marking dataset, showed that our method outperformed conventional lane detection methods.

Joint road safety operations in tunnels and open roads

Science.gov (United States)

Adesiyun, Adewole; Avenoso, Antonio; Dionelis, Kallistratos; Cela, Liljana; Nicodème, Christophe; Goger, Thierry; Polidori, Carlo

2017-09-01

The objective of the ECOROADS project is to overcome the barrier established by the formal interpretation of the two Directives 2008/96/EC and 2004/54/EC, which in practice do not allow the same Road Safety Audits/Inspections to be performed inside tunnels. The projects aims at the establishment of a common enhanced approach to road infrastructure and tunnel safety management by using the concepts and criteria of the Directive 2008/96/CE on road infrastructure safety management and the results of related European Commission (EC) funded projects. ECOROADS has already implemented an analysis of national practices regarding Road Safety Inspections (RSI), two Workshops with the stakeholders, and an exchange of best practices between European tunnel experts and road safety professionals, which led to the definition of common agreed safety procedures. In the second phase of the project, different groups of experts and observers applied the above common procedures by inspecting five European road sections featuring both open roads and tunnels in Belgium, Albania, Germany, Serbia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This paper shows the feedback of the 5 joint safety operations and how they are being used for a set of - recommendations and guidelines for the application of the RSA and RSI concepts within the tunnel safety operations.

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis

OpenAIRE

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A. G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C. Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these...

Tire-road noise: an experimental study of tire and road design parameters

OpenAIRE

Bekke, Dirk; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; Weegerink, Thijs; de Boer, Andries

2013-01-01

It is widely known that road traffic noise has negative influences on human health. Hence, as tire-road noise is considered to be the most dominant cause of road traffic noise above 30-50 km/h, a lot of research is performed by the two involving industries: road authorities/manufacturers and tire manufacturers. Usually, the parameters influencing exterior tire-road noise are often examined separately, whereas it is the tire-road interaction which obviously causes the actual noise. An integral...

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A G; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these measures vary greatly. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from 50 studies that quantified the relationship between road-kill and a mitigation measure designed to reduce road-kill. Overall, mitigation measures reduce road-kill by 40% compared to controls. Fences, with or without crossing structures, reduce road-kill by 54%. We found no detectable effect on road-kill of crossing structures without fencing. We found that comparatively expensive mitigation measures reduce large mammal road-kill much more than inexpensive measures. For example, the combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% for wildlife reflectors. We suggest that inexpensive measures such as reflectors should not be used until and unless their effectiveness is tested using a high-quality experimental approach. Our meta-analysis also highlights the fact that there are insufficient data to answer many of the most pressing questions that road planners ask about the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, such as whether other less common mitigation measures (e.g., measures to reduce traffic volume and/or speed) reduce road mortality, or to what extent the attributes of crossing structures and fences influence their effectiveness. To improve evaluations of mitigation effectiveness, studies should incorporate data collection before the mitigation is applied, and we recommend a

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trina Rytwinski

Full Text Available Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill. For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these measures vary greatly. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from 50 studies that quantified the relationship between road-kill and a mitigation measure designed to reduce road-kill. Overall, mitigation measures reduce road-kill by 40% compared to controls. Fences, with or without crossing structures, reduce road-kill by 54%. We found no detectable effect on road-kill of crossing structures without fencing. We found that comparatively expensive mitigation measures reduce large mammal road-kill much more than inexpensive measures. For example, the combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% for wildlife reflectors. We suggest that inexpensive measures such as reflectors should not be used until and unless their effectiveness is tested using a high-quality experimental approach. Our meta-analysis also highlights the fact that there are insufficient data to answer many of the most pressing questions that road planners ask about the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, such as whether other less common mitigation measures (e.g., measures to reduce traffic volume and/or speed reduce road mortality, or to what extent the attributes of crossing structures and fences influence their effectiveness. To improve evaluations of mitigation effectiveness, studies should incorporate data collection before the mitigation is applied, and we

How Effective Is Road Mitigation at Reducing Road-Kill? A Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Rytwinski, Trina; Soanes, Kylie; Jaeger, Jochen A. G.; Fahrig, Lenore; Findlay, C. Scott; Houlahan, Jeff; van der Ree, Rodney; van der Grift, Edgar A

2016-01-01

Road traffic kills hundreds of millions of animals every year, posing a critical threat to the populations of many species. To address this problem there are more than forty types of road mitigation measures available that aim to reduce wildlife mortality on roads (road-kill). For road planners, deciding on what mitigation method to use has been problematic because there is little good information about the relative effectiveness of these measures in reducing road-kill, and the costs of these measures vary greatly. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from 50 studies that quantified the relationship between road-kill and a mitigation measure designed to reduce road-kill. Overall, mitigation measures reduce road-kill by 40% compared to controls. Fences, with or without crossing structures, reduce road-kill by 54%. We found no detectable effect on road-kill of crossing structures without fencing. We found that comparatively expensive mitigation measures reduce large mammal road-kill much more than inexpensive measures. For example, the combination of fencing and crossing structures led to an 83% reduction in road-kill of large mammals, compared to a 57% reduction for animal detection systems, and only a 1% for wildlife reflectors. We suggest that inexpensive measures such as reflectors should not be used until and unless their effectiveness is tested using a high-quality experimental approach. Our meta-analysis also highlights the fact that there are insufficient data to answer many of the most pressing questions that road planners ask about the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, such as whether other less common mitigation measures (e.g., measures to reduce traffic volume and/or speed) reduce road mortality, or to what extent the attributes of crossing structures and fences influence their effectiveness. To improve evaluations of mitigation effectiveness, studies should incorporate data collection before the mitigation is applied, and we recommend a

Local resource based approach to maintaining and preserving rural local access roads assets: Siyatentela institutional framework and governance case study discourses

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Chakwizira, J

2010-10-01

Full Text Available and other development agencies focusing on the use of appropriate technologies for civil construction be it in the road, transport, water, agriculture or environmental sectors (World Bank 2001; ILO, 2002; Clegg, 2003). The seminal study conducted... and contribution of local resource based approach to rural and community access roads requires a review of the labour based initiatives in the road, transport and infrastructure sub-sector. An apt statement that captures the essence of building local community...

Road Network Selection Based on Road Hierarchical Structure Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HE Haiwei

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A new road network selection method based on hierarchical structure is studied. Firstly, road network is built as strokes which are then classified into hierarchical collections according to the criteria of betweenness centrality value (BC value. Secondly, the hierarchical structure of the strokes is enhanced using structural characteristic identification technique. Thirdly, the importance calculation model was established according to the relationships among the hierarchical structure of the strokes. Finally, the importance values of strokes are got supported with the model's hierarchical calculation, and with which the road network is selected. Tests are done to verify the advantage of this method by comparing it with other common stroke-oriented methods using three kinds of typical road network data. Comparision of the results show that this method had few need to semantic data, and could eliminate the negative influence of edge strokes caused by the criteria of BC value well. So, it is better to maintain the global hierarchical structure of road network, and suitable to meet with the selection of various kinds of road network at the same time.

Road pricing policy implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vonk Noordegraaf, D.M.

2016-01-01

Urban areas suffer from the negative externalities of road transport like congested road networks, air pollution and road traffic accidents. A measure to reduce these negative externalities is road pricing, meaning policies that impose direct charges on road use (Jones and Hervik, 1992). Since the

Effect of the Road Environment on Road Safety in Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Budzynski, Marcin; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Antoniuk, Marcin

2017-10-01

Run-off-road accidents tend to be very severe because when a vehicle leaves the road, it will often crash into a solid obstacle (tree, pole, supports, front wall of a culvert, barrier). A statistical analysis of the data shows that Poland’s main roadside hazard is trees and the severity of vehicles striking a tree in a run-off-road crash. The risks are particularly high in north-west Poland with many of the roads lined up with trees. Because of the existing rural road cross-sections, i.e. having trees directly on road edge followed immediately by drainage ditches, vulnerable road users are prevented from using shoulders and made to use the roadway. With no legal definition of the road safety zone in Polish regulations, attempts to remove roadside trees lead to major conflicts with environmental stakeholders. This is why a compromise should be sought between the safety of road users and protection of the natural environment and the aesthetics of the road experience. Rather than just cut the trees, other road safety measures should be used where possible to treat the hazardous spots by securing trees and obstacles and through speed management. Accidents that are directly related to the road environment fall into the following categories: hitting a tree, hitting a barrier, hitting a utility pole or sign, vehicle rollover on the shoulder, vehicle rollover on slopes or in ditch. The main consequence of a roadside hazard is not the likelihood of an accident itself but of its severity. Poland’s roadside accident severity is primarily the result of poor design or operation of road infrastructure. This comes as a consequence of a lack of regulations or poorly defined regulations and failure to comply with road safety standards. The new analytical model was designed as a combination of the different factors and one that will serve as a comprehensive model. It was assumed that it will describe the effect of the roadside on the number of accidents and their consequences

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...

Large-scale road safety programmes in low- and middle-income countries: an opportunity to generate evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyder, Adnan A; Allen, Katharine A; Peters, David H; Chandran, Aruna; Bishai, David

2013-01-01

The growing burden of road traffic injuries, which kill over 1.2 million people yearly, falls mostly on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite this, evidence generation on the effectiveness of road safety interventions in LMIC settings remains scarce. This paper explores a scientific approach for evaluating road safety programmes in LMICs and introduces such a road safety multi-country initiative, the Road Safety in 10 Countries Project (RS-10). By building on existing evaluation frameworks, we develop a scientific approach for evaluating large-scale road safety programmes in LMIC settings. This also draws on '13 lessons' of large-scale programme evaluation: defining the evaluation scope; selecting study sites; maintaining objectivity; developing an impact model; utilising multiple data sources; using multiple analytic techniques; maximising external validity; ensuring an appropriate time frame; the importance of flexibility and a stepwise approach; continuous monitoring; providing feedback to implementers, policy-makers; promoting the uptake of evaluation results; and understanding evaluation costs. The use of relatively new approaches for evaluation of real-world programmes allows for the production of relevant knowledge. The RS-10 project affords an important opportunity to scientifically test these approaches for a real-world, large-scale road safety evaluation and generate new knowledge for the field of road safety.

eRoads

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Connolly, David

vehicles enable more renewable electricity to be integrated onto the electricity grid. This is particularly evident in 2050, since the price of fossil fuels increases while the price of renewable electricity and batteries decreases. Finally, the electric road scenarios can facilitate more reductions......This study compares electric roads with oil (petrol and diesel) and battery electric vehicles, using Denmark as a case study. Electric roads can reduce the cost of electric vehicles by supplying them with electricity directly from the road rather than via a battery for long-distance journeys....... In this paper, an electric road scenario is compared to both an oil and battery electric vehicle scenario using the 2010 Danish energy system, but for two sets of costs: one set based on historical costs from the year 2010 and one based on projected costs for the year 2050. The results indicate that electric...

Use of accelerations connected to GPS data to identify hazardous road locations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerholm, Niels; Andersen, Camilla Sloth; Reinau, Kristian Hegner

have to occur before road safety enhancements can be made. The objective has been to build a predictive model for identification of HRL on the basis of Floating Car Data (FCD) associated with acceleration data. Strong decelerations are often involved in road accidents. From conflict studies it is known...... that there is a connection between the number of conflicts and the number of accidents. The hypothesis was that concentration of jerks, which is the derivative of the deceleration, can be used for identification of HRL and that these are better for this task than deceleration. A study is based on data from three months...

The effect of road and environmental characteristics on pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Aidoo, Eric Nimako; Amoh-Gyimah, Richard; Ackaah, Williams

2013-04-01

The number of pedestrians who have died as a result of being hit by vehicles has increased in recent years, in addition to vehicle passenger deaths. Many pedestrians who were involved in road traffic accident died as a result of the driver leaving the pedestrian who was struck unattended at the scene of the accident. This paper seeks to determine the effect of road and environmental characteristics on pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana. Using pedestrian accident data extracted from the National Road Traffic Accident Database at the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana, a binary logit model was employed in the analysis. The results from the estimated model indicate that fatal accidents, unclear weather, nighttime conditions, and straight and flat road sections without medians and junctions significantly increase the likelihood that the vehicle driver will leave the scene after hitting a pedestrian. Thus, integrating median separation and speed humps into road design and construction and installing street lights will help to curb the problem of pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Prevention of road accidents in the road haulage field].

Science.gov (United States)

Rosso, G L; Zanelli, R; Corino, P; Bruno, S

2007-01-01

Every year many traffic accidents with fatal outcomes occur in our Country. According to the recent indications of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the Piedmont region has financed the plan: Prevention of road accidents in the road haulage field. The aims of the plan are to stimulate transport companies to the target of road safety and to improve and enforce sanitary surveillance, in order to improve the safety on road haulage and to prevent traffic injuries. the plan foresees, over a period of two years, a few encounters with all the interested parties (companies, police forces, labour unions etc). During those encounters we have to give a questionnaire for evaluating the companies' knowledge about the problem and we have to choose a common plan with the aim of improving road safety. The Piedmont regional plan recalls the need to increase the attention to numerous and diversified hazards for safety on road haulage. It also imposes the choice of measures that include: risk assessment, health education, technical and environmental prevention, sanitary surveillance and clinical interventions (diagnosis and rehabilitation of occupational accidents).

Green building handbook volume 3: Demolish or deconstruct

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2010-11-01

Full Text Available by the construction industry, the amount of waste can be as high as 15 per cent of all construction products used in a project. Construction products are intermediate products, which are to be incorporated in construction works (notably buildings, but also roads...

All-terrain vehicle fatalities on paved roads, unpaved roads, and off-road: Evidence for informed roadway safety warnings and legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Denning, Gerene M; Jennissen, Charles A

2016-05-18

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are designed for off-highway use only, and many of their features create increased risk with roadway travel. Over half of all ATV-related fatalities occur on roadways, and nonfatal roadway crashes result in more serious injuries than those off the road. A number of jurisdictions have passed or have considered legislation allowing ATVs on public roadways, sometimes limiting them to those unpaved, arguing that they are safe for ATVs. However, no studies have determined the epidemiology of ATV-related fatalities on different road surface types. The objective of the study was to compare ATV-related deaths on paved versus unpaved roads and to contrast them with off-road fatalities. Retrospective descriptive and multivariable analyses were performed using U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission fatality data from 1982 through 2012. After 1998, ATV-related deaths increased at twice the rate on paved versus unpaved roads. Still, 42% of all roadway deaths during the study period occurred on unpaved surfaces. States varied considerably, ranging from 18% to 79% of their ATV-related roadway deaths occurring on unpaved roads. Paved road crashes were more likely than those on unpaved surfaces to involve males, adolescents and younger adults, passengers, and collisions with other vehicles. Both the pattern of other vehicles involved in collisions and which vehicle hit the other were different for the 2 road types. Alcohol use was higher, helmet use was lower, and head injuries were more likely in paved versus unpaved roadway crashes. However, head injuries still occurred in 76% of fatalities on unpaved roads. Helmets were associated with lower proportions of head injuries among riders, regardless of road surface type. Relative to off-road crashes, both paved and unpaved roads were more likely to involve collisions with another vehicle. The vast majority of roadway crashes, however, did not involve a traffic collision on either paved or unpaved roads

Using endemic road features to create self-explaining roads and reduce vehicle speeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Charlton, Samuel G; Mackie, Hamish W; Baas, Peter H; Hay, Karen; Menezes, Miguel; Dixon, Claire

2010-11-01

This paper describes a project undertaken to establish a self-explaining roads (SER) design programme on existing streets in an urban area. The methodology focussed on developing a process to identify functional road categories and designs based on endemic road characteristics taken from functional exemplars in the study area. The study area was divided into two sections, one to receive SER treatments designed to maximise visual differences between road categories, and a matched control area to remain untreated for purposes of comparison. The SER design for local roads included increased landscaping and community islands to limit forward visibility, and removal of road markings to create a visually distinct road environment. In comparison, roads categorised as collectors received increased delineation, addition of cycle lanes, and improved amenity for pedestrians. Speed data collected 3 months after implementation showed a significant reduction in vehicle speeds on local roads and increased homogeneity of speeds on both local and collector roads. The objective speed data, combined with residents' speed choice ratings, indicated that the project was successful in creating two discriminably different road categories. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Road safety performance indicators for the interurban road network.

Science.gov (United States)

Yannis, George; Weijermars, Wendy; Gitelman, Victoria; Vis, Martijn; Chaziris, Antonis; Papadimitriou, Eleonora; Azevedo, Carlos Lima

2013-11-01

Various road safety performance indicators (SPIs) have been proposed for different road safety research areas, mainly as regards driver behaviour (e.g. seat belt use, alcohol, drugs, etc.) and vehicles (e.g. passive safety); however, no SPIs for the road network and design have been developed. The objective of this research is the development of an SPI for the road network, to be used as a benchmark for cross-region comparisons. The developed SPI essentially makes a comparison of the existing road network to the theoretically required one, defined as one which meets some minimum requirements with respect to road safety. This paper presents a theoretical concept for the determination of this SPI as well as a translation of this theory into a practical method. Also, the method is applied in a number of pilot countries namely the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece and Israel. The results show that the SPI could be efficiently calculated in all countries, despite some differences in the data sources. In general, the calculated overall SPI scores were realistic and ranged from 81 to 94%, with the exception of Greece where the SPI was relatively lower (67%). However, the SPI should be considered as a first attempt to determine the safety level of the road network. The proposed method has some limitations and could be further improved. The paper presents directions for further research to further develop the SPI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FOREST HARVEST SCHEDULING PLAN INTEGRATED TO THE ROAD NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Henrique Belavenutti Martins da Silva

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In industrial forest plantations, the spatial distribution of management units for harvest scheduling influences the timber production cost and the non-renewable resources consumption, due to issues related to transport logistic. In this context, this research aimed to formulate Integer Linear Programming (ILP by means of the application of Floyd-Warshall network optimization algorithm to generate timber production routes, minimizing the production costs resulting from harvest activities and forest road maintenance. Then, scenarios were simulated considering different minimal harvest ages for Pinus spp. and Eucalyptus spp. stands. The planning horizon was five years with annual periodicity. The study area was 23,330 hectares of forests, located in Paraná state (southern Brazil. We compared the simulated scenarios according to the following parameter indicators: harvest income, building road network and the production unit cost. The decreasing of the minimal harvest age reduces the mean production of management units scheduled to be harvested, in other hand, it requires fewer roads to be built, and consequently increases the production unit cost. The solutions obtained by using ILP models presented an optimality gap lower than 0.1%.

A NOVEL APPROACH TO CAMERA CALIBRATION METHOD FOR SMART PHONES UNDER ROAD ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Lee

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Monocular vision-based lane departure warning system has been increasingly used in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS. By the use of the lane mark detection and identification, we proposed an automatic and efficient camera calibration method for smart phones. At first, we can detect the lane marker feature in a perspective space and calculate edges of lane markers in image sequences. Second, because of the width of lane marker and road lane is fixed under the standard structural road environment, we can automatically build a transformation matrix between perspective space and 3D space and get a local map in vehicle coordinate system. In order to verify the validity of this method, we installed a smart phone in the ‘Tuzhi’ self-driving car of Wuhan University and recorded more than 100km image data on the road in Wuhan. According to the result, we can calculate the positions of lane markers which are accurate enough for the self-driving car to run smoothly on the road.

Feature Evaluation for Building Facade Images - AN Empirical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, M. Y.; Förstner, W.; Chai, D.

2012-08-01

The classification of building facade images is a challenging problem that receives a great deal of attention in the photogrammetry community. Image classification is critically dependent on the features. In this paper, we perform an empirical feature evaluation task for building facade images. Feature sets we choose are basic features, color features, histogram features, Peucker features, texture features, and SIFT features. We present an approach for region-wise labeling using an efficient randomized decision forest classifier and local features. We conduct our experiments with building facade image classification on the eTRIMS dataset, where our focus is the object classes building, car, door, pavement, road, sky, vegetation, and window.

Addressing the technical capacity constraints on community-based labour intensive road projects - a case study of the Amadiba road project

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Lachman, A

2006-09-01

Full Text Available effect. 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER The main aim of this paper is to discuss the technical capacity constraints experienced on the Amadiba Road Project and to outline the measures taken to address them. Some of the objectives of this paper... are to: � Highlight the socioeconomic status of the community � Highlight the capacity needed on the project � Discuss some of the capacity building issues � Highlight the current state of the community 4. SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS OF THE AMADIBA...

Road density

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Road density is generally highly correlated with amount of developed land cover. High road densities usually indicate high levels of ecological disturbance. More...

Road accident rates: strategies and programmes for improving road traffic safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Goniewicz, K; Goniewicz, M; Pawłowski, W; Fiedor, P

2016-08-01

Nowadays, the problem of road accident rates is one of the most important health and social policy issues concerning the countries in all continents. Each year, nearly 1.3 million people worldwide lose their life on roads, and 20-50 million sustain severe injuries, the majority of which require long-term treatment. The objective of the study was to identify the most frequent, constantly occurring causes of road accidents, as well as outline actions constituting a basis for the strategies and programmes aiming at improving traffic safety on local and global levels. Comparative analysis of literature concerning road safety was performed, confirming that although road accidents had a varied and frequently complex background, their causes have changed only to a small degree over the years. The causes include: lack of control and enforcement concerning implementation of traffic regulation (primarily driving at excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, and not respecting the rights of other road users (mainly pedestrians and cyclists), lack of appropriate infrastructure and unroadworthy vehicles. The number of fatal accidents and severe injuries, resulting from road accidents, may be reduced through applying an integrated approach to safety on roads. The strategies and programmes for improving road traffic should include the following measures: reducing the risk of exposure to an accident, prevention of accidents, reduction in bodily injuries sustained in accidents, and reduction of the effects of injuries by improvement of post-accident medical care.

Tire-road noise: an experimental study of tire and road design parameters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekke, Dirk; Wijnant, Ysbrand H.; Weegerink, Thijs; de Boer, Andries

2013-01-01

It is widely known that road traffic noise has negative influences on human health. Hence, as tire-road noise is considered to be the most dominant cause of road traffic noise above 30-50 km/h, a lot of research is performed by the two involving industries: road authorities/manufacturers and tire

Demonstrating a correlation between the maturity of road safety practices and road safety incidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Amador, Luis; Willis, Christopher Joseph

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to demonstrate a correlation between the maturity of a country's road safety practices and road safety incidents. Firstly, data on a number of road injuries and fatalities for 129 countries were extracted from the United Nations Global Status on Road Safety database. These data were subdivided according to road safety incident and accident causation factors and normalized based on vehicular fleet (per 1000 vehicles) and road network (per meter of paved road). Secondly, a road safety maturity model was developed based on an adaptation of the concept of process maturity modeling. The maturity of countries with respect to 10 road safety practices was determined through the identification of indicators recorded in the United Nations Global Status of Road Safety Database. Plots of normalized road safety performance of the 129 countries against their maturity scores for each road safety practice as well as an aggregation of the road safety practices were developed. An analysis of variance was done to determine the extent of the correlation between the road safety maturity of the countries and their performance. In addition, a full Bayesian analysis was done to confirm the correlation of each of the road safety practices with injuries and fatalities. Regression analysis for fatalities, injuries, and combined accidents identified maturity with respect to road safety practices associated with speed limits and use of alternative modes as being the most significant predictors of traffic fatalities. A full Bayesian regression confirms that there is a correlation between the maturity of road safety practices and road safety incidents. Road safety practices associated with enforcement of speed limits and promotion of alternative modes are the most significant road safety practices toward which mature countries have concentrated their efforts, resulting in a lower frequency of fatalities, injury rates, and property damage accidents. The authors

Road traffic injury on rural roads in Tanzania: measuring the effectiveness of a road safety program.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Karen; Jinadasa, Deepani; Maegga, Bertha; Guerrero, Alejandro

2015-01-01

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a major public health burden, especially in low- and middle-income countries. There is limited data on RTIs in low-volume, rural African settings. This study attempted to survey all individuals living in households within 200 m of two low-volume rural roads in Tanzania and to collect data on RTIs. Local communities and users of the Bago to Talawanda road (intervention site) and Kikaro to Mihuga road (control site) were targeted and received an intensive program of road safety measures tailored using the crash characteristics of the baseline sample. Demographic data on all household members were collected, and those individuals who suffered an RTI in the previous 3 months had comprehensive information collected about the crash characteristics and the socioeconomic impact. The follow-up data collection occurred nine months after the baseline data were collected. The majority of crashes that caused an RTI involved a motorcycle (71%) and the majority of victims were male (82%) with an average age of 27. Injuries to the legs (55%) were most common and the average length of time away from normal activity was 27 (±33) days. RTI incidence at the intervention site increased during the course of the study (incidence before vs. incidence after) and was unchanged in the community control (incidence before vs. incidence after). The incidence of RTIs in the low-volume rural setting is unacceptably high and most commonly associated with motorcycles. The change in incidence is unreliable due to logistic restraints of the project and more research is needed to quantify the impact of various RTI prevention strategies in this setting. This study provides insight into road traffic injuries on low-volume rural roads, areas where very little research has been captured. Additionally, it provides a replicable study design for those interested in collecting similar data on low-volume rural roads.

Diurnal variation of on-road air pollution in an urban street canyon in Seoul

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Woo, Sung; Lee, Seung-Bok; Kim, Kyung Hwan; Bae, Gwi-Nam; Sunwoo, Young; Ma, Young-Il; Han, Dokyoung; Song, Sanghoo

2014-05-01

Motor vehicles are a major source of CO, NOx and particulate matters. Especially, in the surroundings of high-raised buildings, so-called an urban street canyon, air pollution levels increase due to limited dispersion of vehicle emissions. In this study, a mobile laboratory was used to measure diurnal variation of on-road concentrations of air pollutants such as NOx, particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, black carbon and particle number in the urban street canyon on the Teheran road with eight lanes in Seoul, Korea from 5th to 8th November 2013. Each traveling distance was about 3.3km. Traveling vehicle at the middle of the Teheran road was recorded by video camera, and then the car counting by vehicle types. On road measurements conducted for 3~6 hours per day. Hourly average of air pollutant concentration in morning rush hour more than two times higher than those at the daybreak. We will analyze the correlation between air pollution levels and traffic volume by vehicle types. We will discuss about spatial characteristics of on-road air pollution levels in the urban street canyon.

Gravel roads management : volume 1, gravel roads management.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

This report establishes procedures for managing dirt and gravel roads, with a primary focus on smaller agencies, such as Wyoming counties, that must manage their roads with very limited resources. The report strives, first, to guide and assist smalle...

On street observations of particulate matter movement and dispersion due to traffic on an urban road

Science.gov (United States)

Patra, Aditya; Colvile, Roy; Arnold, Samantha; Bowen, Emma; Shallcross, Dudley; Martin, Damien; Price, Catheryn; Tate, James; ApSimon, Helen; Robins, Alan

Empirical models for particulate matter emissions from paved road surfaces have been criticised for their lack of realism and accuracy. To support the development of a less empirical model, a study was conducted in a busy street at the DAPPLE site in Central London to understand the processes and to identify important parameters that influence emission from paved roads. Ordinary road gritting salt was applied to the road and the particulate matter entering the air at near-road surface level was monitored using optical particle counters. The grit acted as a tracer. The grit moved rapidly along the road in the direction of traffic flow. Build-up of material at the kerb indicated material being thrown across the road by the traffic. Coarser particles were resuspended faster than the finer ones. A clear decay profile was seen in the case of particles larger than 2μm; particles smaller than 2μm did not show any decay pattern during the experiment duration. Grinding of material appears to control the reservoir of fine particles on the road surface. The amount of material resuspended by traffic is about 30% less than those removed along the road and a factor of 6 higher than the amount removed across the road. Resuspension accounts for 40% of the total material removed from a road segment and 70% of the material removed together along and across the road. On average a single vehicle pass removes 0.08% of material present on a road segment at that instant. The calculation scheme is obtained from a short-duration study and therefore further studies of long duration involving varying road geometry and different traffic and meteorological condition need to be carried out before applying parameter estimates presented in this paper.

MAARGHA: A Prototype System for Road Condition and Surface Type Estimation by Fusing Multi-Sensor Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deepak Rajamohan

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Road infrastructure in countries like India is expanding at a rapid pace and is becoming increasingly difficult for authorities to identify and fix the bad roads in time. Current Geographical Information Systems (GIS lack information about on-road features like road surface type, speed breakers and dynamic attribute data like the road quality. Hence there is a need to build road monitoring systems capable of collecting such information periodically. Limitations of satellite imagery with respect to the resolution and availability, makes road monitoring primarily an on-field activity. Monitoring is currently performed using special vehicles that are fitted with expensive laser scanners and need skilled resource besides providing only very low coverage. Hence such systems are not suitable for continuous road monitoring. Cheaper alternative systems using sensors like accelerometer and GPS (Global Positioning System exists but they are not equipped to achieve higher information levels. This paper presents a prototype system MAARGHA (MAARGHA in Sanskrit language means an eternal path to solution, which demonstrates that it can overcome the disadvantages of the existing systems by fusing multi-sensory data like camera image, accelerometer data and GPS trajectory at an information level, apart from providing additional road information like road surface type. MAARGHA has been tested across different road conditions and sensor data characteristics to assess its potential applications in real world scenarios. The developed system achieves higher information levels when compared to state of the art road condition estimation systems like Roadroid. The system performance in road surface type classification is dependent on the local environmental conditions at the time of imaging. In our study, the road surface type classification accuracy reached 100% for datasets with near ideal environmental conditions and dropped down to 60% for datasets with shadows and

Impact of the CSIR heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) on the performance of the SA road network

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Du Plessis, L

2008-11-01

Full Text Available results in significant savings in road building and rehabilitation costs. Some of the most significant developments in the South African pavement design engineering field resulting from HVS related research are discussed in the poster....

Roles of Urban Tree Canopy and Buildings in Urban Heat Island Effects: Parameterization and Preliminary Results

Science.gov (United States)

Loughner, Christopher P.; Allen, Dale J.; Zhang, Da-Lin; Pickering, Kenneth E.; Dickerson, Russell R.; Landry, Laura

2012-01-01

Urban heat island (UHI) effects can strengthen heat waves and air pollution episodes. In this study, the dampening impact of urban trees on the UHI during an extreme heat wave in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area is examined by incorporating trees, soil, and grass into the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model and an urban canopy model (WRF-UCM). By parameterizing the effects of these natural surfaces alongside roadways and buildings, the modified WRF-UCM is used to investigate how urban trees, soil, and grass dampen the UHI. The modified model was run with 50% tree cover over urban roads and a 10% decrease in the width of urban streets to make space for soil and grass alongside the roads and buildings. Results show that, averaged over all urban areas, the added vegetation decreases surface air temperature in urban street canyons by 4.1 K and road-surface and building-wall temperatures by 15.4 and 8.9 K, respectively, as a result of tree shading and evapotranspiration. These temperature changes propagate downwind and alter the temperature gradient associated with the Chesapeake Bay breeze and, therefore, alter the strength of the bay breeze. The impact of building height on the UHI shows that decreasing commercial building heights by 8 m and residential building heights by 2.5 m results in up to 0.4-K higher daytime surface and near-surface air temperatures because of less building shading and up to 1.2-K lower nighttime temperatures because of less longwave radiative trapping in urban street canyons.

Automatic Blocked Roads Assessment after Earthquake Using High Resolution Satellite Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Rastiveis, H.; Hosseini-Zirdoo, E.; Eslamizade, F.

2015-12-01

In 2010, an earthquake in the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, happened quite by chance an accident and killed over 300000 people. According to historical data such an earthquake has not occurred in the area. Unpredictability of earthquakes has necessitated the need for comprehensive mitigation efforts to minimize deaths and injuries. Blocked roads, caused by debris of destroyed buildings, may increase the difficulty of rescue activities. In this case, a damage map, which specifies blocked and unblocked roads, can be definitely helpful for a rescue team. In this paper, a novel method for providing destruction map based on pre-event vector map and high resolution world view II satellite images after earthquake, is presented. For this purpose, firstly in pre-processing step, image quality improvement and co-coordination of image and map are performed. Then, after extraction of texture descriptor from the image after quake and SVM classification, different terrains are detected in the image. Finally, considering the classification results, specifically objects belong to "debris" class, damage analysis are performed to estimate the damage percentage. In this case, in addition to the area objects in the "debris" class their shape should also be counted. The aforementioned process are performed on all the roads in the road layer.In this research, pre-event digital vector map and post-event high resolution satellite image, acquired by Worldview-2, of the city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, were used to evaluate the proposed method. The algorithm was executed on 1200×800 m2 of the data set, including 60 roads, and all the roads were labelled correctly. The visual examination have authenticated the abilities of this method for damage assessment of urban roads network after an earthquake.

Gravel road stabilisation of Ehnsjoevaegen, Hallstavik[Using fly ash]; Skogsbilvaegsrenovering av Ehnsjoevaegen, Hallstavik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macsik, Josef; Svedberg, Bo [Ecoloop, Stockholm (Sweden)

2006-03-15

Fly ash in geotechnical applications has stabilising, isolating, low permeability and hardening effect. Fly ash can be used in road constructions with low bearing capacity, as well as on top cover material on landfills. The aim of the project was to build a road section with fly ash stabilised gravel, based on laboratory studies, and follow up technical and environmental aspect during the first year after stabilisation. The overall aim of this project was to evaluate fly ash from Holmen Paper, Hallstavik, from technical and environmental point of view in a gravel road construction. A gravel road, Ehnsjoevaegen, was stabilised with fly ash during autumn 2004. This road was a low priority road. The fly ash stabilised road section was 1300 m long. Gravel from the road Ehnsjoevaegen was stabilised and investigated in a laboratory study. Leachability of metals and geotechnical aspects were investigated. The laboratory study showed that fly ash stabilised gravel has high shear strength, however its thawing resistance is not fully acceptable. Additives of cement or merit are needed in order to increase its thawing resistance. The actual road section is not going to be used during thawing period and no additives were used. The test road is divided into different sections including a reference section. The road stabilisation work was conducted with gravel transported to Ehnsjoevaegen from off site and not with gravel from the site. Fly ash was tipped off on a levelled road, followed by tipping of gravel. Mixing fly ash and gravel was done on site by a road scraper. After the mixing the road was gravelled with 0,1 m graded gravel. In this project the fly ash had low water content. In order to get optimal compaction water was added from a tanker supplying water before compacted with a compactor. Results from the pilot test shows that fly ash stabilised gravel can be tipped, mixed and compacted effectively. Tipping can be optimised if fly ash and gravel is mixed in a mixer

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 

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Sustainable road safety: a new (?) neighbourhood road pattern that saves VRU lives.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Vicky Feng; Lovegrove, Gord

2012-01-01

Both the UN (2007) and World Health Organizations (2004) have declared the enormous social and economic burden imposed on society by injuries due to road collisions as a major global problem. While the road safety problem is not new, this prominent global declaration sends an important signal of frustration regarding progress to date on reducing road collisions. It is clear that governments, communities, businesses and the public must discover ways of reducing this burden, especially as it relates to vulnerable road users (VRUs), typically meaning pedestrian and bicyclist road users. Recent comparisons of global VRU collisions statistics suggest that, in addition to mixed land use density, the layout of neighbourhood roads plays a vital role in the encouragement of walkable, safe and quiet, yet accessible and sustainable communities. The purpose of this paper was to: The Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) Program has produced a number of innovative land use and transportation initiatives for vehicular road users as well as non-vehicular VRUs. Following from the Dutch initiatives, these new 3-way offset, and fused grid neighbourhood patterns appear to not only have positive effects in encouraging mode split (i.e. increasing walking and bicycling, and transit), slowing traffic, and reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions; but also, to hold potential to improve road safety. To test the road safety hypothesis, UBCO researchers evaluated the level of road safety relative to five neighbourhood patterns - grid, culs-de-sac, and Dutch Sustainable Road Safety (SRS) (or limited access), 3-way offset, and fused grid networks. Analysis using standard transportation planning methodology revealed that they would maintain both mobility and accessibility. Analysis using standard road safety analysis methodology further revealed that these 3-way offset, and fused grid patterns would significantly improve road safety levels by as much as 60% compared to prevalent patterns (i

Road Closures

Data.gov (United States)

Montgomery County of Maryland — This is an up to date map of current road closures in Montgomery County.This dataset is updated every few minutes from the Department of Transportation road closure...

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.

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.

Anticipatory research for the design of a sustainable and safe road traffic system.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oppe, S.

1993-01-01

The new policy in the Netherlands is attempting to build a traffic system, based on clear design concepts and rules about how to use it. Such a system should be sustainable and safe. The design characteristics of the roads should be relevant to their functions. It should be clear which vehicles are

CFD analysis for road vehicles - case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugen Mihai NEGRUS

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This is a case study on the influence of the lower part of road vehicles on the global drag characteristics. Reducing overall drag by redesigning the lower part of the road vehicles has a potential of almost 20% in the overall drag breakdown, mainly due to the viscous effects and the fluidic interaction of the flow under the car with the typical bluff body flow pattern behind the vehicle. A special parameterization is proposed for the global shape of the sedan car, with respect to the lower part of the body, taking into account most of the specificities of the system. For such a complex interaction, CFD analysis is probably the only efficient tool in order to assess specific design parameterization of a generic car shape. Building on the credibility of such instruments is one of the major goals of this paper. Also, with respect to a target sedan car configuration, examples of successful design strategies are presented. Based on the CFD results, possible strategies to be used in order to reduce viscous drag and global drag characteristics are proposed.

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.

Road rage and road traffic accidents among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, M A; Shaikh, I A; Siddiqui, Z

2012-04-01

Road rage and road traffic accidents increase the burden of morbidity and mortality in a population. A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan (n = 901) to record their behaviours/experiences regarding road rage and road traffic accidents. Respondents were asked about incidents of shouting/cursing/rude gestures or threats to physically hurt the person/vehicle, by others or themselves, in the previous 24 hours or 3 months, and their involvement in road traffic accidents in the previous 12 months. Auto-rickshaw drivers were significantly more likely to report various road rage experiences/behaviours and involvement in accidents compared with bus and wagon drivers. A total of 112 respondents (12.4%) reported being involved in a road traffic accident in the previous 12 months but traffic police did not record the accident in 52.7% of cases. The results of this study underline the need to improve road safety in Pakistan.

ENHANCEMENT OF ROAD SAFETY THROUGH MORE EFFECTIVE ROAD AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz SZCZURASZEK

2016-07-01

Full Text Available To make the policy aimed at mitigating the risk of road incidents more effective, Poland should see the introduction of the more efficient road and traffic management. In November 2008 the European Parliament and the European Council published the Directive on "infrastructure safety management" which provides guidance on the procedures for carrying impact assessments of traffic safety, traffic safety audits, safety management on the road network and monitoring traffic safety in Member States. In this article, the authors have proposed a systemic approach to road and traffic management, involving the implementation of consistent procedures that should include regular revisions of roads, eliminating hazardous sites, speed management, as well as the approval and implementation of traffic organization designs.

Determination of Road Functionality for Küçükçekmece District Following a Scenario Earthquake for Istanbul

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Betül Ergün Konukcu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Istanbul has been affected by earthquakes throughout its history. The most recent earthquake to shake Istanbul was on August 17 1999, along the North Anatolian Fault, 12 km southeast of the Izmit Province, with a magnitude of 7.4. Following the 1999 Izmit earthquake, the earthquake risk in Istanbul started to draw attention and many scientific studies were conducted on the potential earthquake risk in this city. Based on these studies, predictions are that Istanbul is going to face a major earthquake in the near future and this will cause severe damage to the built environment. It is estimated that the damage caused by the anticipated earthquake will be extensive as a consequence of Istanbul’s low quality building stock of Istanbul. The buildings that have the possibility of being damaged cause debris around them. If roadside buildings collapsed during the earthquake, the scattered parts of the buildings could cause roads to lose their functionality. Not only building damage but also transportation damage analysis is necessary to use risk mitigation studies and decisions, being that experiences showed that the functionality of transportation structure effects post-earthquake emergency response and recovery operation seriously. This study aims to reveal a method for road functionality in Küçükçekçekmece following a potential Istanbul Earthquake by using building collapse direction and bridge damage.

A Few Large Roads or Many Small Ones? How to Accommodate Growth in Vehicle Numbers to Minimise Impacts on Wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Jonathan R.; Lunney, Daniel; Callaghan, John; McAlpine, Clive A.

2014-01-01

Roads and vehicular traffic are among the most pervasive of threats to biodiversity because they fragmenting habitat, increasing mortality and opening up new areas for the exploitation of natural resources. However, the number of vehicles on roads is increasing rapidly and this is likely to continue into the future, putting increased pressure on wildlife populations. Consequently, a major challenge is the planning of road networks to accommodate increased numbers of vehicles, while minimising impacts on wildlife. Nonetheless, we currently have few principles for guiding decisions on road network planning to reduce impacts on wildlife in real landscapes. We addressed this issue by developing an approach for quantifying the impact on wildlife mortality of two alternative mechanisms for accommodating growth in vehicle numbers: (1) increasing the number of roads, and (2) increasing traffic volumes on existing roads. We applied this approach to a koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population in eastern Australia and quantified the relative impact of each strategy on mortality. We show that, in most cases, accommodating growth in traffic through increases in volumes on existing roads has a lower impact than building new roads. An exception is where the existing road network has very low road density, but very high traffic volumes on each road. These findings have important implications for how we design road networks to reduce their impacts on biodiversity. PMID:24646891

A few large roads or many small ones? How to accommodate growth in vehicle numbers to minimise impacts on wildlife.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan R Rhodes

Full Text Available Roads and vehicular traffic are among the most pervasive of threats to biodiversity because they fragmenting habitat, increasing mortality and opening up new areas for the exploitation of natural resources. However, the number of vehicles on roads is increasing rapidly and this is likely to continue into the future, putting increased pressure on wildlife populations. Consequently, a major challenge is the planning of road networks to accommodate increased numbers of vehicles, while minimising impacts on wildlife. Nonetheless, we currently have few principles for guiding decisions on road network planning to reduce impacts on wildlife in real landscapes. We addressed this issue by developing an approach for quantifying the impact on wildlife mortality of two alternative mechanisms for accommodating growth in vehicle numbers: (1 increasing the number of roads, and (2 increasing traffic volumes on existing roads. We applied this approach to a koala (Phascolarctos cinereus population in eastern Australia and quantified the relative impact of each strategy on mortality. We show that, in most cases, accommodating growth in traffic through increases in volumes on existing roads has a lower impact than building new roads. An exception is where the existing road network has very low road density, but very high traffic volumes on each road. These findings have important implications for how we design road networks to reduce their impacts on biodiversity.

A few large roads or many small ones? How to accommodate growth in vehicle numbers to minimise impacts on wildlife.

Science.gov (United States)

Rhodes, Jonathan R; Lunney, Daniel; Callaghan, John; McAlpine, Clive A

2014-01-01

Roads and vehicular traffic are among the most pervasive of threats to biodiversity because they fragmenting habitat, increasing mortality and opening up new areas for the exploitation of natural resources. However, the number of vehicles on roads is increasing rapidly and this is likely to continue into the future, putting increased pressure on wildlife populations. Consequently, a major challenge is the planning of road networks to accommodate increased numbers of vehicles, while minimising impacts on wildlife. Nonetheless, we currently have few principles for guiding decisions on road network planning to reduce impacts on wildlife in real landscapes. We addressed this issue by developing an approach for quantifying the impact on wildlife mortality of two alternative mechanisms for accommodating growth in vehicle numbers: (1) increasing the number of roads, and (2) increasing traffic volumes on existing roads. We applied this approach to a koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population in eastern Australia and quantified the relative impact of each strategy on mortality. We show that, in most cases, accommodating growth in traffic through increases in volumes on existing roads has a lower impact than building new roads. An exception is where the existing road network has very low road density, but very high traffic volumes on each road. These findings have important implications for how we design road networks to reduce their impacts on biodiversity.

The impact of forest roads on understory plant diversity in temperate hornbeam-beech forests of Northern Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Deljouei, Azade; Abdi, Ehsan; Marcantonio, Matteo; Majnounian, Baris; Amici, Valerio; Sohrabi, Hormoz

2017-08-01

Forest roads alter the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems, modifying temperature, humidity, wind speed, and light availability that, in turn, cause changes in plant community composition and diversity. We aim at investigating and comparing the diversity of herbaceous species along main and secondary forest roads in a temperate-managed hornbeam-beech forest, north of Iran. Sixteen transects along main and secondary forest roads were established (eight transects along main roads and eight along secondary roads). To eliminate the effect of forest type, all transects were located in Carpinetum-Fagetum forests, the dominant forest type in the study area. The total length of each transect was 200 m (100 m toward up slope and 100 m toward down slope), and plots were established along it at different distances from road edge. The diversity of herbaceous plant species was calculated in each plot using Shannon-Wiener index, species richness, and Pielou's index. The results showed that diversity index decreased when distance from road edge increases. This decreasing trend continued up to 60 m from forest road margin, and after this threshold, the index slightly increased. Depending on the type of road (main or secondary) as well as cut or fill slopes, the area showing a statistical different plant composition and diversity measured through Shannon-Wiener, species richness, and Pielou's index is up to 10 m. The length depth of the road edge effect found in main and secondary forest roads was small, but it could have cumulative effects on forest microclimate and forest-associated biota at the island scale. Forest managers should account for the effect of road buildings on plant communities.

Wildlife friendly roads: the impacts of roads on wildlife in urban areas and potential remedies

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Seth P D; Brown, Justin L.; Sikich, Jeff A.; Schoonmaker, Catherine M.; Boydston, Erin E.

2014-01-01

Roads are one of the most important factors affecting the ability of wildlife to live and move within an urban area. Roads physically replace wildlife habitat and often reduce habitat quality nearby, fragment the remaining habitat, and cause increased mortality through vehicle collisions. Much ecological research on roads has focused on whether animals are successfully crossing roads, or if the road is a barrier to wildlife movement, gene flow, or functional connectivity. Roads can alter survival and reproduction for wildlife, even among species such as birds that cross roads easily. Here we examine the suite of potential impacts of roads on wildlife, but we focus particularly on urban settings. We report on studies, both in the literature and from our own experience, that have addressed wildlife and roads in urban landscapes. Although road ecology is a growing field of study, relatively little of this research, and relatively few mitigation projects, have been done in urban landscapes. We also draw from the available science on road impacts in rural areas when urban case studies have not fully addressed key topics.

Visibility of road markings on wet road surfaces : a literature study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schreuder, D.A.

1981-01-01

The English version of B 14153 is presented. Road markings, notably lane markers, are often only poorly visible when the road is wet. This is particularly a problem at night on unlit roads. A study is made of whether a solution for this problem can be found on the basis of the known, published

Access road reclamation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manson, T.; Blok, M.

1997-01-01

A general review of the measures involved in restoring abandoned access road sites in British Columbia was presented. Permits and licences are needed for the use of crown land for roads used by the petroleum and natural gas industry for exploration activities. However, the regulatory framework for road site reclamation is not well developed. The nature of access road reclamation is very site-specific. Some of the issues that are considered for all reclamation projects include slope stability, water control, revegetation, soil rehabilitation, access management and monitoring. The primary objective of reclaiming access road sites is to return the site to conditions that are equal or better than pre-disturbance conditions. Restoration measures must be approved by BC Environment and by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans where federal fisheries responsibilities are involved. 54 refs., 5 tabs., 3 figs

Armenia - Rural Road Rehabilitation

Data.gov (United States)

Millennium Challenge Corporation — The key research questions guiding our design of the RRRP evaluation are: • Did rehabilitating roads affect the quality of roads? • Did rehabilitating roads improve...

A CFD study on the effectiveness of trees to disperse road traffic emissions at a city scale

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanjean, A. P. R.; Hinchliffe, G.; McMullan, W. A.; Monks, P. S.; Leigh, R. J.

2015-11-01

This paper focuses on the effectiveness of trees at dispersing road traffic emissions on a city scale. CFD simulations of air-pollutant concentrations were performed using the OpenFOAM software platform using the k-ε model. Results were validated against the CODASC wind tunnel database before being applied to a LIDAR database of buildings and trees representing the City of Leicester (UK). Most other CFD models in the literature typically use idealised buildings to model wind flow and pollution dispersion. However, the methodology used in this study uses real buildings and trees data from LIDAR to reconstruct a 3D representation of Leicester City Centre. It focuses on a 2 × 2 km area which is on a scale larger than those usually used in other CFD studies. Furthermore, the primary focus of this study is on the interaction of trees with wind flow dynamics. It was found that in effect, trees have a regionally beneficial impact on road traffic emissions by increasing turbulence and reducing ambient concentrations of road traffic emissions by 7% at pedestrian height on average. This was an important result given that previous studies generally concluded that trees trapped pollution by obstructing wind flow in street canyons. Therefore, this study is novel both in its methodology and subsequent results, highlighting the importance of combining local and regional scale models for assessing the impact of trees in urban planning.

CO2 mitigation scenarios in China's road transport sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Can; Cai, Wenjia; Lu, Xuedu; Chen, Jining

2007-01-01

China is the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter, and emissions from the road transport sector represent one of the fastest growing GHG sources in China. Taking previous research on China's projected future vehicle ownership and future CO 2 emissions in the transport sector as a starting point, this paper reviews all recent environmental policies relating to the automobile industry and employs a scenario analysis to estimate different emissions inventories for different development strategies. The new policy scenario considers all possible mitigation options available to the road transport sector from a bottom up perspective and examines the effects for fuel efficiency improvement and the cost of these mitigation options - vehicle technology improvement, bus rapid transit system and fuel switching, through which the carbon dioxide emissions reduction potential is estimated. Not only does this paper indicate that a large emissions reduction potential exists in China's road transport sector, but it implies that vehicle technology improvement, especially engine technology is likely to be the most effective means to meet emissions reduction targets. This paper concludes by identifying key barriers to implementing those options in China and deduces the technical, financial and institutional aspects of the demand in China for national capacity building and international aid in order to achieve the emissions reduction goals

Rockets: Physical science teacher's guide with activities

Science.gov (United States)

Vogt, Gregory L.; Rosenberg, Carla R. (Editor)

1993-01-01

This guide begins with background information sections on the history of rocketry, scientific principles, and practical rocketry. The sections on scientific principles and practical rocketry are based on Isaac Newton's three laws of motion. These laws explain why rockets work and how to make them more efficient. The background sections are followed with a series of physical science activities that demonstrate the basic science of rocketry. Each activity is designed to be simple and take advantage of inexpensive materials. Construction diagrams, materials and tools lists, and instructions are included. A brief discussion elaborates on the concepts covered in the activities and is followed with teaching notes and discussion questions. The guide concludes with a glossary of terms, suggested reading list, NASA educational resources, and an evaluation questionnaire with a mailer.

Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Budzynski, Marcin; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Kustra, Wojciech; Michalski, Lech; Gaca, Stanislaw

2017-10-01

The objective of road safety infrastructure management is to ensure that when roads are planned, designed, built and used road risks can be identified, assessed and mitigated. Road transport safety is significantly less developed than that of rail, water and air transport. The average individual risk of being a fatality in relation to the distance covered is thirty times higher in road transport that in the other modes. This is mainly because the different modes have a different approach to safety management and to the use of risk management methods and tools. In recent years Poland has had one of the European Union’s highest road death numbers. In 2016 there were 3026 fatalities on Polish roads with 40,766 injuries. Protecting road users from the risk of injury and death should be given top priority. While Poland’s national and regional road safety programmes address this problem and are instrumental in systematically reducing the number of casualties, the effects are far from the expectations. Modern approaches to safety focus on three integrated elements: infrastructure measures, safety management and safety culture. Due to its complexity, the process of road safety management requires modern tools to help with identifying road user risks, assess and evaluate the safety of road infrastructure and select effective measures to improve road safety. One possible tool for tackling this problem is the risk-based method for road infrastructure safety management. European Union Directive 2008/96/EC regulates and proposes a list of tools for managing road infrastructure safety. Road safety tools look at two criteria: the life cycle of a road structure and the process of risk management. Risk can be minimized through the application of the proposed interventions during design process as reasonable. The proposed methods of risk management bring together two stages: risk assessment and risk response occurring within the analyzed road structure (road network, road

Road Accidents and Road Fatalities in Denmark from 1968 to 2004

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Orozova-Bekkevold, Ivanka; Hels, Tove; Bernhoft, Inger Marie

2008-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the road accidents and road fatalities in Denmark in the period 1968-2004. Only accidents registered by the police were used. Crude and gender & age specific fatality rates (counts per 1,000,000 inhabitants) were estimated for all road users...... and for bicyclists. The accident and fatality rates have decreased by around 70% from 1968 to 2004, while the motorisation rate has increased by approximately 90%. The sharpest decrease in the fatality rate was observed among the youngest (below 18 years old) and the older (above 64) road users. Gender related...... and actions targeted to improve road safety have indeed led to a significant reduction in injury accidents and fatalities. Further research and more detailed data, especially on traffic volume and individual exposure are necessary in order to investigate properly a causal relation between the number...

Facade repair works on building 376

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

ST Division proceeds, since 30th October, an anti-carbonatation treatment of concrete facades of building 376 on the Meyrin site. This work will last for six weeks depending on the weather conditions and will cause some traffic hold ups during this period in Route Fermi. Please follow the indications of the temporary road signs. Thanking you in advance for your comprehension. ST-CE and ST-FM Groups GSM 163976/163183

libRoadRunner: a high performance SBML simulation and analysis library.

Science.gov (United States)

Somogyi, Endre T; Bouteiller, Jean-Marie; Glazier, James A; König, Matthias; Medley, J Kyle; Swat, Maciej H; Sauro, Herbert M

2015-10-15

This article presents libRoadRunner, an extensible, high-performance, cross-platform, open-source software library for the simulation and analysis of models expressed using Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML). SBML is the most widely used standard for representing dynamic networks, especially biochemical networks. libRoadRunner is fast enough to support large-scale problems such as tissue models, studies that require large numbers of repeated runs and interactive simulations. libRoadRunner is a self-contained library, able to run both as a component inside other tools via its C++ and C bindings, and interactively through its Python interface. Its Python Application Programming Interface (API) is similar to the APIs of MATLAB ( WWWMATHWORKSCOM: ) and SciPy ( HTTP//WWWSCIPYORG/: ), making it fast and easy to learn. libRoadRunner uses a custom Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler built on the widely used LLVM JIT compiler framework. It compiles SBML-specified models directly into native machine code for a variety of processors, making it appropriate for solving extremely large models or repeated runs. libRoadRunner is flexible, supporting the bulk of the SBML specification (except for delay and non-linear algebraic equations) including several SBML extensions (composition and distributions). It offers multiple deterministic and stochastic integrators, as well as tools for steady-state analysis, stability analysis and structural analysis of the stoichiometric matrix. libRoadRunner binary distributions are available for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows. The library is licensed under Apache License Version 2.0. libRoadRunner is also available for ARM-based computers such as the Raspberry Pi. http://www.libroadrunner.org provides online documentation, full build instructions, binaries and a git source repository. hsauro@u.washington.edu or somogyie@indiana.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. Published by Oxford University Press 2015. This work is written

Epidemiologic study of road traffic injuries by road user type characteristics and road environment in Iran: a community-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatamabadi, Hamidreza; Vafaee, Reza; Hadadi, Mashyaneh; Abdalvand, Ali; Esnaashari, Hamidreza; Soori, Hamid

2012-01-01

Crash injuries in traffic accidents are affected by a variety of factors. In this study we analyzed road user type information based on different contributing factors. Data from all of the road traffic victims on a road extending from the east of the city of Tehran to Mazandaran province were included prospectively over a one-year period (May 2008 to May 2009). Data collected included the crash time, patient's age and sex, road user category, helmet or seat belt use, anatomical site of injury, Injury Severity Score (ISS), and mortality. Prevalence and cross-tabulations were included in the analysis. There were 433 patients, of whom 345 were hospitalized and 33 died either before or after arriving at the hospital. Sixty-nine percent of injured patients were vehicle occupants. Mean and median of ISS were higher for pedestrians, who accounted for 49 percent of the deaths. Head injury was the most common injury and injury to upper and lower extremities was the most common cause of admission. A significant difference in lower extremity injuries between vehicle occupants and nonoccupants was found. Sex and age group did not have a significant effect on mortality. Mortality was significantly higher in pedestrians (P road user type. Because pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users, stricter legislation and law enforcement should be used to protect them. Greater protection can also be reached by holding effective public awareness campaigns on how to use different roads safely. On the other hand, because rear seat passengers are at the same risk for road traffic injuries as front seat passengers, employment of newer laws and preventive measures targeting this group of occupants can prevent many road traffic injuries (RTIs).

Use of fatal real-life crashes to analyze a safe road transport system model, including the road user, the vehicle, and the road.

Science.gov (United States)

Stigson, Helena; Krafft, Maria; Tingvall, Claes

2008-10-01

To evaluate if the Swedish Road Administration (SRA) model for a safe road transport system, which includes the interaction between the road user, the vehicle, and the road, could be used to classify fatal car crashes according to some safety indicators. Also, to present a development of the model to better identify system weakness. Real-life crashes with a fatal outcome were classified according to the vehicle's safety rating by Euro NCAP (European Road Assessment Programme) and fitment of ESC (Electronic Stability Control). For each crash, the road was also classified according to EuroRAP (European Road Assessment Programme) criteria, and human behavior in terms of speeding, seat belt use, and driving under the influence of alcohol. Each crash was compared with the model criteria, to identify components that might have contributed to fatal outcome. All fatal crashes where a car occupant was killed that occurred in Sweden during 2004 were included: in all, 215 crashes with 248 fatalities. The data were collected from the in-depth fatal crash data of the Swedish Road Administration (SRA). It was possible to classify 93% of the fatal car crashes according to the SRA model. A number of shortcomings in the criteria were identified since the model did not address rear-end or animal collisions or collisions with stationary/parked vehicles or trailers (18 out of 248 cases). Using the further developed model, it was possible to identify that most of the crashes occurred when two or all three components interacted (in 85 of the total 230 cases). Noncompliance with safety criteria for the road user, the vehicle, and the road led to fatal outcome in 43, 27, and 75 cases, respectively. The SRA model was found to be useful for classifying fatal crashes but needs to be further developed to identify how the components interact and thereby identify weaknesses in the road traffic system. This developed model might be a tool to systematically identify which of the components are

Clustering-based classification of road traffic accidents using hierarchical clustering and artificial neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Taamneh, Madhar; Taamneh, Salah; Alkheder, Sharaf

2017-09-01

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been widely used in predicting the severity of road traffic crashes. All available information about previously occurred accidents is typically used for building a single prediction model (i.e., classifier). Too little attention has been paid to the differences between these accidents, leading, in most cases, to build less accurate predictors. Hierarchical clustering is a well-known clustering method that seeks to group data by creating a hierarchy of clusters. Using hierarchical clustering and ANNs, a clustering-based classification approach for predicting the injury severity of road traffic accidents was proposed. About 6000 road accidents occurred over a six-year period from 2008 to 2013 in Abu Dhabi were used throughout this study. In order to reduce the amount of variation in data, hierarchical clustering was applied on the data set to organize it into six different forms, each with different number of clusters (i.e., clusters from 1 to 6). Two ANN models were subsequently built for each cluster of accidents in each generated form. The first model was built and validated using all accidents (training set), whereas only 66% of the accidents were used to build the second model, and the remaining 34% were used to test it (percentage split). Finally, the weighted average accuracy was computed for each type of models in each from of data. The results show that when testing the models using the training set, clustering prior to classification achieves (11%-16%) more accuracy than without using clustering, while the percentage split achieves (2%-5%) more accuracy. The results also suggest that partitioning the accidents into six clusters achieves the best accuracy if both types of models are taken into account.

FEATURE EVALUATION FOR BUILDING FACADE IMAGES – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Y. Yang

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The classification of building facade images is a challenging problem that receives a great deal of attention in the photogrammetry community. Image classification is critically dependent on the features. In this paper, we perform an empirical feature evaluation task for building facade images. Feature sets we choose are basic features, color features, histogram features, Peucker features, texture features, and SIFT features. We present an approach for region-wise labeling using an efficient randomized decision forest classifier and local features. We conduct our experiments with building facade image classification on the eTRIMS dataset, where our focus is the object classes building, car, door, pavement, road, sky, vegetation, and window.

Overload road damage model

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Roux, MP

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Not only do overloaded vehicles pose an increased safety risk on the road (reduced stability and braking efficiency etc.), but they also accelerate the rate of deterioration of the road network and increase road maintenance costs, which in turn...

The impact of road improvements on road safety and related characteristics

OpenAIRE

Francis John Gichaga

2017-01-01

This paper presents the historical and cultural background relating to road improvement and road safety characteristics in Kenya, a developing country in East Africa. Some who come from low-developed areas of developing countries often take time to comprehend the modern transportation infrastructure, especially roads, and have difficulty assimilating and customizing the same to their culturally tailored modes. This paper discusses two case studies: one on the socio-economic impact followin...

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.

Characteristics of public roads operation

OpenAIRE

Pryimak, V.; Kyiashko, I.

2009-01-01

Characteristics of public roads operation have been considered and factors influencing TEC of public roads that go via urban areas have been determined. There have been revealed contradictions in the normative-legal base concerning maintenance of public roads and municipal roads that merge into them.

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TECHNIQUES FOR ROAD SURFACE ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Knyaz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The quality and condition of a road surface is of great importance for convenience and safety of driving. So the investigations of the behaviour of road materials in laboratory conditions and monitoring of existing roads are widely fulfilled for controlling a geometric parameters and detecting defects in the road surface. Photogrammetry as accurate non-contact measuring method provides powerful means for solving different tasks in road surface reconstruction and analysis. The range of dimensions concerned in road surface analysis can have great variation from tenths of millimetre to hundreds meters and more. So a set of techniques is needed to meet all requirements of road parameters estimation. Two photogrammetric techniques for road surface analysis are presented: for accurate measuring of road pavement and for road surface reconstruction based on imagery obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle. The first technique uses photogrammetric system based on structured light for fast and accurate surface 3D reconstruction and it allows analysing the characteristics of road texture and monitoring the pavement behaviour. The second technique provides dense 3D model road suitable for road macro parameters estimation.

Future Road Density

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Road density is generally highly correlated with amount of developed land cover. High road densities usually indicate high levels of ecological disturbance. More...

Towards development of a high quality public domain global roads database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Nelson

2006-12-01

Full Text Available There is clear demand for a global spatial public domain roads data set with improved geographic and temporal coverage, consistent coding of road types, and clear documentation of sources. The currently best available global public domain product covers only one-quarter to one-third of the existing road networks, and this varies considerably by region. Applications for such a data set span multiple sectors and would be particularly valuable for the international economic development, disaster relief, and biodiversity conservation communities, not to mention national and regional agencies and organizations around the world. The building blocks for such a global product are available for many countries and regions, yet thus far there has been neither strategy nor leadership for developing it. This paper evaluates the best available public domain and commercial data sets, assesses the gaps in global coverage, and proposes a number of strategies for filling them. It also identifies stakeholder organizations with an interest in such a data set that might either provide leadership or funding for its development. It closes with a proposed set of actions to begin the process.

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.

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.

Gravel roads management : volume 2, gravel roads management : implementation guide.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-01

This report establishes procedures for managing dirt and gravel roads, with a primary focus on smaller agencies, such as Wyoming counties, that must manage their roads with very limited resources. The report strives, first, to guide and assist smalle...

Gravel roads management : volume 3, gravel roads management : programming guide.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

This report establishes procedures for managing dirt and gravel roads, with a primary focus on smaller agencies, such as Wyoming counties, that must manage their roads with very limited resources. The report strives, first, to guide and assist smalle...

VT Road Centerline

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata)(User Guide)(Symbology layer files: aotclass_only.lyr aotclass_surfacetyp.lyr)The Vermont Road Centerline data layer (TransRoad_RDS) contains all...

'Silk Road', the virtual drug marketplace: a single case study of user experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Hout, Marie Claire; Bingham, Tim

2013-09-01

The online promotion of 'drug shopping' and user information networks is of increasing public health and law enforcement concern. An online drug marketplace called 'Silk Road' has been operating on the 'Deep Web' since February 2011 and was designed to revolutionise contemporary drug consumerism. A single case study approach explored a 'Silk Road' user's motives for online drug purchasing, experiences of accessing and using the website, drug information sourcing, decision making and purchasing, outcomes and settings for use, and perspectives around security. The participant was recruited following a lengthy relationship building phase on the 'Silk Road' chat forum. The male participant described his motives, experiences of purchasing processes and drugs used from 'Silk Road'. Consumer experiences on 'Silk Road' were described as 'euphoric' due to the wide choice of drugs available, relatively easy once navigating the Tor Browser (encryption software) and using 'Bitcoins' for transactions, and perceived as safer than negotiating illicit drug markets. Online researching of drug outcomes, particularly for new psychoactive substances was reported. Relationships between vendors and consumers were described as based on cyber levels of trust and professionalism, and supported by 'stealth modes', user feedback and resolution modes. The reality of his drug use was described as covert and solitary with psychonautic characteristics, which contrasted with his membership, participation and feelings of safety within the 'Silk Road' community. 'Silk Road' as online drug marketplace presents an interesting displacement away from 'traditional' online and street sources of drug supply. Member support and harm reduction ethos within this virtual community maximises consumer decision-making and positive drug experiences, and minimises potential harms and consumer perceived risks. Future research is necessary to explore experiences and backgrounds of other users. Copyright © 2013

RoADS: A road pavement monitoring system for anomaly detection using smart phones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seraj, Fatjon; van der Zwaag, B.J.; Dilo, Arta; Luarasi, Tamara; Havinga, Paul J.M.; Atzmueller, Martin; Chin, Alvin; Janssen, Frederik; Schweizer, Immanuel; Trattner, Christoph

2016-01-01

Monitoring the road pavement is a challenging task. Authorities spend time and finances to monitor the state and quality of the road pavement. This paper investigate road surface monitoring with smartphones equipped with GPS and inertial sensors: accelerometer and gyroscope. In this study we

RoADS: A road pavement monitoring system for anomaly detection using smart phones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seraj, Fatjon; van der Zwaag, B.J.; Dilo, Arta; Luarasi, Tamara; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2014-01-01

Monitoring the road pavement is a challenging task. Authorities spend time and finances to monitor the state and quality of the road pavement. This paper investigate road surface monitoring with smartphones equipped with GPS and inertial sensors: accelerometer and gyroscope. In this study we

Application of surplus and waste materials in roads pavement making

OpenAIRE

Mousavi, S. M.; Fazli, A. H.; Rouzmehr, F.

2011-01-01

Nowadays there are a lot of problems about surpluses and debris made by humans all around the world. Lots of these surpluses seriously harm our natural environment. Reuse of this kind of materials in other processes like building constructions or pavement help our natural environment in every aspect. Asphalt concrete is the main part of pavements in most parts of the world with an increasing rate of production in need of more ways and roads. In this paper we will provide...

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

The Roman Road System in the Golan: Highways, Paths and Tracks in Quotidian Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pažout Adam

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Roman Imperial Roads (highways built, maintained and organized by the Roman army and provincial authorities were studied in the Golan Heights since Schumacher’s surveys in the 1880s. However, most of these were obliterated by building and agricultural activity since the beginning of the 20th century. Local ancient road system, linking individual communities and their agricultural land was never studied, since it barely leaves a trace in archaeological record. This paper presents reconstruction of inter-provincial highways passing through the southern Golan Heights, and local road system in GIS using cumulative focal mobility network (CFMN analysis. The CFMN provides outline of natural corridors of movement in the region. From CFMN it is possible to extract path with higher mobility potential which will be tested against present evidence for Roman Imperial Highways, since it is assumed that corridors with high mobility potential would be suitable place for construction of (inter-provincial road. Path with lower mobility potential might indicate local road system, so it would be possible to connect agricultural communities with the land they exploited; which in turn may have implications for site prediction and site-catchment analysis exploring quotidian movement of people and goods in the landscape. Two case studies in this respect are presented: the city of Hippos and settlement of es-Safuriyye.

Performance standards of road safety management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čabarkapa Milenko R.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Road safety management controlling means the process of finding out the information whether the road safety is improving in a measure to achieve the objectives. The process of control consists of three basic elements: definition of performances and standards, measurement of current performances and comparison with the set standards, and improvement of current performances, if they deviate from the set standards. The performance standards of road safety management system are focused on a performances measurement, in terms of their design and characteristics, in order to support the performances improvement of road safety system and thus, ultimately, improve the road safety. Defining the performance standards of road safety management system, except that determines the design of the system for performances measurement, directly sets requirements whose fulfillment will produce a road safety improvement. The road safety management system, based on the performance standards of road safety, with a focus on results, will produce the continuous improvement of road safety, achieving the long-term 'vision zero', the philosophy of road safety, that human life and health take priority over mobility and other traffic objectives of the road traffic.

Road grip test in Arjeplog

OpenAIRE

Engström, Niclas; Andrén, Henrik; Nybacka, Mikael; Fransson, Lennart; Larsson, Roland

2008-01-01

The Swedish road administration sees a need to improve the road grip estimation capacity for the Swedish road system. The challenge is to find methods to measure road grip fast and reliable. There where six different system types at the tests in Arjeplog, three continuous, two system measuring road grip through deceleration and one system based on GPS and accelerometers. Two system types used air craft runway tires. The other systems used either studded winter tires or friction winter tires. ...

Facade repair works on building 376

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

ST Division will proceed, as from 30th October, an anti-carbonatation treatment of concrete facades of building 376 on the Meyrin site. This work will last for six weeks depending on the weather conditions and will cause some traffic hold ups during this period in Route Fermi. Please follow the indications of the temporary road signs. Thanking you in advance for your comprehension. ST-CE and ST-FM Groups GSM 163976/163183

Facade repair works on building 376

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

ST Division will proceed, as from 30th October, an anti-carbonatation treatment of concrete facades of building 376 on the Meyrin site (see map). This work will last for six weeks depending on the weather conditions and will cause some traffic hold ups during this period in Route Fermi. Please follow the indications of the temporary road signs. Thanking you in advance for your comprehension. ST-CE and ST-FM Groups GSM 163976/163183

Roads Near Streams

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Roads are a source of auto related pollutants (e.g. gasoline, oil and other engine fluids). When roads are near streams, rain can wash these pollutants directly into...

Driving and off-road impairments underlying failure on road testing in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Devos, Hannes; Vandenberghe, Wim; Tant, Mark; Akinwuntan, Abiodun E; De Weerdt, Willy; Nieuwboer, Alice; Uc, Ergun Y

2013-12-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects driving ability. We aimed to determine the most critical impairments in specific road skills and in clinical characteristics leading to failure on a road test in PD. In this cross-sectional study, certified driving assessment experts evaluated specific driving skills in 104 active, licensed drivers with PD using a standardized, on-road checklist and issued a global decision of pass/fail. Participants also completed an off-road evaluation assessing demographic features, disease characteristics, motor function, vision, and cognition. The most important driving skills and off-road predictors of the pass/fail outcome were identified using multivariate stepwise regression analyses. Eighty-six (65%) passed and 36 (35%) failed the on-road driving evaluation. Persons who failed performed worse on all on-road items. When adjusted for age and gender, poor performances on lateral positioning at low speed, speed adaptations at high speed, and left turning maneuvers yielded the best model that determined the pass/fail decision (R(2) = 0.56). The fail group performed poorer on all motor, visual, and cognitive tests. Measures of visual scanning, motor severity, PD subtype, visual acuity, executive functions, and divided attention were independent predictors of pass/fail decisions in the multivariate model (R(2) = 0.60). Our study demonstrated that failure on a road test in PD is determined by impairments in specific driving skills and associated with deficits in motor, visual, executive, and visuospatial functions. These findings point to specific driving and off-road impairments that can be targeted in multimodal rehabilitation programs for drivers with PD. © 2013 Movement Disorder Society.

Effect of structural design on traffic-induced building vibrations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Persson, Peter; Andersen, Lars Vabbersgaard; Persson, Kent

2017-01-01

Population growth and urbanization results in densified cities, where new buildings are being built closer to existing vibration sources such as road-, tram- and rail traffic. In addition, new transportation systems are constructed closer to existing buildings. Potential disturbing vibrations...... are one issue to consider in planning urban environment and densification of cities. Vibrations can be disturbing for humans but also for sensitive equipment in, for example, hospitals. In determining the risk for disturbing vibrations, the distance between the source and the receiver, the ground...... properties, and type and size of the building are governing factors. In the paper, a study is presented aiming at investigating the influence of various parameters of the building's structural design on vibration levels in the structure caused by ground surface loads, e.g. traffic. Parameters studied...

Road pricing, air pollution and external costs; Road pricing, luftforurening og eksternalitetsomkostninger

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solvang Jensen, S.; Ketzel, M. (Aarhus Univ., Danmarks Miljoeundersoegelser, Afd. for Atmosfaerisk Miljoe, Roskilde (Denmark)); Skou Andersen, M. (Aarhus Univ., Danmarks Miljoeundersoegelser, Afd. for Systemanalyse, Roskilde (Denmark))

2010-06-15

The objective of this assessment is to improve the foundation for decision-making about introduction of a road pricing system that aims to reduce the health impacts and social costs of traffic-related air pollution. The analysis focuses on how road emissions, air quality, population exposure, and social costs of air pollution depend on geography (different city sizes and rural areas) and time of the day (rush hours versus non-rush hours). A review of Danish studies related to road pricing has also been carried out to assess the expected effect of road pricing on traffic performance (km travelled), vehicle composition and speed that are factors affecting air pollution. (LN)

High Powered Rocketry: Design, Construction, and Launching Experience and Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Paulson, Pryce; Curtis, Jarret; Bartel, Evan; Cyr, Waycen Owens; Lamsal, Chiranjivi

2018-01-01

In this study, the nuts and bolts of designing and building a high powered rocket have been presented. A computer simulation program called RockSim was used to design the rocket. Simulation results are consistent with time variations of altitude, velocity, and acceleration obtained in the actual flight. The actual drag coefficient was determined…

Road safety and road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia

Science.gov (United States)

Mansuri, Farah A.; Al-Zalabani, Abdulmohsen H.; Zalat, Marwa M.; Qabshawi, Reem I.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To identify the changing trends and crucial preventive approaches to road traffic accidents (RTAs) adopted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the last 2.5 decades, and to analyze aspects previously overlooked. Methods: This systematic review was based on evidence of RTAs in KSA. All articles published during the last 25 years on road traffic accident in KSA were analyzed. This study was carried out from December 2013 to May 2014 in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, KSA. Results: Road traffic accidents accounted for 83.4% of all trauma admissions in 1984-1989, and no such overall trend was studied thereafter. The most frequently injured body regions as reported in the latest studies were head and neck, followed by upper and lower extremities, which was found to be opposite to that of the studies reported earlier. Hospital data showed an 8% non-significant increase in road accident mortalities in contrast to police records of a 27% significant reduction during the years 2005-2010. Excessive speeding was the most common cause reported in all recent and past studies. Conclusion: Disparity was common in the type of reporting of RTAs, outcome measures, and possible causes over a period of 2.5 decade. All research exclusively looked into the drivers’ faults. A sentinel surveillance of road crashes should be kept in place in the secondary and tertiary care hospitals for all regions of KSA. PMID:25828277

Road traffic noise: self-reported noise annoyance versus GIS modelled road traffic noise exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Birk, Matthias; Ivina, Olga; von Klot, Stephanie; Babisch, Wolfgang; Heinrich, Joachim

2011-11-01

self-reported road traffic noise annoyance is commonly used in epidemiological studies for assessment of potential health effects. Alternatively, some studies have used geographic information system (GIS) modelled exposure to road traffic noise as an objective parameter. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between noise exposure due to neighbouring road traffic and the noise annoyance of adults, taking other determinants into consideration. parents of 951 Munich children from the two German birth cohorts GINIplus and LISAplus reported their annoyance due to road traffic noise at home. GIS modelled road traffic noise exposure (L(den), maximum within a 50 m buffer) from the noise map of the city of Munich was available for all families. GIS-based calculated distance to the closest major road (≥10,000 vehicles per day) and questionnaire based-information about family income, parental education and the type of the street of residence were explored for their potential influence. An ordered logit regression model was applied. The noise levels (L(den)) and the reported noise annoyance were compared with an established exposure-response function. the correlation between noise annoyance and noise exposure (L(den)) was fair (Spearman correlation r(s) = 0.37). The distance to a major road and the type of street were strong predictors for the noise annoyance. The annoyance modelled by the established exposure-response function and that estimated by the ordered logit model were moderately associated (Pearson's correlation r(p) = 0.50). road traffic noise annoyance was associated with GIS modelled neighbouring road traffic noise exposure (L(den)). The distance to a major road and the type of street were additional explanatory factors of the noise annoyance appraisal.

Path creation in Nordic energy and road transport systems – The role of technological characteristics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Teis; Klitkou, Antje; Borup, Mads

2017-01-01

This paper reviews path-creation processes in road transport systems in the Nordic countries: e-mobility in Denmark, hydrogen and fuel-cell electrical vehicles in Norway, and advanced biofuels in Finland and Sweden. The study builds on the path creation literature, which seeks to explain the emer......This paper reviews path-creation processes in road transport systems in the Nordic countries: e-mobility in Denmark, hydrogen and fuel-cell electrical vehicles in Norway, and advanced biofuels in Finland and Sweden. The study builds on the path creation literature, which seeks to explain...... the emergence of new technological pathways. Drawing on recent insights concerning the differences between design- and manufacturing-intensive technologies, the paper analyses the influence of technological characteristics on path creation processes. The case comparison indicates that technological...... characteristics seem to have greater influence on the content of activities in the later phase rather than the early phase of path creation processes. The analysis also emphasises that barriers to path creation processes differ depending on technological characteristics. This highlights the importance...

Can cars and trucks coexist peacefully on highways? Analyzing the effectiveness of road safety policies in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo-Manzano, José I; Castro-Nuño, Mercedes; Fageda, Xavier

2015-04-01

We examine the impact on the traffic accident rate of the interaction between trucks and cars on Europe's roads using a panel data set that covers the period 1999-2010. We find that rising motorization rates for trucks lead to higher traffic fatalities, while rising motorization rates for cars do not. Empirically, the model we build predicts the positive impact of stricter speed limit legislation for trucks in the reduction of road fatalities. These findings lend support to European strategies and aimed at promoting alternative modes of freight transport, including rail and maritime transport. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FEATURES ROAD SAFETY AUDIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Abramova

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Development of the road network, increasing motorization of the population significantly increase the risk of accidents. Experts in the field of traffic are developing methods to reduce the probability of accidents. The ways of solving the problems of road safety audit at various stages of the «life» of roads are considered.

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...

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.

Road Short-Term Travel Time Prediction Method Based on Flow Spatial Distribution and the Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingjun Deng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available There are many short-term road travel time forecasting studies based on time series, but indeed, road travel time not only relies on the historical travel time series, but also depends on the road and its adjacent sections history flow. However, few studies have considered that. This paper is based on the correlation of flow spatial distribution and the road travel time series, applying nearest neighbor and nonparametric regression method to build a forecasting model. In aspect of spatial nearest neighbor search, three different space distances are defined. In addition, two forecasting functions are introduced: one combines the forecasting value by mean weight and the other uses the reciprocal of nearest neighbors distance as combined weight. Three different distances are applied in nearest neighbor search, which apply to the two forecasting functions. For travel time series, the nearest neighbor and nonparametric regression are applied too. Then minimizing forecast error variance is utilized as an objective to establish the combination model. The empirical results show that the combination model can improve the forecast performance obviously. Besides, the experimental results of the evaluation for the computational complexity show that the proposed method can satisfy the real-time requirement.

TRUPACT-I over-the-road test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, R.E.; Gwinn, K.W.

1987-10-01

The TRUPACT-I was subjected to an over-the-road test to determine the package response to normal road environments. This test consisted of six road events: a rough primary road, a railroad grade crossing, an asphalt primary road, a concrete primary road, a bridge approach, and a rough secondary road. The package was instrumented with four vertical accelerometers to determine the package response to road vibration and shock. The results are given in the form of time histories, spectral densities, root mean square, and maximum accelerations for all accelerometers during each event. The results indicated that the railroad grade crossing produced the maximum average vertical accelerations. The maximum accelerations for all events were less than 1 g, and the root mean square loads remained below 0.25 g. 4 refs., 57 figs., 7 tabs

Road deaths in the Netherlands. [Previously known as: Road fatalities in The Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2011-01-01

This fact sheet outlines the development of the number of road deaths in the Netherlands since 1950. After a rise in the 1950s and 1960s, the number of road deaths in the Netherlands has shown a gradual decline since 1973. In 2016, there were 629 road deaths in the Netherlands. After the years of

What is vision Hampton Roads?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

What is Vision Hampton Roads? : Vision Hampton Roads is... : A regionwide economic development strategy based on the collective strengths of all : localities of Hampton Roads, created with the input of business, academia, nonprofits, : government,...

A Study on the Influence of Speed on Road Roughness Sensing: The SmartRoadSense Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giacomo Alessandroni

2017-02-01

Full Text Available SmartRoadSense is a crowdsensing project aimed at monitoring the conditions of the road surface. Using the sensors of a smartphone, SmartRoadSense monitors the vertical accelerations inside a vehicle traveling the road and extracts a roughness index conveying information about the road conditions. The roughness index and the smartphone GPS data are periodically sent to a central server where they are processed, associated with the specific road, and aggregated with data measured by other smartphones. This paper studies how the smartphone vertical accelerations and the roughness index are related to the vehicle speed. It is shown that the dependence can be locally approximated with a gamma (power law. Extensive experimental results using data extracted from SmartRoadSense database confirm the gamma law relationship between the roughness index and the vehicle speed. The gamma law is then used for improving the SmartRoadSense data aggregation accounting for the effect of vehicle speed.

The Study on Eco-environmental Issue of Aral Sea from the Perspective of Sustainable Development of Silk Road Economic Belt

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Hanyan

2017-04-01

The Aral Sea crisis is the most prominent environmental problem in building Silk Road and Economic Belt, which is mainly induced by extensive exploitation of land resources in Aral Sea basin since the middle of last century. The upstream part of Amu Darya River, as the main water source of Aral Sea, is almost entirely located in Tajikistan, thus, the development and utilization of Tajikistan water resources affect the whole Aral Sea basin. The author puts forward oriented-development of green energy under the overall framework of co-building Silk Road and Economic Belt, developing small hydro-power and dam-free hydro-power stations, standardized implementation of agricultural modernization in Central Asia, through high efficiency and water saving agriculture to achieve “returning water to sea”, to reverse drying trend of Aral Sea, to renovate ecological environment, resulting in simultaneous implementation of agricultural production and Aral Sea governance, simultaneous achievement of agricultural harvest and ecological environment improvement of Aral Sea basin. The article makes a scientific proof of reality and feasibility regarding the proposed methods. Green ecological environment and stable social environment will contribute to the sustainable development of Green Silk Road and Economic belt.…

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.

Historic Structure Assessment for Building 839, Carlisle Barracks: Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

Restoration Reconstruction Stabilization Condition Assessment Standard Definitions Qualitative Condition Ratings Maintenance Deficiency Priority...Structure Name Building 839 Other Name(s) Farmhouse Location Patton Road Carlisle Barracks Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Date of Construction ca...that guide the project; 4. Condition Assessment Survey: architectural fabric survey and assessment, summary of condition ratings, and maintenance

Louisiana ESI: ROADS (Road Lines)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains the state maintained primary and secondary road network of Louisiana. Vector lines in the data set represent Interstates, U.S. Highways, and...

The safe road transport system approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vollpracht Hans-Joachim

2016-07-01

Full Text Available More than 1,24 million people die each year on the worlds roads and between 20 to 50 million suffer from nonfatal injuries. The UN Road Safety Collaboration Meetings under the leadership of WHO developed the Programme for the Decade of Actions for road safety taking nations into the responsibility of improving their accident figures by the five pillars of a national Road Safety Policy, safer Roads, safer Vehicles, safer Road Users and Post Crash Care. It is this Safe System Approach that takes into consideration the land use, infrastructure and transport planning, road user’s abilities and limitations and the close cooperation of all governmental and none governmental stakeholders involved.

Detection of Hazardous Cavities Below a Road Using Combined Geophysical Methods

Science.gov (United States)

De Giorgi, L.; Leucci, G.

2014-07-01

Assessment of the risk arising from near-surface natural hazard is a crucial step in safeguarding the security of the roads in karst areas. It helps authorities and other related parties to apply suitable procedures for ground treatment, mitigate potential natural hazards and minimize human and economic losses. Karstic terrains in the Salento Peninsula (Apulia region—South Italy) is a major challenge to engineering constructions and roads due to extensive occurrence of cavities and/or sinkholes that cause ground subsidence and both roads and building collapse. Cavities are air/sediment-filled underground voids, commonly developed in calcarenite sedimentary rocks by the infiltration of rainwater into the ground, opening up, over a long period of time, holes and tunnels. Mitigation of natural hazards can best be achieved through careful geoscientific studies. Traditionally, engineers use destructive probing techniques for the detection of cavities across regular grids or random distances. Such probing is insufficient on its own to provide confidence that cavities will not be encountered. Frequency of probing and depth of investigation may become more expensive. Besides, probing is intrusive, non-continuous, slow, expensive and cannot provide a complete lateral picture of the subsurface geology. Near-surface cavities usually can be easily detected by surface geophysical methods. Traditional and recently developed measuring techniques in seismic, geoelectrics and georadar are suitable for economical investigation of hazardous, potentially collapsing cavities. The presented research focused on an integrated geophysical survey that was carried out in a near-coast road located at Porto Cesareo, a small village a few kilometers south west of Lecce (south Italy). The roads in this area are intensively affected by dangerous surface cracks that cause structural instability. The survey aimed to image the shallow subsurface structures, including karstic features, and evaluate

Research Algorithm on Building Intelligent Transportation System based on RFID Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Characterization of unpaved road condition through the use of remote sensing project - phase II, deliverable 8-D: final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-07

Building on the success of developing a UAV based unpaved road assessment system in Phase I, the project team was awarded a Phase II project by the USDOT to focus on outreach and implementation. The project team added Valerie Lefler of Integrated Glo...

Reflection properties of road surfaces. Contribution to OECD Scientific Expert Group AC4 on Road Surface Characteristics.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schreuder, D.A.

1983-01-01

Photometric characteristics of road surfaces are dealt with. Representation of reflection properties in public lighting; quality criteria of road lighting installations; classification of road surfaces; the relation between reflection characteristics and other properties of road pavements in public

Road safety audits: The way forward

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Labuschagne, FJJ

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The South African Road Safety Manual (SARSM) was published in 1999 and includes guidelines on road safety audits (RSA). The development of SARSM was a proactive process for improving the road environment with respect to road safety but was never...

An analysis on older driver's driving behavior by GPS tracking data: Road selection, left/right turn, and driving speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanning Zhao

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With the high older-related accident ratio and increasing population aging problem, understanding older drivers' driving behaviors has become more and more important for building and improving transportation system. This paper examines older driver's driving behavior which includes road selection, left/right turn and driving speed. A two-month experiment of 108 participants was carried out in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Since apparently contradictory statements were often drawn in survey-based or simulators-based studies, this study collected not only drivers' basic information but also GPS data. Analysis of road selection demonstrates that older drivers are reluctant to drive on expressway not only in short trips but also in long trips. The present study did not find significant difference between older drivers and others while turning at the intersections. To investigate the impact factors on driving speed, a random-effects regression model is constructed with explanatory variables including age, gender, road types and the interaction terms between age and road types. Compared with other variables, it fails to find that age (60 years old or over has significant impact on driving speed. Moreover, the results reflect that older drivers drive even faster than others at particular road types: national road and ordinary municipal road. The results in this study are expected to help improve transportation planning and develop driving assistance systems for older drivers.

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)

The importance of accurate road data for spatial applications in public health: customizing a road network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laraia Barbara A

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health researchers have increasingly adopted the use of geographic information systems (GIS for analyzing environments in which people live and how those environments affect health. One aspect of this research that is often overlooked is the quality and detail of the road data and whether or not it is appropriate for the scale of analysis. Many readily available road datasets, both public domain and commercial, contain positional errors or generalizations that may not be compatible with highly accurate geospatial locations. This study examined the accuracy, completeness, and currency of four readily available public and commercial sources for road data (North Carolina Department of Transportation, StreetMap Pro, TIGER/Line 2000, TIGER/Line 2007 relative to a custom road dataset which we developed and used for comparison. Methods and Results A custom road network dataset was developed to examine associations between health behaviors and the environment among pregnant and postpartum women living in central North Carolina in the United States. Three analytical measures were developed to assess the comparative accuracy and utility of four publicly and commercially available road datasets and the custom dataset in relation to participants' residential locations over three time periods. The exclusion of road segments and positional errors in the four comparison road datasets resulted in between 5.9% and 64.4% of respondents lying farther than 15.24 meters from their nearest road, the distance of the threshold set by the project to facilitate spatial analysis. Agreement, using a Pearson's correlation coefficient, between the customized road dataset and the four comparison road datasets ranged from 0.01 to 0.82. Conclusion This study demonstrates the importance of examining available road datasets and assessing their completeness, accuracy, and currency for their particular study area. This paper serves as an example for assessing

Assessment of Road Infrastructures Pertaining to Malaysian Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samsuddin Norshakina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Road Infrastructures contribute towards many severe accidents and it needs supervision as to improve road safety levels. The numbers of fatalities have increased annually and road authority should seriously consider conducting programs or activities to periodically monitor, restore of improve road infrastructure. Implementation of road safety audits may reduce fatalities among road users and maintain road safety at acceptable standards. This paper is aimed to discuss the aspects of road infrastructure in Malaysia. The research signifies the impact of road hazards during the observations and the impact of road infrastructure types on road accidents. The F050 (Jalan Kluang-Batu Pahat road case study showed that infrastructure risk is closely related with number of accident. As the infrastructure risk increase, the number of road accidents also increase. It was also found that different road zones along Jalan Kluang-Batu Pahat showed different level of intersection volume due to number of road intersection. Thus, it is hoped that by implementing continuous assessment on road infrastructures, it might be able to reduce road accidents and fatalities among drives and the community.

Tools for road infrastructure safety management in poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kustra Wojciech

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Road safety can be improved by implementing principles of road safety infrastructure management (RIS on the network of European roads as adopted in the Directive. The document recommends that member states should use tried and tested tools for road safety management such as: road safety impact assessment (RIA, road safety audit (RSA, safety management on existing road networks including road safety ranking (RSM and road safety inspection (RSI. The objective of the methods is to help road authorities to take rational decisions in the area of road safety and road infrastructure safety and understand the consequences occurring in the particular phases of road life cycle. To help with assessing the impact of a road project on the safety of related roads, a method was developed for long-term forecasts of accidents and accident cost estimation as well as a risk classification to identify risks that are not acceptable risks. With regard to road safety audits and road safety inspection, a set of principles was developed to identify risks and the basic classification of mistakes and omissions.

Ranking EU progress on road safety : 11th road safety Performance Index (PIN) report.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Adminaite, D. Jost, G. Stipdonk, H. & Ward, H.

2017-01-01

In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve road deaths by 2010. Since 2014, progress has virtually ground to a halt. 2016

Lessons learned from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake: Building damages and behavior of seismically isolated buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Morita, Keiko; Takayama, Mineo

2017-10-01

Powerful earthquakes stuck Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures in Kyushu, Japan. It began with the Magnitude 6.5 foreshock at 21:26 JST 14 April, followed by the Magnitude 7.3 mainshock at 1:25 JST 16 April, 2016. The sequence earthquakes also involved more than 1700 perceptible earthquakes as of 13 June. The entire sequence was named the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Thousands of buildings and many roads were damaged, and landslides occurred. The Japanese building standard law is revised in 1981. Structural damages were concentrated on buildings constructed prior to 1981. The area of Mashiki and Southern Aso were most badly affected, especially wooden houses extremely damaged. In Japan, Prof. Hideyuki Tada (title at the time) undertook research on laminated rubber bearings in 1978, and put it into practical use in 1981. The single family house at Yachiyodai, Chiba Prefecture is completed in 1983, it's the first seismically isolated building which is installed laminated rubber bearings in Japan. Afterward, this system is gradually adopted to mainly office buildings, like a research laboratory, a hospital, a computer center and other offices. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2011 Tohoku earthquake, seismically isolated buildings improve these good performances, and recently number of the buildings have increased, mainly high risk area of earthquakes. Many people believed that Kumamoto was a low risk area. But there were 24 seismically isolated buildings in Kumamoto Prefecture at the time. The seismically isolated buildings indicated excellent performances during the earthquakes. They protected people, buildings and other important facilities from damages caused by the earthquake. The purpose of this paper is to discuss lessons learned from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and behavior of seismically isolated buildings in the earthquake.

A combined road weather forecast system to prevent road ice formation in the Adige Valley (Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Di Napoli, Claudia; Piazza, Andrea; Antonacci, Gianluca; Todeschini, Ilaria; Apolloni, Roberto; Pretto, Ilaria

2016-04-01

Road ice is a dangerous meteorological hazard to a nation's transportation system and economy. By reducing the pavement friction with vehicle tyres, ice formation on pavements increases accident risk and delays travelling times thus posing a serious threat to road users' safety and the running of economic activities. Keeping roads clear and open is therefore essential, especially in mountainous areas where ice is likely to form during the winter period. Winter road maintenance helps to restore road efficiency and security, and its benefits are up to 8 times the costs sustained for anti-icing strategies [1]. However, the optimization of maintenance costs and the reduction of the environmental damage from over-salting demand further improvements. These can be achieved by reliable road weather forecasts, and in particular by the prediction of road surface temperatures (RSTs). RST is one of the most important parameters in determining road surface conditions. It is well known from literature that ice forms on pavements in high-humidity conditions when RSTs are below 0°C. We have therefore implemented an automatic forecast system to predict critical RSTs on a test route along the Adige Valley complex terrain, in the Italian Alps. The system considers two physical models, each computing heat and energy fluxes between the road and the atmosphere. One is Reuter's radiative cooling model, which predicts RSTs at sunrise as a function of surface temperatures at sunset and the time passed since then [2]. One is METRo (Model of the Environment and Temperature of Roads), a road weather forecast software which also considers heat conduction through road material [3]. We have applied the forecast system to a network of road weather stations (road weather information system, RWIS) installed on the test route [4]. Road and atmospheric observations from RWIS have been used as initial conditions for both METRo and Reuter's model. In METRo observations have also been coupled to

Road development and the geography of hunting by an Amazonian indigenous group: consequences for wildlife conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santiago Espinosa

Full Text Available Protected areas are essential for conservation of wildlife populations. However, in the tropics there are two important factors that may interact to threaten this objective: 1 road development associated with large-scale resource extraction near or within protected areas; and 2 historical occupancy by traditional or indigenous groups that depend on wildlife for their survival. To manage wildlife populations in the tropics, it is critical to understand the effects of roads on the spatial extent of hunting and how wildlife is used. A geographical analysis can help us answer questions such as: How do roads affect spatial extent of hunting? How does market vicinity relate to local consumption and trade of bushmeat? How does vicinity to markets influence choice of game? A geographical analysis also can help evaluate the consequences of increased accessibility in landscapes that function as source-sink systems. We applied spatial analyses to evaluate the effects of increased landscape and market accessibility by road development on spatial extent of harvested areas and wildlife use by indigenous hunters. Our study was conducted in Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador, which is impacted by road development for oil extraction, and inhabited by the Waorani indigenous group. Hunting activities were self-reported for 12-14 months and each kill was georeferenced. Presence of roads was associated with a two-fold increase of the extraction area. Rates of bushmeat extraction and trade were higher closer to markets than further away. Hunters located closer to markets concentrated their effort on large-bodied species. Our results clearly demonstrate that placing roads within protected areas can seriously reduce their capacity to sustain wildlife populations and potentially threaten livelihoods of indigenous groups who depend on these resources for their survival. Our results critically inform current policy debates regarding resource extraction and road building

Road development and the geography of hunting by an Amazonian indigenous group: consequences for wildlife conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Espinosa, Santiago; Branch, Lyn C; Cueva, Rubén

2014-01-01

Protected areas are essential for conservation of wildlife populations. However, in the tropics there are two important factors that may interact to threaten this objective: 1) road development associated with large-scale resource extraction near or within protected areas; and 2) historical occupancy by traditional or indigenous groups that depend on wildlife for their survival. To manage wildlife populations in the tropics, it is critical to understand the effects of roads on the spatial extent of hunting and how wildlife is used. A geographical analysis can help us answer questions such as: How do roads affect spatial extent of hunting? How does market vicinity relate to local consumption and trade of bushmeat? How does vicinity to markets influence choice of game? A geographical analysis also can help evaluate the consequences of increased accessibility in landscapes that function as source-sink systems. We applied spatial analyses to evaluate the effects of increased landscape and market accessibility by road development on spatial extent of harvested areas and wildlife use by indigenous hunters. Our study was conducted in Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador, which is impacted by road development for oil extraction, and inhabited by the Waorani indigenous group. Hunting activities were self-reported for 12-14 months and each kill was georeferenced. Presence of roads was associated with a two-fold increase of the extraction area. Rates of bushmeat extraction and trade were higher closer to markets than further away. Hunters located closer to markets concentrated their effort on large-bodied species. Our results clearly demonstrate that placing roads within protected areas can seriously reduce their capacity to sustain wildlife populations and potentially threaten livelihoods of indigenous groups who depend on these resources for their survival. Our results critically inform current policy debates regarding resource extraction and road building near or within

Estimating Urban Traffic Patterns through Probabilistic Interconnectivity of Road Network Junctions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ed Manley

Full Text Available The emergence of large, fine-grained mobility datasets offers significant opportunities for the development and application of new methodologies for transportation analysis. In this paper, the link between routing behaviour and traffic patterns in urban areas is examined, introducing a method to derive estimates of traffic patterns from a large collection of fine-grained routing data. Using this dataset, the interconnectivity between road network junctions is extracted in the form of a Markov chain. This representation encodes the probability of the successive usage of adjacent road junctions, encoding routes as flows between decision points rather than flows along road segments. This network of functional interactions is then integrated within a modified Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC framework, adapted for the estimation of urban traffic patterns. As part of this approach, the data-derived links between major junctions influence the movement of directed random walks executed across the network to model origin-destination journeys. The simulation process yields estimates of traffic distribution across the road network. The paper presents an implementation of the modified MCMC approach for London, United Kingdom, building an MCMC model based on a dataset of nearly 700000 minicab routes. Validation of the approach clarifies how each element of the MCMC framework contributes to junction prediction performance, and finds promising results in relation to the estimation of junction choice and minicab traffic distribution. The paper concludes by summarising the potential for the development and extension of this approach to the wider urban modelling domain.

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...

Road Anomalies Detection System Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Nuno; Shah, Vaibhav; Soares, João; Rodrigues, Helena

2018-06-21

Anomalies on road pavement cause discomfort to drivers and passengers, and may cause mechanical failure or even accidents. Governments spend millions of Euros every year on road maintenance, often causing traffic jams and congestion on urban roads on a daily basis. This paper analyses the difference between the deployment of a road anomalies detection and identification system in a “conditioned” and a real world setup, where the system performed worse compared to the “conditioned” setup. It also presents a system performance analysis based on the analysis of the training data sets; on the analysis of the attributes complexity, through the application of PCA techniques; and on the analysis of the attributes in the context of each anomaly type, using acceleration standard deviation attributes to observe how different anomalies classes are distributed in the Cartesian coordinates system. Overall, in this paper, we describe the main insights on road anomalies detection challenges to support the design and deployment of a new iteration of our system towards the deployment of a road anomaly detection service to provide information about roads condition to drivers and government entities.

Road design, human behaviour, and road accidents : towards a `learning design community'. Paper presented at the international conference `Road safety in Europe', Birmingham, England, September 9-11, 1996.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wegman, F.C.M.

1996-01-01

This paper discusses a number of unsolved problems in the field of road design (i.e. geometric design), human behaviour and road safety, particularly concerning the operationalisation of the existing design principles for a safe road network in terms of concrete road design in existing

The Development of child road safety competence : the new approach tо road safety education

OpenAIRE

Vilkonis, Rytis

2005-01-01

The education and information are the strategies of the Road safety. However, some of the documents and scientific findings revealed the chaotic, desultory and theoretically groundless Road safety education and it can be stated that Road safety education system in Lithuania is still being established. The shortage of the theoretical and empirical base of Road safety education is slowing down the process of the system development. Aim of the research is to disclose the assumptions for developm...

Road crash costs.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2010-01-01

Road crashes result in all kinds of social costs, such as medical costs, production loss, human losses, property damage, settlement costs and costs due to congestion. Studies into road crash costs and their trends are carried out quite regularly. In 2009, the costs amounted to € 12.5 billion, or

Tyre and road wear prediction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lupker, H.A.

2003-01-01

Both tyre wear and road polishing are complex phenomenon, which are obviously strongly related; the energy that polishes the road is the energy that wears the tyre. The both depend non-linearly on numerous parameters, like materials used, vehicle and road usage, environmental conditions (i.e.

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...

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.

Road weather information for travelers : improving road weather messages and dissemination methods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) recently completed a study titled Human Factors Analysis of Road Weather Advisory and Control Information (Publication No. FHWAJPO- 10-053). The goal of the study was to...

How long do the dead survive on the road? Carcass persistence probability and implications for road-kill monitoring surveys.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara M Santos

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Road mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the effect of sampling frequency on the relative variation in road-kill estimates registered within a survey. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Daily surveys of road-killed vertebrates were conducted over one year along four road sections with different traffic volumes. Survival analysis was then used to i describe carcass persistence timings for overall and for specific animal groups; ii assess optimal sampling designs according to research objectives; and iii model the influence of road, animal and weather factors on carcass persistence probabilities. Most animal carcasses persisted on the road for the first day only, with some groups disappearing at very high rates. The advisable periodicity of road monitoring that minimizes bias in road mortality estimates is daily monitoring for bats (in the morning and lizards (in the afternoon, daily monitoring for toads, small birds, small mammals, snakes, salamanders, and lagomorphs; 1 day-interval (alternate days for large birds, birds of prey, hedgehogs, and freshwater turtles; and 2 day-interval for carnivores. Multiple factors influenced the persistence probabilities of vertebrate carcasses on the road. Overall, the persistence was much lower for small animals, on roads with lower traffic volumes, for carcasses located on road lanes, and during humid conditions and high temperatures during the wet season and dry seasons, respectively. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The guidance given here on monitoring frequencies is particularly relevant to provide

How long do the dead survive on the road? Carcass persistence probability and implications for road-kill monitoring surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Sara M; Carvalho, Filipe; Mira, António

2011-01-01

Road mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the effect of sampling frequency on the relative variation in road-kill estimates registered within a survey. Daily surveys of road-killed vertebrates were conducted over one year along four road sections with different traffic volumes. Survival analysis was then used to i) describe carcass persistence timings for overall and for specific animal groups; ii) assess optimal sampling designs according to research objectives; and iii) model the influence of road, animal and weather factors on carcass persistence probabilities. Most animal carcasses persisted on the road for the first day only, with some groups disappearing at very high rates. The advisable periodicity of road monitoring that minimizes bias in road mortality estimates is daily monitoring for bats (in the morning) and lizards (in the afternoon), daily monitoring for toads, small birds, small mammals, snakes, salamanders, and lagomorphs; 1 day-interval (alternate days) for large birds, birds of prey, hedgehogs, and freshwater turtles; and 2 day-interval for carnivores. Multiple factors influenced the persistence probabilities of vertebrate carcasses on the road. Overall, the persistence was much lower for small animals, on roads with lower traffic volumes, for carcasses located on road lanes, and during humid conditions and high temperatures during the wet season and dry seasons, respectively. The guidance given here on monitoring frequencies is particularly relevant to provide conservation and transportation agencies with accurate numbers of road

Solutions to Improve Road Circulation in the Pitesti City Based on Analysis-Diagnostics of Road Traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Vîlcan, A.; Neagu, E.; Badarau Suster, H.; Boroiu, A. A.

2017-10-01

Road traffic congestion has become a daily phenomenon in the central area of Pitesti in the peak traffic periods. In order to achieve the mobility plan of Pitesti, an important stage is the diagnostic analysis of the road traffic. For this purpose, the urban road network was formalized through a graph containing the most important 40 intersections and traffic measurements were made at all these intersections and on the main roads connecting the peri-urban area. The data obtained by traffic macrosimulation confirmed the overloading of the street network during peak traffic hours and the analyzes made for various road traffic organization scenarios have shown that there are sustainable solutions for urban mobility only if the road network is fundamentally reconfigured (a belt outside the city and a median ring). Thus, the necessity of realizing the road passage in the Prundu neighbourhood and the finishing of the city belt by realizing the “detour West” of the city is argued. The importance of the work is that it brings scientific arguments for the realization of these road infrastructure projects, integrated in the urban mobility plan, which will base the development strategy of the Pitesti municipality.

Vehicular-networking- and road-weather-related research in Sodankylä

Science.gov (United States)

Sukuvaara, Timo; Mäenpää, Kari; Ylitalo, Riika

2016-10-01

Vehicular-networking- and especially safety-related wireless vehicular services have been under intensive research for almost a decade now. Only in recent years has road weather information also been acknowledged to play an important role when aiming to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities via intelligent transport systems (ITSs). Part of the progress can be seen as a result of the Finnish Meteorological Institute's (FMI) long-term research work in Sodankylä within the topic, originally started in 2006. Within multiple research projects, the FMI Arctic Research Centre has been developing wireless vehicular networking and road weather services, in co-operation with the FMI meteorological services team in Helsinki. At the beginning the wireless communication was conducted with traditional Wi-Fi type local area networking, but during the development the system has evolved into a hybrid communication system of a combined vehicular ad hoc networking (VANET) system with special IEEE 802.11p protocol and supporting cellular networking based on a commercial 3G network, not forgetting support for Wi-Fi-based devices also. For piloting purposes and further research, we have established a special combined road weather station (RWS) and roadside unit (RSU), to interact with vehicles as a service hotspot. In the RWS-RSU we have chosen to build support to all major approaches, IEEE 802.11, traditional Wi-Fi and cellular 3G. We employ road weather systems of FMI, along with RWS and vehicle data gathered from vehicles, in the up-to-date localized weather data delivered in real time. IEEE 802.11p vehicular networking is supported with Wi-Fi and 3G communications. This paper briefly introduces the research work related to vehicular networking and road weather services conducted in Sodankylä, as well as the research project involved in this work. The current status of instrumentation, available services and capabilities are presented in order to formulate a clear general view of

The Road Traffic Injuries Research Network: a decade of research capacity strengthening in low- and middle-income countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyder, Adnan A; Norton, Robyn; Pérez-Núñez, Ricardo; Mojarro-Iñiguez, Francisco R; Peden, Margie; Kobusingye, Olive

2016-02-27

Road traffic crashes have been an increasing threat to the wellbeing of road users worldwide; an unacceptably high number of people die or become disabled from them. While high-income countries have successfully implemented effective interventions to help reduce the burden of road traffic injuries (RTIs) in their countries, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not yet achieved similar results. Both scientific research and capacity development have proven to be useful for preventing RTIs in high-income countries. In 1999, a group of leading researchers from different countries decided to join efforts to help promote research on RTIs and develop the capacity of professionals from LMICs. This translated into the creation of the Road Traffic Injuries Research Network (RTIRN) - a partnership of over 1,100 road safety professionals from 114 countries collaborating to facilitate reductions in the burden of RTIs in LMICs by identifying and promoting effective, evidenced-based interventions and supporting research capacity building in road safety research in LMICs. This article presents the work that RTIRN has done over more than a decade, including production of a dozen scientific papers, support of nearly 100 researchers, training of nearly 1,000 people and 35 scholarships granted to researchers from LMICs to attend world conferences, as well as lessons learnt and future challenges to maximize its work.

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...

Opportunities of forest roads usage as emergency access road for natural disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Can Vatandaşlar

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study was carried out to examine the applicability of forest roads as emergency access and evacuation corridor for an alternative to motorways following a prospective earthquake in İstanbul. For this purpose, various disaster scenarios were created in the district of Beykoz and the shortest routes between critical points were determined through network analysis in Geographic Information System (GIS. Results indicated that access was possible between Beykoz city center and shelter, hospital, fire station, disaster management center, and military area via forest roads even if motorways became unusable. However, distance generally got longer and time of arrival increased on the routes of forest road. The increase in time of arrival was attributed to decrease in average cruising speed in addition to the increase in distance. This limitation can be overcome by enhancing the geometric standards of forest roads and completing superstructure operations. Results are important for revealing that forest roads can be used in other fields besides forestry activities, they can strengthen decision support system of managers, and enable first aid crew to reach the scene in the minimal time.

24 CFR 1710.210 - Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Roads. 1710.210 Section 1710.210... (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements § 1710.210 Roads. (a) State the estimated cost to the developer of the proposed road system. (b) If the developer is to...

14 CFR 151.89 - Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Roads. 151.89 Section 151.89 Aeronautics... AID TO AIRPORTS Project Programming Standards § 151.89 Roads. (a) Federal-aid Airport Program funds may not be used to resolve highway problems. Only those airport entrance roads that are definitely...

24 CFR 1710.110 - Roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Roads. 1710.110 Section 1710.110... (INTERSTATE LAND SALES REGISTRATION PROGRAM) LAND REGISTRATION Reporting Requirements § 1710.110 Roads. (a) Access to the subdivision. (1) Is access to the subdivision provided by public or private roads? What...

From rectilinear road to the cross: the opening of strada Maqueda in Palermo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurizio Vesco

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Strada Maqueda has until the present day been subjected almost exclusively to critical interpretations, which have correctly highlighted its symbolic value, especially with reference to the showing-off of the cross. This is an expression of an increasingly orthodox and extremist Catholicism on an unprecedented urban scale. Little has been said, on the other hand, about issues related to the actual construction of this urban space, to all the gutting that was necessary related to the opening of the building site in the dense, compact area of one of the most important Mediterranean capitals, of a road which is one and a half kilometres long and more than 11 metres wide; in the year 1600, this rectilinear road was an extremely complex urban intervention on the European scene. This research, with the aid of new archival documentation, aims to focus on the protagonists of this architectural achievement, on the progressive steps taken, the timing and organization of the construction site, as well as the  tools and techniques used to plan the urban space in order to properly lay out the new road through the medieval neighbourhoods. Keywords: Sicily, Palermo, strada Maqueda, city planning, XVIIth century

MICRO SIMULATION OF PELICAN CROSSING AT THE ROAD SECTION OF COLOMBO STREET, YOGYAKARTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anggraeni Hapsari

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Yogyakarta has a problem related to pedestrians. The inappropriate implementation of crossing facility and disobedience of pedestrians while crossing the street leads to conflicts between pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Taking the road section of Colombo Street as the case study, this research proposed pelican crossing with independent and coordination time signal operation. Using Aimsun software, the existing traffic signal, geometric design, traffic flow and turning proportion were taken into account to build the initial model. Afterwards, a calibration of queue length and a validation of vehicle speed were carried out to obtain a basic model which represents the existing condition of the system. Comparing the basic model and the alternatives in terms of performances of junctions, road section and pedestrians in the pelican, this research resulted in setting double cycling of pelican as 100 seconds for the independent operation and setting common cycle time 120 seconds for the coordination operation as the best alternatives. In addition, the implementation of pelican crossing brought about the reduction of vehicle speed in the road section so that the safety of pedestrian increased. Keywords: Pedestrian, pelican crossing, Aimsun, signal time, speed

Kilburn High Road Revisited

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Capineri

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Drawing on John Agnew’s (1987 theoretical framework for the analysis of place (location, locale and sense of place and on Doreen Massey’s (1991 interpretation of Kilburn High Road (London, the contribution develops an analysis of the notion of place in the case study of Kilburn High Road by comparing the semantics emerging from Doreen Massey’s interpretation of Kilburn High Road in the late Nineties with those from a selection of noisy and unstructured volunteered geographic information collected from Flickr photos and Tweets harvested in 2014–2015. The comparison shows how sense of place is dynamic and changing over time and explores Kilburn High Road through the categories of location, locale and sense of place derived from the qualitative analysis of VGI content and annotations. The contribution shows how VGI can contribute to discovering the unique relationship between people and place which takes the form given by Doreen Massey to Kilburn High Road and then moves on to the many forms given by people experiencing Kilburn High Road through a photo, a Tweet or a simple narrative. Finally, the paper suggests that the analysis of VGI content can contribute to detect the relevant features of street life, from infrastructure to citizens’ perceptions, which should be taken into account for a more human-centered approach in planning or service management.

Road Nail: Experimental Solar Powered Intelligent Road Marking System

Science.gov (United States)

Samardžija, Dragan; Teslić, Nikola; Todorović, Branislav M.; Kovač, Erne; Isailović, Đorđe; Miladinović, Bojan

2012-03-01

Driving in low visibility conditions (night time, fog or heavy precipitation) is particularly challenging task with an increased probability of traffic accidents and possible injuries. Road Nail is a solar powered intelligent road marking system of wirelessly networked signaling devices that improve driver safety in low visibility conditions along hazardous roadways. Nails or signaling devices are autonomous nodes with capability to accumulate energy, exchange wireless messages, detect approaching vehicles and emit signalization light. We have built an experimental test-bed that consists of 20 nodes and a cellular gateway. Implementation details of the above system, including extensive measurements and performance evaluations in realistic field deployments are presented. A novel distributed network topology discovery scheme is proposed which integrates both sensor and wireless communication aspects, where nodes act autonomously. Finally, integration of the Road Nail system with the cellular network and the Internet is described.

Preparation of Sandy Soil Stabilizer for Roads Based on Radiation Modified Polymer Composite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elnahas, H.H.

2016-01-01

Radiation modified polymer composite (RMPC) was studied to build an extremely durable sandy road, construct a trail or bath, or control dust and erosion. A dilute solution of composite binds sandy soil fines through a coagulation bonding process. The result is a dense soil structure that has superior resistance to cracks and water penetration and can also solve erosion control problems. In erosion control applications, diluted composite is merely sprayed into sandy soil without compaction, effectively sealing the surface to prevent air-born dust or deterioration from erosion. The prepared composite has an elastic and melt-able film formation that imparts thermal compacting to the stabilized sandy soil after full dryness for sandy road leveling, repairing and restoration processes. The prepared composite is environmentally economical when compared with traditional sandy soil stabilizing (SSS) or sealing methods.

PROPOSAL OF VOIVODESHIP ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz SZCZURASZEK

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article presents a proposal of the ‘GAMBIT KUJAWSKO-POMORSKI’ Road Safety Improvement Programme. The main idea of the Programme is to establish and initiate systems that will be responsible for the most important areas of activity within road safety, including road safety control, supervision, and management systems in the whole Voivodeship. In total, the creation and start of nine such systems has been proposed, namely: the Road Safety Management, the Integrated Road Rescue Service, the Personnel Continuing Education, the Hazardous Road Behaviour Monitoring, the Social Education for Safe Behaviour on Road, the Teaching Personnel Improvement, the Area Development and Planning Process Improvement, the Road Infrastructure Design Quality Improvement, and the Road and Traffic Management Process Efficiency Improvement. The basic aim of each system has been discussed as well as the most important tasks implemented as its part. The Road Safety Improvement Programme for the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship presented in this article is a part of the National Road Safety Programme 2013-2020. Moreover, it is not only an original programme in Poland, but also a universal project that may be adapted for other voivodeships as well.

Do roads reduce painted turtle (Chrysemys picta populations?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Dorland

Full Text Available Road mortality is thought to be a leading cause of turtle population decline. However, empirical evidence of the direct negative effects of road mortality on turtle population abundance is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the prediction that roads reduce turtle population abundance. While controlling for potentially confounding variables, we compared relative abundance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta in 20 ponds in Eastern Ontario, 10 as close as possible to high traffic roads (Road sites and 10 as far as possible from any major roads (No Road sites. There was no significant effect of roads on painted turtle relative abundance. Furthermore, our data do not support other predictions of the road mortality hypothesis; we observed neither a higher relative frequency of males to females at Road sites than at No Road sites, nor a lower average body size of turtles at Road than at No Road sites. We speculate that, although roads can cause substantial adult mortality in turtles, other factors, such as release from predation on adults and/or nests close to roads counter the negative effect of road mortality in some populations. We suggest that road mitigation for painted turtles can be limited to locations where turtles are forced to migrate across high traffic roads due, for example, to destruction of local nesting habitat or seasonal drying of ponds. This conclusion should not be extrapolated to other species of turtles, where road mortality could have a larger population-level effect than on painted turtles.

Do roads reduce painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) populations?

Science.gov (United States)

Dorland, Alexandra; Rytwinski, Trina; Fahrig, Lenore

2014-01-01

Road mortality is thought to be a leading cause of turtle population decline. However, empirical evidence of the direct negative effects of road mortality on turtle population abundance is lacking. The purpose of this study was to provide a strong test of the prediction that roads reduce turtle population abundance. While controlling for potentially confounding variables, we compared relative abundance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) in 20 ponds in Eastern Ontario, 10 as close as possible to high traffic roads (Road sites) and 10 as far as possible from any major roads (No Road sites). There was no significant effect of roads on painted turtle relative abundance. Furthermore, our data do not support other predictions of the road mortality hypothesis; we observed neither a higher relative frequency of males to females at Road sites than at No Road sites, nor a lower average body size of turtles at Road than at No Road sites. We speculate that, although roads can cause substantial adult mortality in turtles, other factors, such as release from predation on adults and/or nests close to roads counter the negative effect of road mortality in some populations. We suggest that road mitigation for painted turtles can be limited to locations where turtles are forced to migrate across high traffic roads due, for example, to destruction of local nesting habitat or seasonal drying of ponds. This conclusion should not be extrapolated to other species of turtles, where road mortality could have a larger population-level effect than on painted turtles.

EDITORIAL ROAD SAFETY IN KENYA

African Journals Online (AJOL)

data for the purpose of legal prosecution and insurance claims. The accident data P41 form filled at the Police Stations are collated and forwarded to the Roads Department, Ministry of Roads and Public. Works for further processing and analysis (1, 12). The. Roads Department analyses the information in order to determine:.

Future Roads Near Streams

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Roads are a source of auto related pollutants (e.g. gasoline, oil and other engine fluids). When roads are near streams, rain can wash these pollutants directly into...

Road Maintenance in Africa: Approaches and Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Mostafa Hassan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In Africa, roads are the dominant mode of passenger and freight transport, for which the need is growing rapidly. It is noticeable that most of the African countries do not do enough to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure as it has been widely reported that roads are affected, to varying degrees, by premature deterioration. Most of the African countries have adopted institutional reforms, notably entailing the creation of road funds and road agencies, and made significant progress on road maintenance. However, many challenges remain to be addressed in all of them to ensure appropriate maintenance. Although spending on road maintenance has increased over time in all African countries it remains insufficient to cover the needs. Poorly maintained roads constrain mobility, significantly raise vehicle operating costs, increase accident rates and their associated human and property costs, and aggravate isolation, poverty, poor health, and illiteracy in rural communities. This paper focuses, in particular, on road maintenance in some African countries considering types of road maintenance and the different approaches aiming at a comparison to reflect on similarities and differences.

Road Maintenance in Africa: Approaches and Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

M, Mostafa Hassan

2018-06-01

In Africa, roads are the dominant mode of passenger and freight transport, for which the need is growing rapidly. It is noticeable that most of the African countries do not do enough to ensure the sustainability of road infrastructure as it has been widely reported that roads are affected, to varying degrees, by premature deterioration. Most of the African countries have adopted institutional reforms, notably entailing the creation of road funds and road agencies, and made significant progress on road maintenance. However, many challenges remain to be addressed in all of them to ensure appropriate maintenance. Although spending on road maintenance has increased over time in all African countries it remains insufficient to cover the needs. Poorly maintained roads constrain mobility, significantly raise vehicle operating costs, increase accident rates and their associated human and property costs, and aggravate isolation, poverty, poor health, and illiteracy in rural communities. This paper focuses, in particular, on road maintenance in some African countries considering types of road maintenance and the different approaches aiming at a comparison to reflect on similarities and differences.

Rapid road repair vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Mara, Leo M.

1998-01-01

Disclosed is a rapid road repair vehicle capable of moving over a surface to be repaired at near normal posted traffic speeds to scan for and find an the high rate of speed, imperfections in the pavement surface, prepare the surface imperfection for repair by air pressure and vacuum cleaning, applying a correct amount of the correct patching material to effect the repair, smooth the resulting repaired surface, and catalog the location and quality of the repairs for maintenance records of the road surface. The rapid road repair vehicle can repair surface imperfections at lower cost, improved quality, at a higher rate of speed than was was heretofor possible, with significantly reduced exposure to safety and health hazards associated with this kind of road repair activities in the past.

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...

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).

Have a Blast, Safely!

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Ken

2005-01-01

Model rocketry is one of the best ways to get students interested in the physical sciences. Following safety guidelines, rocketry can really turn students on to science and also help them understand the applications of theories and scientific principles (Newton's laws of motion, force, mass, projectile motion, etc.) they are learning. The study…

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Toward a virtual building laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klems, J.H.; Finlayson, E.U.; Olsen, T.H.; Banks, D.W.; Pallis, J.M.

1999-03-01

In order to achieve in a timely manner the large energy and dollar savings technically possible through improvements in building energy efficiency, it will be necessary to solve the problem of design failure risk. The most economical method of doing this would be to learn to calculate building performance with sufficient detail, accuracy and reliability to avoid design failure. Existing building simulation models (BSM) are a large step in this direction, but are still not capable of this level of modeling. Developments in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques now allow one to construct a road map from present BSM's to a complete building physical model. The most useful first step is a building interior model (BIM) that would allow prediction of local conditions affecting occupant health and comfort. To provide reliable prediction a BIM must incorporate the correct physical boundary conditions on a building interior. Doing so raises a number of specific technical problems and research questions. The solution of these within a context useful for building research and design is not likely to result from other research on CFD, which is directed toward the solution of different types of problems. A six-step plan for incorporating the correct boundary conditions within the context of the model problem of a large atrium has been outlined. A promising strategy for constructing a BIM is the overset grid technique for representing a building space in a CFD calculation. This technique promises to adapt well to building design and allows a step-by-step approach. A state-of-the-art CFD computer code using this technique has been adapted to the problem and can form the departure point for this research.

Road safety and road traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia

OpenAIRE

Mansuri, Farah A.; Al-Zalabani, Abdulmohsen H.; Zalat, Marwa M.; Qabshawi, Reem I.

2015-01-01

Objectives: To identify the changing trends and crucial preventive approaches to road traffic accidents (RTAs) adopted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the last 2.5 decades, and to analyze aspects previously overlooked. Methods: This systematic review was based on evidence of RTAs in KSA. All articles published during the last 25 years on road traffic accident in KSA were analyzed. This study was carried out from December 2013 to May 2014 in the Department of Family and Community Med...

Drawing Road Networks with Mental Maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shih-Syun; Lin, Chao-Hung; Hu, Yan-Jhang; Lee, Tong-Yee

2014-09-01

Tourist and destination maps are thematic maps designed to represent specific themes in maps. The road network topologies in these maps are generally more important than the geometric accuracy of roads. A road network warping method is proposed to facilitate map generation and improve theme representation in maps. The basic idea is deforming a road network to meet a user-specified mental map while an optimization process is performed to propagate distortions originating from road network warping. To generate a map, the proposed method includes algorithms for estimating road significance and for deforming a road network according to various geometric and aesthetic constraints. The proposed method can produce an iconic mark of a theme from a road network and meet a user-specified mental map. Therefore, the resulting map can serve as a tourist or destination map that not only provides visual aids for route planning and navigation tasks, but also visually emphasizes the presentation of a theme in a map for the purpose of advertising. In the experiments, the demonstrations of map generations show that our method enables map generation systems to generate deformed tourist and destination maps efficiently.

Road accident fatality risks for "vulnerable" versus "protected" road users in northern Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Damsere-Derry, James; Palk, Gavan; King, Mark

2017-10-03

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a serious epidemic that claims more than a million lives across the globe each year. The burden of RTIs is particularly pronounced in Africa and other low- and middle-income countries. The unfavorable disparity of the burden of road trauma in the world is largely attributable to unsafe vehicles, lack of appropriate road infrastructure, and the predominance of vulnerable road users (VRUs) in developing countries. However, little research exists in northern Ghana to highlight the scale and risk of death among road users. The objective of this research was to establish the relative risk of death among road users in northern Ghana. Crash data from police reports between 2007 and 2011 were analyzed for the Upper Regions of Ghana. Conditional probabilities and multivariable logistic regression techniques were used to report proportions and adjusted odds ratios (AORs), respectively. Generally, crashes in northern Ghana were extremely severe; that is, 35% of all injury related collisions were fatal. The proportion of fatal casualties ranged between 21% among victims of sideswipe collisions and 41% among pedestrians and victims of rear-end collisions. Though males were 6 times more likely to die than females overall, females were more likely to die as pedestrians (90% of all female casualty deaths) and males were more likely to die as riders/drivers (78% of all male casualty deaths). Pedestrians were 3 times more likely to die (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4 to 4.1) compared with drivers/riders. Compared with drivers, the odds of death among cyclists was about 4 times higher (AOR = 3.6; 95% CI, 2.3 to 5.6) and about 2 times higher among motorcyclists (AOR = 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.2). Compared with casualties aged between 30 and 59 years, children under 10 years and those aged 60 years and above were independently 2 times more likely to die in traffic collisions. Provision of requisite road infrastructure is vital

Overview of the neural network based technique for monitoring of road condition via reconstructed road profiles

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ngwangwa, HM

2008-07-01

Full Text Available on the road and driver to assess the integrity of road and vehicle infrastructure. In this paper, vehicle vibration data are applied to an artificial neural network to reconstruct the corresponding road surface profiles. The results show that the technique...

Nuclear energy in a low carbon future: updating the IEA/NEA nuclear technology road-map

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paillere, H.; Cameron, R.; ); Tam, C.; )

2014-01-01

The Nuclear Technology road-map is one of 20 technology road-maps which the International Energy Agency (IEA) has published. The 2010 road-map, produced jointly by the IEA and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), came out in a year which saw 16 new construction starts, a number that had not been reached since 1985. The IEA's Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) 'Blue Map' scenario, also published in 2010, projected at that time that the installed world nuclear capacity would need to reach 1200 GW (gross) by 2050 as part of a global effort to de-carbonise the electricity sector assuming least cost optimisation. The 'nuclear renaissance' then stalled for a number of reasons which include the consequences of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 on public acceptance and energy policies. The economic crisis that was already looming in 2010, as well as delays and cost overruns in the first Generation III new build projects in Europe also played a role in the significant drop in new projects. Finally, the US shale gas revolution and the potential role that unconventional oil and gas could play have also changed the prospects for nuclear development in many countries. Four years after the publication of the first road-map, the IEA and the NEA are updating the nuclear energy road-map, taking into account the recent challenges facing the development of this technology. The presentation of this paper will explain the process followed to update the road-map, through stakeholder engagement workshops that took place between January and April 2014. It will most importantly provide some insight into its contents and preliminary milestones and recommendations. The draft of the road-map will be peer-reviewed over the summer and will be published at the end of 2014. The vision developed in the road-map still relates to the contribution that nuclear energy can make to the de-carbonisation of the power system, described in

Road design and environment : best practice on self-explaining and forgiving roads. Deliverable D3 of the RiPCORD-iSEREST project (Road Infrastructure Safety Protection - Core-Research and Development for Road Safety in Europe; Increasing safety and reliability of secondary roads for a sustainable Surface Transport).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Matena, S. Louwerse, W. Schermers, G. Vaneerdewegh, P. Pokorny, P. Gaitanidou, L. Elvik, R. & Cardoso, J.

2009-01-01

Main objective of work-package 3 of Ripcord-lserest was to collect information on best practices concerning the design of self-explaining and forgiving roads. In order to gain an overview on existing practises on road categorisation and the layout of typical rural roads a questionnaire survey had

New innovative educational method to prevent accidents involving young road users (aged 15-24 – European Road Safety Tunes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jankowska-Karpa Dagmara

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents a new teaching method designed to improve road safety among young road users. Developed under “European Road Safety Tunes”, this international project was cofunded by EU DG MOVE. Its main aim is to improve road safety and minimize the number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities among road users who are 15-24 years old. The Safety Tunes method contains a series of workshops addressed to young vocational school students: cyclists, moped and motor riders and car drivers. The workshops incorporate peer and emotive education, and delivery of road safety related messages through different types of artistic forms. The topics tackled during class address awareness of possible risks and risk-behaviour, prevention of distraction and reduction in young fatalities and serious injuries on the road. All actions within the project are evaluated, both in terms of the impact of the workshops on students’ attitudes towards road safety problems and in terms of process assessment.

Analysis of Individual and Environmental Factors for Road Traffic Accidents in Sirjan-Bandarabbas Road between 2010 and 2011, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghorbanali Mohammadi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Sirjan -Bandarabbas road is one of the important commercial roads in Iran and for Sirjan’s area situation and relevance between Sirjan and other states in Iran so high percentage of goods that forwarded from Bandarabbas to other states transit from Sirjan .Therefore this road is as one important transition road and traffic road too .This study analyzed road traffic accidents were occurred between 2010 and 201in Sirjan- Bandarabbas road. Individual and demographic factors include Time of accidents, Drivers age, time of the days, seat belt and safety laws, Guilty vehicle, Mode of accident and education Level. Time of day analyses suggested that the highest percentage of road traffic injuries occurred in the time group between 12-18 hours. Drivers with the age group of 36-50 had more involvement in death accidents. The findings of this study also revealed that most of the collisions was front to back and front to side. Female drivers were found to be generally safer drivers than their male counterparts; male drivers had a higher involvement rate in road traffic accidents. This study indicated that Observe safety laws, Guilty vehicle and Mode of accidents have a meaningful relationship with Type of accidents in road traffic accidents in Sirjan Bandarabbas road.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS OF ROAD SURFACES RECONSTRUCTIONS IN THE WORLD USING NON-WASTE TECHNOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dilyara Kyazymovna Izmaylova

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The article describes the cost formation of restoration of road surfaces using the methods of replacing and processing the damaged layers. There is a mathematical model of cost of the one unit of production including the cost of building materials with delivery. The estimation of the total cost of repairs in the variable amount using the technology of full replacement of the surface and processing technology of the 50% of the material on the site.

Development and enhancement of road lighting principles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ekrias, A.

2010-07-01

The work starts with a short introduction concerning the history of road lighting, outlining the trends and changes that have taken place in road lighting research during the past century. The introduction is followed by a review of trends, directions, and problems in current road lighting research and practice. The following part of the work introduces an advanced approach to road lighting measurements and calculations, based on the use of an imaging luminance photometer and the Road LumiMeter v2.0 computer program. The work sets out to investigate the variations in the characteristics of the quality of the road lighting at the same pilot locations in relation to the calculation methods used. In the work mesopic visual performance and the effects of the spectral transmittance of the vehicle windshield on the visibility conditions of the driver are also analysed. The work continues with road lighting measurements in various weather conditions in order to study the effects of snowy and wet road surface conditions on road lighting luminances. The results show that in Finland, snowy conditions offer very good opportunities to save electricity without adversely affecting either the safety of driving or the quality of road lighting. The following measurements set out to investigate the contribution of halogen and high-intensity discharge headlights to road lighting and whether this has a conflicting effect on the luminance contrasts of various targets located on the road or at the side of the road. The results indicate that, in general, the use of vehicle headlights in the presence of road lighting reduces the luminance contrasts of targets. The work continues with road lighting visibility experiments which study the visibility of achromatic and coloured targets in MH lamp and HPS lamp installations. The results show that colours have a major effect on target visibility if the road is illuminated with a light source with adequate colour rendering properties. Finally

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.

How Long Do the Dead Survive on the Road? Carcass Persistence Probability and Implications for Road-Kill Monitoring Surveys

OpenAIRE

Santos, Sara; Carvalho, Filipe; Mira, António

2011-01-01

Background: Road mortality is probably the best-known and visible impact of roads upon wildlife. Although several factors influence road-kill counts, carcass persistence time is considered the most important determinant underlying underestimates of road mortality. The present study aims to describe and model carcass persistence variability on the road for different taxonomic groups under different environmental conditions throughout the year; and also to assess the eff...

Using CART to segment road images

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Bob; Lienhart, Rainer

2006-01-01

The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge is a 132 mile race through the desert with autonomous robotic vehicles. Lasers mounted on the car roof provide a map of the road up to 20 meters ahead of the car but the car needs to see further in order to go fast enough to win the race. Computer vision can extend that map of the road ahead but desert road is notoriously similar to the surrounding desert. The CART algorithm (Classification and Regression Trees) provided a machine learning boost to find road while at the same time measuring when that road could not be distinguished from surrounding desert.

Peak Flow Responses to Forest Harvesting and Roads in the Maritime Regions of the Pacific Northwest: A Preferential Hillslope Runoff Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Alila, Y.; Schnorbus, M.

2005-12-01

The debate regarding peak flow responses to forest clearcutting and road building in the maritime regions of the Pacific Northwest has attracted much attention over the past several decades and its outcome is an important scientific and operational concern. Although there appears to be general consensus that small peak discharge events are increased following forest management activities, little conclusive evidence exists regarding the impact of forest management activities on large events. Statistical tests in traditional paired watershed studies have been used to accept or reject hypotheses regarding peak flow responses to clearcutting and roads but provided no insight into watershed processes and other factors leading to their outcome. Furthermore, statistical analyses of peak flow responses to forestry activities in traditional paired watershed studies are confounded by the many factors that may contribute to management effects on watershed hydrology as well as by issues such as shortness of streamflow records and climate variability. To this end, a new perspective is offered in the debate regarding peak flow responses to clearcutting and road building in the maritime regions of the Pacific Northwest by combining numerical modeling with high-quality hydro-meteorological data collected at the 10-km2 Carnation Creek on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC). In this approach we explicitly account for changes in evapotranspiration loss, forest road construction and, in particular, introduce the concept of the competing influences of matrix versus preferential hillslope runoff. For scenarios involving road construction, forest clearcutting (52% cut rate) and roads and clearcutting combined, peak discharge increases decrease with decreasing event frequency and statistically significant ( = 0.05) increases in peak flow are confined to events with a 1 year or lower return period. For a range of return periods from 0.17 to 20 years, the effect (i

Road diet informational guide.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-11-01

A classic Road Diet converts an existing four-lane undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two : through lanes and a center two-way left turn lane (TWLTL). A Road Diet improves safety by including a protected left-turn lane : ...

ERGONOMICS AND ROAD SAFETY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BROOKHUIS, K; BROWN, [No Value

1992-01-01

Modifications to the design of vehicles and road infrastructures have improved road safety significantly over the past decades, but all such developments depend upon user acceptance and institutional backing for their success. New R&D programmes combining ergonomic and engineering approaches are

Exploring schema-driven differences in situation awareness between road users: an on-road study of driver, cyclist and motorcyclist situation awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Paul M; Lenne, Michael G; Walker, Guy H; Stanton, Neville A; Filtness, Ashleigh

2014-01-01

Collisions between different road users make a substantial contribution to road trauma. Although evidence suggests that different road users interpret the same road situations differently, it is not clear how road users' situation awareness differs, nor is it clear which differences might lead to conflicts. This article presents the findings from an on-road study conducted to examine driver, motorcyclist and cyclist situation awareness in different road environments. The findings suggest that, in addition to minor differences in the structure of different road users' situation awareness (i.e. amount of information and how it is integrated), the actual content of situation awareness in terms of road user schemata, the resulting interaction with the world and the information underpinning situation awareness is markedly different. Further examination indicates that the differences are likely to be compatible along arterial roads, shopping strips and at roundabouts, but that they may create conflicts between different road users at intersections. Interventions designed to support compatible situation awareness and behaviour between different road users are discussed.

Construction and maintenance of underground mine roads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Logan, A.S.; Seedsman, R.W. [Coffey Partners International Pty. Ltd. (Australia)

1995-12-31

Good roads are essential in moving men and materials to and from the underground workplace. An underground coal industry funded project was recently completed on underground mine road construction and maintenance. This paper discusses practical approaches to construction and maintenance of underground mine roads using transferable civil technologies and innovative techniques. Mine pavements are generally low-cost (relative to civil roads), constructed to varying standards using locally available materials to best meet the mobility needs of the mine. Performance of pavements is thus largely dependent on the environmental conditions, quality of the available road making materials, maintenance policies and available resources. This paper explains the causes of bad roads in various underground environments. It details available management strategies, construction and water control techniques, road maintenance and vehicle considerations. It concludes that the trend to larger rubber tires mining equipment needs to be matched with construction and maintenance of high quality road surfaces. For large operations, the total cost due to poor roads may equate to in excess of $A1 million per annum. The strategies outlined in this paper provide the basis for construction and maintenance of underground mine roads to help achieve desired production targets. (author). 2 tabs., 4 figs., 7 refs.

Seismic risk assessment for road in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Toyfur, Mona Foralisa; Pribadi, Krishna S.

2016-05-01

Road networks in Indonesia consist of 446,000 km of national, provincial and local roads as well as toll highways. Indonesia is one of countries that exposed to various natural hazards, such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc. Within the Indonesian archipelago, several global tectonic plates interact, such as the Indo-Australian, Pacific, Eurasian, resulting in a complex geological setting, characterized by the existence of seismically active faults and subduction zones and a chain of more than one hundred active volcanoes. Roads in Indonesia are vital infrastructure needed for people and goods movement, thus supporting community life and economic activities, including promoting regional economic development. Road damages and losses due to earthquakes have not been studied widely, whereas road disruption caused enormous economic damage. The aim of this research is to develop a method to analyse risk caused by seismic hazard to roads. The seismic risk level of road segment is defined using an earthquake risk index, adopting the method of Earthquake Disaster Risk Index model developed by Davidson (1997). Using this method, road segments' risk level can be defined and compared, and road risk map can be developed as a tool for prioritizing risk mitigation programs for road networks in Indonesia.

Combined Prediction Model of Death Toll for Road Traffic Accidents Based on Independent and Dependent Variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Zhong-xiang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In order to build a combined model which can meet the variation rule of death toll data for road traffic accidents and can reflect the influence of multiple factors on traffic accidents and improve prediction accuracy for accidents, the Verhulst model was built based on the number of death tolls for road traffic accidents in China from 2002 to 2011; and car ownership, population, GDP, highway freight volume, highway passenger transportation volume, and highway mileage were chosen as the factors to build the death toll multivariate linear regression model. Then the two models were combined to be a combined prediction model which has weight coefficient. Shapley value method was applied to calculate the weight coefficient by assessing contributions. Finally, the combined model was used to recalculate the number of death tolls from 2002 to 2011, and the combined model was compared with the Verhulst and multivariate linear regression models. The results showed that the new model could not only characterize the death toll data characteristics but also quantify the degree of influence to the death toll by each influencing factor and had high accuracy as well as strong practicability.

Combined prediction model of death toll for road traffic accidents based on independent and dependent variables.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Zhong-xiang; Lu, Shi-sheng; Zhang, Wei-hua; Zhang, Nan-nan

2014-01-01

In order to build a combined model which can meet the variation rule of death toll data for road traffic accidents and can reflect the influence of multiple factors on traffic accidents and improve prediction accuracy for accidents, the Verhulst model was built based on the number of death tolls for road traffic accidents in China from 2002 to 2011; and car ownership, population, GDP, highway freight volume, highway passenger transportation volume, and highway mileage were chosen as the factors to build the death toll multivariate linear regression model. Then the two models were combined to be a combined prediction model which has weight coefficient. Shapley value method was applied to calculate the weight coefficient by assessing contributions. Finally, the combined model was used to recalculate the number of death tolls from 2002 to 2011, and the combined model was compared with the Verhulst and multivariate linear regression models. The results showed that the new model could not only characterize the death toll data characteristics but also quantify the degree of influence to the death toll by each influencing factor and had high accuracy as well as strong practicability.

Instrumentation and monitoring of the nextgen road infrastructure: Some results and perspectives from the R5G project

Science.gov (United States)

Hautière, Nicolas; Bourquin, Frédéric

2017-04-01

Through the centuries, the roads - which today constitute in France a huge transport network of 1 millions kilometers length - have always been able to cope with society needs and challenges. As a consequence, the next generation road infrastructure will have to take into account at least three societal transitions: ecological, energetic and digital. The goal of the 5th generation road project (R5G©) [1], led by Ifsttar in France, aligned with the Forever Open program [2], is to design and build demonstrators of such future road infrastructures. The goal of this presentation is to present different results related to the greening of road materials [3], the design of energy-positive roads [4, 5], the test of roads that self-diagnose [6], the design of roads adapted for connected [7], autonomous [8] and electrified vehicles [9], etc. In terms of perspectives, we will demonstrate that the road infrastructures will soon become a complex system: On one side road users will benefit from new services, on the other side such massively connected and instrumented infrastructures will potentially become an opportune sensor for knowledge development in geoscience, such as air quality, visibility and fog monitoring. References: [1] R5G project. r5g.ifsttar.fr [2] Forever Open Road project. www.foreveropenroad.eu [3] Biorepavation project. www.infravation.net/projects/BIOREPAVATION [4] N. Le Touz, J. Dumoulin. Numerical study of the thermal behavior of a new deicing road structure design with energy harvesting capabilities. EGU General Assembly 2015, Apr 2015, Vienne, Austria. [5] S. Asfour, F. Bernardin, E. Toussaint, J.-M. Piau. Hydrothermal modeling of porous pavement for its surface de-freezing. Applied Thermal Engineering. Volume 107, 25 August 2016, Pages 493-500 [6] LGV BPL Instrumentation. http://railenium.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/INSTRUMENTATION-BPL-FR.pdf [7] SCOOP@F project. https

Vehicle speed control using road bumps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. O. Salau

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Road bumps play a crucial role in enforcing speed limits, thereby preventing overspeeding of vehicles. It significantly contributes to the overall road safety objective through the prevention of accidents that lead to deaths of pedestrians and damage of vehicles. Despite the importance of road bumps, very little research has been done to investigate into their design. While documentation exists on quantitative descriptions of road bumps, they offer little guidance to decision making. This work presents a unique approach to solving road bumps design problems. The results of our study reveal three important road bumps variables that influence the control of vehicle speeds. The key variables are bump height, bump width, and effective distance between two consecutive road bumps. Since vehicle speed control is the ultimate aim of this study the relationship between vehicle speed and other variables earlier mentioned is established. Vehicle speed is defined as the product of frequency at which a vehicle is moving over road bumps and the sum of effective distance between two consecutive road bumps. In the determination of bump height we assume a conical shaped curve for analysis as a matter of research strategy. Based on this, two stages of motion were analysed. The first concerns the motion over the bump itself while the second relates to the motion between two consecutive road bumps. Fourier series was then used to formulate a holistic equation that combines these two stages. We used trigonometric functions to model the behaviour of the first stage while with the second stage giving a functional value of zero since no changes in height are observed. We carried out vibration analysis to determine the effect of road bumps on a vehicular system. Arising from this a model component is referred to as an isolation factor. This offers guidance to the safe frequency at which vehicles could travel over road bumps. The work appears to contribute to knowledge

Recognizablility of rural roads in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aarts, L.T. & Davidse, R.J.

2008-01-01

In the Netherlands, the Sustainable Safety vision is an important guide in improving road safety. It is considered that the road environment shouldconform to the expectations of road users in order to prevent errors thatcould lead to road crashes. These expectations are based on the characteristics

SmartRoads: training Indonesian workers to become road safety ambassadors in industrial and community settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Montero, Kerry; Spencer, Graham; Ariens, Bernadette

2012-06-01

This paper reports on a programme to improve road safety awareness in an industrial community in the vicinity of Jakarta, in Indonesia. Adapting the model of a successful community and school-based programme in Victoria, in Australia, and using a peer education approach, 16 employees of a major manufacturing company were trained to implement road safety education programmes amongst their peers. Specific target groups for the educators were colleagues, schools and the local community. Over 2 days the employees, from areas as diverse as production, public relations, personnel services, administration and management, learned about road safety facts, causes of traffic casualties, prevention approaches and peer education strategies. They explored and developed strategies to use with their respective target groups and practised health education skills. The newly trained workers received certificates to acknowledge them as 'SmartRoads Ambassadors' and, with follow-up support and development, became road safety educators with a commitment and responsibility to deliver education to their respective work and local communities. This paper argues that the model has potential to provide an effective and locally relevant response to road safety issues in similar communities.

[Accidents on Iceland's most dangerous roads].

Science.gov (United States)

Bjarnason, Thóroddur; Arnarsson, Sveinn

2012-02-01

The objective of this paper was to identify the most dangerous segments of the Icelandic road system in terms of the number of accidents pr km and the rate of accidents pr million km travelled. First to identify the segments where the number of accidents is highest and where the risk of the individual traveller is the greatest. Second to evaluate if the association between the number and the rate of accidents is positive or negative. Third to identify the road segments that are the most dangerous in the sense of many accidents and great risk to individual travellers. Main roads outside urban centers were divided into 45 segments that were on average 78 km in length. Infrequently travelled roads and roads within urban centers were omitted. Information on the length of roads, traffic density and number of accidents was used to calculate the number of accidents per km and the rate of accidents per million km travelled. The correlation between the number and rate of accidents was calculated and the most dangerous road segments were identified by the average rank order on both dimensions. Most accidents pr km occurred on the main roads to and from the capital region, but also east towards Hvolsvöllur, north towards Akureyri and in the Mideast region of the country. The rate of accidents pr million km travelled was highest in the northeast region, in northern Snæfellsnes and in the Westfjords. The most dangerous roads on both dimensions were in Mideast, northern Westfjords, in the north between Blönduós and Akureyri and in northern Snæfellsnes. Most accidents pr km occurred on roads with a low accident rate pr million km travelled. It is therefore possible to reduce accidents the most by increasing road safety where it is already the greatest but that would however increase inequalities in road safety. Policy development in transportation is therefore in part a question of priorities in healthcare. Individual equality in safety and health are not always fully

Gender Stereotypes among Road Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kabalevskaya, Alexandra I.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the mechanism of stereotyping as exemplified by gender stereotypes of road users. Gender stereotypes are not only viewed as an a priori image of a percept, but also examined ‘in action’ — at the very moment of their actualization with road users. In the paper we have identified the content of road users’ gender stereotypes; analyzed the behaviour of male and female drivers, pinpointing a number of gender-specific behavioural features; demonstrated that male and female driving differ from each other in terms of speed, intensity and roughness; and identified the conditions and mechanisms underlying the actualization of gender stereotypes. Based on video and audio materials, we have found that drivers’ gender-specific behavioural features are perceivable to road users: such features trigger the actualization of gender stereotypes as attributive schemes, which determine the interaction between road users, while also laying the foundation for gender stereotypes.

Proceedings of the workshop on cool building materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, H.; Fishman, B. [Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States); Frohnsdorff, G. [National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NEL), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Building Materials Div.] [eds.

1994-04-01

The Option 9, Cool Communities, of the Clinton-Gore Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) calls for mobilizing community and corporate resources to strategically plant trees and lighten the surfaces of buildings and roads in order to reduce cooling energy use of the buildings. It is estimated that Cool Communities Project will potentially save over 100 billion kilowatt-hour of energy per year corresponding to 27 million tons of carbon per year by the year 2015. To pursue the CCAP`s objectives, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) on behalf of the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), organized a one-day meeting to (1) explore the need for developing a national plan to assess the technical feasibility and commercial potential of high-albedo (``cool``) building materials, and if appropriate, to (2) outline a course of action for developing the plan. The meeting took place on February 28, 1994, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The proceedings of the conference, Cool Building Materials, includes the minutes of the conference and copies of presentation materials distributed by the conference participants.

MULTIDIRECTIONAL BUILDING DETECTION IN AERIAL IMAGES WITHOUT SHAPE TEMPLATES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Manno-Kovacs

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to exploit orientation information of an urban area for extracting building contours without shape templates. Unlike using shape templates, these given contours describe more variability and reveal the fine details of the building outlines, resulting in a more accurate detection process, which is beneficial for many tasks, like map updating and city planning. According to our assumption, orientation of the closely located buildings is coherent, it is related to the road network, therefore adaptation of this information can lead to more efficient building detection results. The introduced method first extracts feature points for representing the urban area. Orientation information in the feature point neighborhoods is analyzed to define main orientations. Based on orientation information, the urban area is classified into different directional clusters. The edges of the classified building groups are then emphasized with shearlet based edge detection method, which is able to detect edges only in the main directions, resulting in an efficient connectivity map. In the last step, with the fusion of the feature points and connectivity map, building contours are detected with a non-parametric active contour method.

PROPOSAL OF VOIVODESHIP ROAD SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME

OpenAIRE

Tomasz SZCZURASZEK; Jan KEMPA

2016-01-01

The article presents a proposal of the ‘GAMBIT KUJAWSKO-POMORSKI’ Road Safety Improvement Programme. The main idea of the Programme is to establish and initiate systems that will be responsible for the most important areas of activity within road safety, including road safety control, supervision, and management systems in the whole Voivodeship. In total, the creation and start of nine such systems has been proposed, namely: the Road Safety Management, the Integrated Road Rescue Service, the ...

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...

Psychological aspects of road user behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rothengatter, J.A.

The behaviour of road users is an important factor in accident causation. Traffic psychology, defined as ''the study of the behaviour of road users and the psychological processes underlying that behaviour'', attempts to identify the determinants of road user behaviour with the aim of developing

Nonfatal road traffic injuries: can road safety campaigns prevent hazardous behavior? An Italian experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Zampetti, R; Messina, G; Quercioli, C; Vencia, F; Genco, L; Di Bartolomeo, L; Nante, N

2013-01-01

Road traffic injuries are a widespread problem and are very difficult to prevent. The purpose of this study was to verify whether intensive versus basic road safety education programs are associated with different incidence and severity of nonfatal road injuries. The study had an ecological design and involved Local Health Authority One (LHA1) in Salerno, Italy, which includes 20 municipalities. Data on nonfatal road injuries occurring in the periods June to August 2003 and June to August 2008 were obtained from trained operators through the information system of the emergency department. All 20 municipalities received a basic community road safety education program (publicity campaign using bill-posting, brochures, mass media communication with press conferences, articles in local papers, radio and television interviews, and a dedicated LHA1 web site), and 12 municipalities also received an intensive education campaign (in secondary schools, community conferences, and activities organized by police and firefighters). The incidence and severity of nonfatal road traffic injuries were compared between June to August 2003 (before the campaign) and June to August 2008. The total number of injuries in all 20 municipalities in 2003 and 2008 was 907 and 755, respectively. The incidence of injuries decreased in the study period both in the 8 municipalities where only the basic campaign was run (difference in incidence = -0.4; P = .053) and in the 12 municipalities where the intensive campaign was implemented (difference in incidence = -0.5; P road safety education. This does not mean that such campaigns are useless (they are important to raise awareness) but that they should be supplemented with complementary activities in order to be really effective.

Road Lane Detection by Discriminating Dashed and Solid Road Lanes Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Toan Minh; Hong, Hyung Gil; Vokhidov, Husan; Park, Kang Ryoung

2016-08-18

With the increasing need for road lane detection used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles, many studies have been conducted to turn road lane detection into a virtual assistant to improve driving safety and reduce car accidents. Most of the previous research approaches detect the central line of a road lane and not the accurate left and right boundaries of the lane. In addition, they do not discriminate between dashed and solid lanes when detecting the road lanes. However, this discrimination is necessary for the safety of autonomous vehicles and the safety of vehicles driven by human drivers. To overcome these problems, we propose a method for road lane detection that distinguishes between dashed and solid lanes. Experimental results with the Caltech open database showed that our method outperforms conventional methods.

Global patterns of current and future road infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Meijer, Johan R.; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.; Schotten, Kees C. G. J.; Schipper, Aafke M.

2018-06-01

Georeferenced information on road infrastructure is essential for spatial planning, socio-economic assessments and environmental impact analyses. Yet current global road maps are typically outdated or characterized by spatial bias in coverage. In the Global Roads Inventory Project we gathered, harmonized and integrated nearly 60 geospatial datasets on road infrastructure into a global roads dataset. The resulting dataset covers 222 countries and includes over 21 million km of roads, which is two to three times the total length in the currently best available country-based global roads datasets. We then related total road length per country to country area, population density, GDP and OECD membership, resulting in a regression model with adjusted R 2 of 0.90, and found that that the highest road densities are associated with densely populated and wealthier countries. Applying our regression model to future population densities and GDP estimates from the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios, we obtained a tentative estimate of 3.0–4.7 million km additional road length for the year 2050. Large increases in road length were projected for developing nations in some of the world’s last remaining wilderness areas, such as the Amazon, the Congo basin and New Guinea. This highlights the need for accurate spatial road datasets to underpin strategic spatial planning in order to reduce the impacts of roads in remaining pristine ecosystems.

Ultra Low Noise Poroelastic Road Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerzy A. Ejsmont

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Noise is one of the most important environmental problems related to road traffic. During the last decades, the noise emitted by the engines and powertrains of vehicles was greatly reduced and tires became a clearly dominant noise source. The article describes the concept of low noise poroelastic road surfaces that are composed of mineral and rubber aggregate bound by polyurethane resin. Those surfaces have a porous structure and are much more flexible than standard asphalt or cement concrete pavements due to high content of rubber aggregate and elastic binder. Measurements performed in several European countries indicate that such surfaces decrease tire/road noise between 7 dB and 12 dB with respect to reference surfaces such as dense asphalt concrete or stone matrix asphalt. Furthermore, poroelastic road surfaces ascertain the rolling resistance of car tires, which is comparable to classic pavements. One of the unforeseen properties of the poroelastic road surfaces is their ability to decrease the risks related to car fires with fuel spills. The article presents the road and laboratory results of noise, rolling resistance, and fire tests performed on a few types of poroelastic road surfaces.

Role of particle size and composition in metal adsorption by solids deposited on urban road surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunawardana, Chandima; Egodawatta, Prasanna; Goonetilleke, Ashantha

2014-01-01

Despite common knowledge that the metal content adsorbed by fine particles is relatively higher compared to coarser particles, the reasons for this phenomenon have gained little research attention. The research study discussed in the paper investigated the variations in metal content for different particle sizes of solids associated with pollutant build-up on urban road surfaces. Data analysis confirmed that parameters favourable for metal adsorption to solids such as specific surface area, organic carbon content, effective cation exchange capacity and clay forming minerals content decrease with the increase in particle size. Furthermore, the mineralogical composition of solids was found to be the governing factor influencing the specific surface area and effective cation exchange capacity. There is high quartz content in particles >150 μm compared to particles <150 μm. As particle size reduces below 150 μm, the clay forming minerals content increases, providing favourable physical and chemical properties that influence adsorption. -- Highlights: • Physico-chemical parameters investigated in build-up samples from 32 road surfaces. • Mineralogical composition primarily governs the physico-chemical characteristics. • High clay forming mineral content in fine solids increases SSA and ECEC. • Characteristics influenced by quartz and amorphous content with particle size. • High quartz content in coarse particles contributes reduced metal adsorption. -- The mineralogical composition of solids is the governing factor influencing metal adsorption to solids in pollutant build-up on urban surfaces

A Fuzzy Modeling Approach to Road Transport with Application to a Case of Spent Nuclear Fuel Transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marseguerra, Marzio; Zio, Enrico; Bianchi, Mauro

2004-01-01

In this paper, we propose a general fuzzy inference approach to building a model of hazardous road transport that relates given traffic, weather, and vehicle-speed conditions to the accident rate. The development of the model is discussed in detail, and its validation is provided with reference to literature data regarding the transport of spent nuclear fuel to its final confinement repository

23 CFR 660.517 - Maneuver area roads.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Maneuver area roads. 660.517 Section 660.517 Highways... PROGRAMS (DIRECT FEDERAL) Defense Access Roads § 660.517 Maneuver area roads. (a) Claims by a highway agency for costs incurred to restore, to their former condition, roads damaged by maneuvers involving a...

Dynamics of vehicle-road coupled system

CERN Document Server

Yang, Shaopu; Li, Shaohua

2015-01-01

Vehicle dynamics and road dynamics are usually considered to be two largely independent subjects. In vehicle dynamics, road surface roughness is generally regarded as random excitation of the vehicle, while in road dynamics, the vehicle is generally regarded as a moving load acting on the pavement. This book suggests a new research concept to integrate the vehicle and the road system with the help of a tire model, and establishes a cross-subject research framework dubbed vehicle-pavement coupled system dynamics. In this context, the dynamics of the vehicle, road and the vehicle-road coupled system are investigated by means of theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and field tests. This book will be a valuable resource for university professors, graduate students and engineers majoring in automotive design, mechanical engineering, highway engineering and other related areas. Shaopu Yang is a professor and deputy president of Shijiazhuang Tiedao University, China; Liqun Chen is a professor at Shanghai Univ...

Flexible Engineering Structures from the Corrugated Metal Sheets - Comparison of Costs of Solutions used in the Road Building

Science.gov (United States)

Ołdakowska, E.

2017-11-01

The flexible structures from the corrugated metal sheets are used in particular in the road building, especially as passages for animals. Easy and quick assembly, as well as lower realization costs when compared to the traditional solutions increase interest in such structures. Availability and variety of systems allows for searching for solutions which are the best and optimal in the economical range. The article presents the comparison of costs of the basic materials used in various systems of flexible structures from the corrugated metal sheets. In order to determine the costs of the material solutions the data for two systems used in Poland (for construction of the upper passages for animals) since 2008 have been used. The cost estimation for the basic materials required for realization of 1 m2 of the flexible structure from the corrugated steel sheets have been prepared with use of prices obtained directly from the Polish contractors and manufacturers, as well as process included in the quarterly information (Sekocenbud). The difference of prices of materials available on the market allows the investor for selecting the structure depending on the needs and financial possibilities, as well as for achieving some savings. The savings in case of purchasing sheets of identical parameters (thickness, profile characteristics) are from approx. 4% to 8% per 1 m2 of sheet. The connectors in form of bolts M20 cl. 8.8 of various lengths are an expense from 3.00 PLN to 3.50 PLN. Those values may seem low, but taking into consideration amounts connected with construction of many square meters of structure they may become very important factor in the total investment costs.

CLEAN-ROADS project: air quality considerations after the application of a novel MDSS on winter road maintenance activities

Science.gov (United States)

Pretto, Ilaria; Malloci, Elisa; Tonidandel, Gabriele; Benedetti, Guido; Di Napoli, Claudia; Piazza, Andrea; Apolloni, Roberto; Cavaliere, Roberto

2016-04-01

With this poster we present the environmental benefit on air quality derived by the application of the CLEAN-ROADS pilot project. The CLEAN-ROADS project addresses the problem of the environmental pollution caused by de-icing salts during winter road maintenance activities in the Province of Trento (Italy). A demonstrative Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) has been developed in order to improve the intervention procedures of the road management service. Specifically it aims to optimize the efficiency of how available resources (e.g., salt consumption) are currently used while guaranteeing the current level of road safety. The CLEAN-ROADS project has been tested and validated on a test area located in a valley bottom (Adige Valley), where the highest optimization margins are to be expected. The project supports current road maintenance practices, which has proved to be reliable and accurate, with a new scalable and energy-efficient road monitoring system. This system is based on a network of road weather stations (road weather information system, RWIS) installed on the test route. It is capable to collect real-time data about the road conditions and to perform short-term and now-cast road weather forecasts, which actively integrate weather data and bulletins covering the target area [1]. This poster presents the results obtained from a three-year monitoring activity with the aim to (1) determine the impact of de-icing salts on air quality and (2) quantify the improvements obtained by the application of the CLEAN-ROADS project on air quality. The Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe Directive (2008/50/EC) states that contributions to exceedances of particulate matter PM10 limit values that are attributable to road winter salting may be subtracted when assessing compliance with air quality limit values, once provided that reasonable measures have been taken to lower concentrations [2]. As the de-icing salts used in road maintenance are mainly based

Road Lane Detection by Discriminating Dashed and Solid Road Lanes Using a Visible Light Camera Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toan Minh Hoang

2016-08-01

Full Text Available With the increasing need for road lane detection used in lane departure warning systems and autonomous vehicles, many studies have been conducted to turn road lane detection into a virtual assistant to improve driving safety and reduce car accidents. Most of the previous research approaches detect the central line of a road lane and not the accurate left and right boundaries of the lane. In addition, they do not discriminate between dashed and solid lanes when detecting the road lanes. However, this discrimination is necessary for the safety of autonomous vehicles and the safety of vehicles driven by human drivers. To overcome these problems, we propose a method for road lane detection that distinguishes between dashed and solid lanes. Experimental results with the Caltech open database showed that our method outperforms conventional methods.

Road Zone Effects in Small-Mammal Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A. Bissonette

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Our study focused on the putative effects of roads on small-mammal communities in a high desert region of southern Utah. Specifically, we tested whether or not roads create adjacent zones characterized by lower small- mammal densities, abundance, and diversity. We sampled abundance of small mammals at increasing distances from Interstate 15 during two summers. We recorded 11 genera and 13 species. We detected no clear abundance, density, or diversity effects relative to distance from the road. Only two of 13 species were never captured near roads. The abundance of the remaining 11 small mammal species was either similar at different distances from the road or higher closer to the road. We conclude that although roads may act as barriers and possible sources of mortality, adjacent zones of vegetation often provide favorable microhabitat in the desert landscape for many small mammals.

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.

Road safety in Poland: magnitude, causes and injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Goniewicz, Krzysztof; Goniewicz, Mariusz; Pawłowski, Witold; Fiedor, Piotr; Lasota, Dorota

2017-01-01

Road accidents are a serious problem of the modern world. They are one of the main causes of injuries and are the third most frequent cause of death. Every year, about one million people, adults and children, die on the roads and several millions get injured. Mortality rate due to injuries from road accidents amounts to 2.2% of all deaths in the world. The research presents epidemiology of road accidents in the period 2004-2015 with particular emphasis on the key issues of road safety in Poland, related to the dangerous behaviour of road users (disregard toward traffic rules). Between years 2004 and 2015 on Polish roads took place more than 508000 accidents with 53155 fatalities and more then 572000 casualties. Despite the various measures which are taken to improve safety on Polish roads, the number of dead and wounded in the vehicle mishap is still large, and losses borne by society are high. To improve safety on Polish roads, it is necessary to continue multi- action plan to systematically progress in the level of road safety.

Factors contributing to amphibian road mortality in a wetland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haijun GU, Qiang DAI, Qian WANG, Yuezhao WANG

2011-12-01

Full Text Available To understand road characteristics and landscape features associated with high road mortality of amphibians in Zoige Wetland National Nature Reserve, we surveyed road mortality along four major roads after rainfall in May and September 2007. Road mortality of three species, Rana kukunoris, Nanorana pleskei and Bufo minshanicus, was surveyed across 225 transects (115 in May and 110 in September. Transects were 100 m long and repeated every two kilometers along the four major roads. We used model averaging to assess factors that might determine amphibian road mortality. We recorded an average of 24.6 amphibian road mortalities per kilometer in May and 19.2 in September. Among road characteristics, road width was positively associated with road morality for R. kukunori and B. minshanicus. Traffic volume also increased the road mortality of B. minshanicus in September. Of the landscape features measured, area proportions of three types of grassland (wet, mesic and dry within 1 km of the roads, particularly that of wet grassland, significantly increased road mortality for R. kukunori and total mortality across all three species. To most effectively reduce road mortality of amphibians in the Zoige wetlands, we suggest better road design such as avoiding wet grasslands, minimizing road width, underground passes and traffic control measures. The implementation of public transit in the area would reduce traffic volume, and hence mortality [Current Zoology 57 (6: 768–774, 2011].

收费公路项目Pareto有效BOT合同与政府补贴%Pareto-efficient BOT contracts for road franchising with government subsidy

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

谭志加; 杨海; 陈琼

2013-01-01

Private-sector participation in road construction and operations has the advantages of efficiency gains, private financing, and better identification of attractive investment projects. Such participation is generally implemented through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, under which a private firm builds and operates roads in a road network at its own expense, and in return receives the revenue from road tolls for a number of years, and then these roads are transferred to the government. In a BOT toll road project, the public and private sectors have different objectives: the former cares about the social welfare and the latter wants to make more money from the project. Based on the different objectives of the two sectors, this paper analyzes the Pareto efficiency of the capacity, toll and subsidy size by adopting a bi-objective mathematical programming problem. The definition of the Pareto-efficient BOT contract is introduced for the bi-objective programming problem, and its properties are also studied theoretically. This paper conducts a further study for the current research of BOT toll road schemes, which provides a practical guidance for the public sector.%根据BOT(建设-运营-移交)项目中公共部门和私人部门的不同目标,利用双目标规划模型研究了收费公路BOT项目合同容量、通行费费率及政府补贴政策的联合决策.引入Pareto有效BOT合同的概念,并从理论上研究了Pareto有效BOT合同的性质,建立了两个必要条件用以甄别BOT合同的Pareto有效性.进一步完善目前收费公路BOT项目合同的理论研究,对公共部门制定收费公路项目补贴政策具有现实指导意义.

Information technology road map 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-09-01

This book introduces information technology road map 2015 with presentation, process, plan and conclusion of it. It also has introduction of IT road map by field : information technology road map 2015 on the next-generation of semiconductor, display, light emitting diode and light industry, home network and home electronic appliances, digital TV and broadcasting, radio technology, satellite communications, mobile communication for the next-generation, BcN field, software, computer for the next-generation and security of knowledge information.

Particle dispersion at road building using fly ash - model review, investigation of influence of humidity content for dust emission and fly ash particle characterisation; Partikelspriding vid byggnation av vaeg med aska - modelloeversikt, undersoekning av fuktighetsgradens betydelse foer damning och karaktaerisering av partiklar fraan flygaska

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustafsson, Mats; Wik, Ola; Frogner-Kockum, Paul

2009-03-15

Ashes from incineration may have very good properties, such as building materials in roads. This use assumes that the ashes do not have serious environmental and health effects. Since ash might generate large amounts of dust in handling the issue on the extent of dusting and dust properties has proved to be important to assess the risks of environmental impacts during use. Inhalable particles in the ambient air are a problem that has attracted much attention and is regarded as one of the most serious health related air pollutants. The present project has aimed to: describe appropriate models for calculating the emission and dispersion of dust in the air during the construction of ash containing roads, evaluate a new method to examine the importance of moisture for dusting from fly ash and investigate the properties of fly ash, making it possible to identify ash in samples of airborne particles. The target audience is ash manufacturers, contractors and consultants with a need for knowledge of ash dusting. Project modules have included: a literature review to identify appropriate modelling tools to describe the emission and dispersion of dust from road building with ash a method study in which a piece of equipment called Duster, have been evaluated for assessing the significance of the ash humidity to dusting, and an electron microscope study where morphology and composition of some ashes, cement and Merit have been studied to find ways to identify ash particles in dust samples. The results show that there is a lack of overall model tools that can describe the emissions from all the management operations of ashes at road building and that existing models sometimes lack key variables. Also, because of high silt content of ashes, some models are deemed inferior compared to when used for ordinary mineral material. Furthermore, attempts with the Duster shows that the method works, but with limited precision, and that dusting from the ash samples was reduced significantly

[Preventive effects of sound insulation windows on the indoor noise levels in a street residential building in Beijing].

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Bin; Huang, Jing; Guo, Xin-biao

2015-06-18

To evaluate the preventive effects of sound insulation windows on traffic noise. Indoor noise levels of the residential rooms (on both the North 4th ring road side and the campus side) with closed sound insulation windows were measured using the sound level meter, and comparisons with the simultaneously measured outdoor noise levels were made. In addition, differences of indoor noise levels between rooms with closed sound insulation windows and open sound insulation windows were also compared. The average outdoor noise levels of the North 4th ring road was higher than 70 dB(A), which exceeded the limitation stated in the "Environmental Quality Standard for Noise" (GB 3096-2008) in our country. However, with the sound insulation windows closed, the indoor noise levels reduced significantly to the level under 35 dB(A) (Pwindows had significant influence on the indoor noise levels (Pwindow, when the sound insulation windows were closed, the indoor noise levels reduced 18.8 dB(A) and 8.3 dB(A) in residential rooms facing North 4th ring road side and campus side, respectively. The results indicated that installation of insulation windows had significant noise reduction effects on street residential buildings especially on the rooms facing major traffic roads. Installation of the sound insulation windows has significant preventive effects on indoor noise in the street residential building.

Spatial Analysis Methods of Road Traffic Collisions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Loo, Becky P. Y.; Anderson, Tessa Kate

Spatial Analysis Methods of Road Traffic Collisions centers on the geographical nature of road crashes, and uses spatial methods to provide a greater understanding of the patterns and processes that cause them. Written by internationally known experts in the field of transport geography, the book...... outlines the key issues in identifying hazardous road locations (HRLs), considers current approaches used for reducing and preventing road traffic collisions, and outlines a strategy for improved road safety. The book covers spatial accuracy, validation, and other statistical issues, as well as link...

Investigation of road network features and safety performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xuesong; Wu, Xingwei; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed; Tremont, Paul J

2013-07-01

The analysis of road network designs can provide useful information to transportation planners as they seek to improve the safety of road networks. The objectives of this study were to compare and define the effective road network indices and to analyze the relationship between road network structure and traffic safety at the level of the Traffic Analysis Zone (TAZ). One problem in comparing different road networks is establishing criteria that can be used to scale networks in terms of their structures. Based on data from Orange and Hillsborough Counties in Florida, road network structural properties within TAZs were scaled using 3 indices: Closeness Centrality, Betweenness Centrality, and Meshedness Coefficient. The Meshedness Coefficient performed best in capturing the structural features of the road network. Bayesian Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) models were developed to assess the safety of various network configurations as measured by total crashes, crashes on state roads, and crashes on local roads. The models' results showed that crash frequencies on local roads were closely related to factors within the TAZs (e.g., zonal network structure, TAZ population), while crash frequencies on state roads were closely related to the road and traffic features of state roads. For the safety effects of different networks, the Grid type was associated with the highest frequency of crashes, followed by the Mixed type, the Loops & Lollipops type, and the Sparse type. This study shows that it is possible to develop a quantitative scale for structural properties of a road network, and to use that scale to calculate the relationships between network structural properties and safety. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tailpipe, resuspended road dust, and brake-wear emission factors from on-road vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Abu-Allaban, Mahmoud; Gillies, John A.; Gertler, Alan W.; Clayton, Russ; Proffitt, David

Intensive mass and chemical measurements were performed at roadside locations in Reno, Nevada, and Durham/Research Triangle Park), North Carolina to derive tailpipe, resuspended road dust, and brake-wear emission factors from in-use vehicles. Continuous particulate matter (PM) data were utilized to derive total emission factors while integrated PM data were used to attribute the calculated emission factors to different mechanisms using chemical mass balance receptor modeling and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Resuspended road dust and tailpipe emissions were found to be the dominant mechanisms that contribute significantly to the total PM 10 and PM 2.5 emission factors, respectively. Small contributions from brake-wear were observed at locations where strong braking occurs, but no tire-wear was seen at any sampling location. PM 10 emission rates from light-duty spark ignition (LDSI) vehicles ranged from 40 to 780 mg/km, 10 to 70 mg/km, and 0 to 80 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively. PM 10 emission rates from heavy-duty vehicles ranged from 230 to 7800 mg/km, 60 to 570 mg/km, and 0 to 610 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively. PM 2.5 emission rates from LDSI vehicles ranged from 2 to 25 mg/km, 10 to 50 mg/km, and 0 to 5 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively. PM 2.5 emission rates from heavy-duty vehicles ranged from 15 to 300 mg/km, 60 to 480 mg/km, and 0 to 15 mg/km per vehicle for road dust, tailpipe, and brake-wear, respectively.

Towards sustainable urban water governance in Denmark: collective building of capabilities in local authorities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Jensen, Marina Bergen

2016-01-01

be achieved. The ‘urban water platform’ was tested and is hereby presented as a course concept for building collective capabilities for integrated sustainable water design among local authorities in Denmark. The course is an innovation because: 1) it invites urban planners, road and park managers and sewage...

Distraction-related road traffic collisions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

drivers involved in road traffic collisions (RTC) were using mobile phones. Our study supports ... while driving. Keywords: Distraction, prevention, road traffic collision, mobile phone. ..... keeps us connected with others with great advantages.

Research and Development for Off-Road Fuel Cell Applications U.S. Department of Energy Grant DE-FG36-04GO14303 - Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hicks, Michael [H2PowerTech (formerly known as IdaTech); Erickson, Paul [Univeristy of California at Davis; Lawrence, Richard [Retired (formerly employed by IdaTech); Tejaswi, Arun [Univeristy of California at Davis; Brum, Magdalena [Univeristy of California at Davis

2013-04-30

Off-road concerns are related to the effects of shock and vibration and air quality on fuel cell power requirements. Mechanical stresses on differing material makeup and mass distribution within the system may render some components susceptible to impulse trauma while others may show adverse effects from harmonic disturbances or broad band mechanical agitation. One of the recognized challenges in fuel cell systems air purification is in providing a highly efficient particulate and chemical filter with minimal pressure drop. PEM integrators do not want additional parasitic loads added to the system as compensation for a highly efficient yet highly restrictive filter. Additionally, there is challenge in integrating multiple functions into a single air intake module tasked with effectively filtering high dust loads, diesel soot, pesticides, ammonias, and other anticipated off-road contaminants. This project has investigated both off-road associated issues cumulating in the prototype build and testing of two light duty off-road vehicles with integrated fuel cell power plant systems.

Road icing forecasting and detecting system

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Hongke; Zheng, Jinnan; Li, Peiqi; Wang, Qiucai

2017-05-01

Regard for the facts that the low accuracy and low real-time of the artificial observation to determine the road icing condition, and it is difficult to forecast icing situation, according to the main factors influencing the road-icing, and the electrical characteristics reflected by the pavement ice layer, this paper presents an innovative system, that is, ice-forecasting of the highway's dangerous section. The system bases on road surface water salinity measurements and pavement temperature measurement to calculate the freezing point of water and temperature change trend, and then predicts the occurrence time of road icing; using capacitance measurements to verdict the road surface is frozen or not; This paper expounds the method of using single chip microcomputer as the core of the control system and described the business process of the system.

Failure of Grass Covered Flood Defences with Roads on Top Due to Wave Overtopping: A Probabilistic Assessment Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan P. Aguilar-López

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Hard structures, i.e., roads, are commonly found over flood defences, such as dikes, in order to ensure access and connectivity between flood protected areas. Several climate change future scenario studies have concluded that flood defences will be required to withstand more severe storms than the ones used for their original design. Therefore, this paper presents a probabilistic methodology to assess the effect of a road on top of a dike: it gives the failure probability of the grass cover due to wave overtopping over a wide range of design storms. The methodology was developed by building two different dike configurations in computational fluid dynamics Navier–Stokes solution software; one with a road on top and one without a road. Both models were validated with experimental data collected from field-scale experiments. Later, both models were used to produce data sets for training simpler and faster emulators. These emulators were coupled to a simplified erosion model which allowed testing storm scenarios which resulted in local scouring conditioned statistical failure probabilities. From these results it was estimated that the dike with a road has higher probabilities (5 × 10−5 > Pf >1 × 10−4 of failure than a dike without a road (Pf < 1 × 10−6 if realistic grass quality spatial distributions were assumed. The coupled emulator-erosion model was able to yield realistic probabilities, given all the uncertainties in the modelling process and it seems to be a promising tool for quantifying grass cover erosion failure.

Road Safety Education in a Science Course: Evaluation of "Science and the Road."

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Paul L.

1989-01-01

A traffic safety instructional package--"Science and the Road"--was assessed. It was designed by the Road Traffic Authority of Victoria (Australia) for use in tenth-grade science courses. Evaluation findings resulted in revision of the unit and implementation of more inservice courses for teachers lacking relevant biology and physics…

Kansas Road Centerline Fle (KRCF)

Data.gov (United States)

Kansas Data Access and Support Center — This version of the Kansas Road Centerline File (0801) represents the first effort to create a statewide roads layer from best available data sources. KGS integrated...

49 CFR 391.31 - Road test.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Road test. 391.31 Section 391.31 Transportation... COMBINATION VEHICLE (LCV) DRIVER INSTRUCTORS Tests § 391.31 Road test. (a) Except as provided in subpart G, a person shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless he/she has first successfully completed a road...

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.

Gender Stereotypes among Road Users

OpenAIRE

Kabalevskaya, Alexandra I.

2013-01-01

This article analyzes the mechanism of stereotyping as exemplified by gender stereotypes of road users. Gender stereotypes are not only viewed as an a priori image of a percept, but also examined ‘in action’ — at the very moment of their actualization with road users. In the paper we have identified the content of road users’ gender stereotypes; analyzed the behaviour of male and female drivers, pinpointing a number of gender-specific behavioural features; demonstrated that male and female dr...

Gender stereotypes among road users

OpenAIRE

Dontsov, Alexander; Kabalevskaya, Alexandra

2013-01-01

This article analyzes the mechanism of stereotyping as exemplified by gender stereotypes of road users. Gender stereotypes are not only viewed as an a priori image of a percept, but also examined ‘in action’ at the very moment of their actualization with road users. In the paper we have identified the content of road users’ gender stereotypes; analyzed the behaviour of male and female drivers, pinpointing a number of gender-specific behavioural features; demonstrated that male and female driv...

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.

Global collaboration on road traffic injury prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Peden, Margie

2005-06-01

Worldwide, nearly 1.2 million people are killed in road traffic crashes every year and 20 million to 50 million more are injured or disabled. These injuries account for 2.1% of global mortality and 2.6% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost. Low- and middle-income countries account for about 85% of the deaths and 90% of the DALYs lost annually. Without appropriate action, by 2020, road traffic injuries are predicted to be the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease. The economic cost of road traffic crashes is enormous. Globally it is estimated that US$518 billion is spent on road traffic crashes with low- and middle-income countries accounting for US$65 billion--more than these countries receive in development assistance. But these costs are just the tip of the iceberg. For everyone killed, injured or disabled by a road traffic crash there are countless others deeply affected. Many families are driven into poverty by the expenses of prolonged medical care, loss of a family breadwinner or the added burden of caring for the disabled. There is an urgent need for global collaboration on road traffic injury prevention. Since 2000, WHO has stepped up its response to the road safety crisis by firstly developing a 5-year strategy for road traffic injury prevention and following this by dedicating World Health Day 2004 to road safety and launching the WHO/World Bank World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention at the global World Health Day event in Paris, France. This short article highlights the main messages from the World Report and the six recommendations for action on road safety at a national and international level. It goes on to briefly discuss other international achievements since World Health Day and calls for countries to take up the challenge of implementing the recommendations of the World Report.

Progress on building design and site layout, and preparation for procurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haange, R.

2004-01-01

advantageous to leave a bit more space between buildings, which would also minimize the length of tunnels routed underneath roads. Tunnel construction, including the installation of pipes (cables can be installed after the tunnels have been completed), which must be completed as one of the first site activities, does severely restrict site access, especially when it prevents the timely availability of access roads

The Relationship between Road Design and Driving Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abele, Liva; Møller, Mette

2011-01-01

Speed is a substantial factor contributing to road safety. Currently, speed reduction is mainly achieved through law enforcement and the implementation of traffic calming measures. An alternative speed reducing approach is to encourage drivers to voluntarily choose an appropriate driving speed....... Improving road infrastructure safety can be achieved by making roads forgiving and self-explaining. This could be done by clarifying the road design characteristics for each road category. The effect on driver behavior by varying road-shoulders and presence of roadside trees was tested by means of a fixed-driving...... simulator experiment. Speed and lateral position were used as performance indicators. The results indicated that shoulders might not be applied to decrease the speed on the experimental road stretch, but their presence cause drivers to drive closer to the road edge, hence eliminating the probability of head...

Sediment deposition from forest roads at stream crossings as influenced by road characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

A.J. Lang; W.M. Aust; M.C. Bolding; K.J. McGuire

2015-01-01

Recent controversies associated with ditched forest roads and stream crossings in the Pacific Northwest have focused national attention on sediment production and best management practices (BMPs) at stream crossings. Few studies have quantified soil erosion rates at stream crossings as influenced by road characteristics and compared them to modeled rates. Soil erosion...

Intermediate Volatility Organic Compound Emissions from On-Road Gasoline Vehicles and Small Off-Road Gasoline Engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yunliang; Nguyen, Ngoc T; Presto, Albert A; Hennigan, Christopher J; May, Andrew A; Robinson, Allen L

2016-04-19

Dynamometer experiments were conducted to characterize the intermediate volatility organic compound (IVOC) emissions from a fleet of on-road gasoline vehicles and small off-road gasoline engines. IVOCs were quantified through gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of adsorbent samples collected from a constant volume sampler. The dominant fraction (>80%, on average) of IVOCs could not be resolved on a molecular level. These unspeciated IVOCs were quantified as two chemical classes (unspeciated branched alkanes and cyclic compounds) in 11 retention-time-based bins. IVOC emission factors (mg kg-fuel(-1)) from on-road vehicles varied widely from vehicle to vehicle, but showed a general trend of lower emissions for newer vehicles that met more stringent emission standards. IVOC emission factors for 2-stroke off-road engines were substantially higher than 4-stroke off-road engines and on-road vehicles. Despite large variations in the magnitude of emissions, the IVOC volatility distribution and chemical characteristics were consistent across all tests and IVOC emissions were strongly correlated with nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), primary organic aerosol and speciated IVOCs. Although IVOC emissions only correspond to approximately 4% of NMHC emissions from on-road vehicles over the cold-start unified cycle, they are estimated to produce as much or more SOA than single-ring aromatics. Our results clearly demonstrate that IVOCs from gasoline engines are an important class of SOA precursors and provide observational constraints on IVOC emission factors and chemical composition to facilitate their inclusion into atmospheric chemistry models.

BRICS: opportunities to improve road safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyder, Adnan A; Vecino-Ortiz, Andres I

2014-06-01

Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa--the countries known as BRICS--are currently undergoing a deep epidemiological transition that is mainly driven by rapid economic growth and technological change. The changes being observed in the distribution of the burden of diseases and injuries--such as recent increases in the incidence of road traffic injuries--are matters of concern. BRICS may need stronger institutional capacity to address such changes in a timely way. In this paper, we present data on road traffic injuries in BRICS and illustrate the enormous challenge that these countries currently face in reducing the incidence of such injuries. There is an urgent need to improve road safety indicators in every country constituting BRICS. It is imperative for BRICS to invest in system-wide road safety interventions and reduce the mortality and morbidity from road traffic injuries.

Roads Belong In the Urban Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clemmensen, Thomas Juel

2012-01-01

In spite of being an essential part of the system of automobility and as such playing an important role in the development of urban landscapes, road networks seldom attracts much attention among architects involved in the planning and design of urban landscapes. One reason is probably found...... in the dominance of the zoning approach to planning, where road planning easily becomes isolated and reduced to a matter of traffic regulation and transport economy. Another possible reason could be, as suggested by the Australian landscape architect Christopher Sawyer, that road networks like other...... as landscape architects engage with road networks in profound ways, which moves beyond the purely visual and pictorial? Is it possible to conceptually (re)locate road networks in the landscape? The paper will address these questions by discussing different understandings of landscape and its relation...

A Fuel-Based Assessment of On-Road and Off-Road Mobile Source Emission Trends

Science.gov (United States)

Dallmann, T. R.; Harley, R. A.

2009-12-01

Mobile sources contribute significantly to emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the United States. These emissions lead to a variety of environmental concerns including adverse human health effects and climate change. In the electric power sector, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and NOx emissions from power plants are measured directly using continuous emission monitoring systems. In contrast for mobile sources, statistical models are used to estimate average emissions from a very large and diverse population of engines. Despite much effort aimed at improving them, mobile source emission inventories continue to have large associated uncertainties. Alternate methods are needed to help evaluate estimates of mobile source emissions and quantify and reduce the associated uncertainties. In this study, a fuel-based approach is used to estimate emissions from mobile sources, including on-road and off-road gasoline and diesel engines. In this approach, engine activity is measured by fuel consumed (in contrast EPA mobile source emission models are based on vehicle km of travel and total amount of engine work output for on-road and off-road engines, respectively). Fuel consumption is defined in this study based on highway fuel tax reports for on-road engines, and from surveys of fuel wholesalers who sell tax-exempt diesel fuel for use in various off-road sectors such as agriculture, construction, and mining. Over the decade-long time period (1996-2006) that is the focus of the present study, national sales of taxable gasoline and diesel fuel intended for on-road use increased by 15 and 43%, respectively. Diesel fuel use by off-road equipment increased by about 20% over the same time period. Growth in fuel consumption offset some of the reductions in pollutant emission factors that occurred during this period. This study relies on in-use measurements of mobile source emission factors, for example from roadside and tunnel studies, remote sensing, and

Road geometry as a factor for musculoskeletal injuries due to road traffic accidents in Sub-Himalayan State of Himachal Pradesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunil Kumar Raina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs kill 1.25 million people each year and injure between 20 and 50 million more people with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury. The road environment (design and geometry can affect driver speed choice, thereby increasing chances of accidents.Materials and Methods: Patients attending tertiary care center for musculoskeletal injuries after an RTA were enrolled in the study. The data were collected using a standard questionnaire. The details on the geometry of the road (type of road; highway or other, metaled or nonmetaled, straight, and curved were obtaine through inspection wherever possible. Results: Majority of the RTAs occurred on state highways (n = 154/313, 49.7% followed by national highways (NH (n = 94/313, 30%. Link roads account for comparatively less number (n = 65/313, 20.7% of cases. Majority of the accidents occurred on metaled road (n = 268, 85.6%; however, the association of different vehicles involved in RTA with the condition of road was not found to be significant statistically (P > 0.5. Further, the majority of the RTA occurred on straight roads (n = 204, 65.1%. Conclusion: Road geometry is an important factor in RTAs as drivers generally tend to choose their speed based on their perception of the appropriate speed for the road geometry.

Who is in control of road safety? A STAMP control structure analysis of the road transport system in Queensland, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmon, Paul M; Read, Gemma J M; Stevens, Nicholas J

2016-11-01

Despite significant progress, road trauma continues to represent a global safety issue. In Queensland (Qld), Australia, there is currently a focus on preventing the 'fatal five' behaviours underpinning road trauma (drug and drink driving, distraction, seat belt wearing, speeding, and fatigue), along with an emphasis on a shared responsibility for road safety that spans road users, vehicle manufacturers, designers, policy makers etc. The aim of this article is to clarify who shares the responsibility for road safety in Qld and to determine what control measures are enacted to prevent the fatal five behaviours. This is achieved through the presentation of a control structure model that depicts the actors and organisations within the Qld road transport system along with the control and feedback relationships that exist between them. Validated through a Delphi study, the model shows a diverse set of actors and organisations who share the responsibility for road safety that goes beyond those discussed in road safety policies and strategies. The analysis also shows that, compared to other safety critical domains, there are less formal control structures in road transport and that opportunities exist to add new controls and strengthen existing ones. Relationships that influence rather than control are also prominent. Finally, when compared to other safety critical domains, the strength of road safety controls is brought into question. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trismus: An unusual presentation following road accident

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thakur Jagdeep

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Trismus due to trauma usually follows road accidents leading to massive faciomaxillary injury. In the literature there is no report of a foreign body causing trismus following a road accident, this rare case is an exception. We present a case of isolated presentation of trismus following a road accident. This case report stresses on the thorough evaluation of patients presenting with trismus following a road accident.

Towards 100% Bepos 2020: achieving the successful positive energy building generalisation. National colloquium organized by Effinergie and Enerplan with the sponsorship of Sustainable Building Plan in the framework of Solar Decathlon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rambaud, Philippe; Roulet, Francois; Journault, Eric; Pouget, Andre; Casteil, Jean; Cardonnel, Christian; Stephan, Luc; Cathala, Armand; Krauth, Denis; Visier, Jean-Christophe; Gatier, Jerome; Coste, Emmanuel; Bievre, Thierry; Damian, Jean; Loyen, Richard; Maugard, Alain; Royal, Segolene; Desvignes, Nicolas

2014-07-01

The positive energy building ('Bepos') will be the building standard by 2020. With an optimized energy consumption compensated by an on-site renewable energy production, the Bepos integrates consumption and production at the same place for a zero energy impact. The following topics were debated at this conference, jointly organised by Effinergie and Enerplan: - Present day Bepos experience feedbacks in France; - Impacts of demonstrators; - Bepos dynamics and motivations in tertiary, public, collective, social and individual residential buildings; - the positive energy building road-map on the basis of experience feedbacks; - Synthesis of the energy efficiency directive enforcement in new buildings; - What regulation for 2020 and how to get prepared? - How to progress from less than 1/10000 Bepos buildings today to 100% by 2020? - Will public project management be ready in 2018? - How to make progress with pioneers? - How efficiency requirement will impact construction and architecture? This document brings together the available presentations (slides) given at the colloquium

Erosion and sediment delivery following removal of forest roads

Science.gov (United States)

Madej, Mary Ann

2001-01-01

Erosion control treatments were applied to abandoned logging roads in California, with the goal of reducing road-related sediment input to streams and restoring natural hydrologic patterns on the landscape. Treatment of stream crossings involved excavating culverts and associated road fill and reshaping streambanks. A variety of techniques were applied to road benches, which included decompacting the road surface, placing unstable road fill in more stable locations, and re-establishing natural surface drainage patterns. Following treatment and a 12-year recurrence-interval storm, some road reaches and excavated stream crossings showed evidence of mass movement failures, gullying, bank erosion and channel incision. Post-treatment erosion from excavated stream crossings was related to two variables: a surrogate for stream power (drainage area × channel gradient) and the volume of fill excavated from the channel. Post-treatment erosion on road reaches was related to four explanatory variables: method of treatment, hillslope position (upper, mid-slope or lower), date of treatment, and an interaction term (hillslope position × method of treatment). Sediment delivery from treated roads in upper, middle and lower hillslope positions was 10, 135 and 550 m3 of sediment per kilometre of treated roads, respectively. In contrast, inventories of almost 500 km of forest roads in adjacent catchments indicate that untreated roads produced 1500 to 4700 m3 of sediment per kilometre of road length. Erosion from 300 km of treated roads contributed less than 2 per cent of the total sediment load of Redwood Creek during the period 1978 to 1998. Although road removal treatments do not completely eliminate erosion associated with forest roads, they do substantially reduce sediment yields from abandoned logging roads.

Innovation as Road Safety Felicitator

Science.gov (United States)

Sahoo, S.; Mitra, A.; Kumar, J.; Sahoo, B.

2018-03-01

Transportation via Roads should only be used for safely commuting from one place to another. In 2015, when 1.5 Million people, across the Globe started out on a journey, it was meant to be their last. The Global Status Report on Road Safety, 2015, reflected this data from 180 countries as road traffic deaths, worldwide. In India, more than 1.37 Lakh[4] people were victims of road accidents in 2013 alone. That number is more than the number of Indians killed in all the wars put together. With these disturbing facts in mind, we found out some key ambiguities in the Indian Road Traffic Management systems like the non-adaptive nature to fluctuating traffic, pedestrians and motor vehicles not adhering to the traffic norms strictly, to name a few. Introduction of simple systems would greatly erase the effects of this silent epidemic and our Project aims to achieve the same. It would introduce a pair of Barricade systems to cautiously separate the pedestrians and motor vehicles to minimise road mishaps to the extent possible. Exceptional situations like that of an Ambulance or any emergency vehicles will be taken care off by the use of RFID tags to monitor the movement of the Barricades. The varied traffic scenario can be guided properly by using the ADS-B (Automatic Detection System-Broadcast) for monitoring traffic density according to the time and place.

Improving road safety: Experiences from the Netherlands

OpenAIRE

Hagenzieker, M.P.

2012-01-01

Dr. Hagenzieker's research and education activities focus on the road safety effects of the transport system, with particular interest in road user behaviour aspects. Her PhD-research was on the effects of rewards on road user behaviour.

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.

[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.

Value of monitoring in road network management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zouch, M.; Courage, W.; Napoles-Morales, O.

2014-01-01

We present a framework for road network management to assist road authorities in maintenance budget estimations and long-term maintenance strategies definition. Information about road conditions is obtained from monitoring. Available data are used to estimate and update prediction of degradation

road sector development and economic growth in ethiopia1

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Eyerusalem

Regarding community roads, both the management and accountancy .... previous years and its impact on overall and sectoral economic growth. Descriptive analysis is deployed to capture the link between the road transport sector and performance indicators, like rural accessibility, road density, road network, road financing ...

Birds and Roads: Reduced Transit for Smaller Species over Roads within an Urban Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher D. Johnson

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Roads provide humans with a means of mobility between destinations, be it for transportation of goods and services or as a means of connecting with others. However, roads are also known to contribute toward a number of deleterious landscape processes, such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, pollution (e.g., chemical, noise and light and animal mortality. Few studies however have investigated their effects on avifauna. We investigated the influence of road width on movements of nearby bird assemblages in Australia by comparing crossing counts of four species guilds and sizes over roads of varying widths in Southern Brisbane. In addition, we also sought to determine the association of seasonality with species crossing richness and abundance. Species guild affiliations were based on definitions from previous literature: small forest dependent, large forest dependent, honeyeater, and urban tolerant; whereas body size classifications were arbitrarily defined: small (< 20 cm, medium (20–29 cm, and large (>30 cm. Road sites were selected based on their vegetation likeness, both within and between sites, and this was assessed using the Specht classification system. We detected strong, negative correlations between road width and forest species richness, crossing species richness and species crossing abundance. In particular, analysis of species guild classifications revealed species richness and crossing likelihoods of the small forest dependent guild to be consistently lower than those of large forest dependent, honeyeater and urban tolerant guilds. Analysis of species by body size classification yielded similar outcomes: small birds were consistently less likely to be present nearby and cross over roads of all widths compared to medium and large birds. We believe gap permeability, particularly changes in vegetation structure and complexity that may restrict a species ability to access to the gap, as well as competition and predation, play an

Distributed Road Grade Estimation for Heavy Duty Vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sahlholm, Per

2011-07-01

An increasing need for goods and passenger transportation drives continued worldwide growth in traffic. As traffic increases environmental concerns, traffic safety, and cost efficiency become ever more important. Advancements in microelectronics open the possibility to address these issues through new advanced driver assistance systems. Applications such as predictive cruise control, automated gearbox control, predictive front lighting control, and hybrid vehicle state-of-charge control decrease the energy consumption of vehicles and increase the safety. These control systems can benefit significantly from preview road grade information. This information is currently obtained using specialized survey vehicles, and is not widely available. This thesis proposes new methods to obtain road grade information using on-board sensors. The task of creating road grade maps is addressed by the proposal of a framework where vehicles using a road network collect the necessary data for estimating the road grade. The estimation can then be carried out locally in the vehicle, or in the presence of a communication link to the infrastructure, centrally. In either case the accuracy of the map increases over time, and costly road surveys can be avoided. This thesis presents a new distributed method for creating accurate road grade maps for vehicle control applications. Standard heavy duty vehicles in normal operation are used to collect measurements. Estimates from multiple passes along a road segment are merged to form a road grade map, which improves each time a vehicle retraces a route. The design and implementation of the road grade estimator are described, and the performance is experimentally evaluated using real vehicles. Three different grade estimation methods, based on different assumption on the road grade signal, are proposed and compared. They all use data from sensors that are standard equipment in heavy duty vehicles. Measurements of the vehicle speed and the engine

Climate Projection Data base for Roads - CliPDaR: Design a guideline for a transnational database of downscaled climate projection data for road impact models - within the Conference's of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) TRANSNATIONAL ROAD RESEARCH PROG

Science.gov (United States)

Matulla, Christoph; Namyslo, Joachim; Fuchs, Tobias; Türk, Konrad

2013-04-01

The European road sector is vulnerable to extreme weather phenomena, which can cause large socio-economic losses. Almost every year there occur several weather triggered events (like heavy precipitation, floods, landslides, high winds, snow and ice, heat or cold waves, etc.), that disrupt transportation, knock out power lines, cut off populated regions from the outside and so on. So, in order to avoid imbalances in the supply of vital goods to people as well as to prevent negative impacts on health and life of people travelling by car it is essential to know present and future threats to roads. Climate change might increase future threats to roads. CliPDaR focuses on parts of the European road network and contributes, based on the current body of knowledge, to the establishment of guidelines helping to decide which methods and scenarios to apply for the estimation of future climate change based challenges in the field of road maintenance. Based on regional scale climate change projections specific road-impact models are applied in order to support protection measures. In recent years, it has been recognised that it is essential to assess the uncertainty and reliability of given climate projections by using ensemble approaches and downscaling methods. A huge amount of scientific work has been done to evaluate these approaches with regard to reliability and usefulness for investigations on possible impacts of climate changes. CliPDaR is going to collect the existing approaches and methodologies in European countries, discuss their differences and - in close cooperation with the road owners - develops a common line on future applications of climate projection data to road impact models. As such, the project will focus on reviewing and assessing existing regional climate change projections regarding transnational highway transport needs. The final project report will include recommendations how the findings of CliPDaR may support the decision processes of European

Geotechnical Monitoring of the Automobile Road

Science.gov (United States)

Matsiy, Vladimir

2017-12-01

In the present article, the results of geotechnical monitoring of A-147 automobile road “Dzhubga-Sochi” are given. Some sections of the automobile road suffered from the landslide adjustment movements; it resulted in many deformations of the retaining structures, the damages of the roadbed and ground crawling over the retaining walls. The observation data made it possible to specify the borders of the active landslide and to form a forecast of the landslide activity in the sections of the automobile roads. Due to monitoring being carried out, there was substantiated the necessity to correct the service forms and records connected with the automobile road reconstruction.

Roads Belong in the Urban Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clemmensen, Thomas Juel

2013-01-01

Roads are often associated with a fragmentation or splintering of landscapes and their natural connectivity; particularly in relation to ‘green infrastructure’ they are often considered problematic elements that rupture and barricade. Conversely, as part of larger networks, roads can be considered...... important elements in the creation of new, ‘green infrastructures’ that can qualify urban landscapes in terms of improving their overall porosity and connectivity. This argument will be unfolded and substantiated in this article through theoretical reflections which conceptually re-locate road networks...... in the urban landscape, supported by relevant reference projects that illustrate the potential of road networks as a platform for ‘green infrastructure’....

Why Did the Snake Cross the Road? Effects of Roads on Movement and Location of Mates by Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Shine

2004-06-01

Full Text Available If animals avoid road surfaces or are unable to follow conspecific trails across such surfaces, previously continuous populations may be fragmented. We gathered data on the effects of a small (4-m wide gravel road on the behavior and trail-following abilities of garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis in Manitoba, central Canada. As expected, the road surface had less vegetation cover, a more open canopy and, thus, higher incident radiation than did the surrounding grassland. Contrary to expectations, however, substrate temperatures were lower on the road than in its surrounds, because of the higher reflectivity of the road's surface. On a nearby asphalt road, substrate temperatures were relatively high on the road surface only in the evening, as surrounding areas cooled. Focal sampling showed that snakes avoided the gravel road, typically changing direction when they encountered it. If they crossed the road, they did so by the shortest possible route (straight across. Mate-searching male snakes were less able to follow substrate-deposited pheromonal trails left by females if those trails crossed a road than if the trails were entirely within the surrounding grassland. Thus, roads may significantly modify snake movement patterns, as well as the ability of males to locate reproductive females. Our study provides the first detailed information on the effects of roads on snake behavior.

Functional classification of the Gauteng provincial road network ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The built environment consists of various land uses and activities connected by a road network. The efficiency and effectiveness of the road network directly impacts economic growth and societal movement. This study involved the functional classification of the Gauteng provincial road network using the South African Road ...

Problematics of Reliability of Road Rollers

Science.gov (United States)

Stawowiak, Michał; Kuczaj, Mariusz

2018-06-01

This article refers to the reliability of road rollers used in a selected roadworks company. Information on the method of road rollers service and how the service affects the reliability of these rollers is presented. Attention was paid to the process of the implemented maintenance plan with regard to the machine's operational time. The reliability of road rollers was analyzed by determining and interpreting readiness coefficients.

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...

Introducing Dual Suspension System in Road Vehicles

OpenAIRE

Imtiaz Hussain; Jawaid Daudpoto; Ali Asghar Memon

2013-01-01

The main objective of suspension system is to reduce the motions of the vehicle body with respect to road disturbances. The conventional suspension systems in road vehicles use passive elements such as springs and dampers to suppress the vibrations induced by the irregularities in the road. But these conventional suspension systems can suppress vibrations to a certain limit. This paper presents a novel idea to improve the ride quality of roads vehicles without compromising vehicle?s stability...

Salt on roads and the environment (VB)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hessberg, Philipp von; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

2000-01-01

This report descripes the extent of use of salt on roads in Denmark and the environmental consequences of this. Alternative strategies for reducing the risk of greasy roads and different ways of alleviating the vegetation are also discussed.The different consequences for the environment...... that this report discusses are:- The ground water.- Lakes and streams.- Plants and trees along roads.The consequences for the economy through usage of salt on roads has not been carried out....

The study of technological prevention method of road accident ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study of technological prevention method of road accident related to driver and vehicle. ... road accident prevention method based on the factors studied. The study of this paper can provide forceful data analysis support for the road traffic safety related research. Keywords: road accident; accident prevention; road safety.

The scaling structure of the global road network.

Science.gov (United States)

Strano, Emanuele; Giometto, Andrea; Shai, Saray; Bertuzzo, Enrico; Mucha, Peter J; Rinaldo, Andrea

2017-10-01

Because of increasing global urbanization and its immediate consequences, including changes in patterns of food demand, circulation and land use, the next century will witness a major increase in the extent of paved roads built worldwide. To model the effects of this increase, it is crucial to understand whether possible self-organized patterns are inherent in the global road network structure. Here, we use the largest updated database comprising all major roads on the Earth, together with global urban and cropland inventories, to suggest that road length distributions within croplands are indistinguishable from urban ones, once rescaled to account for the difference in mean road length. Such similarity extends to road length distributions within urban or agricultural domains of a given area. We find two distinct regimes for the scaling of the mean road length with the associated area, holding in general at small and at large values of the latter. In suitably large urban and cropland domains, we find that mean and total road lengths increase linearly with their domain area, differently from earlier suggestions. Scaling regimes suggest that simple and universal mechanisms regulate urban and cropland road expansion at the global scale. As such, our findings bear implications for global road infrastructure growth based on land-use change and for planning policies sustaining urban expansions.

Dust emissions from unpaved roads on the Colorado Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Duniway, M.; Flagg, C.; Belnap, J.

2013-12-01

On the Colorado Plateau, elevated levels of aeolian dust have become a major land management and policy concern due to its influence on climate, weather, terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, landscape development and fertility, melting of snow and ice, air quality, and human health. Most desert soil surfaces are stabilized by plants, rocks, and/or physical or biological soil crusts, but once disturbed, sediment production from these surfaces can increase dramatically. Road development and use is a common surface disturbing activity in the region. The extent and density of roads and road networks is rapidly increasing due to continued energy exploration, infrastructure development, and off-highway recreation activities. Though it is well known that unpaved roads produce dust, the relative contribution of dust from existing roads or the implications of future road development to regional dust loading is unknown. To address this need, we have initiated a multifaceted research effort to evaluating dust emissions from unpaved roads regionally. At 34 sites arranged across various road surfaces and soil textures in southeastern Utah, we are: 1) monitoring dust emissions, local wind conditions, and vehicle traffic and 2) evaluating fugitive dust potential using a portable wind tunnel and measuring road characteristics that affect dust production. We will then 3) develop a GIS-based model that integrates results from 1 & 2 to estimate potential dust contributions from current and future scenarios of regional road development. Passive, horizontal sediment traps were installed at three distances downwind from the road edge. One control trap was placed upwind of the samplers to account for local, non-road dust emissions. An electronic vehicle counter and anemometer were also installed at monitoring sites. Dust samples were collected every three months at fixed heights, 15 cm up to 100 cm above the soil surface, from March 2010 to the present. Threshold friction velocities (TFV

Follow-up of a road building scheme in a fragile environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gallardo, Amarilis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo; Sanchez, Luis E.

2004-01-01

Serra do Mar, in Southeastern Brazil, is an extremely diverse and rich environment characterized by intense rainfall and steep slopes covered by tropical rainforest. A number of roads, highways, railways, pipelines, and transmission lines cross this zone. A new highway that has been approved by the Sao Paulo State environment authorities is currently under construction. During the approval phase, the issue of ensuring proper implementation of mitigation measures arose as a significant concern. As a consequence, an innovative institutional arrangement has been set up for following-up, by which a multi-institutional multidisciplinary team performs weekly inspection tours, whereas the project owner hired its own consultant to oversee the construction, putting the contractor under strict scrutiny. Among the most significant issues addressed, the following are particularly relevant: (1) erosion and sediment yield; (2) river siltation; (3) slope stability; (4) excavated soil and rock disposal; (5) management of water pumped from tunneling; and (6) minimizing habitat loss. Results show that strict environmental supervision can effectively ensure that environmental impacts can be maintained within the limits of predicted impacts or legal requirements. Furthermore, this case showed that careful review of environmental impact studies and the establishment of detailed terms and conditions to be fulfilled by the proponent during the construction phase are necessary conditions for a successful follow-up

Road safety policy of the European Union.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2013-01-01

The European Union (EU) is important for national road safety policies. The EU has several policymaking instruments, such as binding regulations and directives, and non-binding recommendations. An important element in the EU policy plans on road safety are the non-binding European road safety

Road lighting fundamentals, technology and application

CERN Document Server

van Bommel, Wout

2015-01-01

This book outlines the underlying principles on which modern road lighting is based, and provides the reader with knowledge of how these principles should be applied in practice. It offers a completely fresh approach to the subject, reflecting how the technology of road lighting has progressed to keep up with the changes in lamp technology, especially in solid state light sources, and the increasing awareness of energy use and environmental issues. The book is divided into three parts. Part One describes lighting of open roads, with chapters discussing visual performance and comfort (including the effects of mesopic vision and age), and international standards and recommendations for road lighting. Lighting equipment is introduced; specifically lamps and luminaires in terms of their practical properties and features, but also the road surface and its characteristics. A chapter on Lighting Design makes the link between theory and practice, providing the reader with the knowledge needed for effective lighting d...

Road traffic noise and children's inattention.

Science.gov (United States)

Weyde, Kjell Vegard; Krog, Norun Hjertager; Oftedal, Bente; Magnus, Per; Øverland, Simon; Stansfeld, Stephen; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J; Vrijheid, Martine; de Castro Pascual, Montserrat; Aasvang, Gunn Marit

2017-11-21

An increasing number of children are exposed to road traffic noise levels that may lead to adverse effects on health and daily functioning. Childhood is a period of intense growth and brain maturation, and children may therefore be especially vulnerable to road traffic noise. The objective of the present study was to examine whether road traffic noise was associated with reported inattention symptoms in children, and whether this association was mediated by sleep duration. This study was based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Parental reports of children's inattention at age 8 were linked to modelled levels of residential road traffic noise. We investigated the association between inattention and noise exposure during pregnancy (n = 1934), noise exposure averaged over 5 years (age 3 to 8 years; n = 1384) and noise exposure at age 8 years (n = 1384), using fractional logit response models. The participants were children from Oslo, Norway. An association with inattention at age 8 years was found for road traffic noise exposure at age 8 years (coef = .0083, CI = [.0012, .0154]; 1.2% point increase in inattention score per 10 dB increase in noise level), road traffic noise exposure average for the last 5 years (coef = .0090, CI = [.0016, .0164]; 1.3% point increase/10 dB), and for pregnancy road traffic noise exposure for boys (coef = .0091, CI = [.0010, .0171]), but not girls (coef = -.0021, CI = [-.0094, .0053]). Criteria for doing mediation analyses were not fulfilled. Results indicate that road traffic noise has a negative impact on children's inattention. We found no mediation by sleep duration.

Road safety in developing countries.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schreuder, D.A.

1991-01-01

This paper presents a classification of countries (developing and developed alike), divided into two main categories: an economical and historical entry. When road safety problems are placed into the economical context, it then appears that, among other things: (1) The road safety problem in the

5 CFR 930.107 - Waiver of road test.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Waiver of road test. 930.107 Section 930....107 Waiver of road test. Under the following conditions, OPM or an agency head or his or her designated representative may waive the road test: (a) OPM waives the road test requirement for operators of...

Guidelines for upgrading of low volume roads

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Division of Roads

1993-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this manual is to provide guidelines on the upgrading of gravel low volume roads to roads and maintenance personnel of road authorities of all sizes. Low volume is, for the purpose of this document, defined to be less than 500...

Traffic mortality and the role of minor roads.

Science.gov (United States)

van Langevelde, Frank; van Dooremalen, Coby; Jaarsma, Catharinus F

2009-01-01

Roads have large impacts on wildlife, as they form one of the principal causes of mortality, and disturbance and fragmentation of habitat. These impacts are mainly studied and mitigated on major roads. It is, however, a widespread misconception that most animals are killed on major roads. In this paper, we argue that minor roads have a larger impact on wildlife with respect to habitat destruction, noise load and traffic mortality. We use data on traffic related deaths in badgers (Meles meles) in The Netherlands to illustrate that traffic mortality is higher on minor roads. We ask for a more extensive investigation of the environmental impacts of minor roads. Moreover, we argue that the success of mitigation on roads drastically increases when both major and minor roads are integrated in the planning of traffic flows. Therefore, we propose a strategy based on the concept of a "traffic-calmed area". Traffic-calmed areas create opportunities for wildlife by decreasing limitations for animal movement. We ask for further studies to estimate what size traffic-calmed areas should be to maintain minimum viable animal populations.

Extended investigation on road fatality in Brunei.

Science.gov (United States)

Yusof, N B; Hoque, M A; Steele, M C; Yong, S Y

2018-06-08

Road fatality is one of the leading causes of death in Brunei with 79 deaths in 1993, the highest ever recorded. The Brunei government has been trying to reduce this by implementing new traffic measures and successfully reduced fatalities to 24 fatalities in 2014. Yearly road fatality has been fluctuating, but there has been a declining tendency overall. The aim of this study is to investigate road fatality in Brunei by extending the research. We developed a multiple regression model and carried out an analysis on road fatality in Brunei. Our analysis indicates that the road fatality appears to rise depending on the increase in the number of young drivers between 15 to 24 years and the number of unemployed people. Comparisons of Brunei road fatality rate per 10,000 vehicles are made with some other countries and we conclude that Brunei has approximately the same rate as Australia in 2014.

Road dust from pavement wear and traction sanding

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