Fiscal Feasibility Assessment Applied to Transport Infrastructure Projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guilherme de Aragão, J.J.; Santos Fontes Pereira, L. dos; Yamashita, Y.; Brandão, R.

2016-07-01

The demand for transport infrastructure investment is a latent issue for several countries, mainly for developing countries. However, investments in major logistics projects should be carefully evaluated, in order that their deployment induces development without endangering fiscal sustainability by excessive public indebtedness. Fiscal accounting practices used currently in the feasibility studies of transport infrastructures in Brazil are very limited, as they do not consider indirect and induced effects of the infrastructure investment in the fiscal evaluation. In addition, the corresponding influence area has not an established delimitation method. The aim of the present paper is to develop a model for calculating economic and fiscal impacts of transport infrastructure investment projects that includes the direct, indirect and induced effects within a reference area do be determined. First, different project assessment guides in Brazil and abroad are examined with a special focus on the assessment of economic and fiscal impacts of the projects. Based on the assessment experience and on the definition of the fiscal balance of an infrastructure project, the next step sets up a framework for the calculation of the impacts, using more simplified data. (Author)

Models of Financing and Available Financial Resources for Transport Infrastructure Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Pokorná

2001-01-01

Full Text Available A typical feature of transport infrastructure projects is that they are expensive and take a long time to construct. Transport infrastructure financing has traditionally lain in the public domain. A tightening of many countries' budgets in recent times has led to an exploration of alternative resources for financing transport infrastructures. A variety of models and methods can be used in transport infrastructure project financing. The selection of the appropriate model should be done taking into account not only financial resources but also the distribution of construction and operating risks and the contractual relations between the stakeholders.

Transport Infrastructure and Economic Growth: Spatial Effects

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Artyom Gennadyevich Isaev

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The author specifies an empirical framework of neoclassical growth model in order to examine impact of transport infrastructure on economic growth in Russian regions during period of 2000-2013. Two different effects of infrastructure are considered. First, infrastructure is viewed as part of region’s own production function. Second, infrastructure generates spillover effect on adjacent regions’ economic performance which can be negative or positive. Results imply that road infrastructure has a positive influence on regional growth, but sign of railroad infrastructure coefficient depends on whether or not congestion effect is considered. Negative spillover effect is shown to exist in the case of road infrastructure. This apparently means that rapid road infrastructure development in some regions moves mobile factors of production away from adjacent regions retarding their economic development. The spillover effect of railroad infrastructure is significant and negative again only if congestion effect is considered. The results of estimation for the Far East and Baikal Regions separately demonstrate no significant effect of both types of infrastructure for economic performance and negative spillover effect of road infrastructure

ECONOMIC AND LEGAL GROUNDS FOR INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

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V. V. Zhelezniak

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In Ukraine, as in many countries of the world, transport is one of the most fundamental sectors of the national economy, important part of the industrial and social spheres. But in the conditions of industry reforming there are problems of investing in development of rail transport. So the work is devoted to the grounds of potentially available sources of investment in infrastructure of railway transport of Ukraine. The work stresses the importance of the problem of attracting foreign investment in the economy, highlights the proposals to solve this problem. Methodology. To solve the problems of this class the work presents the proposed methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison, deduction, induction, logic and abstraction. It becomes necessary to search for and study of new conceptual approaches to organization of investment processes at railway transport enterprises, appropriate management and financial decisions and schemes of railway infrastructure development. Findings. The paper shows ways to optimize investment for modernization and technical re-equipment of the transport complex of Ukraine. It proposes the ways of attracting capital of investors for development of transport infrastructure: compliance with European laws and regulations; reforming of the tax system of Ukraine; combating corruption in the country; implementation of public-private partnership tools into the mechanism of state regulation of investment processes; creating a favourable investment climate for implementation of rail transport infrastructure projects; creating a system of compensation to investors; guarantees of transport infrastructure investment protection. Originality. The work offers the sources of investment for development of railway infrastructure in Ukraine, which should include: state budget funds, use of targeted loans and leasing. The main direction of the state policy concerning infrastructure should be a gradual transition of activity in

Productivity-based approach to valuation of transportation infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-10-01

Transportation infrastructure, a vital component to sustain economic prosperity, represents the largest public-owned : infrastructure asset in the U.S. With over a trillion invested dollars invested into long-lived physical assets such as : roads and...

Airborne biological hazards and urban transport infrastructure: current challenges and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Nasir, Zaheer Ahmad; Campos, Luiza Cintra; Christie, Nicola; Colbeck, Ian

2016-08-01

Exposure to airborne biological hazards in an ever expanding urban transport infrastructure and highly diverse mobile population is of growing concern, in terms of both public health and biosecurity. The existing policies and practices on design, construction and operation of these infrastructures may have severe implications for airborne disease transmission, particularly, in the event of a pandemic or intentional release of biological of agents. This paper reviews existing knowledge on airborne disease transmission in different modes of transport, highlights the factors enhancing the vulnerability of transport infrastructures to airborne disease transmission, discusses the potential protection measures and identifies the research gaps in order to build a bioresilient transport infrastructure. The unification of security and public health research, inclusion of public health security concepts at the design and planning phase, and a holistic system approach involving all the stakeholders over the life cycle of transport infrastructure hold the key to mitigate the challenges posed by biological hazards in the twenty-first century transport infrastructure.

MARKETING AND LOGISTICS INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSPORT SERVICES MARKET

OpenAIRE

Kopytko, V. I.

2009-01-01

Taking into account the modern trends of world economy development, the opportunities of increasing the competitiveness of the Ukrainian transport system on the base of marketing-logistical providing the development of infrastructure of transport services market are presented. The analysis of marketing-logistical approaches of estimation of the efficiency of operation of transport infrastructure objects is performed. The condition of theoretical and practical aspects of the transport services...

Hydrogen infrastructure for the transport sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agnolucci, Paolo

2007-01-01

The aim of this paper is to review the factors already discussed in the literature and identify gaps or issues which seem to require further debate in relation of the introduction of hydrogen in the transport sector. Studies in the academic and grey literature have analysed transport systems with a rather wide range of hydrogen penetration rates, utilisation of the infrastructure, hypotheses on the dynamics of the systems, capital costs of the infrastructure and hydrogen price. Most of the issues which could widen the debate in the literature are related to policy instruments. In particular, more attention should be paid to the policy instruments needed to foster co-ordination among stakeholders, persuade drivers to buy hydrogen vehicles despite the existence of a sparse infrastructure; guarantee investment in the early, possibly loss-making, retail stations and to foster financially sustainable government commitments. The effect of limited availability of hydrogen vehicle models on the penetration rates in the literature and the sensitivity of the hydrogen price to taxation from the government are other two issues deserving a more in-depth discussion. (author)

Pathways to a more sustainable transport infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dravitzki, V., Email: Vince.Dravitzki@Opus.co.nz; Lester, T.; Cenek, P. [Opus International Consultants, Lower Hutt (New Zealand)

2010-07-01

The two phenomena of Peak Oil and Human-induced Climate Change both together and individually create an imperative for early action, with the need to address Climate Change limiting the range of options that can be used to address peak oil. Peak oil is often portrayed as a market phenomenon, as a period when demand will exceed supply. The imperative to respond to the issues resulting from Peak Oil and Climate Change requires that New Zealand must move from its current high energy use, high resource use, high cost, petroleum dependent, transport infrastructure, to a sustainable one. Because a country's energy profile will increasingly define its economic success, New Zealand needs also to move to a lower energy society to remain competitive with other countries. What will be New Zealand's successful transport energy of the future and how it may be best used are key considerations of our future sustainable transport system. Low energy, low material use and consequently low cost, will be the main criteria. This paper first identifies our current transport energy usage, and some of the risks of being slow to respond to change. The paper then questions the central tenants of the current New Zealand Land Transport Strategy (2008) that we move to bio-fuels and electric cars because this is not a low energy, low cost pathway. We advocate that instead of just coping with change, New Zealand uses the necessity to change as an opportunity to recast our transport infrastructure to greatly improve the economic success and liveability of our settlements to New Zealand's benefit. The second part of the paper outlines a transport infrastructure based around electricity, with a heavy emphasis on public transport use, but also with freight much more dependent on electrified rail. This second part discusses: the advantages that NZ has that will facilitate this transition, such as favourable urban forms; the energy needs and energy availability; the benefits and

Assessing the Climate Resilience of Transport Infrastructure Investments in Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, J. W.; Pant, R.; Koks, E.; Thacker, S.; Russell, T.

2017-12-01

Whilst there is an urgent need for infrastructure investment in developing countries, there is a risk that poorly planned and built infrastructure will introduce new vulnerabilities. As climate change increases the magnitudes and frequency of natural hazard events, incidence of disruptive infrastructure failures are likely to become more frequent. Therefore, it is important that infrastructure planning and investment is underpinned by climate risk assessment that can inform adaptation planning. Tanzania's rapid economic growth is placing considerable strain on the country's transportation infrastructure (roads, railways, shipping and aviation); especially at the port of Dar es Salaam and its linking transport corridors. A growing number of natural hazard events, in particular flooding, are impacting the reliability of this already over-used network. Here we report on new methodology to analyse vulnerabilities and risks due to failures of key locations in the intermodal transport network of Tanzania, including strategic connectivity to neighboring countries. To perform the national-scale risk analysis we will utilize a system-of-systems methodology. The main components of this general risk assessment, when applied to transportation systems, include: (1) Assembling data on: spatially coherent extreme hazards and intermodal transportation networks; (2) Intersecting hazards with transport network models to initiate failure conditions that trigger failure propagation across interdependent networks; (3) Quantifying failure outcomes in terms of social impacts (customers/passengers disrupted) and/or macroeconomic consequences (across multiple sectors); and (4) Simulating, testing and collecting multiple failure scenarios to perform an exhaustive risk assessment in terms of probabilities and consequences. The methodology is being used to pinpoint vulnerability and reduce climate risks to transport infrastructure investments.

Commercial Consolidation Model Applied to Transport Infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guilherme de Aragão, J.J.; Santos Fontes Pereira, L. dos; Yamashita, Y.

2016-07-01

Since the 1990s, transport concessions, including public-private partnerships (PPPs), have been increasingly adopted by governments as an alternative for financing and operations in public investments, especially in transport infrastructure. The advantage pointed out by proponents of these models lies in merging the expertise and capital of the private sector to the public interest. Several arrangements are possible and have been employed in different cases. After the duration of the first PPP contracts in transportation, many authors have analyzed the success and failure factors of partnerships. The occurrence of failures in some stages of the process can greatly encumber the public administration, incurring losses to the fiscal responsibility of the competent bodies. This article aims to propose a new commercial consolidation model applied to transport infrastructure to ensure fiscal sustainability and overcome the weaknesses of current models. Initially, a systematic review of the literature covering studies on transport concessions between 1990 and 2015 is offered, where the different approaches between various countries are compared and the critical success factors indicated in the studies are identified. In the subsequent part of the paper, an approach for the commercial consolidation of the infrastructure concessions is presented, where the concessionary is paid following a finalistic performance model, which includes the overall fiscal balance of regional growth. Finally, the papers analyses the usefulness of the model in coping with the critical success factors explained before. (Author)

MARKETING AND LOGISTICS INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSPORT SERVICES MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. I. Kopytko

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Taking into account the modern trends of world economy development, the opportunities of increasing the competitiveness of the Ukrainian transport system on the base of marketing-logistical providing the development of infrastructure of transport services market are presented. The analysis of marketing-logistical approaches of estimation of the efficiency of operation of transport infrastructure objects is performed. The condition of theoretical and practical aspects of the transport services market is elucidated, the examples of logistical concepts are given, considering the work experience of transport enterprises, the ways of formation of regional transport-logistical associations are offered.

Engineering economics and finance for transportation infrastructure

CERN Document Server

Prassas, Elena S

2013-01-01

Transportation infrastructure is often referred to as society’s bloodstream.  It allows for the movement of people and goods to provide the ability to optimize the production and distribution of goods in an effective and efficient manner, and to provide personal opportunities for employment, recreation, education, health care, and other vital activities.   At the same time, the costs to provide, maintain, and operate this complex infrastructure are enormous.  Because so much of the economic resources to be invested come from public funds, it is critical that expenditures are made in a manner that provides society with the best possible return on the investment.  Further, it is important that sufficient investment is made available, and the costs of the investment are equitably borne by taxpayers.   This textbook provides a fundamental overview of the application of engineering economic principles to transportation infrastructure investments.  Basic theory is presented and illustrated with examples spe...

Transportation-Driven Mars Surface Operations Supporting an Evolvable Mars Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Toups, Larry; Brown, Kendall; Hoffman, Stephen J.

2015-01-01

This paper describes the results of a study evaluating options for supporting a series of human missions to a single Mars surface destination. In this scenario the infrastructure emplaced during previous visits to this site is leveraged in following missions. The goal of this single site approach to Mars surface infrastructure is to enable "Steady State" operations by at least 4 crew for up to 500 sols at this site. These characteristics, along with the transportation system used to deliver crew and equipment to and from Mars, are collectively known as the Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC). Information in this paper is presented in the sequence in which it was accomplished. First, a logical buildup sequence of surface infrastructure was developed to achieve the desired "Steady State" operations on the Mars surface. This was based on a concept of operations that met objectives of the EMC. Second, infrastructure capabilities were identified to carry out this concept of operations. Third, systems (in the form of conceptual elements) were identified to provide these capabilities. This included top-level mass, power and volume estimates for these elements. Fourth, the results were then used in analyses to evaluate three options (18t, 27t, and 40t landed mass) of Mars Lander delivery capability to the surface. Finally, Mars arrival mass estimates were generated based upon the entry, descent, and landing requirements for inclusion in separate assessments of in-space transportation capabilities for the EMC.

Managing Transportation Infrastructure for Sustainable Development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akinyemi, Edward O.; Zuidgeest, M.H.P.

Major requirements for operationalization of the concept of sustainable development in urban transportation infrastructure operations management are presented. In addition, it is shown that the current approach to management is incompatible with the requirements for sustainable urban development.

AUTOMATION OF CALCULATION ALGORITHMS FOR EFFICIENCY ESTIMATION OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

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Sergey Kharitonov

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Optimum transport infrastructure usage is an important aspect of the development of the national economy of the Russian Federation. Thus, development of instruments for assessing the efficiency of infrastructure is impossible without constant monitoring of a number of significant indicators. This work is devoted to the selection of indicators and the method of their calculation in relation to the transport subsystem as airport infrastructure. The work also reflects aspects of the evaluation of the possibilities of algorithmic computational mechanisms to improve the tools of public administration transport subsystems.

Base Information Transport Infrastructure Wired (BITI Wired)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

2016 Major Automated Information System Annual Report Base Information Transport Infrastructure Wired (BITI Wired) Defense Acquisition Management...Combat Information Transport System program was restructured into two pre-Major Automated Information System (pre-MAIS) components: Information...Major Automated Information System MAIS OE - MAIS Original Estimate MAR – MAIS Annual Report MDA - Milestone Decision Authority MDD - Materiel

Strategic Spatial Planning's Role in Legitimizing Investments in Transport Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Kristian

This paper discusses to what extent spatial visions might play an important role in not only supporting, but also legitimizing the need for investments in transport infrastructures. Drawing on discussion of an ‘infrastructure turn’ in strategic spatial planning (Dodson 2009), this paper explores...... how the recently proposed vision of a Loop City for the Danish/Swedish Øresund Region has played an important role in legitimizing and building political support for a light railway connecting the outer suburbs of Copenhagen. It is not unusual for large investments in new transport infrastructures...

Spatial Spillover Effects of Transport Infrastructure in Chinese New Silk Road Economic Belt

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Jian Li

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Based on the inner-effect mechanism of transport infrastructure and regional economic growth, this paper builds a specialized spatial weight matrix by utilizing the panel data from 31 provinces in New Silk Road Economic Belt (NSREB and other areas from 2005 to 2014, and combines with the spatial panel model to analyze the spatial spillover effects of transport infrastructure. According to the analysis, the transport infrastructure plays an obvious lead role in regional economy growth alongside the NSREB, and the economic growth invigorates common development in surrounding regions. In addition, differences were observed among the different transport infrastructure with regard to their influences on regional economic development, as the highway transport affects regional economic growth to a larger degree than railway transport.

The Danish transport infrastructure 2030. Report from the Danish Infrastructure Commission; Danmarks transportinfrastruktur 2030. Betaenkning fra Infrastrukturkommissionen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-01-15

The Danish Infrastructure Commission was appointed in November 2006 following a government decision. The terms of reference for the work of the commission state that 'the overall objective is for Denmark to maintain and develop its position as one of the countries in the world with the best transport systems, despite the fact that growing traffic volumes are increasing the requirements in the long term'. On this background, the commission has been given the following main tasks: 1) To analyse and assess the key challenges and development potential for the infrastructure and national traffic investments until 2030. 2) To identify and assess the strategic options and priorities and to put forward suggestions to strengthen the basis for the national investment decisions in the transport area. Furthermore, the commission was given the task of analysing and assessing proposals for strategies for handling a number of selected issues. These include the issue of cost-effective organisation and management of construction projects, the handling of preservation, climate and environmental concerns, the opportunity for better utilisation of the infrastructure by means of modern IT, and the significance of the long-term physical planning. The Danish Infrastructure Commission recommends six focus areas to be used as the starting point for planning the future transport system. Transport is about quality of life and prosperity - about connections between people, families and businesses. Infrastructure contributes to ensuring that we can get to work, and that products and goods can be transported to their destination in the shops and to the consumers. This makes infrastructure a vital cornerstone for our welfare and prosperity. Mobility is a key element in the competitiveness of businesses - and thus also for the growth conditions of Danish society. Efficient transport systems contribute to ensuring that goods can be produced in the best and least expensive location. The

Towards a relevant and sustainable R&D agenda for transport and transport infrastructure in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Rust, FC

2009-01-01

Full Text Available and technological solutions summarised in main Research and Development (R&D) themes and sub-themes. DRIVERS, TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR The drivers that will influence the transport industry in the future were discussed in a... previous chapter. A recent technology foresight study for the construction industry in South Africa (Rust et al 2008) also listed a number of trends in the industry. Many of these trends are also important to the transport and transport infrastructure...

Adaptation Becoming Business as Usual: A Framework for Climate-Change-Ready Transport Infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew D. Quinn

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Extreme weather damages and disrupts transport infrastructure in a multitude of ways. Heavy rainfall and ensuing landslides or flooding may lead to road or rail closures; extreme heat can damage road surfaces, or cause tracks, signalling or electronic equipment to overheat, or thermal discomfort for passengers. As extreme weather is expected to occur more frequently in the future, transport infrastructure owners and operators must increase their preparedness in order to reduce weather-related service disruption and the associated financial costs. This article presents a two-sided framework for use by any organisation to develop climate-change-ready transport infrastructure, regardless of their current level of knowledge or preparedness for climate change. The framework is composed of an adaptation strategy and an implementation plan, and has the overarching ambition to embed climate change adaptation within organisational procedures so it becomes a normal function of business. It advocates adaptation pathways, i.e., sequential adaptive actions that do not compromise future actions. The circular, iterative structure ensures new knowledge, or socio-economic changes may be incorporated, and that previous adaptations are evaluated. Moreover, the framework aligns with existing asset management procedures (e.g., ISO standards or governmental or organisational approaches to climate change adaptation. By adopting this framework, organisations can self-identify their own level of adaptation readiness and seek to enhance it.

Influence of road transport infrastructure on agricultural sector development in Nigeria

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Ogunleye Olusogo

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The study investigated the effects of road transport infrastructure on agricultural sector development in Nigeria from 1985 to 2014, using secondary annual time series data on agricultural development (proxy by gross domestic product in the Agric sector road transport infrastructure (proxy by length of paved road per square kilometer of area export and capital, all obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN [3], and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS [16], statistical bulletins. The data were analyzed using Granger Causality test and Ordinary Least Square estimation techniques. The study concluded that a positive and statistically significant relationship exists between road transport infrastructures (LRT also evidence was found of a unidirectional causality from agricultural sector development to transport infrastructure. The study, therefore, recommends that adequate and timely maintenance of existing roads should be carried out as well as enacting appropriate regulations that ensure proper implementation and completion of new road construction contracts in the country in order to boost agricultural sector development, reduce wastage of farm produce and increase the possibility of economic diversification.

Transport infrastructure and economic growth in Nigeria | Ighodaro ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper considered transport infrastructure and economic growth in Nigeria. Findings from the study show that in the three national development plans in Nigeria, road transportation system has been given more priority followed by water and air. It was found that the local government authority controls about 67% of the ...

Carbon Footprint Linked to transport infrastructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crespo Garcia, L.; Jimenez Arroyo, F.

2013-01-01

Quantification of emissions of greenhouse effect gases associated to transport infrastructures has been addressed in different ways. The first tools for this purpose appeared with the application of ISO 14040 standards (Life cycle analysis) that, applied to the particular case of energetic resources, led to a new concept known as carbon footprint. There is a specific standard for this quantification (ISO 14064) according to which, for the case of infrastructures, emissions and environmental effects linked to the whole life cycle are assessed taking into account all the stages: building, exploitation, maintenance and dismantling. the key point to perform this analysis is the accurate definition of a calculation methodology to be applied to the inventory of activities covered, in order to avoid information lacks, overlaps or redundancies. Quantification tools for emissions are effectively a reality, but social and political will, supported by strong economical reasons recognizing energy as a vital resource, is necessary for these tools to be developed, enhanced and used in a systematic way as a key decision element to choice among different transport alternatives. (Author) 23 refs.

Analysis on Transportation Infrastructure Availability to Achieve Environmental and Social Sustainability in Karawang

Science.gov (United States)

Rarasati, A. D.; Octoria, N. B.

2018-03-01

Sustainable infrastructure is the key to development success. At the same time, transportation infrastructure development will involve social and environmental conditions of the local surroundings. Assessment of the availability of such transport infrastructure is one of the solutions adapted from social and environmental impacts. By conducting a correlation test, the presence of transportation infrastructure and the social conditions of the environment can be identified. The results obtained show that the accessibility, the level of security, and the level of equality are correlated to social and environmental sustainability in Karawang. In terms of environment, the availability of transportation infrastructure is not directly related to the impact of environmental sustainability. The impact of the perceived environment also has no effect on the journey. Correlation results indicate that the length of travel time and congestion level do not make the perceived impact greater. The impact of the perceived environment is merely due to the high utilization of private vehicles in Karawang which subsequently leads to higher energy consumption.

THE EFFECT OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE ONFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ATTRACTION IN IRAN

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Manijeh Taghilou Barzelaghi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Weak transportation infrastructure in developing countries, e.g. Iran, presents abig obstacle to foreign direct investment attraction. One way of increasing theflow of foreign direct investment into a country is decreasing the production coststhrough expanding facilities as well as employing higher technology level. Thus,transportation cost usually is high in these countries and industries are oftenconcentrated in regions with more improved transportation system. The presentstudy aimed to investigate the effect of transportation infrastructure in Iran onforeign direct investment attraction. Hence, the researchers employed JohansenJuselius econometrics method to quantify the short run and long run effect oftransportation infrastructure, trade intensity, and market size on foreign directinvestment attraction during 1974-2007. The results emerging from the presentstudy indicated that transportationinfrastructure did not affect foreign directinvestment attraction in short run, but in long run, it had positive and significanteffect on foreign direct investment attraction.

Impact des infrastructures de transport sur la croissance économique : le cas du Maroc

OpenAIRE

Oulmakki , Ouail

2015-01-01

Transport infrastructures are public goods. Their importance is demonstrated in the literature since the seminal works of the endogenous growth theory, new economic geography, as well as empirical studies conducted in several countries. Our research focuses on the transport infrastructure in developing countries with an application to the case of Morocco. This thesis is divided in two parts. The first one highlights the role of transport infrastructure in the economy through a review of theor...

Explorations Around "Graceful Failure" in Transportation Infrastructure: Lessons Learned By the Infrastructure and Climate Network (ICNet)

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, J. M.; Thomas, N.; Mo, W.; Kirshen, P. H.; Douglas, E. M.; Daniel, J.; Bell, E.; Friess, L.; Mallick, R.; Kartez, J.; Hayhoe, K.; Croope, S.

2014-12-01

Recent events have demonstrated that the United States' transportation infrastructure is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events which will likely increase in the future. In light of the 60% shortfall of the $900 billion investment needed over the next five years to maintain this aging infrastructure, hardening of all infrastructures is unlikely. Alternative strategies are needed to ensure that critical aspects of the transportation network are maintained during climate extremes. Preliminary concepts around multi-tier service expectations of bridges and roads with reference to network capacity will be presented. Drawing from recent flooding events across the U.S., specific examples for roads/pavement will be used to illustrate impacts, disruptions, and trade-offs between performance during events and subsequent damage. This talk will also address policy and cultural norms within the civil engineering practice that will likely challenge the application of graceful failure pathways during extreme events.

Transportation Infrastructure Robustness : Joint Engineering and Economic Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2017-11-01

The objectives of this study are to develop a methodology for assessing the robustness of transportation infrastructure facilities and assess the effect of damage to such facilities on travel demand and the facilities users welfare. The robustness...

Influence of transport infrastructure on the industrial development of the Russian regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizaveta Eduardovna Kolchinskaya

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective to build a model describing the relationship between the level of transport infrastructure development of the region and the level of industrial development in the region. Methods calculation of the integral indicators of a particular industry development regression analysis method of the production function constructing. For regression analysis the paper uses panel data models with random and fixed effects and the pooled panel data model. To check the quality of the regression model the Fisher and Student ttests were used. To test the model for heteroskedastic properties tests by Park Glazer GoldfeldQuandt and White were applied. Results models of linear and logarithmic specifications with random and fixed effects were built as well as pooled panel data models. Significant coefficients of transport infrastructure indicators were obtained in both cases only in the pooled panel data models. The model which considered the railway density index as one of the characteristics of the transport infrastructure of the region showed the negative coefficient of this variable. Scientific novelty for the first time on the basis of Russian regions statistics using regression models of panel data the dependence has been studied between the level of transport development in the region and the dynamics of industrial production in it. As the characteristic of transport infrastructure development the specially designed integral indicator was used i.e. the transport enterprises and communications functioning in the region summarizing several characteristics of enterprises in the industry. Practical value the obtained results can be used to predict effects of adopting decisions on improving the transport infrastructure in the Russian Federation regions. The results and conclusion can serve as a basis for further research on this topic and be applied in the characterization of the Russian economy. In addition the results can be used in the educational

Transport and environmental sustainability: An adapted SPE approach for modelling interactions between transport, infrastructure, economy and environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verhoef, Erik; Van den Bergh, Jeroen [Department of Spatial Economics, Faculty of Economics and Econometrics, Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

1994-05-01

The present paper aims at shedding some light on the concept of `sustainable transport`. Within the context of a sustainable development, the consequences of interdependencies between transport, infrastructure, economy and environment for the formulation of optimal regulatory policies are investigated. The Spatial Price Equilibrium approach is adapted for the analysis of sustainable spatio-economic development, and for the evaluation of first-best and second-best regulatory policies on the issues at hand. The analysis demonstrates the need for integration of elements concerning economic structure, infrastructure, transportation, environment and space in one single analytical framework when considering questions on sustainability in relation to transport. 2 figs., 1 appendix, 10 refs.

Problems of economic security in Russian transportation and intermediate carrier infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeriy Anatol'evich Tsvetkov

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the basic problems of economic security in infrastructural ensuring of the implementation of transportation and intermediate carrier potential of Russia: development and reconstruction of communication lines, usage of innovative transportation methods, building a network of transportation and logistics centers, development of regional airport hubs and others. Particular attention is paid to the problems of transportation and transit potential implementation of Siberia and the Far East. It is shown that the increase of transit facilities in the territory of Russia takes place in a competitive market of infrastructure projects. At the same time it is emphasized that along with exhausting the possibilities of commodity economy development, a natural competitive advantage of Russia as a transport bridge between Europe, Asia and America will be implemented in full force.

Problems of economic security in Russian transportation and intermediate carrier infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeriy Anatol'evich Tsvetkov

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the basic problems of economic security in infrastructural ensuring of the implementation of transportation and intermediate carrier potential of Russia: development and reconstruction of communication lines, usage of innovative transportation methods, building a network of transportation and logistics centers, development of regional airport hubs and others. Particular attention is paid to the problems of transportation and transit potential implementation of Siberia and the Far East. It is shown that the increase of transit facilities in the territory of Russia takes place in a competitive market of infrastructure projects. At the same time it is emphasized that along with exhausting the possibilities of commodity economy development, a natural competitive advantage of Russia as a transport bridge between Europe, Asia and America will be implemented in full force.

Transportation Infrastructure and the Asia-Pacific Food System

OpenAIRE

Armbruster, Walter J.; Coyle, William T.

2005-01-01

Adequate, well maintained transportation infrastructure is a critical element of the Pacific food system in addressing challenges of rapid urbanization. Policymakers must invest either in streamlining domestic supply chains and/or in facilitating food imports through market opening measures. Economic incentives, competitive transportation and logistic services, and policy reforms, both within the borders of individual economies as well as across the Asia-Pacific region, are also necessary. Im...

Transport Infrastructure in the Process of Cataloguing Brownfields

Science.gov (United States)

Kramářová, Zuzana

2017-10-01

To begin with, the identification and follow-up revitalisation of brownfields raises a burning issue in territorial planning as well as in construction engineering. This phenomenon occurs not only in the Czech Republic and Europe, but also world-wide experts conduct its careful investigation. These issues may be divided into several areas. First, it is identifying and cataloguing single territorial localities; next, it means a complex process of locality revitalisation. As a matter of fact, legislative framework represents a separate area, which is actually highly specific in individual countries in accordance with the existing law, norms and regulations (it concerns mainly territorial planning and territory segmentation into appropriate administrative units). Legislative base of the Czech Republic was analysed in an article at WMCAUS in 2016. The solution of individual identification and following cataloguing of brownfields is worked out by Form of Regional Studies within the Legislation of the Czech Republic. Due to huge the scale of issues to be tackled, their content is only loosely defined in regard to Building Act and its implementing regulations, e.g. examining the layout of future construction in the area, locating architecturally or otherwise interesting objects, transport or technical infrastructure management, tourism, socially excluded localities etc. Legislative base does not exist, there is no common method for identifying and cataloguing brownfields. Therefore, individual catalogue lists are subject to customer’s requirements. All the same, the relevant information which the database contains may be always examined. One of them is part about transport infrastructure. The information may be divided into three subareas - information on transport accessibility of the locality, information on the actual infrastructure in the locality and information on the transport accessibility of human resources.

Sensing Models and Sensor Network Architectures for Transport Infrastructure Monitoring in Smart Cities

Science.gov (United States)

Simonis, Ingo

2015-04-01

Transport infrastructure monitoring and analysis is one of the focus areas in the context of smart cities. With the growing number of people moving into densely populated urban metro areas, precise tracking of moving people and goods is the basis for profound decision-making and future planning. With the goal of defining optimal extensions and modifications to existing transport infrastructures, multi-modal transport has to be monitored and analysed. This process is performed on the basis of sensor networks that combine a variety of sensor models, types, and deployments within the area of interest. Multi-generation networks, consisting of a number of sensor types and versions, are causing further challenges for the integration and processing of sensor observations. These challenges are not getting any smaller with the development of the Internet of Things, which brings promising opportunities, but is currently stuck in a type of protocol war between big industry players from both the hardware and network infrastructure domain. In this paper, we will highlight how the OGC suite of standards, with the Sensor Web standards developed by the Sensor Web Enablement Initiative together with the latest developments by the Sensor Web for Internet of Things community can be applied to the monitoring and improvement of transport infrastructures. Sensor Web standards have been applied in the past to pure technical domains, but need to be broadened now in order to meet new challenges. Only cross domain approaches will allow to develop satisfying transport infrastructure approaches that take into account requirements coming form a variety of sectors such as tourism, administration, transport industry, emergency services, or private people. The goal is the development of interoperable components that can be easily integrated within data infrastructures and follow well defined information models to allow robust processing.

Impacts of Flooding on Road Transport Infrastructure In Enugu Metropolitan City, Nigeria.

OpenAIRE

Iloeje, A. F; Aniagolu, C. O

2015-01-01

An assessment of the impact of flooding on the road transport infrastructure in Enugu Metropolis was carried out using survey research method. Thirty impact indicators were rated by the respondents against six impact dimensions of population, vulnerability of activities, frequency, intensity, extent and risk. Three null hypotheses were postulated and tested. One sample t-test was used for testing hypothesis one which stated that damages to the road transport infrastructure resulti...

Prioritising transport infrastructure projects: towards a multi-criterion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Kirstam

multi-criterion analysis (MCA), partial equilibrium analysis, project appraisal ... In the case of transport infrastructure projects, though, this is no mean ... vehicle ownership and mileage-based depreciation (an improved road network and/ .... urban, rural or regional development initiatives – they typically include one or more.

Assessment of Logistics effects from Transport Infrastructure Investments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holvad, Torben; Salling, Kim Bang

2004-01-01

on the basis of the importance of this research area from a societal and economic viewpoint. This paper aims to identify a framework for assessment of logistic effects from transport infrastructure investment such that these effects can be integrated into the appraisal methodologies. Particular attention...

A New Approach to Feasibility Risk Assessment within Transport Infrastructure Appraisal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang

2013-01-01

This paper introduces a new approach of applying feasibility risk assessment within transport project infrastructure appraisal. The procedure is based upon quantitative risk analysis and Monte Carlo simulation in combination with conventional cost-benefit analysis converting deterministic benefit...... are, hereby, often basing their decisions on wrongful material. The presented approach to transport infrastructure appraisal is to include uncertainties and risks in the evaluation. Correspondingly, the handling of uncertainties and risk within transport project assessment are often made up...... by sensitivity tests producing deterministically based output values. Research has proven that traditional sensitivity analysis seldomnly captures the total variability especially as concerns the costs and demands estimated in the pre-stage of the evaluation. Therefore, this paper introduces an approach...

Prioritising transport infrastructure projects: Towards a multi-criterion ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Southern African Business Review ... systematic framework for the appraisal of transport infrastructure projects of the type 'budget cycle projects with local ... Cost/benefit analysis, when applied in a classic sense, is not suitable for this purpose, given its ... (optimal allocation of resources), equity (impact distribution aspects),

ROLE OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT OF SPATIAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina C. Chimitdorzhieva

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The problems of spatial socio-economic development of the region are considered in this article. Special attention is given to transport infrastructure. The authors propose methodical instruments for evaluating the influence of transport infrastructure on spatial development of region based on research of theoretic-methodical aspects of economic growth theory, location of economic activity and development concepts of infrastructural provision.

Transactional approach in assessment of operational performance of companies in transport infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubrovsky, V.; Yaroshevich, N.; Kuzmin, E.

2016-07-01

Offer an alternative method to assess operational performance of companies in transport infrastructure of a region by making a comparison between transaction costs. The method is supposed to be a cross-functional and possibly applied to an analysis of economic entities of a different order (country, region, sector, companies) while evaluating “viscosity” / complexity of the outside and the inside. The paper includes an analysis of various methodological approaches to assess a development level of the transport infrastructure in a region. Within the author's approach and for purposed of the research, an index of transaction capacity or the transactionalness index is proposed, which determines a level of transaction costs calculated against the cost of production and revenue. The approach is piloted using the region-wise consolidated financial data of companies involved in the Russian transport infrastructure for 2005/2013. The proposed alternative way to measure corporate operating efficiency has proved its academic consistency. A specific comparison between the transaction costs using the transactionalness index allows first to identify companies or regions/sectors, where there is excess complexity of economical communication in bargaining. Secondly, the index does not only point out indirectly to a degree of development in the institutional environment, but also the infrastructure (the transport one in the example given). Third, the transactionalness level may say of uncertainty and risks. As an addition to theoretical and methodological aspects of transaction costs, the authors justify an approach to their size estimation, as well as their differentiation dividing them into two groups: those of a natural type and a background type. In a course of their discussion, the authors have concluded that there are such transaction costs in place, which are standard in a manner of speaking. There is a discussion whether it is scientifically reasonable to use an

Towards a reference architecture for a collaborative intelligent transport system infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2010-01-01

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

Succeeding criteria of community based on land transportation infrastructure for Johor innovation valley development

Science.gov (United States)

Redzuan, Amir A.; Aminudin, Eeydzah; Zakaria, Rozana; Ghazali, Farid Ezanee Mohamed; Baharudin, Nur Azwa Amyra; Siang, Lee Yong

2017-10-01

Developing countries around the world have developed innovative centre, or known as innovation hub, to meet the demand of today's changing global competitive environment. The shift of economic sector from manufacturing to services has allowed numerous regions and cities around the world to undergo major structural changes. In Malaysia, Skudai area is on its way of becoming a community-based innovation hub under the Johor State Economic Growth Strategic Plan called Johor Innovation Valley (JIV). Towards this new-city concept, land transportation infrastructure is among the most important network in being a linkage to the source of contribution in enhancing the local innovative environment. This paper highlights the requirement of land transportation infrastructure criteria that would be effective in making Skudai a community-based innovation hub. Data were collected through survey questionnaires involving stakeholders with the knowledge of land transportation infrastructure who also lives within the area. Descriptive analysis was employed with further rank breakdown using Average Index analysis. The findings distinguish the differences between each criteria of land transportation infrastructure. Change in traffic system, easier accessibility to one place to another and attraction to outside investor are among the impacts of growth of JIV. This paper concluded that selected requirement of land transportation infrastructure criteria is necessary for future contribution towards the growth of the JIV.

The ISTIMES project: a new integrated system for monitoring critical transport infrastructures interested by natural hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Proto, Monica; Massimo, Bavusi; Francesco, Soldovieri

2010-05-01

The research project "Integrated System for Transport Infrastructure surveillance and Monitoring by Electromagnetic Sensing" (ISTIMES), was approved in the 7th Framework Programme, in the Joint Call ICT and Security and started on 1st July 2009. The purpose of ISTIMES project is to design, assess and promote an ICT-based system, exploiting distributed and local sensors, for non-destructive electromagnetic monitoring in order to achieve the critical transport infrastructures more reliable and safe. The transportation sector's components are susceptible to the consequences of natural disasters and can also be attractive as terrorist targets. The sector's size, its physically dispersed and decentralized nature, the many public and private entities involved in its operations, the critical importance of cost considerations, and the inherent requirement of convenient accessibility to its services by all users - make the transportation particularly vulnerable to security and safety threats. As well known, the surface transportation system consists of interconnected infrastructures including highways, transit systems, railroads, airports, waterways, pipelines and ports, and the vehicles, aircraft, and vessels that operate along these networks. Thus, interdependencies exist between transportation and nearly every other sector of the economy and the effective operation of this system is essential to the European economic productivity; therefore, transportation sector protection is of paramount importance since threats to it may impact other industries that rely on it. The system exploits an open network architecture that can accommodate a wide range of sensors, static and mobile, and can be easily scaled up to allow the integration of additional sensors and interfacing with other networks. It relies on heterogeneous state-of-the-art electromagnetic sensors, enabling a self-organizing, self-healing, ad-hoc networking of terrestrial sensors, supported by specific satellite

Innovative neuro-fuzzy system of smart transport infrastructure for road traffic safety

Science.gov (United States)

Beinarovica, Anna; Gorobetz, Mikhail; Levchenkov, Anatoly

2017-09-01

The proposed study describes applying of neural network and fuzzy logic in transport control for safety improvement by evaluation of accidents’ risk by intelligent infrastructure devices. Risk evaluation is made by following multiple-criteria: danger, changeability and influence of changes for risk increasing. Neuro-fuzzy algorithms are described and proposed for task solution. The novelty of the proposed system is proved by deep analysis of known studies in the field. The structure of neuro-fuzzy system for risk evaluation and mathematical model is described in the paper. The simulation model of the intelligent devices for transport infrastructure is proposed to simulate different situations, assess the risks and propose the possible actions for infrastructure or vehicles to minimize the risk of possible accidents.

Investment in transport infrastructure, regulation, and gas-gas competition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gasmi, Farid [Toulouse School of Economics (ARQADE and IDEI), Universite Toulouse 1 Capitole (France); Oviedo, Juan Daniel [Universidad del Rosario (Colombia)

2010-05-15

This paper develops a simple model in which a regulated (upstream) transporter provides capacity to a marketer competing in output with an incumbent in the (downstream) gas commodity market. The equilibrium outcome of the firms' interaction in the downstream market is explicitly taken into account by the regulator when setting the transport charge. We consider various forms of competition in this market and derive the corresponding optimal transport charge policies. We then run simulations that allow us to perform a comparative welfare analysis of these transport infrastructure investment policies based on different assumptions about the intensity of the competition that prevails in the gas commodity market. (author)

Investment in transport infrastructure, regulation, and gas-gas competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasmi, Farid; Oviedo, Juan Daniel

2010-01-01

This paper develops a simple model in which a regulated (upstream) transporter provides capacity to a marketer competing in output with an incumbent in the (downstream) gas commodity market. The equilibrium outcome of the firms' interaction in the downstream market is explicitly taken into account by the regulator when setting the transport charge. We consider various forms of competition in this market and derive the corresponding optimal transport charge policies. We then run simulations that allow us to perform a comparative welfare analysis of these transport infrastructure investment policies based on different assumptions about the intensity of the competition that prevails in the gas commodity market. (author)

Transport infrastructure shapes foraging habitat in a raptor community.

Science.gov (United States)

Planillo, Aimara; Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie; Malo, Juan E

2015-01-01

Transport infrastructure elements are widespread and increasing in size and length in many countries, with the subsequent alteration of landscapes and wildlife communities. Nonetheless, their effects on habitat selection by raptors are still poorly understood. In this paper, we analyzed raptors' foraging habitat selection in response to conventional roads and high capacity motorways at the landscape scale, and compared their effects with those of other variables, such as habitat structure, food availability, and presence of potential interspecific competitors. We also analyzed whether the raptors' response towards infrastructure depends on the spatial scale of observation, comparing the attraction or avoidance behavior of the species at the landscape scale with the response of individuals observed in the proximity of the infrastructure. Based on ecological hypotheses for foraging habitat selection, we built generalized linear mixed models, selected the best models according to Akaike Information Criterion and assessed variable importance by Akaike weights. At the community level, the traffic volume was the most relevant variable in the landscape for foraging habitat selection. Abundance, richness, and diversity values reached their maximum at medium traffic volumes and decreased at highest traffic volumes. Individual species showed different degrees of tolerance toward traffic, from higher abundance in areas with high traffic values to avoidance of it. Medium-sized opportunistic raptors increased their abundance near the traffic infrastructures, large scavenger raptors avoided areas with higher traffic values, and other species showed no direct response to traffic but to the presence of prey. Finally, our cross-scale analysis revealed that the effect of transport infrastructures on the behavior of some species might be detectable only at a broad scale. Also, food availability may attract raptor species to risky areas such as motorways.

Private–public partnerships: A mechanism for freight transport infrastructure delivery?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans W. Ittmann

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Freight transport infrastructure is an indispensable requirement for economic growth, development and prosperity. Public–private partnerships (PPPs, as a mechanism to fund and construct freight transport infrastructure, have been suggested by many in private and public sectors. Objectives: The concept of PPPs is dealt with, and the relevance of this mechanism is expanded upon. It is clear that PPPs in the rail environment present huge challenges and complexities. The objective was to determine whether PPPs are a viable mechanism to fund freight transport infrastructure in South Africa. Method: Experiences with rail PPPs worldwide have shown that many failures occurred implementing these. The challenges and complexities of PPPs, in the freight rail environment, are highlighted together with the benefits, risks and best practices of PPPs. It is shown that suitable policies, legislation and regulations concerning PPPs are in place in South Africa. Results: A proper framework and methodology to proceed should be in place. PPPs take time and are complex. Government involvement remains essential. Firm contractual agreements between parties are essential. Risk handling, risk sharing and the magnitude of risks should be clarified with agreement on where the risks reside. Financial viability, with value for money (VfM and financial benefits for private sector role players are non-negotiable. Conclusion: Appropriate legislation for implementing PPPs must be in place while two further important elements are economic circumstances and proper project execution. Taking all these factors into consideration, the freight transport sector can only benefit from successfully negotiated and implemented PPPs.

Stimulate economic growth by improving transport infrastructure – a lesson from China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaodong WANG

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper uses Feder model to test impacts of transport infrastructure on economic growth. With China provincial data from 1990-2010 the empirical models, including Basic model, Time-Lag model and Spatial model, demonstrate that transport infrastructure does have a positive Spillover Effect on economic growth. However, Direct Effect on economic growth is negative possibly due to Crowding-Out Effect and productivity difference between sectors. The research also proves the Spillover Effects are becoming weaker as time passed. Finally, Spatial Spillover Effect or Network Effects are confirmed.

Public Participation Procedure in Integrated Transport and Green Infrastructure Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Finka, Maroš; Ondrejička, Vladimír; Jamečný, Ľubomír; Husár, Milan

2017-10-01

The dialogue among the decision makers and stakeholders is a crucial part of any decision-making processes, particularly in case of integrated transportation planning and planning of green infrastructure where a multitude of actors is present. Although the theory of public participation is well-developed after several decades of research, there is still a lack of practical guidelines due to the specificity of public participation challenges. The paper presents a model of public participation for integrated transport and green infrastructure planning for international project TRANSGREEN covering the area of five European countries - Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania. The challenge of the project is to coordinate the efforts of public actors and NGOs in international environment in oftentimes precarious projects of transport infrastructure building and developing of green infrastructure. The project aims at developing and environmentally-friendly and safe international transport network. The proposed public participation procedure consists of five main steps - spread of information (passive), collection of information (consultation), intermediate discussion, engagement and partnership (empowerment). The initial spread of information is a process of communicating with the stakeholders, informing and educating them and it is based on their willingness to be informed. The methods used in this stage are public displays, newsletters or press releases. The second step of consultation is based on transacting the opinions of stakeholders to the decision makers. Pools, surveys, public hearings or written responses are examples of the multitude of ways to achieve this objective and the main principle of openness of stakeholders. The third step is intermediate discussion where all sides of are invited to a dialogue using the tools such as public meetings, workshops or urban walks. The fourth step is an engagement based on humble negotiation, arbitration and

Analysis of the coupling coordination between transportation infrastructure investment and economic development in Hubei province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenxia Zhai

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The relationship between transportation infrastructure investment and regional economic growth has been the focus of domestic and foreign academic research. Using the models of coupling degree and coupling coordination degree, this paper calculated the coupling degree and coupling coordination degree between the comprehensive level of transportation infrastructure investment and economic development in Hubei province and its 17 cities, and analyzed its temporal and spatial characteristics. The result showed that, from 2001 to 2013, the coupling and coupling coordination between transportation infrastructure investment and economic development in Hubei province were on a steady rise in the time sequence characteristics. It experienced the upgrade from the uncoordinated – nearly uncoordinated – barely coordinated – intermediately coordinated stages. In the year of 2013, the coupling and coupling coordination of transportation infrastructure investment and economic development in the 17 prefecture-level cities of Hubei Province showed a very uneven spatial difference. Good coordination, primary coordination, barely coordinate, and barely in-coordination are distributed in the province. The average coordination degree of the 17 prefecture-level cities in Hubei is relatively low, and there is a negative tend to expand the difference. This study has confirmed the relationship between transportation infrastructure investment and the economic development to be in an interactive coupling and coordination, but in different regions and different stages, the degree of coordination has obvious spatial and temporal differences.

“Looking back, looking forward": urban development and transport infrastructure in Gauteng Province

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mubiwa, B

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Studies have shown that land-use and transportation systems have a two-way dependency. On one hand, the existing land-use structures influence trip distances and transport mode choice, while on the other hand transport infrastructure and systems...

Developing self-cleaning and air purifying transportation infrastructure components to minimize environmental impact of transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-01

Creating transportation infrastructure, which can clean up itself and contaminated air surrounding it, can be a : groundbreaking approach in addressing environmental challenges of our time. This project has explored a possibility of : depositing coat...

RoVi: Continuous transport infrastructure monitoring framework for preventive maintenance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seraj, Fatjon; Meratnia, Nirvana; Havinga, Paul J.M.

2017-01-01

Ground transport infrastructures require in-situ monitoring to evaluate their condition and deterioration and to design appropriate preventive maintenance strategies. Current monitoring practices provide accurate and detailed spatial measurements but often lack the required temporal resolution. This

Innovative bio-mediated particulate materials for sustainable maritime transportation infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-15

The mechanical properties of sandy soils in the coastal area and beach sands often do not satisfy construction expectation for maritime transportation infrastructure. The salty, loose sand makes it difficult for quick construction of port, building a...

Transport infrastructure and technology: Investment, externalities, and general equilibrium effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M.; Nijkamp, P. [Faculty of Economics, Free University, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

1993-04-01

The paper addresses the use of general equilibrium models to analyze transportation policies. After a discussion of possible approaches, a representative set of static and dynamic models is developed and investigated, which focus on the interaction between general equilibrium, transport, infrastructure and environment. It is shown that each of these allows one to deal with specific types of policy questions. More technical modelling issues are dealt with as well, e.g. returns to scale, production functions, and disaggregation. Finally, attention is devoted to freight transport in a multisectoral production setting. 5 figs., 8 refs.

Towards a more sustainable transport infrastructure: how spatial geological data can be utilized to improve early stage Life cycle assessment of road infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Caroline; Miliutenko, Sofiia; Björklund, Anna; Mörtberg, Ulla; Olofsson, Bo; Toller, Susanna

2017-04-01

Environmental impacts during the life cycle stages of transport infrastructure are substantial, including among other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as resource and energy use. For transport infrastructure to be sustainable, such issues need to be integrated in the planning process. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required by the European Union (EU) in order to ensure that all environmental aspects are considered during planning of road infrastructure projects. As a part of this process, the European Commission has suggested the use of the tool life cycle assessment (LCA) for assessing life cycle energy use and GHG emissions. When analyzing life cycle impacts of the road infrastructure itself, it was shown that earthworks and materials used for the road construction have a big share in the total energy use and GHG emissions. Those aspects are largely determined by the geological conditions at the site of construction: parameters such as soil thickness, slope, bedrock quality and soil type. The geological parameters determine the amounts of earthworks (i.e. volumes of soil and rock that will be excavated and blasted), transportation need for excavated materials as well as the availability of building materials. The study presents a new geographic information system (GIS)-based approach for utilizing spatial geological data in three dimensions (i.e. length, width and depth) in order to improve estimates on earthworks during the early stages of road infrastructure planning. Three main methodological steps were undertaken: mass balance calculation, life cycle inventory analysis and spatial mapping of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use. The proposed GIS-based approach was later evaluated by comparing with the actual values of extracted material of a real road construction project. The results showed that the estimate of filling material was the most accurate, while the estimate for excavated soil and blasted rock had a wide variation from

Risk of the residents, infrastructure and water bodies by flash floods and sediment transport - assessment for scale of the Czech Republic

Science.gov (United States)

Dostál, Tomáš; Krása, Josef; Bauer, Miroslav; Strouhal, Luděk; Jáchymová, Barbora; Devátý, Jan; David, Václav; Koudelka, Petr; Dočkal, Martin

2015-04-01

Pluvial and flash floods, related to massive sediment transport become phenomenon nowadays, under conditions of climate changes. Storm events, related to material damages appear at unexpected places and their effective control is only possible in form of prevention. To apply preventive measures, there have to be defined localities with reasonable reliability, which are endangered by surface runoff and sediment transport produced in the subcatchments, often at agriculturally used landscape. Classification of such localities, concerning of potential damages and magnitude of sediment transport shall be also included within the analyses, to design control measures effectively. Large scale project for whole territory of the Czech Republic (ca 80.000 km2) has therefore been granted b the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic, with the aim to define critical points, where interaction between surface runoff connected to massive sediment transport and infrastructure or vulnerable water bodies can occur and to classify them according to potential risk. Advanced GIS routines, based on analyses of land use, soil conditions and morphology had been used to determine the critical points - points, where significant surface runoff occurs and interacts with infrastructure and vulnerable water bodies, based exclusively on the contributing area - flow accumulation. In total, ca 150.000 critical points were determined within the Czech Republic. For each of critical points, its subcatchment had then been analyzed in detail, concerning of soil loss and sediment transport, using simulation model WATEM/SEDEM. The results were used for classification of potential risk of individual critical points, based on mean soil loss within subcatchment, total sediment transport trough the outlet point and subcatchment area. The classification has been done into 5 classes. The boundaries were determined by calibration survey and statistical analysis, performed at three experimental catchments area

Development and Demonstration of Sustainable Surface Infrastructure for Moon/Mars Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Gerald B.; Larson, William E.; Picard, Martin

2011-01-01

For long-term human exploration of the Moon and Mars to be practical, affordable, and sustainable, future missions must be able to identify and utilize resources at the site of exploration. The ability to characterize, extract, processes, and separate products from local material, known as In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), can provide significant reductions in launch mass, logistics, and development costs while reducing risk through increased mission flexibility and protection as well as increased mission capabilities in the areas of power and transportation. Making mission critical consumables like propellants, fuel cell reagents and life support gases, as well as in-situ crew/hardware protection and energy storage capabilities can significantly enhance robotic and human science and exploration missions, however other mission systems need to be designed to interface with and utilize these in-situ developed products and services from the start or the benefits will be minimized or eliminated. This requires a level of surface and transportation system development coordination not typically utilized during early technology and system development activities. An approach being utilized by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Canadian Space Agency has been to utilize joint analogue field demonstrations to focus technology development activities to demonstrate and integrate new and potentially game changing. mission critical capabilities that would enable an affordable and sustainable surface infrastructure for lunar and Mars robotic and human exploration. Two analogue field tests performed in November 2008 and February 2010 demonstrated first generation capabilities for lunar resource prospecting, exploration site preparation, and oxygen extraction from regolith while initiating integration with mobility, science, fuel cell power, and propulsion disciplines. A third analogue field test currently planned for June 2012 will continue and expand

BIM cost analysis of transport infrastructure projects

Science.gov (United States)

Volkov, Andrey; Chelyshkov, Pavel; Grossman, Y.; Khromenkova, A.

2017-10-01

The article describes the method of analysis of the energy costs of transport infrastructure objects using BIM software. The paper consideres several options of orientation of a building using SketchUp and IES VE software programs. These options allow to choose the best direction of the building facades. Particular attention is given to a distribution of a temperature field in a cross-section of the wall according to the calculation made in the ELCUT software. The issues related to calculation of solar radiation penetration into a building and selection of translucent structures are considered in the paper. The article presents data on building codes relating to the transport sector, on the basis of which the calculations were made. The author emphasizes that BIM-programs should be implemented and used in order to optimize a thermal behavior of a building and increase its energy efficiency using climatic data.

E-mobility: European Energy and Transport Policies at cross-roads. The challenge of infrastructure deployment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faure Schuyer, Aurelie

2016-01-01

European clean transport policy envisages the development of charging infrastructures for electric vehicles within a European e-mobility framework. After the downturns of the Volkswagen scandal and the prevailing low European carbon price, the EU is bringing forward car passenger transport electrification. This requires new business models based on inter-operability. In supporting the objective of deployment of 8 million electric vehicles in 2020 and ensuring e-mobility services throughout the European Union (EU), the European strategy for low-emission mobility reminds Member States of their obligation to install publicly accessible infrastructures for electric vehicles by the end of the decade, as defined in Directive 2014/94. The strategy points towards an extension beyond the 2020 horizon of low-emission policies not only in car transportation, but also in goods transport (lorries), in public passenger transport (buses), and international aviation. It comes in the context of two major policy downturns. First, the Volkswagen scandal last October 2015 put a blow on the European cars manufacturing industry, as much as on the EU's oversight role in car emissions standards. Second, the sustained low prevailing carbon price is signaling that no emission abatement is taking place in the EU carbon market (European Emission Trading Scheme) covering power plants and industrial facilities. In car passenger transport, emissions can indeed be abated with electric vehicle, if the underlying system from which electricity is drawn is de-carbonized. As part of the Clean Power Transport Package, the European Strategy for low-emission mobility leans upon the Directive 2014/94 on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure, which requires Member States to roll out an infrastructure connecting electric vehicles (EVs). However, it is not giving any additional requirements for natural gas vehicle nor hydrogen-based vehicles (fuel cells). Among all forms of low emission vehicles (EVs, Compressed

Examining the effects of transportation governance on infrastructure adaptation to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-05-01

Transportation agencies across the United States are faced with the challenge of effectively : adapting infrastructure to withstand the predicted effects of climate change. This challenge is : magnified by a nationwide funding shortage, uncertainty a...

Carbon Footprint Linked to transport infrastructures; La huella de carbono en las infraestructuras de transporte

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crespo Garcia, L.; Jimenez Arroyo, F.

2013-06-01

Quantification of emissions of greenhouse effect gases associated to transport infrastructures has been addressed in different ways. The first tools for this purpose appeared with the application of ISO 14040 standards (Life cycle analysis) that, applied to the particular case of energetic resources, led to a new concept known as carbon footprint. There is a specific standard for this quantification (ISO 14064) according to which, for the case of infrastructures, emissions and environmental effects linked to the whole life cycle are assessed taking into account all the stages: building, exploitation, maintenance and dismantling. the key point to perform this analysis is the accurate definition of a calculation methodology to be applied to the inventory of activities covered, in order to avoid information lacks, overlaps or redundancies. Quantification tools for emissions are effectively a reality, but social and political will, supported by strong economical reasons recognizing energy as a vital resource, is necessary for these tools to be developed, enhanced and used in a systematic way as a key decision element to choice among different transport alternatives. (Author) 23 refs.

The Impact of Local Transport Systems on Green Infrastructure – Policy Versus Reality. The Case of Poznan, Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jędrzej GADZIŃSKI

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the study was (1 to assess the level of negative impact of the road transport sector on the green infrastructure; (2 to compare the policy on green infrastructure with the actual direction of changes in transport systems; (3 to assess plans for transport development and some predictions on future impact. The research was carried out in the Poznan Metropolitan Area with the use of kernel density estimation (GIS. The analyses show that the key problem is the fragmentation of valuable natural areas and the routing of high traffic intensity roads through and nearby these areas which cause conflicts. The most negative transportation influence occurs in the agglomeration centre, where the quality of the environment is already low. At the same time existing land-use and transport strategies propose solutions neutralizing these negative impacts. Nevertheless current trends and especially new transport investment seem to negate official strategies and intensify the negative impacts on the green infrastructure.

Freight railway transport: Critical variables to improve the transport applied to infrastructure costs and its associated traffic flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zakowska, L.; Pulawska-Obiedowska, S.

2016-07-01

The developed societies have as challenge, among others, to achieve a mobility development based on economic models of low carbon and energy efficient, making it accessible to the entire population. In this context, the sustainable mobility seems to meet the economic, social and environmental needs, minimizing their negative impact. There are three factors that are relevant: (1) infrastructures; (2) modes of transport more ecological and safe, and (3) operations and services for passengers and freights.The objective of this research is to provide guidance to investment in sustainable transport infrastructures that are truly useful and effective. In particular we have studied the case of the railway, using the following information: details of the infrastructure; cost of construction (per kilometre); maintenance cost, and life cycle. This information may be relevant to consider their possible business models.The methodology of this research was focused in the detailed analysis of the infrastructure use and maintenance criteria, the market opportunities for freight development and the available data to validate the obtained results from the software tool reached in this work. Our research includes the different following aspects:• Evaluation of the supported traffic by the rail line.• Relevant items to be considered in the rail infrastructure. Defining the track, we can group items in two sets: civil and rail installations.• Rolling stock available. Locomotives and wagons are modelled to introduce the data as convenience for the user.Besides our research includes the development of software, Decision System Tool (DST), for studying the construction and maintenance cost of railway infrastructure. It is developed in a common and open source program, providing the user the interaction with the critical variable of the line. It has been adjusted using the following references: MOM PlanCargorail; EcoTransIT, and Projects funded by Framework Program of EU (New

Regional collaboration in transport infrastructure provision : the case of Denver's FasTracks rail transit program.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-01

Cities across the United States are grappling with a looming transportation crisis as a : result of ever-increasing passenger and freight transport demands and overburdened : networks of aging infrastructure. All levels of government, but particularl...

The Small Aircraft Transportation System for America: A Case in Public Infrastructure Change

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Brent D.

2000-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, industry stakeholders, and academia, have joined forces to pursue the NASA National General Aviation Roadmap leading to a Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS). This strategic undertaking has a 25-year goal to bring next-generation technologies and improve travel between remote communities and transportation centers in urban areas by utilizing the nation's 5,400 public-use general aviation airports. To facilitate this initiative, a comprehensive upgrade of public infrastructure must be planned, coordinated, and implemented within the framework of the national air transportation system. The Nebraska NASA EPSCoR Program has proposed to deliver research support in key public infrastructure areas in coordination with the General Aviation Program Office at the NASA Langley Research Center. Ultimately, SATS may permit tripling aviation system throughput capacity by tapping the underutilized general aviation facilities to achieve the national goal of doorstep-to-destination travel at four times the speed of highways for the nation's suburban, rural, and remote communities.

A simulation framework for asset management in climate-change adaptation of transportation infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bhamidipati, S.K.

2014-01-01

An asset management framework, in an agent-based model with multiple assets, is presented as a tool that can assist in developing long-term climate change adaptation strategies for transportation infrastructure.

MCDA and Risk Analysis in Transport Infrastructure Appraisals: the Rail Baltica Case

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ambrasaite, Inga; Barfod, Michael Bruhn; Salling, Kim Bang

2011-01-01

This paper sets out a decision support system (DSS), COSIMA, involving the combination of cost-benefit analysis and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) for transport infrastructure appraisals embracing both economic and strategic impacts. However, some shortcomings appear in the methodology re...

Transportation Energy Futures Series: Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Expansion: Costs, Resources, Production Capacity, and Retail Availability for Low-Carbon Scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melaina, W. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heath, Garvin [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sandor, Debra [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Steward, Darlene [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Vimmerstedt, Laura [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Warner, Ethan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Webster, Karen W. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2013-04-01

The petroleum-based transportation fuel system is complex and highly developed, in contrast to the nascent low-petroleum, low-carbon alternative fuel system. This report examines how expansion of the low-carbon transportation fuel infrastructure could contribute to deep reductions in petroleum use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the U.S. transportation sector. Three low-carbon scenarios, each using a different combination of low-carbon fuels, were developed to explore infrastructure expansion trends consistent with a study goal of reducing transportation sector GHG emissions to 80% less than 2005 levels by 2050.These scenarios were compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario and were evaluated with respect to four criteria: fuel cost estimates, resource availability, fuel production capacity expansion, and retail infrastructure expansion.

Impact of New Transport Infrastructure on Walking, Cycling, and Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Panter, Jenna; Heinen, Eva; Mackett, Roger; Ogilvie, David

2016-02-01

Walking and cycling bring health and environmental benefits, but there is little robust evidence that changing the built environment promotes these activities in populations. This study evaluated the effects of new transport infrastructure on active commuting and physical activity. Quasi-experimental analysis nested within a cohort study. Four hundred and sixty-nine adult commuters, recruited through a predominantly workplace-based strategy, who lived within 30 kilometers of Cambridge, United Kingdom and worked in areas of the city to be served by the new transport infrastructure. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opened in 2011 and comprised a new bus network and a traffic-free walking and cycling route. Exposure to the intervention was defined using the shortest distance from each participant's home to the busway. Change in weekly time spent in active commuting between 2009 and 2012, measured by validated 7-day recall instrument. Secondary outcomes were changes in total weekly time spent walking and cycling and in recreational and overall physical activity, measured using the validated Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire. Data were analyzed in 2014. In multivariable multinomial regression models--adjusted for potential sociodemographic, geographic, health, and workplace confounders; baseline active commuting; and home or work relocation-exposure to the busway was associated with a significantly greater likelihood of an increase in weekly cycle commuting time (relative risk ratio=1.34, 95% CI=1.03, 1.76) and with an increase in overall time spent in active commuting among the least active commuters at baseline (relative risk ratio=1.76, 95% CI=1.16, 2.67). The study found no evidence of changes in recreational or overall physical activity. Providing new sustainable transport infrastructure was effective in promoting an increase in active commuting. These findings provide new evidence to support reconfiguring transport systems as part of public health improvement

Landslide databases to compare regional repair and mitigation strategies of transportation infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Wohlers, Annika; Damm, Bodo

2017-04-01

Regional data of the Central German Uplands are extracted from the German landslide database in order to understand the complex interactions between landslide risks and public risk awareness considering transportation infrastructure. Most information within the database is gathered by means of archive studies from inventories of emergency agencies, state, press and web archives, company and department records as well as scientific and (geo)technical literature. The information includes land use practices, repair and mitigation measures with resultant costs of the German road network as well as railroad and waterway networks. It therefore contains valuable information of historical and current landslide impacts, elements at risk and provides an overview of spatiotemporal changes in social exposure and vulnerability to landslide hazards over the last 120 years. On a regional scale the recorded infrastructure damages, and consequential repair or mitigation measures were categorized and classified, according to relevant landslide types, processes and types of infrastructure. In a further step, the data of recent landslides are compared with historical and modern repair and mitigation measures and are correlated with socioeconomic concepts. As a result, it is possible to identify some complex interactions between landslide hazard, risk perception, and damage impact, including time lags and intensity thresholds. The data reveal distinct concepts of repairing respectively mitigating landslides on different types of transportation infrastructure, which are not exclusively linked to higher construction efforts (e.g. embankments on railroads and channels), but changing levels of economic losses and risk perception as well. In addition, a shift from low cost prevention measures such as the removal of loose rock and vegetation, rock blasting, and catch barriers towards expensive mitigation measures such as catch fences, soil anchoring and rock nailing over time can be noticed

Transport Infrastructure Surveillance and Monitoring by Electromagnetic Sensing: The ISTIMES Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Bost

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The ISTIMES project, funded by the European Commission in the frame of a joint Call “ICT and Security” of the Seventh Framework Programme, is presented and preliminary research results are discussed. The main objective of the ISTIMES project is to design, assess and promote an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT-based system, exploiting distributed and local sensors, for non-destructive electromagnetic monitoring of critical transport infrastructures. The integration of electromagnetic technologies with new ICT information and telecommunications systems enables remotely controlled monitoring and surveillance and real time data imaging of the critical transport infrastructures. The project exploits different non-invasive imaging technologies based on electromagnetic sensing (optic fiber sensors, Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite platform based, hyperspectral spectroscopy, Infrared thermography, Ground Penetrating Radar-, low-frequency geophysical techniques, Ground based systems for displacement monitoring. In this paper, we show the preliminary results arising from the GPR and infrared thermographic measurements carried out on the Musmeci bridge in Potenza, located in a highly seismic area of the Apennine chain (Southern Italy and representing one of the test beds of the project.

Impacts of extreme weather events on transport infrastructure in Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Frauenfelder, Regula; Solheim, Anders; Isaksen, Ketil; Romstad, Bård; Dyrrdal, Anita V.; Ekseth, Kristine H. H.; Gangstø Skaland, Reidun; Harbitz, Alf; Harbitz, Carl B.; Haugen, Jan E.; Hygen, Hans O.; Haakenstad, Hilde; Jaedicke, Christian; Jónsson, Árni; Klæboe, Ronny; Ludvigsen, Johanna; Meyer, Nele K.; Rauken, Trude; Sverdrup-Thygeson, Kjetil

2016-04-01

With the latest results on expected future increase in air temperature and precipitation changes reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the climate robustness of important infrastructure is of raising concern in Norway, as well as in the rest of Europe. Economic consequences of natural disasters have increased considerably since 1950. In addition to the effect of demographic changes such as population growth, urbanization and more and more concentration of valuable assets, this increase is also related to an augmenting frequency of extreme events, such as storms, flooding, drought, and landslides. This change is also observable in Norway, where the increased frequency of strong precipitation has led to frequent flooding and landslide events during the last 20 years. A number of studies show that climate change causes an increase in both frequency and intensity of several types of extreme weather, especially when it comes to precipitation. Such extreme weather events greatly affect the transport infrastructure, with numerous and long closures of roads and railroads, in addition to damage and repair costs. Frequent closures of railroad and roads lead to delay or failure in delivery of goods, which again may lead to a loss of customers and/or - eventually - markets. Much of the Norwegian transport infrastructure is more than 50 years old and therefore not adequately dimensioned, even for present climatic conditions. In order to assess these problems and challenges posed to the Norwegian transport infrastructure from present-day and future extreme weather events, the project "Impacts of extreme weather events on infrastructure in Norway (InfraRisk)" was performed under the research Council of Norway program 'NORKLIMA', between 2009 and 2013. The main results of the project are: - Moderate to strong precipitation events have become more frequent and more intense in Norway over the last 50 years, and this trend continues throughout the 21st

STUDY ON PROJECTS CONTRACTED BY ROP - AXIS 2 PRIORITY - IMPROVING REGIONAL TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND LOCAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ceausescu Aurelian Ionut

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This axis priority is to increase the main purpose of accessibility regions, the population mobility, goods and services to stimulate sustainable economic. Investment in transport infrastructure to facilitate mobility of people and goods, reducing the costs of transport of goods and passengers, improving access to the regional markets, increase the efficiency of economic activities, energy saving and time, creating conditions for expanding trade and implicitly productive investment. Developing transport networks will facilitate the cooperation interregional and will contribute significantly to increase competitiveness of enterprises/firms and the labour mobility, and, therefore, a development faster to Romania on the whole, but also of each region. The development of urban transport network will take into account the existing structure of public transportation to ensure where possible, improve the infrastructure of roads, which will contribute to use in a more efficient way of public transportation. Rehabilitation and upgrading urban streets, and construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of roads to his belt (the status of county Road will contribute to urban improve traffic, cut on the time of transport, road and face elimination in their localities crossing safely.

The costs of avoiding environmental impacts from shale-gas surface infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Milt, Austin W; Gagnolet, Tamara D; Armsworth, Paul R

2016-12-01

Growing energy demand has increased the need to manage conflicts between energy production and the environment. As an example, shale-gas extraction requires substantial surface infrastructure, which fragments habitats, erodes soils, degrades freshwater systems, and displaces rare species. Strategic planning of shale-gas infrastructure can reduce trade-offs between economic and environmental objectives, but the specific nature of these trade-offs is not known. We estimated the cost of avoiding impacts from land-use change on forests, wetlands, rare species, and streams from shale-energy development within leaseholds. We created software for optimally siting shale-gas surface infrastructure to minimize its environmental impacts at reasonable construction cost. We visually assessed sites before infrastructure optimization to test whether such inspection could be used to predict whether impacts could be avoided at the site. On average, up to 38% of aggregate environmental impacts of infrastructure could be avoided for 20% greater development costs by spatially optimizing infrastructure. However, we found trade-offs between environmental impacts and costs among sites. In visual inspections, we often distinguished between sites that could be developed to avoid impacts at relatively low cost (29%) and those that could not (20%). Reductions in a metric of aggregate environmental impact could be largely attributed to potential displacement of rare species, sedimentation, and forest fragmentation. Planners and regulators can estimate and use heterogeneous trade-offs among development sites to create industry-wide improvements in environmental performance and do so at reasonable costs by, for example, leveraging low-cost avoidance of impacts at some sites to offset others. This could require substantial effort, but the results and software we provide can facilitate the process. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

EVALUATION OF EFFICIENCY OF FINANCING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS REALIZED IN THE FRAMEWORK OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. B. Vasiliev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines the basic approach to evaluating efficiency of financing transport infrastructure projects realized in the framework of public private partnership. The main ways of the project realization are identified, and their main advantages and disadvantages are described. Detailed elaboration and structuring of infrastructure projects are grounded.

Dynamic Adaptive Approach to Transportation-Infrastructure Planning for Climate Change: San Francisco Bay Area Case Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wall, T.A.; Walker, W.E.; Marchau, V.A.W.J.; Bertolini, L.

2015-01-01

Adaptation of existing infrastructure is a response to climate change that can ensure a viable, safe, and robust transportation network. However, deep uncertainties associated with climate change pose significant challenges to adaptation planning. Specifically, current transportation planning

Examination of decision support systems for composite CBA & MCDA assessments of transport infrastructure projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barfod, Michael Bruhn; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard; Leleur, Steen

This paper examines decision support systems (DSS) for composite appraisals of transport infrastructure projects comprising both cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA). Two DSS are in this context examined and compared using a case study dealing with alternatives for a new...... for conducting composite appraisals of transport infrastructure projects, and research questions defining future work in the context of composite DSS and their use in decision making processes are set out....... high-speed railway line between the two cities, Norrköping and Bäckeby, in Sweden. Both systems are based on additive value functions and makes use of pair wise comparisons. The first system examined, which is widely used and based on acknowledged methods, comprises the REMBRANDT technique using pair...

Managing uncertainty: Lessons from volcanic lava disruption of transportation infrastructure in Puna, Hawaii.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Karl; Pant, Pradip; Yamashita, Eric

A recent lava flow in Puna, Hawaii, threatened to close one of the major highways serving the region. This article provides background information on the volcanic hazards and describes events, responses, and challenges associated with managing a complex, long-duration disaster. In addition to the need to better understand geologic hazards and threats, there is a need for timely information and effective response and recovery of transportation infrastructure. This requires coordination and sharing of information between scientists, emergency managers, transportation planners, government agencies, and community organizations. Transportation assets play a critical role in terms of problem definition, response, and recovery. The challenges with managing a long-duration event include: (1) determining when a sufficient threat level exists to close roads; (2) identifying transportation alternatives; (3) assessing impacts on communities including the direct threats to homes, businesses, structures, and infrastructure; (4) engaging communities in planning and deliberation of choices and alternatives; and (5) managing uncertainties and different reactions to hazards, threats, and risks. The transportation planning process provides a pathway for addressing initial community concerns. Focusing not just on roadways but also on travel behavior before, during, and after disasters is a vital aspect of building resilience. The experience in Puna with the volcano crisis is relevant to other communities seeking to adapt and manage long-term threats such as climate change, sea level risk, and other long-duration events.

The Influence of State Policies on Critical Infrastructure Resilience: An Approach for Analyzing Transportation and Capital Investment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wall, Thomas [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Trail, Jessica [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Gevondyan, Erna [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Phillips, Julia [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Ford, Janet [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Marks, James [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2017-09-01

During times of crisis, communities and regions rely heavily on critical infrastructure systems to support their emergency management response and recovery activities. Therefore, the resilience of critical infrastructure systems to crises is a pivotal factor to a community’s overall resilience. Critical infrastructure resilience can be influenced by many factors, including State policies – which are not always uniform in their structure or application across the United States – were identified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as an area of particular interest with respect to their the influence on the resilience of critical infrastructure systems. This study focuses on developing an analytical methodology to assess links between policy and resilience, and applies that methodology to critical infrastructure in the Transportation Systems Sector. Specifically, this study seeks to identify potentially influential linkages between State transportation capital funding policies and the resilience of bridges located on roadways that are under the management of public agencies. This study yielded notable methodological outcomes, including the general capability of the analytical methodology to yield – in the case of some States – significant results connecting State policies with critical infrastructure resilience, with the suggestion that further refinement of the methodology may be beneficial.

Modeling and simulation of emergent behavior in transportation infrastructure restoration

Science.gov (United States)

Ojha, Akhilesh; Corns, Steven; Shoberg, Thomas G.; Qin, Ruwen; Long, Suzanna K.

2018-01-01

The objective of this chapter is to create a methodology to model the emergent behavior during a disruption in the transportation system and that calculates economic losses due to such a disruption, and to understand how an extreme event affects the road transportation network. The chapter discusses a system dynamics approach which is used to model the transportation road infrastructure system to evaluate the different factors that render road segments inoperable and calculate economic consequences of such inoperability. System dynamics models have been integrated with business process simulation model to evaluate, design, and optimize the business process. The chapter also explains how different factors affect the road capacity. After identifying the various factors affecting the available road capacity, a causal loop diagram (CLD) is created to visually represent the causes leading to a change in the available road capacity and the effects on travel costs when the available road capacity changes.

Flowscapes : Infrastructure as landscape, landscape as infrastructure. Graduation Lab Landscape Architecture 2012/2013

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijhuis, S.; Jauslin, D.; De Vries, C.

2012-01-01

Flowscapes explores infrastructure as a type of landscape and landscape as a type of infrastructure, and is focused on landscape architectonic design of transportation-, green- and water infrastructures. These landscape infrastructures are considered armatures for urban and rural development. With

Midwestern High-Level Radioactive Waste Transportation Project. Highway infrastructure report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sattler, L.R.

1992-02-01

In addition to arranging for storage and disposal of radioactive waste, the US Department of Energy (DOE) must develop a safe and efficient transportation system in order to deliver the material that has accumulated at various sites throughout the country. The ability to transport radioactive waste safely has been demonstrated during the past 20 years: DOE has made over 2,000 shipments of spent fuel and other wastes without any fatalities or environmental damage related to the radioactive nature of the cargo. To guarantee the efficiency of the transportation system, DOE must determine the optimal combination of rail transport (which allows greater payloads but requires special facilities) and truck transport Utilizing trucks, in turn, calls for decisions as to when to use legal weight trucks or, if feasible, overweight trucks for fewer but larger shipments. As part of the transportation system, the Facility Interface Capability Assessment (FICA) study contributes to DOE`s development of transportation plans for specific facilities. This study evaluates the ability of different facilities to receive, load and ship the special casks in which radioactive materials will be housed during transport In addition, the DOE`s Near-Site Transportation Infrastructure (NSTI) study (forthcoming) will evaluate the rail, road and barge access to 76 reactor sites from which DOE is obligated to begin accepting spent fuel in 1998. The NSTI study will also assess the existing capabilities of each transportation mode and route, including the potential for upgrade.

InSAR remote sensing for performance monitoring of transportation infrastructure at the network level.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-11

The goal of the project was the implementation of interferometric synthetic aperture radar : (InSAR) monitoring techniques to allow for early detection of geohazard, potentially : affecting the transportation infrastructure, as well as the monitoring...

MobileCoDaC – A transportable control, data acquisition and communication infrastructure for Wendelstein 7-X

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hennig, Christine; Bluhm, Torsten; Kühner, Georg; Laqua, Heike; Lewerentz, Marc; Müller, Ina; Pingel, Steffen; Riemann, Heike; Schacht, Jörg; Spring, Anett; Werner, Andreas; Wölk, Andreas

2014-01-01

Highlights: • MobileCoDaC is a transportable CoDaC infrastructure for Wendelstein 7-X. • It allows in situ testing and commissioning of components to be used at W7-X by providing W7-X CoDaC infrastructure. • It has been used successfully for test and commissioning of the HEXOS diagnostic at Forschungszentrum Jülich. - Abstract: MobileCoDaC is a test bed allowing in situ testing and commissioning the control and data acquisition of components to be operated at Wendelstein 7-X. It is a minimized replica of the functionality of the complete W7-X CoDaC infrastructure and can be operated independently. MobileCoDaC contains a set of W7-X CoDaC servers, network infrastructure, and accessories for remote access. All hardware is mounted in a single transportable rack system. Moreover, it provides the software infrastructure and user applications for experiment preparation, experiment operation, trouble shooting and experiment data access. MobileCoDaC has been operated successfully for test and commissioning of the control and data acquisition of the HEXOS (high efficiency extreme ultraviolet overview spectrometer) diagnostic at Forschungszentrum Jülich

A systems approach to risk reduction of transportation infrastructure networks subject to multiple hazards : final report, December 31, 2008.

Science.gov (United States)

2008-12-31

Integrity, robustness, reliability, and resiliency of infrastructure networks are vital to the economy, : security and well-being of any country. Faced with threats caused by natural and man-made hazards, : transportation infrastructure network manag...

Geographic Hotspots of Critical National Infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Thacker, Scott; Barr, Stuart; Pant, Raghav; Hall, Jim W; Alderson, David

2017-12-01

Failure of critical national infrastructures can result in major disruptions to society and the economy. Understanding the criticality of individual assets and the geographic areas in which they are located is essential for targeting investments to reduce risks and enhance system resilience. Within this study we provide new insights into the criticality of real-life critical infrastructure networks by integrating high-resolution data on infrastructure location, connectivity, interdependence, and usage. We propose a metric of infrastructure criticality in terms of the number of users who may be directly or indirectly disrupted by the failure of physically interdependent infrastructures. Kernel density estimation is used to integrate spatially discrete criticality values associated with individual infrastructure assets, producing a continuous surface from which statistically significant infrastructure criticality hotspots are identified. We develop a comprehensive and unique national-scale demonstration for England and Wales that utilizes previously unavailable data from the energy, transport, water, waste, and digital communications sectors. The testing of 200,000 failure scenarios identifies that hotspots are typically located around the periphery of urban areas where there are large facilities upon which many users depend or where several critical infrastructures are concentrated in one location. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Transportation Energy Futures Series: Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Expansion: Costs, Resources, Production Capacity, and Retail Availability for Low-Carbon Scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melaina, M. W.; Heath, G.; Sandor, D.; Steward, D.; Vimmerstedt, L.; Warner, E.; Webster, K. W.

2013-04-01

Achieving the Department of Energy target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 depends on transportation-related strategies combining technology innovation, market adoption, and changes in consumer behavior. This study examines expanding low-carbon transportation fuel infrastructure to achieve deep GHG emissions reductions, with an emphasis on fuel production facilities and retail components serving light-duty vehicles. Three distinct low-carbon fuel supply scenarios are examined: Portfolio: Successful deployment of a range of advanced vehicle and fuel technologies; Combustion: Market dominance by hybridized internal combustion engine vehicles fueled by advanced biofuels and natural gas; Electrification: Market dominance by electric drive vehicles in the LDV sector, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, that are fueled by low-carbon electricity and hydrogen. A range of possible low-carbon fuel demand outcomes are explored in terms of the scale and scope of infrastructure expansion requirements and evaluated based on fuel costs, energy resource utilization, fuel production infrastructure expansion, and retail infrastructure expansion for LDVs. This is one of a series of reports produced as a result of the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) project, a Department of Energy-sponsored multi-agency project initiated to pinpoint underexplored transportation-related strategies for abating GHGs and reducing petroleum dependence.

Improving linear transport infrastructure efficiency by automated learning and optimised predictive maintenance techniques (INFRALERT)

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez-Redondo, Noemi; Calle-Cordón, Alvaro; Kandler, Ute; Simroth, Axel; Morales, Francisco J.; Reyes, Antonio; Odelius, Johan; Thaduri, Aditya; Morgado, Joao; Duarte, Emmanuele

2017-09-01

The on-going H2020 project INFRALERT aims to increase rail and road infrastructure capacity in the current framework of increased transportation demand by developing and deploying solutions to optimise maintenance interventions planning. It includes two real pilots for road and railways infrastructure. INFRALERT develops an ICT platform (the expert-based Infrastructure Management System, eIMS) which follows a modular approach including several expert-based toolkits. This paper presents the methodologies and preliminary results of the toolkits for i) nowcasting and forecasting of asset condition, ii) alert generation, iii) RAMS & LCC analysis and iv) decision support. The results of these toolkits in a meshed road network in Portugal under the jurisdiction of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) are presented showing the capabilities of the approaches.

Ohio Department of Transportation State Infrastructure Bank Annual Financial Report : Federal Fiscal Year 2009

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

The Ohio Department of Transportation is pleased to present the Federal : Fiscal Year (FFY) 2009 State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) Annual Financial : Report. : The portfolio of the FFY 2009 SIB had a total of nine loans totaling $9.0 : million and one ...

Assessment of Large Transport Infrastructure Projects: the CBA-DK model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Banister, David

2008-01-01

The scope of this paper is to present a newly developed decision support model to assess transport infrastructure projects: CBA-DK. The model makes use of conventional cost-benefit analysis resulting in aggregated single point estimates and quantitative risk analysis using Monte Carlo simulation...... resulting in interval results. The embedded uncertainties within traditional CBA such as ex-ante based investment costs and travel time savings are of particular concern. The methodological approach has been to apply suitable probability distribution functions on the uncertain parameters, thus resulting...... in feasibility risk assessment moving from point to interval results. Decision support as illustrated in this paper aims to provide assistance in the development and ultimately the choice of action while accounting for the uncertainties surrounding transport appraisal schemes. The modelling framework...

Assessment of Large Transport Infrastructure Projects: The CBA-DK Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Banister, David

2009-01-01

use of both deterministic and stochastic based information. Decision support as illustrated in this paper aims to provide assistance in the development and ultimately the choice of action, while accounting for the uncertainties surrounding transport appraisal schemes. The modelling framework......This paper presents a newly developed decision support model to assess transport infrastructure projects: CBA-DK. The model combines use of conventional cost–benefit analysis to produce aggregated single point estimates, with quantitative risk analysis using Monte Carlo simulation to produce...... interval results. The embedded uncertainties within traditional CBA such as ex-ante based investment costs and travel time savings are of particular concern. The paper investigates these two impacts in terms of the Optimism Bias principle which is used to take account of the underestimation of construction...

Summary report on transportation of nuclear fuel materials in Japan : transportation infrastructure, threats identified in open literature, and physical protection regulations.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cochran, John Russell; Ouchi, Yuichiro (Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan); Furaus, James Phillip; Marincel, Michelle K.

2008-03-01

This report summarizes the results of three detailed studies of the physical protection systems for the protection of nuclear materials transport in Japan, with an emphasis on the transportation of mixed oxide fuel materials1. The Japanese infrastructure for transporting nuclear fuel materials is addressed in the first section. The second section of this report presents a summary of baseline data from the open literature on the threats of sabotage and theft during the transport of nuclear fuel materials in Japan. The third section summarizes a review of current International Atomic Energy Agency, Japanese and United States guidelines and regulations concerning the physical protection for the transportation of nuclear fuel materials.

Surface transport in plasma-balls

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Armas, Jay [Physique Théorique et Mathématique, Université Libre de Bruxelles andInternational Solvay Institutes,ULB-Campus Plaine CP231, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium); Bhattacharya, Jyotirmoy [Centre for Particle Theory & Department of Mathematical Sciences, Durham University,South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Kundu, Nilay [Harish-Chandra Research Institute,Chhatnag Road, Jhunsi, Allahabad 211019 (India)

2016-06-06

We study the surface transport properties of stationary localized configurations of relativistic fluids to the first two non-trivial orders in a derivative expansion. By demanding that these finite lumps of relativistic fluid are described by a thermal partition function with arbitrary stationary background metric and gauge fields, we are able to find several constraints among surface transport coefficients. At leading order, besides recovering the surface thermodynamics, we obtain a generalization of the Young-Laplace equation for relativistic fluid surfaces, by considering a temperature dependence in the surface tension, which is further generalized in the context of superfluids. At the next order, for uncharged fluids in 3+1 dimensions, we show that besides the 3 independent bulk transport coefficients previously known, a generic localized configuration is characterized by 3 additional surface transport coefficients, one of which may be identified with the surface modulus of rigidity. Finally, as an application, we study the effect of temperature dependence of surface tension on some explicit examples of localized fluid configurations, which are dual to certain non-trivial black hole solutions via the AdS/CFT correspondence.

Competitiveness of the railway transportation in the conditions of functioning of the infrastructure new organizational-economic mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.I. Mishchenko

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The transport infrastructure of railways of the countries of EU-27 in the conditions of functioning new organizational-economic mechanism, and also dynamics of level of competitiveness of a railway transportation as result of reforming of railways of the countries of EU-27, in the conditions of realisation of the European transport legislation is investigated.

Stormwater Design Return Period Standards for U.S. Transportation Infrastructure: How Are States Approaching Resilience?

Science.gov (United States)

Samaras, C.; Lopez, T.

2016-12-01

Climate change is projected to increase the frequency and intensity of precipitation in many regions, which is relevant for stormwater engineering designs and resilience in the transportation sector. Existing and future stormwater infrastructure is generally designed for historical and stationary hydrologic conditions. For example, the design return period is based on statistical analysis of past precipitation events, often over a 50-year historical timeline. The design return period translates into how much peak precipitation volume a system is designed for in a state, and provides information about the performance of a drainage structure. The higher the design period used by an engineer for a given stormwater system, the more peak stormwater volume the system can convey. Therefore, design return periods can be associated with a design's near-term and long-term resilience. However, there is a tradeoff between the choice of design return period, the total infrastructure capital cost, and the resilience of a system to heavy precipitation events. This study analyzes current stormwater infrastructure design guidelines for state departments of transportation in the contiguous United States, in order to understand how stormwater design return periods vary across states and provide insight into the resilience of current stormwater systems design. The study found that the design return period varies considerably across the United States by roadway functional class and drainage classification, as well as within climate regions. Understanding this variation will help states identify possible vulnerabilities, highlight deficiencies across states and infrastructure types, and help in updating design return periods to increase the climate resilience of stormwater infrastructure.

Ohio Department of Transportation State Infrastructure Bank Annual Financial Report : Federal Fiscal Year 2004

Science.gov (United States)

2004-01-01

The Ohio Department of Transportation is pleased to present the Federal Fiscal : Year 2004 State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) Annual Financial Report. The portfolio of : the FFY 04 SIB had a total of nineteen loans in the amount of $47,340,891. : A comp...

Ohio Department of Transportation State Infrastructure Bank Annual Financial Report : Federal Fiscal Year 2008

Science.gov (United States)

2008-01-01

The Ohio Department of Transportation is pleased to present the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2008 State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) Annual Financial Report. The portfolio of the FFY 2008 SIB had a total of five loans totaling $22.1 million. Since the begi...

Ohio Department of Transportation State Infrastructure Bank Annual Financial Report : Federal Fiscal Year 2007

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

The Ohio Department of Transportation is pleased to present the Federal : Fiscal Year (FFY) 2007 State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) Annual Financial : Report. : The portfolio of the FFY 2007 SIB had a total of 13 loans and 1 bond in the : amount of $17....

2nd Annual European Energy and Transport Conference. Building energy and transport infrastructures for tomorrow's Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This is already the second in a series of Annual Energy and Transport Conferences launched last year on the initiative of the Directorate-General for Energy and Transport and dedicated to combining a number of formerly scattered Europe-wide events into a single event with the aim of raising the profile of the two sectors and improving coherence. The theme chosen in 2001 was safety and security. The 2002 conference provided the forum for a debate on Europe's major infrastructure networks. The main targeted objectives are Firstly, practical, in-depth discussion of the future shape of the major trans-European energy and transport networks by 2010-2020 and, secondly, dissemination of the results of European research and technological development (RTD) programmes. The conference also provided a platform to float ideas and present programmes, approaches and results obtained at European or national level in these sectors. (Author)

Do Transport Infrastructures Promote the Foreign Direct Investments Attractiveness? Empirical Investigation from Four North African Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir Saidi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The relationship among foreign direct investments and economic growth is a very controversial issue that has given rise to an abundant literature. Numerous research studies examine the bidirectional causal relationship and investigate the major determinants of these investments. In the same order of ideas, this article gives an empirical study from four North African countries to evaluate the role of transport infrastructures to improve the territorial attractiveness for the foreign direct investment. The present paper starts by a theoretical study explaining the role of transport as a major determinant of FDI. In a second section, we represent the empirical study. By using an econometric model with panel data, we found that traditional determinants of FDI have the most significant influence on the international investors’ decision. However, the same findings verify a positive impact of transport and consider it as a new important factor with strategic issues that cannot be avoided. The empirical validation from the four countries leads to verify that it is necessary to adopt development strategies that take into account the transport infrastructures and logistics function

Trans-Regional Logistics in Carinthia: Perspectives and Vision on the Transport Infrastructure Development on the Business and Public Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Plasch

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Regional logistics development plans have become a key element for an effective – regional economy in Austria. Efforts to develop the region of Carinthia – which represents a substantial transport hub on the Baltic–Adriatic Axis – depend on targeted infrastructure investments combined with well-utilized and accessible modes of transport. As decisions on transport mode choice are made within companies, their involvement in planning processes is crucial. Therefore a more consistent approach to Carinthia’s logistics infrastructure developments is required. The view of regional businesses is considered a significant basis for further public and managerial decision making with regard to the importance of future logistics developments.

Green(ing) infrastructure

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn V

2014-03-01

Full Text Available the generation of electricity from renewable sources such as wind, water and solar. Grey infrastructure – In the context of storm water management, grey infrastructure can be thought of as the hard, engineered systems to capture and convey runoff..., pumps, and treatment plants.  Green infrastructure reduces energy demand by reducing the need to collect and transport storm water to a suitable discharge location. In addition, green infrastructure such as green roofs, street trees and increased...

PROSPECTS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES AND CHINA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ms. Zanna V. Petrunina

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Policy management of modern China aims to achieve a high level of welfare state. One of the important components that contributes to the achievement of this goal is the expansion of China's cooperation with the Middle East countries in all fields. At present, China is interested in obtaining energy from the Middle East oil fields. Of great importance is the transport infrastructure expansion between the regions. Construction and operation of oil pipelines, gas pipelines and land transport routes will reduce the risks of transporting raw materials and other goods from one region to another. The paper discusses the features of the development of rail and sea links as part of the strategy of «economic belt of the Silk Road» and «Marine Silk Road of XXI century».

Building an Economical and Sustainable Lunar Infrastructure to Enable Lunar Science and Space Commerce

Science.gov (United States)

Zuniga, Allison; Turner, Mark; Rasky, Dan

2017-01-01

A new concept study was initiated to examine the framework needed to gradually develop an economical and sustainable lunar infrastructure using a public private partnerships approach. This approach would establish partnership agreements between NASA and industry teams to develop cis-lunar and surface capabilities for mutual benefit while sharing cost and risk in the development phase and then allowing for transfer of operation of these infrastructure services back to its industry owners in the execution phase. These infrastructure services may include but are not limited to the following: lunar cargo transportation, power stations, energy storage devices, communication relay satellites, local communication towers, and surface mobility operations.

Building an Economical and Sustainable Lunar Infrastructure to Enable Lunar Industrialization

Science.gov (United States)

Zuniga, Allison F.; Turner, Mark; Rasky, Daniel; Loucks, Mike; Carrico, John; Policastri, Daniel

2017-01-01

A new concept study was initiated to examine the architecture needed to gradually develop an economical, evolvable and sustainable lunar infrastructure using a public/private partnerships approach. This approach would establish partnership agreements between NASA and industry teams to develop a lunar infrastructure system that would be mutually beneficial. This approach would also require NASA and its industry partners to share costs in the development phase and then transfer operation of these infrastructure services back to its industry owners in the execution phase. These infrastructure services may include but are not limited to the following: lunar cargo transportation, power stations, communication towers and satellites, autonomous rover operations, landing pads and resource extraction operations. The public/private partnerships approach used in this study leveraged best practices from NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program which introduced an innovative and economical approach for partnering with industry to develop commercial cargo services to the International Space Station. This program was planned together with the ISS Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts which was responsible for initiating commercial cargo delivery services to the ISS for the first time. The public/private partnerships approach undertaken in the COTS program proved to be very successful in dramatically reducing development costs for these ISS cargo delivery services as well as substantially reducing operational costs. To continue on this successful path towards installing economical infrastructure services for LEO and beyond, this new study, named Lunar COTS (Commercial Operations and Transport Services), was conducted to examine extending the NASA COTS model to cis-lunar space and the lunar surface. The goals of the Lunar COTS concept are to: 1) develop and demonstrate affordable and commercial cis-lunar and surface capabilities, such as lunar cargo

Investing in CO2 transport infrastructure under uncertainty : A comparison between ships and pipelines

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knoope, M. M J; Ramírez, A.; Faaij, A. P C

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess whether the value of flexibility can influence the investment decision between CO2 ship and pipeline transport and, therefore, the way the infrastructure develops. For this, the value of a carbon capture and storage project are calculated with the

Shoe leather epidemiology: active travel and transport infrastructure in the urban landscape

OpenAIRE

Mutrie Nanette; Mitchell Richard; Ogilvie David; Petticrew Mark; Platt Stephen

2010-01-01

Abstract Background Building new transport infrastructure could help to promote changes in patterns of mobility, physical activity, and other determinants of population health such as economic development. However, local residents may not share planners' goals or assumptions about the benefits of such interventions. A particularly contentious example is the construction of major roads close to deprived residential areas. We report the qualitative findings of the baseline phase of a longitudin...

Health Impacts of Increased Physical Activity from Changes in Transportation Infrastructure: Quantitative Estimates for Three Communities

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Recently, two quantitative tools have emerged for predicting the health impacts of projects that change population physical activity: the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) and Dynamic Modeling for Health Impact Assessment (DYNAMO-HIA). HEAT has been used to support health impact assessments of transportation infrastructure projects, but DYNAMO-HIA has not been previously employed for this purpose nor have the two tools been compared. To demonstrate the use of DYNAMO-HIA for supporting health impact assessments of transportation infrastructure projects, we employed the model in three communities (urban, suburban, and rural) in North Carolina. We also compared DYNAMO-HIA and HEAT predictions in the urban community. Using DYNAMO-HIA, we estimated benefit-cost ratios of 20.2 (95% C.I.: 8.7–30.6), 0.6 (0.3–0.9), and 4.7 (2.1–7.1) for the urban, suburban, and rural projects, respectively. For a 40-year time period, the HEAT predictions of deaths avoided by the urban infrastructure project were three times as high as DYNAMO-HIA's predictions due to HEAT's inability to account for changing population health characteristics over time. Quantitative health impact assessment coupled with economic valuation is a powerful tool for integrating health considerations into transportation decision-making. However, to avoid overestimating benefits, such quantitative HIAs should use dynamic, rather than static, approaches. PMID:26504832

Organizational Strategies for Critical Transportation Infrastructure: Characteristics of Urban Resilience. The Case of Montreal.

Science.gov (United States)

Beauregard, Stéphane; Therrien, Marie-Christine; Normandin, Julie-Maude

2010-05-01

Organizational Strategies for Critical Transportation Infrastructure: Characteristics of Urban Resilience. The Case of Montreal. Stéphane Beauregard M.Sc. Candidate École nationale d'administration publique Julie-Maude Normandin Ph.D. Candidate École nationale d'administration publique Marie-Christine Therrien Professor École nationale d'administration publique The proposed paper presents preliminary results on the resilience of organizations managing critical infrastructure in the Metropolitan Montreal area (Canada). A resilient city is characterized by a network of infrastructures and individuals capable of maintaining their activities in spite of a disturbance (Godschalk, 2002). Critical infrastructures provide essential services for the functioning of society. In a crisis situation, the interruption or a decrease in performance of critical infrastructures could have important impacts on the population. They are also vulnerable to accidents and cascading effects because on their complexity and tight interdependence (Perrow, 1984). For these reasons, protection and security of the essential assets and networks are one of the objectives of organizations and governments. But prevention and recovery are two endpoints of a continuum which include also intermediate concerns: ensuring organizational robustness or failing with elegance rather than catastrophically. This continuum also includes organizational resilience (or system), or the ability to recover quickly after an interruption has occurred. Wildavsky (1988) proposes that anticipation strategies work better against known problems while resilience strategies focus on unknown problems. Anticipation policies can unnecessarily immobilize investments against risks, while resilience strategies include the potential for a certain sacrifice in the interests of a more long-term survival and adaptation to changing threats. In addition, a too large confidence in anticipation strategies can bring loss of capacity of an

Nitrogen dioxide sequestration using demolished concrete and its potential application in transportation infrastructure development : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

Achieving environmental sustainability of the US transportation infrastructure via more environmentally sound construction is not a trivial task. Our : proposal, which addresses this critical area, is aiming at transforming concrete, the material of ...

HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE FOCUS AREA NEXT-GENERATION INFRASTRUCTURE MATERIALS VOLUME I - TECHNICAL PROPOSAL & MANAGEMENTENHANCEMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH IRON-BASED AMORPHOUS-METAL AND CERAMIC COATINGS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farmer, J C

2007-12-04

The infrastructure for transportation in the United States allows for a high level of mobility and freight activity for the current population of 300 million residents, and several million business establishments. According to a Department of Transportation study, more than 230 million motor vehicles, ships, airplanes, and railroads cars were used on 6.4 million kilometers (4 million miles) of highways, railroads, airports, and waterways in 1998. Pipelines and storage tanks were considered to be part of this deteriorating infrastructure. The annual direct cost of corrosion in the infrastructure category was estimated to be approximately $22.6 billion in 1998. There were 583,000 bridges in the United States in 1998. Of this total, 200,000 bridges were steel, 235,000 were conventional reinforced concrete, 108,000 bridges were constructed using pre-stressed concrete, and the balance was made using other materials of construction. Approximately 15 percent of the bridges accounted for at this point in time were structurally deficient, primarily due to corrosion of steel and steel reinforcement. Iron-based amorphous metals, including SAM2X5 (Fe{sub 49.7}Cr{sub 17.7}Mn{sub 1.9}Mo{sub 7.4}W{sub 1.6}B{sub 15.2}C{sub 3.8}Si{sub 2.4}) and SAM1651 (Fe{sub 48}Mo{sub 14}Cr{sub 15}Y{sub 2}C{sub 15}B{sub 6}) have been developed, and have very good corrosion resistance. These materials have been prepared as a melt-spun ribbons, as well as gas atomized powders and thermal-spray coatings. During electrochemical testing in several environments, including seawater at 90 C, the passive film stabilities of these materials were found to be comparable to that of more expensive high-performance alloys, based on electrochemical measurements of the passive film breakdown potential and general corrosion rates. These materials also performed very well in standard salt fog tests. Chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo) and tungsten (W) provided corrosion resistance, and boron (B) enabled glass formation

Environmental assessment of passenger transportation should include infrastructure and supply chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chester, Mikhail V; Horvath, Arpad

2009-01-01

To appropriately mitigate environmental impacts from transportation, it is necessary for decision makers to consider the life-cycle energy use and emissions. Most current decision-making relies on analysis at the tailpipe, ignoring vehicle production, infrastructure provision, and fuel production required for support. We present results of a comprehensive life-cycle energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and selected criteria air pollutant emissions inventory for automobiles, buses, trains, and airplanes in the US, including vehicles, infrastructure, fuel production, and supply chains. We find that total life-cycle energy inputs and greenhouse gas emissions contribute an additional 63% for onroad, 155% for rail, and 31% for air systems over vehicle tailpipe operation. Inventorying criteria air pollutants shows that vehicle non-operational components often dominate total emissions. Life-cycle criteria air pollutant emissions are between 1.1 and 800 times larger than vehicle operation. Ranges in passenger occupancy can easily change the relative performance of modes.

Transport of natural gas; criterions for the infrastructure planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Unidad de Planeacion Minero Energetica, UPME

1999-01-01

The planning of the expansion of transport of natural gas system; should keep in mind the changes that are happening in the structure of this industry in the country. In this respect, it is growing the number of actors private present in her, what determines a indicative type planning, whose main objective is to serve as information or guide in decisions of investment involved agents in the maintenance and the amplification of the net of transport for the national supply of natural gas. An indicative plan has objectives different to those of an operative plan of short term. While this last search to establish a program of adjustments to manage commitments of transport and to maintain, this way, the validity of the gas pipeline, The indicative plan of transport is guided to quantify the intensity of the financial effort that is required so that the capacity of the gas pipeline net, responds to the prospective growth of the gas industry. In other words, the indicative plan should contribute to identify the type of works and the one mounts of the investments that the transport of gas system needs in the long term. In this sense, it is important to specify the function objective that will optimize, this precision it should take into account, in our case, the foreseen expansion of the electric sector, because this it depends in good measure of the costs and of the geographical readiness of fuels as the natural gas and the coal. Said otherwise, the function objective that should be optimized involves the expansion of the net of transport of natural gas and the expansion of the generation capacity simultaneously and of the infrastructure of electricity transmission

Infrastructure Engineering and Deployment Division

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Volpe's Infrastructure Engineering and Deployment Division advances transportation innovation by being leaders in infrastructure technology, including vehicles and...

What Causes Cost Overrun in Transport Infrastructure Projects?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flyvbjerg, Bent; Holm, Mette K. Skamris; Buhl, Søren L.

cost escalation for three types of project ownership - private, state-owned enterprise and other public ownership - it is shown that the oft-seen claim that public ownership is problematic and private ownership effective in curbing cost escalation is an oversimplification. Type of accountability......This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of causes of cost escalation in transport infrastructure projects. The study is based on a sample of 258 rail, bridge, tunnel and roads projects worth US$90 billion. The focus is on the dependence of cost escalation on (1......) length of project implementation phase, (2) size of project and (3) type of project ownership. First, it is found with very high statistical significance that cost escalation is strongly dependent on length of implementation phase. The policy implications are clear: Decision makers and planners should...

Infrastructure Management : Dynamic control of assets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verlaan, J.G.; Schoenmaker, R.

2013-01-01

The infrastructure in the Netherlands is crucial for economic development on a national scale. Dramatic increases of transport and mobility accelerate ageing of infrastructure. The GNP of the Netherlands is strongly related to transport and to the two main ports (Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam

Effect of space structures against development of transport infrastructure in Banda Aceh by using the concept of transit oriented development

Science.gov (United States)

Noer, Fadhly; Matondang, A. Rahim; Sirojuzilam, Saleh, Sofyan M.

2017-11-01

Due to the shifting of city urban development causing the shift of city services center, so there is a change in space pattern and space structure in Banda Aceh, then resulting urban sprawl which can lead to congestion problem occurs on the arterial road in Banda Aceh, it can be seen from the increasing number of vehicles per year by 6%. Another issue occurs by urban sprawl is not well organized of settlement due to the uncontrolled use of space so that caused grouping or the differences in socioeconomic strata that can impact to the complexity of population mobility problem. From this background problem considered to be solved by a concept that is Transit Oriented Development (TOD), that is a concept of transportation development in co-operation with spatial. This research will get the model of transportation infrastructure development with TOD concept that can handle transportation problem in Banda Aceh, due to change of spatial structure, and to find whether TOD concept can use for the area that has a population in medium density range. The result that is obtained equation so the space structure is: Space Structure = 0.520 + 0.206X3 + 0.264X6 + 0.100X7 and Transportation Infrastructure Development = -1.457 + 0.652X1 + 0.388X5 + 0.235X6 + 0.222X7 + 0.327X8, So results obtained with path analysis method obtained variable influences, node ratio, network connectivity, travel frequency, travel destination, travel cost, and travel time, it has a lower value when direct effect with transportation infrastructure development, but if the indirect effect through the structure of space has a greater influence, can be seen from spatial structure path scheme - transportation infrastructure development.

The development of a cislunar space infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Buck, C. A.; Johnson, A. S.; Mcglinchey, J. M.; Ryan, K. D.

1989-01-01

The primary objective of this Advanced Mission Design Program is to define the general characteristics and phased evolution of a near-Earth space infrastructure. The envisioned foundation includes a permanently manned, self-sustaining base on the lunar surface, a space station at the Libration Point between earth and the moon (L1), and a transportation system that anchors these elements to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) station. The implementation of this conceptual design was carried out with the idea that the infrastructure is an important step in a larger plan to expand man's capabilities in space science and technology. Such expansion depends on low cost, reliable, and frequent access to space for those who wish to use the multiple benefits of this environment. The presence of a cislunar space infrastructure would greatly facilitate the staging of future planetary missions, as well as the full exploration of the lunar potential for science and industry. The rationale for, and a proposed detailed scenario in support of, the cislunar space infrastructure are discussed.

A simulation study of the impact of the public-private partnership strategy on the performance of transport infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhengfeng; Zheng, Pengjun; Ma, Yanqiang; Li, Xuan; Xu, Wenjun; Zhu, Wanlu

2016-01-01

The choice of investment strategy has a great impact on the performance of transport infrastructure. Positive projects such as the "Subway plus Property" model in Hong Kong have created sustainable financial profits for the public transport projects. Owing to a series of public debt and other constraints, public-private partnership (PPP) was introduced as an innovative investment model to address this issue and help develop transport infrastructure. Yet, few studies provide a deeper understanding of relationships between PPP strategy and the performance of such transport projects (particularly the whole transport system). This paper defines the research scope as a regional network of freeway. With a popular PPP model, travel demand prediction method, and relevant parameters as input, agents in a simulation framework can simulate the choice of PPP freeway over time. The simulation framework can be used to analyze the relationship between the PPP strategy and performance of the regional freeway network. This study uses the Freeway Network of Yangtze River Delta (FN-YRD) in China as the context. The results demonstrate the value of using simulation models of complex transportation systems to help decision makers choose the right PPP projects. Such a tool is viewed as particularly important given the ongoing transformation of functions of the Chinese transportation sector, including franchise rights of transport projects, and freeway charging mechanism.

Noise-tolerant inverse analysis models for nondestructive evaluation of transportation infrastructure systems using neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ceylan, Halil; Gopalakrishnan, Kasthurirangan; Birkan Bayrak, Mustafa; Guclu, Alper

2013-09-01

The need to rapidly and cost-effectively evaluate the present condition of pavement infrastructure is a critical issue concerning the deterioration of ageing transportation infrastructure all around the world. Nondestructive testing (NDT) and evaluation methods are well-suited for characterising materials and determining structural integrity of pavement systems. The falling weight deflectometer (FWD) is a NDT equipment used to assess the structural condition of highway and airfield pavement systems and to determine the moduli of pavement layers. This involves static or dynamic inverse analysis (referred to as backcalculation) of FWD deflection profiles in the pavement surface under a simulated truck load. The main objective of this study was to employ biologically inspired computational systems to develop robust pavement layer moduli backcalculation algorithms that can tolerate noise or inaccuracies in the FWD deflection data collected in the field. Artificial neural systems, also known as artificial neural networks (ANNs), are valuable computational intelligence tools that are increasingly being used to solve resource-intensive complex engineering problems. Unlike the linear elastic layered theory commonly used in pavement layer backcalculation, non-linear unbound aggregate base and subgrade soil response models were used in an axisymmetric finite element structural analysis programme to generate synthetic database for training and testing the ANN models. In order to develop more robust networks that can tolerate the noisy or inaccurate pavement deflection patterns in the NDT data, several network architectures were trained with varying levels of noise in them. The trained ANN models were capable of rapidly predicting the pavement layer moduli and critical pavement responses (tensile strains at the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer, compressive strains on top of the subgrade layer and the deviator stresses on top of the subgrade layer), and also pavement

Synthesis Study on Transitions in Signal Infrastructure and Control Algorithms for Connected and Automated Transportation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aziz, H. M. Abdul [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Wang, Hong [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Young, Stan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sperling, Joshua [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Beck, John [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2017-06-01

Documenting existing state of practice is an initial step in developing future control infrastructure to be co-deployed for heterogeneous mix of connected and automated vehicles with human drivers while leveraging benefits to safety, congestion, and energy. With advances in information technology and extensive deployment of connected and automated vehicle technology anticipated over the coming decades, cities globally are making efforts to plan and prepare for these transitions. CAVs not only offer opportunities to improve transportation systems through enhanced safety and efficient operations of vehicles. There are also significant needs in terms of exploring how best to leverage vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology. Both Connected Vehicle (CV) and Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) paradigms feature bi-directional connectivity and share similar applications in terms of signal control algorithm and infrastructure implementation. The discussion in our synthesis study assumes the CAV/CV context where connectivity exists with or without automated vehicles. Our synthesis study explores the current state of signal control algorithms and infrastructure, reports the completed and newly proposed CV/CAV deployment studies regarding signal control schemes, reviews the deployment costs for CAV/AV signal infrastructure, and concludes with a discussion on the opportunities such as detector free signal control schemes and dynamic performance management for intersections, and challenges such as dependency on market adaptation and the need to build a fault-tolerant signal system deployment in a CAV/CV environment. The study will serve as an initial critical assessment of existing signal control infrastructure (devices, control instruments, and firmware) and control schemes (actuated, adaptive, and coordinated-green wave). Also, the report will help to identify the future needs for the signal

Changes in mode of travel to work: a natural experimental study of new transport infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinen, Eva; Panter, Jenna; Mackett, Roger; Ogilvie, David

2015-06-20

New transport infrastructure may promote a shift towards active travel, thereby improving population health. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a major transport infrastructure project on commuters' mode of travel, trip frequency and distance travelled to work. Quasi-experimental analysis nested within a cohort study of 470 adults working in Cambridge, UK. The intervention consisted of the opening of a guided busway with a path for walking and cycling in 2011. Exposure to the intervention was defined as the negative of the square root of the shortest distance from home to busway. The outcome measures were changes in commute mode share and number of commute trips - both based on a seven-day travel-to-work record collected before (2009) and after (2012) the intervention - and change in objective commute distance. The mode share outcomes were changes in the proportions of trips (i) involving any active travel, (ii) involving any public transport, and (iii) made entirely by car. Separate multinomial regression models were estimated adjusting for commute and sociodemographic characteristics, residential settlement size and life events. Proximity to the busway predicted an increased likelihood of a large (>30 %) increase in the share of commute trips involving any active travel (relative risk ratio [RRR] 1.80, 95 % CI 1.27, 2.55) and a large decrease in the share of trips made entirely by car (RRR 2.09, 95 % CI 1.35, 3.21), as well as a lower likelihood of a small (travel (RRR 0.47, 95 % CI 0.28, 0.81). It was not associated with changes in the share of commute trips involving any public transport, the number of commute trips, or commute distance. The new infrastructure promoted an increase in the share of commuting trips involving active travel and a decrease in the share made entirely by car. Further analysis will show the extent to which the changes in commute mode share were translated into an increase in time spent in active commuting and

Networking for large-scale science: infrastructure, provisioning, transport and application mapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, Nageswara S; Carter, Steven M; Wu Qishi; Wing, William R; Zhu Mengxia; Mezzacappa, Anthony; Veeraraghavan, Malathi; Blondin, John M

2005-01-01

Large-scale science computations and experiments require unprecedented network capabilities in the form of large bandwidth and dynamically stable connections to support data transfers, interactive visualizations, and monitoring and steering operations. A number of component technologies dealing with the infrastructure, provisioning, transport and application mappings must be developed and/or optimized to achieve these capabilities. We present a brief account of the following technologies that contribute toward achieving these network capabilities: (a) DOE UltraScienceNet and NSF CHEETAH network testbeds that provide on-demand and scheduled dedicated network connections; (b) experimental results on transport protocols that achieve close to 100% utilization on dedicated 1Gbps wide-area channels; (c) a scheme for optimally mapping a visualization pipeline onto a network to minimize the end-to-end delays; and (d) interconnect configuration and protocols that provides multiple Gbps flows from Cray X1 to external hosts

Networking for large-scale science: infrastructure, provisioning, transport and application mapping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rao, Nageswara S [Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Carter, Steven M [Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Wu Qishi [Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Wing, William R [Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Zhu Mengxia [Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States); Mezzacappa, Anthony [Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States); Veeraraghavan, Malathi [Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States); Blondin, John M [Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 (United States)

2005-01-01

Large-scale science computations and experiments require unprecedented network capabilities in the form of large bandwidth and dynamically stable connections to support data transfers, interactive visualizations, and monitoring and steering operations. A number of component technologies dealing with the infrastructure, provisioning, transport and application mappings must be developed and/or optimized to achieve these capabilities. We present a brief account of the following technologies that contribute toward achieving these network capabilities: (a) DOE UltraScienceNet and NSF CHEETAH network testbeds that provide on-demand and scheduled dedicated network connections; (b) experimental results on transport protocols that achieve close to 100% utilization on dedicated 1Gbps wide-area channels; (c) a scheme for optimally mapping a visualization pipeline onto a network to minimize the end-to-end delays; and (d) interconnect configuration and protocols that provides multiple Gbps flows from Cray X1 to external hosts.

A model for assessing habitat fragmentation caused by new infrastructures in extensive territories - evaluation of the impact of the Spanish strategic infrastructure and transport plan.

Science.gov (United States)

Mancebo Quintana, S; Martín Ramos, B; Casermeiro Martínez, M A; Otero Pastor, I

2010-05-01

The aim of the present work is to design a model for evaluating the impact of planned infrastructures on species survival at the territorial scale by calculating a connectivity index. The method developed involves determining the effective distance of displacement between patches of the same habitat, simplifying earlier models so that there is no dependence on specific variables for each species. A case study is presented in which the model was used to assess the impact of the forthcoming roads and railways included in the Spanish Strategic Infrastructure and Transport Plan (PEIT, in its Spanish initials). This study took into account the habitats of peninsular Spain, which occupies an area of some 500,000 km(2). In this territory, the areas deemed to provide natural habitats are defined by Directive 92/43/EEC. The impact of new infrastructures on connectivity was assessed by comparing two scenarios, with and without the plan, for the major new road and railway networks. The calculation of the connectivity index (CI) requires the use of a raster methodology based on the Arc/Info geographical information system (GIS). The actual calculation was performed using a program written in Arc/Info Macro Language (AML); this program is available in FragtULs (Mancebo Quintana, 2007), a set of tools for calculating indicators of fragmentation caused by transport infrastructure (http://topografia.montes.upm.es/fragtuls.html). The indicator of connectivity proposed allows the estimation of the connectivity between all the patches of a territory, with no artificial (non-ecologically based) boundaries imposed. The model proposed appears to be a useful tool for the analysis of fragmentation caused by plans for large territories. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radon transport processes below the earth's surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkening, M.

1980-01-01

Processes by which 222 Rn is transported from the soil to the earth's surface are reviewed. The mechanisms effective in transporting 222 Rn to the surface are related to the size and configuration of the spaces occupied by the soil gas which may vary from molecular interstices to large underground caverns. The near-surface transport processes are divided into two categories: (1) a microscopic process that includes molecular diffusion and viscous flow in fine capillaries and (2) macroscopic flow in fissures and channels. Underground air rich in 222 Rn can also reach the surface through cracks, fissures, and underground channels. This type of transport is shown for (1) a horizontal tunnel penetrating a fractured hillside, (2) a large underground cave, and (3) volcanic activity. Pressure differentials having various natural origins and thermal gradients are responsible for the transport in these examples. 222 Rn transport by ordinary molecular diffusion appears to be the dominant process

Infrastructure Gap in South Asia: Inequality of Access to Infrastructure Services

OpenAIRE

Biller, Dan; Andrés, Luis; Herrera Dappe, Matías

2014-01-01

The South Asia region is home to the largest pool of individuals living under the poverty line, coupled with a fast-growing population. The importance of access to basic infrastructure services on welfare and the quality of life is clear. Yet the South Asia region's rates of access to infrastructure (sanitation, electricity, telecom, and transport) are closer to those of Sub-Saharan Africa...

Technology and human purpose: the problem of solids transport on the Earth's surface

Science.gov (United States)

Haff, P. K.

2012-11-01

Displacement of mass of limited deformability ("solids") on the Earth's surface is opposed by friction and (the analog of) form resistance - impediments relaxed by rotational motion, self-powering of mass units, and transport infrastructure. These features of solids transport first evolved in the biosphere prior to the emergence of technology, allowing slope-independent, diffusion-like motion of discrete objects as massive as several tons, as illustrated by animal foraging and movement along game trails. However, high-energy-consumption technology powered by fossil fuels required a mechanism that could support fast advective transport of solids, i.e., long-distance, high-volume, high-speed, unidirectional, slope-independent transport across the land surface of materials like coal, containerized fluids, minerals, and economic goods. Pre-technology nature was able to sustain regional- and global-scale advection only in the limited form of piggybacking on geophysical flows of water (river sediment) and air (dust). The appearance of a mechanism for sustained advection of solids independent of fluid flows and gravity appeared only upon the emergence of human purpose. Purpose enables solids advection by, in effect, simulating a continuous potential gradient, otherwise lacking, between discrete and widely separated fossil-fuel energy sources and sinks. Invoking purpose as a mechanism in solids advection is an example of the need to import anthropic principles and concepts into the language and methodology of modern Earth system dynamics. As part of the emergence of a generalized solids advection mechanism, several additional transport requirements necessary to the function of modern large-scale technological systems were also satisfied. These include spatially accurate delivery of advected payload, targetability to essentially arbitrarily located destinations (such as cities), and independence of structure of advected payload from transport mechanism. The latter property

Model for Railway Infrastructure Management Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordan Stojić

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The provision of appropriate quality rail services has an important role in terms of railway infrastructure: quality of infrastructure maintenance, regulation of railway traffic, line capacity, speed, safety, train station organization, the allowable lines load and other infrastructure parameters.The analysis of experiences in transforming the railway systems points to the conclusion that there is no unique solution in terms of choice for institutional rail infrastructure management modes, although more than nineteen years have passed from the beginning of the implementation of the Directive 91/440/EEC. Depending on the approach to the process of restructuring the national railway company, adopted regulations and caution in its implementation, the existence or absence of a clearly defined transport strategy, the willingness to liberalize the transport market, there are several different ways for institutional management of railway infrastructure.A hybrid model for selection of modes of institutional rail infrastructure management was developed based on the theory of artificial intelligence, theory of fuzzy sets and theory of multicriteria optimization.KEY WORDSmanagement, railway infrastructure, organizational structure, hybrid model

Flowscapes : Designing infrastructure as landscape

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijhuis, S.; Jauslin, D.T.; Van der Hoeven, F.D.

2015-01-01

Social, cultural and technological developments of our society are demanding a fundamental review of the planning and design of its landscapes and infrastructures, in particular in relation to environmental issues and sustainability. Transportation, green and water infrastructures are important

Private investments in new infrastructures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baarsma, B.; Poort, J.P.; Teulings, C.N.; de Nooij, M.

2004-01-01

The Lisbon Strategy demands large investments in transport projects, broadband networks and energy infrastructure. Despite the widely-acknowledged need for investments in new infrastructures, European and national public funds are scarce in the current economic climate. Moreover, both policy-makers

The Effect of an Electromagnetic Pulse Strike on the Transportation Infrastructure of Kansas City

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-13

infrastructure citing high congestion in urban areas wasting fuel and time. The cost from these inefficiencies is upwards of $101 billion dollars...rail transport grows creating increased congestion on the rail network. As freight volumes increase the contributing congestion is costing the U.S...trucks were disabled during the time frame of Starfish Prime. Observations and reports did not suggest any vehicular accidents as a result of the

The Role of Distribution Infrastructure and Equipment in the Life-cycle Air Emissions of Liquid Transportation Fuels

Science.gov (United States)

Strogen, Bret Michael

Production of fuel ethanol in the United States has increased ten-fold since 1993, largely as a result of government programs motivated by goals to improve domestic energy security, economic development, and environmental impacts. Over the next decade, the growth of and eventually the total production of second generation cellulosic biofuels is projected to exceed first generation (e.g., corn-based) biofuels, which will require continued expansion of infrastructure for producing and distributing ethanol and perhaps other biofuels. In addition to identifying potential differences in tailpipe emissions from vehicles operating with ethanol-blended or ethanol-free gasoline, environmental comparison of ethanol to petroleum fuels requires a comprehensive accounting of life-cycle environmental effects. Hundreds of published studies evaluate the life-cycle emissions from biofuels and petroleum, but the operation and maintenance of storage, handling, and distribution infrastructure and equipment for fuels and fuel feedstocks had not been adequately addressed. Little attention has been paid to estimating and minimizing emissions from these complex systems, presumably because they are believed to contribute a small fraction of total emissions for petroleum and first generation biofuels. This research aims to quantify the environmental impacts associated with the major components of fuel distribution infrastructure, and the impacts that will be introduced by expanding the parallel infrastructure needed to accommodate more biofuels in our existing systems. First, the components used in handling, storing, and transporting feedstocks and fuels are physically characterized by typical operating throughput, utilization, and lifespan. US-specific life-cycle GHG emission and water withdrawal factors are developed for each major distribution chain activity by applying a hybrid life-cycle assessment methodology to the manufacturing, construction, maintenance and operation of each

Using agent based modeling to assess the effect of increased Bus Rapid Transit system infrastructure on walking for transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemoine, Pablo D; Cordovez, Juan Manuel; Zambrano, Juan Manuel; Sarmiento, Olga L; Meisel, Jose D; Valdivia, Juan Alejandro; Zarama, Roberto

2016-07-01

The effect of transport infrastructure on walking is of interest to researchers because it provides an opportunity, from the public policy point of view, to increase physical activity (PA). We use an agent based model (ABM) to examine the effect of transport infrastructure on walking. Particular relevance is given to assess the effect of the growth of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Bogotá on walking. In the ABM agents are assigned a home, work location, and socioeconomic status (SES) based on which they are assigned income for transportation. Individuals must decide between the available modes of transport (i.e., car, taxi, bus, BRT, and walking) as the means of reaching their destination, based on resources and needed travel time. We calibrated the model based on Bogota's 2011 mobility survey. The ABM results are consistent with previous empirical findings, increasing BRT access does indeed increase the number of minutes that individuals walk for transportation, although this effect also depends on the availability of other transport modes. The model indicates a saturation process: as more BRT lanes are added, the increment in minutes walking becomes smaller, and eventually the walking time decreases. Our findings on the potential contribution of the expansion of the BRT system to walking for transportation suggest that ABMs may prove helpful in designing policies to continue promoting walking. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identification of Transportation Infrastructure at Risk Due To Sea-Level Rise and Subsidence of Land In Coastal Louisiana

Science.gov (United States)

Tewari, S.; Palmer, W.; Manning, F.

2017-12-01

Climate change can affect coastal areas in a variety of ways. Coasts are sensitive to sea level rise, changes in the frequency/intensity of storms, increase in precipitation and storm surges. The resilience of transportation infrastructure located in Louisiana's coastal zone, against storm surges and climatic sea-level rise is critical. The net change in sea-level is affected by the increase in global sea level as well as land movement up or down. There are many places in coastal Louisiana that have a high subsidence rate. The subsidence could be related to excess extraction activities of oil and water, natural and/or human induced compaction, and tectonic movement. Where the land is sinking, the rate of relative sea level rise is larger than the global rate. Some of the fastest rates of relative sea level rise in the United States are occurring in areas where the land is sinking, including parts of the Gulf Coast. For example, coastal Louisiana has seen its relative sea level rise by eight inches or more in the last 50 years, which is about twice the global rate. Subsiding land in the Gulf area worsens the effects of relative sea level rise, increasing the risk of flooding in cities, inhabited islands, and tidal wetlands. The research team is investigating the trends for sea-level rise and land subsidence in coastal region of Louisiana. The variability in storm surges and its potential implication on the transportation infrastructure in the region is the focus of the study. The spatial maps will be created for spatial trends. This is extremely useful in being prepared for long-term natural hazards. The results of this study will be helpful to LADOTD and infrastructure managers and officials who are tasked with resiliency planning and management. Research results will also directly benefit university researchers in the state, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and LADOTD/LTRC through collaborative activity which will educate both professionals and the

Planning, layout and infrastructure of modern coal mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haarmann, K R

1978-02-01

When designing layout and infrastructure of new coal mines, the principles of planning play a decisive role. Apart from exploration, ventilation, transport, dirt haulage and product haulage, material transport is very important. Illustrated by three examples, modern layout and infrastructure design is presented.

Flowscapes: Designing infrastructure as landscape

OpenAIRE

Nijhuis, S.; Jauslin, D.T.; Van der Hoeven, F.D.

2015-01-01

Social, cultural and technological developments of our society are demanding a fundamental review of the planning and design of its landscapes and infrastructures, in particular in relation to environmental issues and sustainability. Transportation, green and water infrastructures are important agents that facilitate processes that shape the built environment and its contemporary landscapes. With movement and flows at the core, these landscape infrastructures facilitate aesthetic, functional,...

Development of a structural health monitoring system for the life assessment of critical transportation infrastructure.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roach, Dennis Patrick; Jauregui, David Villegas (New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM); Daumueller, Andrew Nicholas (New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM)

2012-02-01

Recent structural failures such as the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minnesota have underscored the urgent need for improved methods and procedures for evaluating our aging transportation infrastructure. This research seeks to develop a basis for a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system to provide quantitative information related to the structural integrity of metallic structures to make appropriate management decisions and ensuring public safety. This research employs advanced structural analysis and nondestructive testing (NDT) methods for an accurate fatigue analysis. Metal railroad bridges in New Mexico will be the focus since many of these structures are over 100 years old and classified as fracture-critical. The term fracture-critical indicates that failure of a single component may result in complete collapse of the structure such as the one experienced by the I-35W Bridge. Failure may originate from sources such as loss of section due to corrosion or cracking caused by fatigue loading. Because standard inspection practice is primarily visual, these types of defects can go undetected due to oversight, lack of access to critical areas, or, in riveted members, hidden defects that are beneath fasteners or connection angles. Another issue is that it is difficult to determine the fatigue damage that a structure has experienced and the rate at which damage is accumulating due to uncertain history and load distribution in supporting members. A SHM system has several advantages that can overcome these limitations. SHM allows critical areas of the structure to be monitored more quantitatively under actual loading. The research needed to apply SHM to metallic structures was performed and a case study was carried out to show the potential of SHM-driven fatigue evaluation to assess the condition of critical transportation infrastructure and to guide inspectors to potential problem areas. This project combines the expertise in transportation infrastructure at New

Turbulent transport across invariant canonical flux surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hollenberg, J.B.; Callen, J.D.

1994-07-01

Net transport due to a combination of Coulomb collisions and turbulence effects in a plasma is investigated using a fluid moment description that allows for kinetic and nonlinear effects via closure relations. The model considered allows for ''ideal'' turbulent fluctuations that distort but preserve the topology of species-dependent canonical flux surfaces ψ number-sign,s triple-bond ∫ dF · B number-sign,s triple-bond ∇ x [A + (m s /q s )u s ] in which u s is the flow velocity of the fluid species. Equations for the net transport relative to these surfaces due to ''nonideal'' dissipative processes are found for the total number of particles and total entropy enclosed by a moving canonical flux surface. The corresponding particle transport flux is calculated using a toroidal axisymmetry approximation of the ideal surfaces. The resulting Lagrangian transport flux includes classical, neoclassical-like, and anomalous contributions and shows for the first time how these various contributions should be summed to obtain the total particle transport flux

Spatial politics and infrastructure development: Analysis of historical transportation data in Gauteng - South Africa (1975–2003

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McKay Tracey

2017-03-01

Full Text Available If South Africa’s Gauteng Province is to become a more ‘sustainable’, urbanised region, attention needs to be paid to building a transportation network that aligns with sustainable development principles. Currently, public transport passenger levels are low, whilst the geographical area it serves is large and becoming larger. This study analysed the long term, historical transportation trends of Gauteng by comparing four transport studies undertaken between 1975 and 2003. It reveals that an adherence to the ‘predict and provide’ transportation planning model has systematically enhanced road infrastructure over rail, and private over public transport. Effective, efficient and low cost public transport has been systematically under-provisioned; while a reliance on private vehicles is now entrenched and systemic. Racial segregation, spatial apartheid and weak urban land use planning, has resulted in an entrenched, low-density urban sprawl. Lastly, there is the need to collect comparable, longitudinal transportation data, if the successes and failures of policies are to be monitored.

Development of a remote sensing network for time-sensitive detection of fine scale damage to transportation infrastructure : [final report].

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-23

This research project aimed to develop a remote sensing system capable of rapidly identifying fine-scale damage to critical transportation infrastructure following hazard events. Such a system must be pre-planned for rapid deployment, automate proces...

Prevention of environmental hazards of motor transport infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexeev V. A.

2016-08-01

Full Text Available this article deals with the problem of ecological danger of road infrastructure objects. Road infrastructure includes bus stations, bus depots, car service centers and roadside cafes located throughout the highway system. With the implementation of mass-produced counterfeit water and food in the catering outlets and around the purification of them from all kinds of infections is relevant.

Development of a methodology for the assessment of sea level rise impacts on Florida's transportation modes and infrastructure : [summary].

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

In Florida, low elevations can make transportation infrastructure in coastal and low-lying areas potentially vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR). Becuase global SLR forecasts lack precision at local or regional scales, SLR forecasts or scenarios for p...

EPA Research Highlights: EPA Studies Aging Water Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

The nation's extensive water infrastructure has the capacity to treat, store, and transport trillions of gallons of water and wastewater per day through millions of miles of pipelines. However, some infrastructure components are more than 100 years old, and as the infrastructure ...

Including Health in Environmental Assessments of Major Transport Infrastructure Projects: A Documentary Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Emily; Harris, Patrick; Kent, Jennifer; Sainsbury, Peter; Lane, Anna; Baum, Fran

2018-05-10

Transport policy and practice impacts health. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are regulated public policy mechanisms that can be used to consider the health impacts of major transport projects before they are approved. The way health is considered in these environmental assessments (EAs) is not well known. This research asked: How and to what extent was human health considered in EAs of four major transport projects in Australia. We developed a comprehensive coding framework to analyse the Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) of four transport infrastructure projects: three road and one light rail. The coding framework was designed to capture how health was directly and indirectly included. We found that health was partially considered in all four EISs. In the three New South Wales (NSW) projects, but not the one South Australian project, this was influenced by the requirements issued to proponents by the government which directed the content of the EIS. Health was assessed using human health risk assessment (HHRA). We found this to be narrow in focus and revealed a need for a broader social determinants of health approach, using multiple methods. The road assessments emphasised air quality and noise risks, concluding these were minimal or predicted to improve. The South Australian project was the only road project not to include health data explicitly. The light rail EIS considered the health benefits of the project whereas the others focused on risk. Only one project considered mental health, although in less detail than air quality or noise. Our findings suggest EIAs lag behind the known evidence linking transport infrastructure to health. If health is to be comprehensively included, a more complete model of health is required, as well as a shift away from health risk assessment as the main method used. This needs to be mandatory for all significant developments. We also found that considering health only at the EIA stage may be a significant

Paying our way : a new framework for transportation finance, final report, February 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-02-01

We are pleased to transmit to you the final report of the National Surface Transportation : Infrastructure Financing Commission entitled Paying Our Way: A : New Framework for Transportation Finance. Over the last two years the Commission : has ...

Indonesian infrastructure development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djojohadikusumo, H.S.

1991-01-01

It is with the achievement of a competitive advantage as a motivating factor that the Indonesian coal industry is engaged in infrastructure development including both small regionally trade-based terminals and high capacity capesize bulk terminals to support large scale coal exports. The unique characteristics of Indonesian coal quality, low production costs and the optimization of transport economics in accordance with vessel size provides great incentives for the European and U.S. market. This paper reports on the infrastructure development, Indonesian coal resources, and coal exports

The Implementation Of Development Policy Of Airport And Road Transport Infrastructure In Malinau District

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erwin

2015-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The implementation of development policy the airport and road transport in South Kayan District and the Kayan upstream in Malinau Regency is not yet optimal observe through observation perspective of Grindle 1980 as well as Sabatier and Mazmanian 1980 who saw the implementation of policies from the side of the interests of which are affected type benefits degrees change actorthe executive agency and technical difficulties. Geographical location of both districts that located between Indonesia and Malaysia the borded by mountainous dense jungle and the condition of erratic weather causing equipment and materials used in the project being difficult in mobilization of the trip to the region. In addition the executive policy the airport transportation and the General Working Agency to road infrastructure has a duty which includes a broad and diverse all areas East Kalimantan so that the both district was not development priority. Inland Border Area Management Board and Disadvantaged Areas BPKP2DT who specialized in shape to manage of border areas tend to only perform the function of coordination course so it does not have the authority in the implementation of development directly. So it is with telecommunication limited means of located in the area so that obstructed of coordination and oversight. However residents in the south kayan district kayan upstream support the governments policy in the construction of that infrastructure because policy felt the benefits both in the economic and social.

A new methodology for modeling of direct landslide costs for transportation infrastructures

Science.gov (United States)

Klose, Martin; Terhorst, Birgit

2014-05-01

The world's transportation infrastructure is at risk of landslides in many areas across the globe. A safe and affordable operation of traffic routes are the two main criteria for transportation planning in landslide-prone areas. The right balancing of these often conflicting priorities requires, amongst others, profound knowledge of the direct costs of landslide damage. These costs include capital investments for landslide repair and mitigation as well as operational expenditures for first response and maintenance works. This contribution presents a new methodology for ex post assessment of direct landslide costs for transportation infrastructures. The methodology includes tools to compile, model, and extrapolate landslide losses on different spatial scales over time. A landslide susceptibility model enables regional cost extrapolation by means of a cost figure obtained from local cost compilation for representative case study areas. On local level, cost survey is closely linked with cost modeling, a toolset for cost estimation based on landslide databases. Cost modeling uses Landslide Disaster Management Process Models (LDMMs) and cost modules to simulate and monetize cost factors for certain types of landslide damage. The landslide susceptibility model provides a regional exposure index and updates the cost figure to a cost index which describes the costs per km of traffic route at risk of landslides. Both indexes enable the regionalization of local landslide losses. The methodology is applied and tested in a cost assessment for highways in the Lower Saxon Uplands, NW Germany, in the period 1980 to 2010. The basis of this research is a regional subset of a landslide database for the Federal Republic of Germany. In the 7,000 km² large Lower Saxon Uplands, 77 km of highway are located in potential landslide hazard area. Annual average costs of 52k per km of highway at risk of landslides are identified as cost index for a local case study area in this region. The

IFC and infrastructure - investing in power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaudhry, Vijay

1992-01-01

Adequate infrastructure is essential to a country's growth. It provides a foundation which enables the economy to function. Until recently, most governments provided the physical infrastructure of industry: transport, communications, and power systems. Today, the trend is for governments to regulate monopolies while taking maximum advantage of private sector investment, decision-making and management. The private sector is increasingly being recognized as having the capacity to operate infrastructure projects more efficiently. (author)

Joint deployment of refuelling infrastructure and vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, R.

2010-01-01

A wide range of fuels will be used in future transportation technologies. This presentation discussed refuelling infrastructure solutions for alternative fuels. A well-placed demonstration infrastructure will help to accelerate market development. Stakeholder collaboration is needed to create high value business paradigms and identify stakeholder benefits. Infrastructure paradigms include the home; businesses; retail public refuelling forecourts; and multi-fuel waste heat recovery sites. Commercial nodes can be developed along major transportation routes. Stakeholder groups include technology providers, supply chain and service providers, commercial end-users, and government. A successful alternative fuel infrastructure model will consider market development priorities, time frames and seed investment opportunities. Applications must be market-driven in order to expand. A case study of the natural gas vehicle (NGV) program in Ontario was also discussed, as well as various hydrogen projects. tabs., figs.

Transportation and its Infrastructure

OpenAIRE

Ribeiro, Suzana K; Kobayashi, Shigeki; Beuthe, Michel; Gasca, Jorge; Greene, David; Lee, David S.; Muromachi, Yasunori; Newton, Peter J.; Plotkin, Steven; Sperling, Daniel; Wit, Ron; Zhou, Peter J

2007-01-01

Transport activity, a key component of economic development and human welfare, is increasing around the world as economies grow. For most policymakers, the most pressing problems associated with this increasing transport activity are traffic fatalities and injuries, congestion, air pollution and petroleum dependence. These problems are especially acute in the most rapidly growing economies of the developing world. Mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can take its place among these other ...

Network science, nonlinear science and infrastructure systems

CERN Document Server

2007-01-01

Network Science, Nonlinear Science and Infrastructure Systems has been written by leading scholars in these areas. Its express purpose is to develop common theoretical underpinnings to better solve modern infrastructural problems. It is felt by many who work in these fields that many modern communication problems, ranging from transportation networks to telecommunications, Internet, supply chains, etc., are fundamentally infrastructure problems. Moreover, these infrastructure problems would benefit greatly from a confluence of theoretical and methodological work done with the areas of Network Science, Dynamical Systems and Nonlinear Science. This book is dedicated to the formulation of infrastructural tools that will better solve these types of infrastructural problems. .

Assessing the impact of road transport infrastructure investment on economic development in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anathi Hlotywa

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background: There has been considerable decline in the investment on road transport infrastructure in recent times, as a result of the dwindling economic investment owing to lowering gross domestic product (GDP since 2009. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between road transport investment (ROTI and economic development (ED in South Africa. This article adopts the Harrod–Domar (HD model of economic growth and development theory, endogenous growth theory and Solow–Swan neoclassical growth model. Method: Data were derived from the South African Reserve Bank, Quantec database and Statistics South Africa (StatsSA between 1990 and 2014. It used time series, econometric models cointegration and vector error correction model (VECM to analyse. Result: The results of the estimation demonstrate that the explanatory variables account for approximately 86.7% variation in ED in South Africa. Therefore, there exists a positive relationship between ROTI and ED. Conclusion: This study established a long-run relationship between phenomena and demonstrates the role of road transport investment on economic development in South Africa.

U.S. Infrastructure : funding trends and Federal agencies investment estimates

Science.gov (United States)

2001-07-01

This is the statement of Peter F. Guerrero, Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues before the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate regarding public infrastructure. The testimony d...

A Common Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Infrastructure for Accommodating Space Vehicles in the Next Generation Air Transportation System

Science.gov (United States)

VanSuetendael, RIchard; Hayes, Alan; Birr, Richard

2008-01-01

Suborbital space flight and space tourism are new potential markets that could significantly impact the National Airspace System (NAS). Numerous private companies are developing space flight capabilities to capture a piece of an emerging commercial space transportation market. These entrepreneurs share a common vision that sees commercial space flight as a profitable venture. Additionally, U.S. space exploration policy and national defense will impose significant additional demands on the NAS. Air traffic service providers must allow all users fair access to limited airspace, while ensuring that the highest levels of safety, security, and efficiency are maintained. The FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) will need to accommodate spacecraft transitioning to and from space through the NAS. To accomplish this, space and air traffic operations will need to be seamlessly integrated under some common communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) infrastructure. As part of NextGen, the FAA has been developing the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) which utilizes the Global Positioning System (GPS) to track and separate aircraft. Another key component of NextGen, System-Wide Information Management/ Network Enabled Operations (SWIM/NEO), is an open architecture network that will provide NAS data to various customers, system tools and applications. NASA and DoD are currently developing a space-based range (SBR) concept that also utilizes GPS, communications satellites and other CNS assets. The future SBR will have very similar utility for space operations as ADS-B and SWIM has for air traffic. Perhaps the FAA, NASA, and DoD should consider developing a common space-based CNS infrastructure to support both aviation and space transportation operations. This paper suggests specific areas of research for developing a CNS infrastructure that can accommodate spacecraft and other new types of vehicles as an integrated part of NextGen.

COSIMA-DSS Evaluation System: A new Decision Support System for Large-Scale Transport Infrastructure Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard; Leleur, Steen

2005-01-01

This paper presents a new decision support model COSIMA-DSS that examines socio-economic feasibility risks involved in the implementation of transport infrastructure projects. The model makes use of conventionally cost-benefit analysis embedded within a wider multi-criteria analysis. The basic...... approach set out in the paper looks upon the mix between so-called “hard” and “soft” evaluation criteria. Finally, a Monte-Carlo simulation is used to take account of the varying information relating to the different criteria....

A probabilistic approach for assessing the vulnerability of transportation infrastructure to flooding from sea level rise and storm surge.

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas, E. M.; Kirshen, P. H.; Bosma, K.; Watson, C.; Miller, S.; McArthur, K.

2015-12-01

There now exists a plethora of information attesting to the reality of our changing climate and its impacts on both human and natural systems. There also exists a growing literature linking climate change impacts and transportation infrastructure (highways, bridges, tunnels, railway, shipping ports, etc.) which largely agrees that the nation's transportation systems are vulnerable. To assess this vulnerability along the coast, flooding due to sea level rise and storm surge has most commonly been evaluated by simply increasing the water surface elevation and then estimating flood depth by comparing the new water surface elevation with the topographic elevations of the land surface. While this rudimentary "bathtub" approach may provide a first order identification of potential areas of vulnerability, accurate assessment requires a high resolution, physically-based hydrodynamic model that can simulate inundation due to the combined effects of sea level rise, storm surge, tides and wave action for site-specific locations. Furthermore, neither the "bathtub" approach nor other scenario-based approaches can quantify the probability of flooding due to these impacts. We developed a high resolution coupled ocean circulation-wave model (ADCIRC/SWAN) that utilizes a Monte Carlo approach for predicting the depths and associated exceedance probabilities of flooding due to both tropical (hurricanes) and extra-tropical storms under current and future climate conditions. This required the development of an entirely new database of meteorological forcing (e.g. pressure, wind speed, etc.) for historical Nor'easters in the North Atlantic basin. Flooding due to hurricanes and Nor'easters was simulated separately and then composite flood probability distributions were developed. Model results were used to assess the vulnerability of the Central Artery/Tunnel system in Boston, Massachusetts to coastal flooding now and in the future. Local and regional adaptation strategies were

After the year 2000: Critical infrastructure protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreicer, M.

1999-01-01

Presentation defines the critical infrastructure which includes: telecommunication, banking, transportation, electric energy, oil and gas supply, water supply, emergency services and government operations. The problem of protecting the critical infrastructure is is exposed in detail concerning physical protection and protection of information systems against cyberthreats

Aeolian sediment transport on a beach: Surface moisture, wind fetch, and mean transport

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, B. O.; Davidson-Arnott, R. G. D.; Hesp, P. A.; Namikas, S. L.; Ollerhead, J.; Walker, I. J.

2009-04-01

Temporal and spatial changes in wind speed, wind direction, and moisture content are ubiquitous across sandy coastal beaches. Often these factors interact in unknown ways to create complexity that confounds our ability to model sediment transport at any point across the beach as well as our capacity to predict sediment delivery into the adjacent foredunes. This study was designed to measure wind flow and sediment transport over a beach and foredune at Greenwich Dunes, Prince Edward Island National Park, with the express purpose of addressing these complex interactions. Detailed measurements are reported for one stormy day, October 11, 2004, during which meteorological conditions were highly variable. Wind speed ranged from 4 ms - 1 to over 20 ms - 1 , wind direction was highly oblique varying between 60° and 85° from shore perpendicular, and moisture content of the sand surface ranged from a minimum of about 3% (by mass) to complete saturation depending on precipitation, tidal excursion, and storm surge that progressively inundated the beach. The data indicate that short-term variations (i.e., minutes to hours) in sediment transport across this beach arise predominantly because of short-term changes in wind speed, as is expected, but also because of variations in wind direction, precipitation intensity, and tide level. Even slight increases in wind speed are capable of driving more intense saltation events, but this relationship is mediated by other factors on this characteristically narrow beach. As the angle of wind approach becomes more oblique, the fetch distance increases and allows greater opportunity for the saltation system to evolve toward an equilibrium transport state before reaching the foredunes. Whether the theoretically-predicted maximum rate of transport is ever achieved depends on the character of the sand surface (e.g., grain size, slope, roughness, vegetation, moisture content) and on various attributes of the wind field (e.g., average wind

Challenges in scaling up biofuels infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Tom L

2010-08-13

Rapid growth in demand for lignocellulosic bioenergy will require major changes in supply chain infrastructure. Even with densification and preprocessing, transport volumes by mid-century are likely to exceed the combined capacity of current agricultural and energy supply chains, including grain, petroleum, and coal. Efficient supply chains can be achieved through decentralized conversion processes that facilitate local sourcing, satellite preprocessing and densification for long-distance transport, and business models that reward biomass growers both nearby and afar. Integrated systems that are cost-effective and energy-efficient will require new ways of thinking about agriculture, energy infrastructure, and rural economic development. Implementing these integrated systems will require innovation and investment in novel technologies, efficient value chains, and socioeconomic and policy frameworks; all are needed to support an expanded biofuels infrastructure that can meet the challenges of scale.

Impact of peculiar features of construction of transport infrastructure on the choice of tools for reengineering of business processes

Science.gov (United States)

Khripko, Elena

2017-10-01

In the present article we study the issues of organizational resistance to reengineering of business processes in construction of transport infrastructure. Reengineering in a company of transport sector is, first and foremost, an innovative component of business strategy. We analyze the choice of forward and reverse reengineering tools and terms of their application in connection with organizational resistance. Reengineering is defined taking into account four aspects: fundamentality, radicality, abruptness, business process. We describe the stages of reengineering and analyze key requirements to newly created business processes.

Neoclassical transport coefficients for tokamaks with bean-shaped flux surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, C.S.; Kaye, S.M.

1990-11-01

Simple analytic representations of the neoclassical transport coefficients for indented flux surfaces are presented. It is shown that a transport coefficient for an indented flux surface can be expressed in terms of a linear combination of the previously known transport coefficients for two nonindented flux surfaces. Numerical calculations based on actual equilibria from the PBX-M tokamak indicate that, even for modestly indented flux surfaces, the ion neoclassical thermal transport can be over a factor of two smaller than in a circular plasma with the same midplane radius or with the equivalent areas. 6 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

Current and future flood risk to railway infrastructure in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Bubeck, Philip; Kellermann, Patric; Alfieri, Lorenzo; Feyen, Luc; Dillenardt, Lisa; Thieken, Annegret H.

2017-04-01

Railway infrastructure plays an important role in the transportation of freight and passengers across the European Union. According to Eurostat, more than four billion passenger-kilometres were travelled on national and international railway lines of the EU28 in 2014. To further strengthen transport infrastructure in Europe, the European Commission will invest another € 24.05 billion in the transnational transport network until 2020 as part of its new transport infrastructure policy (TEN-T), including railway infrastructure. Floods pose a significant risk to infrastructure elements. Damage data of recent flood events in Europe show that infrastructure losses can make up a considerable share of overall losses. For example, damage to state and municipal infrastructure in the federal state of Saxony (Germany) accounted for nearly 60% of overall losses during the large-scale event in June 2013. Especially in mountainous areas with little usable space available, roads and railway lines often follow floodplains or are located along steep and unsteady slopes. In Austria, for instance, the flood of 2013 caused € 75 million of direct damage to railway infrastructure. Despite the importance of railway infrastructure and its exposure to flooding, assessments of potential damage and risk (i.e. probability * damage) are still in its infancy compared with other sectors, such as the residential or industrial sector. Infrastructure-specific assessments at the regional scale are largely lacking. Regional assessment of potential damage to railway infrastructure has been hampered by a lack of infrastructure-specific damage models and data availability. The few available regional approaches have used damage models that assess damage to various infrastructure elements (e.g. roads, railway, airports and harbours) using one aggregated damage function and cost estimate. Moreover, infrastructure elements are often considerably underrepresented in regional land cover data, such as

Transportation infrastructure upgrades in the South: A compilation of state plans for construction near nuclear reactor sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-03-01

There are currently 27 nuclear reactor sites located in the southern region. In many instances, the most practicable modes of transportation of spent nuclear fuel from these sites we through the use of highway and rail systems. These two transportation modes have important differences that affect their applicability; chief among these, perhaps, is the fact that while highway systems are publicly owned and maintained rail lines are owned by private entities. For this reason, track condition and maintenance, usage rates and other aspects of rail transport can vary widely. This report reviews southern state, department plans for infrastructure upgrades in the vicinity of nuclear reactor sites. This report includes a summary of planned modifications to bridges, access highways, and rail spurs (where applicable) over the next five years. The information contained herein was gathered from interviews with officials within state departments of transportation. With few exceptions, the contact person was an official within the departmental planning division

Office of Aviation Safety Infrastructure -

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — The Office of Aviation Safety Infrastructure (AVS INF) provides authentication and access control to AVS network resources for users. This is done via a distributed...

Urban Green Infrastructure: German Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Olegovna Dushkova

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a concept of urban green infrastructure and analyzes the features of its implementation in the urban development programmes of German cities. We analyzed the most shared articles devoted to the urban green infrastructure to see different approaches to definition of this term. It is based on materials of field research in the cities of Berlin and Leipzig in 2014-2015, international and national scientific publications. During the process of preparing the paper, consultations have been held with experts from scientific institutions and Administrations of Berlin and Leipzig as well as local experts from environmental organizations of both cities. Using the German cities of Berlin and Leipzig as examples, this paper identifies how the concept can be implemented in the program of urban development. It presents the main elements of green city model, which include mitigation of negative anthropogenic impact on the environment under the framework of urban sustainable development. Essential part of it is a complex ecological policy as a major necessary tool for the implementation of the green urban infrastructure concept. This ecological policy should embody not only some ecological measurements, but also a greening of all urban infrastructure elements as well as implementation of sustainable living with a greater awareness of the resources, which are used in everyday life, and development of environmental thinking among urban citizens. Urban green infrastructure is a unity of four main components: green building, green transportation, eco-friendly waste management, green transport routes and ecological corridors. Experience in the development of urban green infrastructure in Germany can be useful to improve the environmental situation in Russian cities.

People at risk - nexus critical infrastructure and society

Science.gov (United States)

Heiser, Micha; Thaler, Thomas; Fuchs, Sven

2016-04-01

Strategic infrastructure networks include the highly complex and interconnected systems that are so vital to a city or state that any sudden disruption can result in debilitating impacts on human life, the economy and the society as a whole. Recently, various studies have applied complex network-based models to study the performance and vulnerability of infrastructure systems under various types of attacks and hazards - a major part of them is, particularly after the 9/11 incident, related to terrorism attacks. Here, vulnerability is generally defined as the performance drop of an infrastructure system under a given disruptive event. The performance can be measured by different metrics, which correspond to various levels of resilience. In this paper, we will address vulnerability and exposure of critical infrastructure in the Eastern Alps. The Federal State Tyrol is an international transport route and an essential component of the north-south transport connectivity in Europe. Any interruption of the transport flow leads to incommensurable consequences in terms of indirect losses, since the system does not feature redundant elements at comparable economic efficiency. Natural hazard processes such as floods, debris flows, rock falls and avalanches, endanger this infrastructure line, such as large flood events in 2005 or 2012, rock falls 2014, which had strong impacts to the critical infrastructure, such as disruption of the railway lines (in 2005 and 2012), highways and motorways (in 2014). The aim of this paper is to present how critical infrastructures as well as communities and societies are vulnerable and can be resilient against natural hazard risks and the relative cascading effects to different compartments (industrial, infrastructural, societal, institutional, cultural, etc.), which is the dominant by the type of hazard (avalanches, torrential flooding, debris flow, rock falls). Specific themes will be addressed in various case studies to allow cross

Turbulent transport in the atmospheric surface layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tagesson, Torbern [Dept. of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund Univ., Lund (Sweden)

2012-04-15

In the modelling of transport and accumulation of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (C-14) in the case of a potential release from a future repository of radioactive waste, it is important to describe the transport of the isotope in the atmosphere. This report aims to describe the turbulent transport within the lower part of the atmosphere; the inertial surface layer and the roughness sublayer. Transport in the inertial surface layer is dependent on several factors, whereof some can be neglected under certain circumstances. Under steady state conditions, fully developed turbulent conditions, in flat and horizontal homogeneous areas, it is possible to apply an eddy diffusivity approach for estimating vertical transport of C. The eddy diffusivity model assumes that there is proportionality between the vertical gradient and the transport of C. The eddy diffusivity is depending on the atmospheric turbulence, which is affected by the interaction between mean wind and friction of the ground surface and of the sensible heat flux in the atmosphere. In this report, it is described how eddy diffusivity of the inertial surface layer can be estimated from 3-d wind measurements and measurements of sensible heat fluxes. It is also described how to estimate the eddy diffusivity in the inertial surface layer from profile measurements of temperature and wind speed. Close to the canopy, wind and C profiles are influenced by effects of the surface roughness; this section of the atmosphere is called the roughness sublayer. Its height is up to {approx}3 times the height of the plant canopy. When the mean wind interacts with the canopy, turbulence is not only produced by shear stress and buoyancy, it is additionally created by wakes, which are formed behind the plants. Turbulence is higher than it would be over a flat surface, and the turbulent transport is hereby more efficient. Above the plant canopy, but still within the roughness sublayer, a function that compensates for the effect

Turbulent transport in the atmospheric surface layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagesson, Torbern

2012-04-01

In the modelling of transport and accumulation of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (C-14) in the case of a potential release from a future repository of radioactive waste, it is important to describe the transport of the isotope in the atmosphere. This report aims to describe the turbulent transport within the lower part of the atmosphere; the inertial surface layer and the roughness sublayer. Transport in the inertial surface layer is dependent on several factors, whereof some can be neglected under certain circumstances. Under steady state conditions, fully developed turbulent conditions, in flat and horizontal homogeneous areas, it is possible to apply an eddy diffusivity approach for estimating vertical transport of C. The eddy diffusivity model assumes that there is proportionality between the vertical gradient and the transport of C. The eddy diffusivity is depending on the atmospheric turbulence, which is affected by the interaction between mean wind and friction of the ground surface and of the sensible heat flux in the atmosphere. In this report, it is described how eddy diffusivity of the inertial surface layer can be estimated from 3-d wind measurements and measurements of sensible heat fluxes. It is also described how to estimate the eddy diffusivity in the inertial surface layer from profile measurements of temperature and wind speed. Close to the canopy, wind and C profiles are influenced by effects of the surface roughness; this section of the atmosphere is called the roughness sublayer. Its height is up to ∼3 times the height of the plant canopy. When the mean wind interacts with the canopy, turbulence is not only produced by shear stress and buoyancy, it is additionally created by wakes, which are formed behind the plants. Turbulence is higher than it would be over a flat surface, and the turbulent transport is hereby more efficient. Above the plant canopy, but still within the roughness sublayer, a function that compensates for the effect of

Surface electronic transport measurements: A micro multi-point probe approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barreto, Lucas

2014-01-01

This work is mostly focused on the study of electronic transport properties of two-dimensional materials, in particular graphene and topological insulators. To study these, we have improved a unique micro multi-point probe instrument used to perform transport measurements. Not only the experimental...... quantities are extracted, such as conductivity, carrier density and carrier mobility. • A method to insulate electrically epitaxial graphene grown on metals, based on a stepwise intercalation methodology, is developed and transport measurements are performed in order to test the insulation. • We show...... a direct measurement of the surface electronic transport on a bulk topological insulator. The surface state conductivity and mobility are obtained. Apart from transport properties, we also investigate the atomic structure of the Bi2Se3(111) surface via surface x-ray diraction and low-energy electron...

Impact of Infrastructure and Production Processes on Rioja Wine Supply Chain Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Roberto Díaz-Reza

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a structural equation model for analyzing the relationship between four latent variables: infrastructure, production processes, transport benefits, and economic benefits within the supply chain for wine from La Rioja, Spain, by incorporating 12 observed variables. The model proposes six hypothesis that were tested using information gathered from 64 surveys completed by managers of several wineries in the region. The WarpPLS v.5® software (Version 5.0, Script Warp Systems, Laredo, TX, USA was used to execute the model and analyze the direct, indirect, and total effects among latent variables. The results show that the control of production processes is a direct source of economic and transport benefits because of its higher explanatory power of those variables. Similarly, infrastructure is a direct source of transport and production benefits, and some of them are given indirectly. In addition, infrastructure does not have a direct effect on economic benefits; however, there were indirect effects given through production process and transport benefits. Infrastructure is a very important variable because of its influence in the final performance, but also because of its high environmental impact. Finally, economic benefits were explained in 43.8%, 19.1% belonging to production process, 21.1% coming from transport benefits, and 3.7% from infrastructure.

Handbook on Securing Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructure

CERN Document Server

Das, Sajal K; Zhang, Nan

2012-01-01

The worldwide reach of the Internet allows malicious cyber criminals to coordinate and launch attacks on both cyber and cyber-physical infrastructure from anywhere in the world. This purpose of this handbook is to introduce the theoretical foundations and practical solution techniques for securing critical cyber and physical infrastructures as well as their underlying computing and communication architectures and systems. Examples of such infrastructures include utility networks (e.g., electrical power grids), ground transportation systems (automotives, roads, bridges and tunnels), airports a

Stormwater Infrastructure Effects on Urban Nitrogen Budgets

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, R. L.; Turnbull, L.; Earl, S.; Moratto, S.; Shorts, D.; Grimm, N. B.

2012-12-01

The effects of urbanization on downstream ecosystems, particularly due to changes in nutrient inputs and altered hydrology are well studied. Less is known, however, about nutrient transport and processing within urban watersheds. Previous research has focused on the roles of land cover and land use but drainage system design and configuration also are apt to play a significant role in controlling the transport of water and nutrients downstream. Furthermore, variability in drainage systems within and between cities may lead to differences in the effects of urbanization on downstream ecosystems over time and space. We established a nested stormwater sampling network with 10 watersheds ranging in size from 5 to 22,000 ha in the Indian Bend Wash watershed in Scottsdale, AZ. Small (density residential) but were drained by a variety of stormwater infrastructure including surface runoff, pipes, natural or engineered washes, and retention basins. We quantified discharge and precipitation at the outflow of each subwatershed and collected stormwater and rainfall samples for analyses of dissolved nitrogen species and δ15N, δ18O and Δ17O isotopes of nitrate (NO3) over two years. We also measured potential denitrification rates in washes and retention basins within our sites, and collected soil and pavement samples to describe pools of N within our watersheds. We used these data in combination with literature data on soil N transformations to construct N budgets for each watershed for a single event and at annual scales. We found that stormwater infrastructure type strongly affects N retention. Watersheds with surface or pipe drainage were sources of N downstream, whereas watersheds drained by washes or retention basins retained 70-99% of N inputs in rainfall. Event scale N retention was strongly correlated with hydrologic connectivity, as measured by runoff coefficients. Differences in δ15N, δ18O, and Δ17O isotopes of NO3 suggested that watersheds with decreased

High Friction Surface Treatments, Transportation Research Synthesis

Science.gov (United States)

2018-03-01

MnDOT and local transportation agencies in Minnesota are considering the use of a high friction surface treatment (HFST) as a safety strategy. HFST is used as a spot pavement surfacing treatment in locations with high friction demand (for example, cr...

Transport Powder and Liquid Samples by Surface Acoustic Waves

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Xiaoqi; Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Sherrit, Stewart; Badescu, Mircea; Louyeh, Sahar

2009-01-01

Sample transport is an important requirement for In-situ analysis of samples in NASA planetary exploration missions. Tests have shown that powders or liquid drops on a surface can be transported by surface acoustic waves (SAW) that are generated on the surface using interdigital transducers. The phenomena were investigated experimentally and to generate SAWs interdigital electrodes were deposited on wafers of 128 deg rotated Y-cut LiNbO?. Transporting capability of the SAW device was tested using particles of various sizes and drops of various viscosities liquids. Because of different interaction mechanisms with the SAWs, the powders and the liquid drops were observed to move in opposite directions. In the preliminary tests, a speed of 180 mm/s was achieved for powder transportation. The detailed experimental setup and results are presented in this paper. The transporting mechanism can potentially be applied to miniaturize sample analysis system or " lab-on-chip" devices.

Linear infrastructure impacts on landscape hydrology.

Science.gov (United States)

Raiter, Keren G; Prober, Suzanne M; Possingham, Hugh P; Westcott, Fiona; Hobbs, Richard J

2018-01-15

The extent of roads and other forms of linear infrastructure is burgeoning worldwide, but their impacts are inadequately understood and thus poorly mitigated. Previous studies have identified many potential impacts, including alterations to the hydrological functions and soil processes upon which ecosystems depend. However, these impacts have seldom been quantified at a regional level, particularly in arid and semi-arid systems where the gap in knowledge is the greatest, and impacts potentially the most severe. To explore the effects of extensive track, road, and rail networks on surface hydrology at a regional level we assessed over 1000 km of linear infrastructure, including approx. 300 locations where ephemeral streams crossed linear infrastructure, in the largely intact landscapes of Australia's Great Western Woodlands. We found a high level of association between linear infrastructure and altered surface hydrology, with erosion and pooling 5 and 6 times as likely to occur on-road than off-road on average (1.06 erosional and 0.69 pooling features km -1 on vehicle tracks, compared with 0.22 and 0.12 km -1 , off-road, respectively). Erosion severity was greater in the presence of tracks, and 98% of crossings of ephemeral streamlines showed some evidence of impact on water movement (flow impedance (62%); diversion of flows (73%); flow concentration (76%); and/or channel initiation (31%)). Infrastructure type, pastoral land use, culvert presence, soil clay content and erodibility, mean annual rainfall, rainfall erosivity, topography and bare soil cover influenced the frequency and severity of these impacts. We conclude that linear infrastructure frequently affects ephemeral stream flows and intercepts natural overland and near-surface flows, artificially changing site-scale moisture regimes, with some parts of the landscape becoming abnormally wet and other parts becoming water-starved. In addition, linear infrastructure frequently triggers or exacerbates erosion

INFRASTRUCTURE

CERN Multimedia

A. Gaddi and P. Tropea

2012-01-01

The CMS Infrastructures teams are preparing for the LS1 activities. A long list of maintenance, consolidation and upgrade projects for CMS Infrastructures is on the table and is being discussed among Technical Coordination and sub-detector representatives. Apart from the activities concerning the cooling infrastructures (see below), two main projects have started: the refurbishment of the SX5 building, from storage area to RP storage and Muon stations laboratory; and the procurement of a new dry-gas (nitrogen and dry air) plant for inner detector flushing. We briefly present here the work done on the first item, leaving the second one for the next CMS Bulletin issue. The SX5 building is entering its third era, from main assembly building for CMS from 2000 to 2007, to storage building from 2008 to 2012, to RP storage and Muon laboratory during LS1 and beyond. A wall of concrete blocks has been erected to limit the RP zone, while the rest of the surface has been split between the ME1/1 and the CSC/DT laborat...

Transport properties of high-temperature superconductors: Surface vs bulk effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burlachkov, L.; Koshelev, A.E.; Vinokur, V.M.

1996-01-01

We investigate surface-related transport properties of high-temperature superconductors. We find the mean vortex velocity under applied transport current determined by the activation energies for vortex penetration and exit through the Bean-Livingston barrier. We determine the current distribution between the surfaces of superconductor and the field and current dependencies of the transport activation energies. For a three-dimensional superconductor the transport activation energy, U s 3D , is found to decrease with the external field, H, and transport current, J, as U s 3D ∝H -1/2 and U s 3D ∝J -1/2 , respectively. In the quasi-two-dimensional compounds, U s 2D decays logarithmically with field and current. The interplay between the surface and the bulk contributions to the transport properties, such as current-voltage characteristics, is discussed. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

The future of infrastructure security :

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia, Pablo; Turnley, Jessica Glicken; Parrott, Lori K.

2013-05-01

Sandia National Laboratories hosted a workshop on the future of infrastructure security on February 27-28, 2013, in Albuquerque, NM. The 17 participants came from backgrounds as diverse as federal policy, the insurance industry, infrastructure management, and technology development. The purpose of the workshop was to surface key issues, identify directions forward, and lay groundwork for cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary collaborations. The workshop addressed issues such as the problem space (what is included in infrastructure problems?), the general types of threats to infrastructure (such as acute or chronic, system-inherent or exogenously imposed) and definitions of secure and resilient infrastructures. The workshop concluded with a consideration of stakeholders and players in the infrastructure world, and identification of specific activities that could be undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other players.

Activity-Dependent Regulation of Surface Glucose Transporter-3

OpenAIRE

Ferreira, Jainne M.; Burnett, Arthur L.; Rameau, Gerald A.

2011-01-01

Glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) is the main facilitative glucose transporter in neurons. Glucose provides neurons with a critical energy source for neuronal activity. However, the mechanism by which neuronal activity controls glucose influx via GLUT3 is unknown. We investigated the influence of synaptic stimulation on GLUT3 surface expression and glucose import in primary cultured cortical and hippocampal neurons. Synaptic activity increased surface expression of GLUT3 leading to an elevation o...

Investing in Port Infrastructure to Lower Trade Costs in East Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazutomo Abe

2011-06-01

Full Text Available We examine how port infrastructure affects trade and role of transport costs in driving exports and imports for East Asia. Existing studies use survey indexes to explain transport costs. These do not link investment in port infrastructure to transport costs. We include in our estimates a variable to represent the congestion of the ports to explain the transport costs. We find that the port congestion has significantly increased the transport costs from East Asia to the United States. Our analysis suggests that increase in port capacity by 10 percent could cut transport cost in East Asia by up to three percent. This translates into a 0.3 to 0.5 percent across-the-board tariff cut.

Assessing large-scale wildlife responses to human infrastructure development.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, Aurora; Jaeger, Jochen A G; Alonso, Juan Carlos

2016-07-26

Habitat loss and deterioration represent the main threats to wildlife species, and are closely linked to the expansion of roads and human settlements. Unfortunately, large-scale effects of these structures remain generally overlooked. Here, we analyzed the European transportation infrastructure network and found that 50% of the continent is within 1.5 km of transportation infrastructure. We present a method for assessing the impacts from infrastructure on wildlife, based on functional response curves describing density reductions in birds and mammals (e.g., road-effect zones), and apply it to Spain as a case study. The imprint of infrastructure extends over most of the country (55.5% in the case of birds and 97.9% for mammals), with moderate declines predicted for birds (22.6% of individuals) and severe declines predicted for mammals (46.6%). Despite certain limitations, we suggest the approach proposed is widely applicable to the evaluation of effects of planned infrastructure developments under multiple scenarios, and propose an internationally coordinated strategy to update and improve it in the future.

MODERNIZATION OF NATIONAL ECONOMY THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL PRODUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. G. Guilyadov

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Any region’s economy comprises production and non-production spheres which are interconnected and equivalent. Key part of any regional production sphere is its production infrastructure whose value is double: it defines the level of regional economic development on one hand, andinterrelation with the whole national economy on the other hand. The greatest and most important regional production infrastructure elements are transportation infrastructure, information/communication infrastructure and communal infrastructure. Analysis and solution of issues related to development of the basic regional production infrastructure elements as suggested in the article will be very useful for modernization of the national economy.

Integration of RAMS in LCC analysis for linear transport infrastructures. A case study for railways.

Science.gov (United States)

Calle-Cordón, Álvaro; Jiménez-Redondo, Noemi; Morales-Gámiz, F. J.; García-Villena, F. A.; Garmabaki, Amir H. S.; Odelius, Johan

2017-09-01

Life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis is an economic technique used to assess the total costs associated with the lifetime of a system in order to support decision making in long term strategic planning. For complex systems, such as railway and road infrastructures, the cost of maintenance plays an important role in the LCC analysis. Costs associated with maintenance interventions can be more reliably estimated by integrating the probabilistic nature of the failures associated to these interventions in the LCC models. Reliability, Maintainability, Availability and Safety (RAMS) parameters describe the maintenance needs of an asset in a quantitative way by using probabilistic information extracted from registered maintenance activities. Therefore, the integration of RAMS in the LCC analysis allows obtaining reliable predictions of system maintenance costs and the dependencies of these costs with specific cost drivers through sensitivity analyses. This paper presents an innovative approach for a combined RAMS & LCC methodology for railway and road transport infrastructures being developed under the on-going H2020 project INFRALERT. Such RAMS & LCC analysis provides relevant probabilistic information to be used for condition and risk-based planning of maintenance activities as well as for decision support in long term strategic investment planning.

Broad economic benefits of freight transportation infrastructure improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-01

This project strives to introduce a novel way to quantify the broad re-organization benefits associated with an : improvement in the freight infrastructure. Using the approach based on 1) the technique known as Field of Influence, and : 2) RAS adjust...

Integrating Critical Disability Studies into the Historiography of Infrastructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galis, Vasilis; Tympas, Aristotle; Tzokas, Spyros

Infrastructures are habitually associated with enabling, with facilitating mobility. Attention to accidents and related failures of infrastructures, due to accidental or endemic reasons, has substantially enriched the historiography of infrastructures while, at the same time, pointing to limits...... infrastructures became sites for regulating and controlling certain groups. Seen like this, transport technologies, at remote national borders and in the heart of a national metropolis, were a key field for sociotechnical battles that produced dis/abled-displaced bodies, that is, a new corporeal subject. Dis...... idea of the human being “(Shildrick, 2010)....

Lunar transportation system

Science.gov (United States)

1993-07-01

The University Space Research Association (USRA) requested the University of Minnesota Spacecraft Design Team to design a lunar transportation infrastructure. This task was a year long design effort culminating in a complete conceptual design and presentation at Johnson Space Center. The mission objective of the design group was to design a system of vehicles to bring a habitation module, cargo, and crew to the lunar surface from LEO and return either or both crew and cargo safely to LEO while emphasizing component commonality, reusability, and cost effectiveness. During the course of the design, the lunar transportation system (LTS) has taken on many forms. The final design of the system is composed of two vehicles, a lunar transfer vehicle (LTV) and a lunar excursion vehicle (LEV). The LTV serves as an efficient orbital transfer vehicle between the earth and the moon while the LEV carries crew and cargo to the lunar surface. Presented in the report are the mission analysis, systems layout, orbital mechanics, propulsion systems, structural and thermal analysis, and crew systems, avionics, and power systems for this lunar transportation concept.

The use of the natural-gas pipeline infrastructure for hydrogen transport in a changing market structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeseldonckx, Dries; D'haeseleer, William

2007-01-01

In this paper, the transport and distribution aspects of hydrogen during the transition period towards a possible full-blown hydrogen economy are carefully looked at. Firstly, the energetic and material aspects of hydrogen transport through the existing natural-gas (NG) pipeline infrastructure is discussed. Hereby, only the use of centrifugal compressors and the short-term security of supply seem to constitute a problem for the NG to hydrogen transition. Subsequently, the possibility of percentwise mixing of hydrogen into the NG bulk is dealt with. Mixtures containing up to 17 vol% of hydrogen should not cause difficulties. As soon as more hydrogen is injected, replacement of end-use applications and some pipelines will be necessary. Finally, the transition towards full-blown hydrogen transport in (previously carrying) NG pipelines is treated. Some policy guidelines are offered, both in a regulated and a liberalised energy (gas) market. As a conclusion, it can be stated that the use of hydrogen-natural gas mixtures seems well suited for the transition from natural gas to hydrogen on a distribution (low pressure) level. However, getting the hydrogen gas to the distribution grid, by means of the transport grid, remains a major issue. In the end, the structure of the market, regulated or liberalised, turns out not to be important. (author)

Planning Public Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jonas Lohmann Elkjær; Landex, Alex

2009-01-01

This good practice guide is composed for the master course 13120 Public Transport Planning held at the Department of Transport, Technical University of Denmark. It is intended to use as guide in the different planning aspects and assignments of the course. Since the course is about the planning...... of new public transport infrastructure this guide also focuses on the planning of new infrastructure. Furthermore, the new infrastructure in the course is expected to be a light rail and even though this guide aims at being general for public transport some of the issues evidently become more relevant...... will enable a capability for planning both bus and rail. The guide is build as a full sketch investigation of a new public transport project ranging chronological from project clarification to physical and timetable planning to traffic modeling and project appraisal. The same steps that are expected...

Sustainable infrastructure system modeling under uncertainties and dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yongxi

Infrastructure systems support human activities in transportation, communication, water use, and energy supply. The dissertation research focuses on critical transportation infrastructure and renewable energy infrastructure systems. The goal of the research efforts is to improve the sustainability of the infrastructure systems, with an emphasis on economic viability, system reliability and robustness, and environmental impacts. The research efforts in critical transportation infrastructure concern the development of strategic robust resource allocation strategies in an uncertain decision-making environment, considering both uncertain service availability and accessibility. The study explores the performances of different modeling approaches (i.e., deterministic, stochastic programming, and robust optimization) to reflect various risk preferences. The models are evaluated in a case study of Singapore and results demonstrate that stochastic modeling methods in general offers more robust allocation strategies compared to deterministic approaches in achieving high coverage to critical infrastructures under risks. This general modeling framework can be applied to other emergency service applications, such as, locating medical emergency services. The development of renewable energy infrastructure system development aims to answer the following key research questions: (1) is the renewable energy an economically viable solution? (2) what are the energy distribution and infrastructure system requirements to support such energy supply systems in hedging against potential risks? (3) how does the energy system adapt the dynamics from evolving technology and societal needs in the transition into a renewable energy based society? The study of Renewable Energy System Planning with Risk Management incorporates risk management into its strategic planning of the supply chains. The physical design and operational management are integrated as a whole in seeking mitigations against the

Energy-Efficient Cooperative Techniques for Infrastructure-to-Vehicle Communications

OpenAIRE

Nguyen , Tuan-Duc; Berder , Olivier; Sentieys , Olivier

2011-01-01

International audience; In wireless distributed networks, cooperative relay and cooperative Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) techniques can be used to exploit the spatial and temporal diversity gain in order to increase the performance or reduce the transmission energy consumption. The energy efficiency of cooperative MIMO and relay techniques is then very useful for the Infrastructure to Vehicle (I2V) and Infrastructure to Infrastructure (I2I) communications in Intelligent Transport Systems (I...

Requirements for a systems-based research and development management process in transport infrastructure engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rust, Frederik Christoffel

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The management of research and development (R&D in the transport infrastructure field is complex due to the multidisciplinary nature of the work. The literature shows that linear R&D models that progress from idea through to consumer product are not suitable for the management of such multi-disciplinary projects. This study focuses on determining the key characteristics required for a systems-based approach to the management of R&D projects. The information and data was compiled from literature reviews, interviews, and an e-mail survey with responses from 42 significant international R&D programmes. The findings confirmed the need for a systems-based approach to R&D management. The study formulated twelve principles or tenets for a new, systems-based approach.

International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference 2013

CERN Document Server

Yusoff, Marina; Ismail, Zulhabri; Amin, Norliyati; Fadzil, Mohd

2014-01-01

The special focus of this proceedings is to cover the areas of infrastructure engineering and sustainability management. The state-of-the art information in infrastructure and sustainable issues in engineering covers earthquake, bioremediation, synergistic management, timber engineering, flood management and intelligent transport systems. It provides precise information with regards to innovative research development in construction materials and structures in addition to a compilation of interdisciplinary finding combining nano-materials and engineering.

International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference 2014

CERN Document Server

Yusoff, Marina; Alisibramulisi, Anizahyati; Amin, Norliyati; Ismail, Zulhabri

2015-01-01

The special focus of this proceedings is to cover the areas of infrastructure engineering and sustainability management. The state-of-the art information in infrastructure and sustainable issues in engineering covers earthquake, bioremediation, synergistic management, timber engineering, flood management and intelligent transport systems. It provides precise information with regards to innovative research development in construction materials and structures in addition to a compilation of interdisciplinary finding combining nano-materials and engineering.

Quantifying the conservation gains from shared access to linear infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Runge, Claire A; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Gordon, Ascelin; Rhodes, Jonathan R

2017-12-01

The proliferation of linear infrastructure such as roads and railways is a major global driver of cumulative biodiversity loss. One strategy for reducing habitat loss associated with development is to encourage linear infrastructure providers and users to share infrastructure networks. We quantified the reductions in biodiversity impact and capital costs under linear infrastructure sharing of a range of potential mine to port transportation links for 47 mine locations operated by 28 separate companies in the Upper Spencer Gulf Region of South Australia. We mapped transport links based on least-cost pathways for different levels of linear-infrastructure sharing and used expert-elicited impacts of linear infrastructure to estimate the consequences for biodiversity. Capital costs were calculated based on estimates of construction costs, compensation payments, and transaction costs. We evaluated proposed mine-port links by comparing biodiversity impacts and capital costs across 3 scenarios: an independent scenario, where no infrastructure is shared; a restricted-access scenario, where the largest mining companies share infrastructure but exclude smaller mining companies from sharing; and a shared scenario where all mining companies share linear infrastructure. Fully shared development of linear infrastructure reduced overall biodiversity impacts by 76% and reduced capital costs by 64% compared with the independent scenario. However, there was considerable variation among companies. Our restricted-access scenario showed only modest biodiversity benefits relative to the independent scenario, indicating that reductions are likely to be limited if the dominant mining companies restrict access to infrastructure, which often occurs without policies that promote sharing of infrastructure. Our research helps illuminate the circumstances under which infrastructure sharing can minimize the biodiversity impacts of development. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published

Sediment Transport Model for a Surface Irrigation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damodhara R. Mailapalli

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Controlling irrigation-induced soil erosion is one of the important issues of irrigation management and surface water impairment. Irrigation models are useful in managing the irrigation and the associated ill effects on agricultural environment. In this paper, a physically based surface irrigation model was developed to predict sediment transport in irrigated furrows by integrating an irrigation hydraulic model with a quasi-steady state sediment transport model to predict sediment load in furrow irrigation. The irrigation hydraulic model simulates flow in a furrow irrigation system using the analytically solved zero-inertial overland flow equations and 1D-Green-Ampt, 2D-Fok, and Kostiakov-Lewis infiltration equations. Performance of the sediment transport model was evaluated for bare and cropped furrow fields. The results indicated that the sediment transport model can predict the initial sediment rate adequately, but the simulated sediment rate was less accurate for the later part of the irrigation event. Sensitivity analysis of the parameters of the sediment module showed that the soil erodibility coefficient was the most influential parameter for determining sediment load in furrow irrigation. The developed modeling tool can be used as a water management tool for mitigating sediment loss from the surface irrigated fields.

CIMS: A FRAMEWORK FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INTERDEPENDENCY MODELING AND ANALYSIS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donald D. Dudenhoeffer; May R. Permann; Milos Manic

2006-12-01

Today’s society relies greatly upon an array of complex national and international infrastructure networks such as transportation, utilities, telecommunication, and even financial networks. While modeling and simulation tools have provided insight into the behavior of individual infrastructure networks, a far less understood area is that of the interrelationships among multiple infrastructure networks including the potential cascading effects that may result due to these interdependencies. This paper first describes infrastructure interdependencies as well as presenting a formalization of interdependency types. Next the paper describes a modeling and simulation framework called CIMS© and the work that is being conducted at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to model and simulate infrastructure interdependencies and the complex behaviors that can result.

Development of a lunar infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, J. D.

1988-01-01

The problem of building an infrastructure on the moon is discussed, assuming that earth-to-moon and moon-to-earth transport will be available. The sequence of events which would occur in the process of building an infrastructure is examined. The human needs which must be met on a lunar base are discussed, including minimal life support, quality of life, and growth stages. The technology available to meet these needs is reviewed and further research in fields related to a lunar base, such as the study of the moon's polar regions and the limits of lunar agriculture, is recommended.

System-of-Systems Considerations in the Notional Development of a Metropolitan Aerial Transportation System. [Implications as to the Identification of Enabling Technologies and Reference Designs for Extreme Short Haul VTOL Vehicles With Electric Propulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso, Juan J.; Arneson, Heather M.; Melton, John E.; Vegh, Michael; Walker, Cedric; Young, Larry A.

2017-01-01

There are substantial future challenges related to sustaining and improving efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly transportation options for urban regions. Over the past several decades there has been a worldwide trend towards increasing urbanization of society. Accompanying this urbanization are increasing surface transportation infrastructure costs and, despite public infrastructure investments, increasing surface transportation "gridlock." In addition to this global urbanization trend, there has been a substantial increase in concern regarding energy sustainability, fossil fuel emissions, and the potential implications of global climate change. A recently completed study investigated the feasibility of an aviation solution for future urban transportation (refs. 1, 2). Such an aerial transportation system could ideally address some of the above noted concerns related to urbanization, transportation gridlock, and fossil fuel emissions (ref. 3). A metro/regional aerial transportation system could also provide enhanced transportation flexibility to accommodate extraordinary events such as surface (rail/road) transportation network disruptions and emergency/disaster relief responses.

Causal pathways linking environmental change with health behaviour change: Natural experimental study of new transport infrastructure and cycling to work.

Science.gov (United States)

Prins, R G; Panter, J; Heinen, E; Griffin, S J; Ogilvie, D B

2016-06-01

Mechanisms linking changes to the environment with changes in physical activity are poorly understood. Insights into mechanisms of interventions can help strengthen causal attribution and improve understanding of divergent response patterns. We examined the causal pathways linking exposure to new transport infrastructure with changes in cycling to work. We used baseline (2009) and follow-up (2012) data (N=469) from the Commuting and Health in Cambridge natural experimental study (Cambridge, UK). Exposure to new infrastructure in the form of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway was defined using residential proximity. Mediators studied were changes in perceptions of the route to work, theory of planned behaviour constructs and self-reported use of the new infrastructure. Outcomes were modelled as an increase, decrease or no change in weekly cycle commuting time. We used regression analyses to identify combinations of mediators forming potential pathways between exposure and outcome. We then tested these pathways in a path model and stratified analyses by baseline level of active commuting. We identified changes in perceptions of the route to work, and use of the cycle path, as potential mediators. Of these potential mediators, only use of the path significantly explained (85%) the effect of the infrastructure in increasing cycling. Path use also explained a decrease in cycling among more active commuters. The findings strengthen the causal argument that changing the environment led to changes in health-related behaviour via use of the new infrastructure, but also show how some commuters may have spent less time cycling as a result. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Personalized Infrastructure: Leveraging Behavioral Strategies for Future Mobility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duvall, Andrew L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-10-23

For decades, the transportation system has been built to position the personal automobile at the pinnacle of mobility options. This prominence is strongly reflected in individual and population behaviors, and supported by coevolved transportation policy, social norms, funding, and physical structures. Such has been the status quo for the living memory of the U.S. population. However, with the advent of emergent, technologically driven mobility options, the transportation system is in an era of rapid and disruptive change. No longer is transportation infrastructure an externality predominantly composed of physical elements; it is also now a personalized interface carried in the pockets of the majority of the population. Perceptions of personal mobility are evolving, in large part because of the proliferation of smartphone technology and the related Internet of Things (IoT), which will become increasingly essential within future transportation systems. With the emergence of personalized mobility infrastructure, many intervention approaches to influence transportation behavior do not adequately acknowledge the complexity of the social/digital environment within which transportation decisions are made. Transportation decisions are influenced by multiple facets, including costs and benefits in time and money, but also by sociocultural elements shaped by social norms and diffusion of ideas. Understanding of factors that lead to transportation behaviors can help to identify incentives and leverage points whereby alternative choices may be most accepted by individuals, and which, if well coordinated, may lead to improved transportation energy outcomes. How can change be initiated to shift away from the transportation status quo? Is it possible to use technologically delivered incentives to produce meaningful changes in transportation behavior? What types of incentives and at what perceived value is necessary to induce changes in behavior? As transportation agencies look

Sand Transport under Highly Turbulent Airflow on a Beach Surface

Science.gov (United States)

Baas, A. C. W.; Jackson, D. W. T.; Cooper, J. A. G.; Lynch, K.; Delgado-Fernandez, I.; Beyers, J. H. M.

2012-04-01

The past decade has seen a growing body of research on the relation between turbulence in the wind and the resultant transport of sediment over active sand surfaces. Widespread use of sonic anemometry and high-frequency sand transport sensors and traps have facilitated recent field studies over dunes and beach surfaces, to move beyond monitoring of mean wind speed and bulk transport to more detailed measurements at much higher spatio-temporal resolutions. In this paper we present results of a field study conducted in the recirculation flow and re-attachment zone on a beach behind a foredune at Magilligan Strand, Northern Ireland. The offshore winds over the foredune at this site are associated with flow separation and reversal located over the beach surface in the lee of the dune row, often strong enough to induce sand transport toward the toe of the foredune ('against' the overall offshore flow). The re-attachment and recirculation zone are associated with strongly turbulent fluid flow and complex streamlines that do not follow the underlying topography. High frequency (25 Hz) wind and sand transport data were collected at a grid of point locations distributed over the beach surface between 35 m to 55 m distance from the 10 m high dune crest, using ultrasonic anemometers at 0.5 m height and co-located load cell traps and Safires at the bed surface. The wind data are used to investigate the role of Reynolds shear stresses and quadrant analysis techniques for identifying burst-sweep events in relation to sand transport events. This includes an assessment of the issues involved with data rotations for yaw, pitch, and roll corrections relative to complex flow streamlines, and the subsequently derived turbulence parameters based on fluctuating vector components (u', v', w'). Results illustrate how transport may exist under threshold mean velocities because of the role played by coherent flow structures, and the findings corroborate previous findings that shear velocity

3rd International Civil and Infrastructure Engineering Conference

CERN Document Server

Hamid, Nor; Arshad, Mohd; Arshad, Ahmad; Ridzuan, Ahmad; Awang, Haryati

2016-01-01

The special focus of these proceedings is on the areas of infrastructure engineering and sustainability management. They provide detailed information on innovative research developments in construction materials and structures, in addition to a compilation of interdisciplinary findings combining nano-materials and engineering. The coverage of cutting-edge infrastructure and sustainability issues in engineering includes earthquakes, bioremediation, synergistic management, timber engineering, flood management and intelligent transport systems.

CO2 reduction in the Danish transportation sector. Working paper 9: Traffic planning. Payment and parking restrictions. Traffic control. Driving education. Infrastructure for bike traffic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-03-01

Paid access to the city of Copenhagen and stringent parking restrictions are proposed in order to enforce the use of collective transport and thus contribute to emission reduction. Training of drivers in energy-efficient driving and better information on highways and access roads concerning queues and parking possibilities would result in improved air quality. Bicycle path infrastructure results in use of fuel-free transport. (EG) Prepared for Trafikministeriet. 16 refs

A Survey on Infrastructure-Based Vehicular Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiano M. Silva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The infrastructure of vehicular networks plays a major role in realizing the full potential of vehicular communications. More and more vehicles are connected to the Internet and to each other, driving new technological transformations in a multidisciplinary way. Researchers in automotive/telecom industries and academia are joining their effort to provide their visions and solutions to increasingly complex transportation systems, also envisioning a myriad of applications to improve the driving experience and the mobility. These trends pose significant challenges to the communication systems: low latency, higher throughput, and increased reliability have to be granted by the wireless access technologies and by a suitable (possibly dedicated infrastructure. This paper presents an in-depth survey of more than ten years of research on infrastructures, wireless access technologies and techniques, and deployment that make vehicular connectivity available. In addition, we identify the limitations of present technologies and infrastructures and the challenges associated with such infrastructure-based vehicular communications, also highlighting potential solutions.

The importance of disaggregated freight flow forecasts to inform transport infrastructure investments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan H. Havenga

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article presents the results of a comprehensive disaggregated commodity flow model for South Africa. The wealth of data available enables a segmented analysis of future freight transportation demand in order to assist with the prioritisation of transportation investments, the development of transport policy and the growth of the logistics service provider industry. In 2011, economic demand for commodities in South Africa’s competitive surface-freight transport market amounted to 622 million tons and is predicted to increase to 1834m tons by 2041, which is a compound annual growth rate of 3.67%. Fifty percent of corridor freight constitutes break bulk; intermodal solutions are therefore critical in South Africa. Scenario analysis indicates that 80%of corridor break-bulk tons can by serviced by four intermodal facilities – in Gauteng, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. This would allow for the development of an investment planning hierarchy, enable industry targeting (through commodity visibility, ensure capacity development ahead of demand and lower the cost of logistics in South Africa.

Assessing urban strategies for reducing the impacts of extreme weather on infrastructure networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Pregnolato, Maria; Ford, Alistair; Robson, Craig; Glenis, Vassilis; Barr, Stuart; Dawson, Richard

2016-05-01

Critical infrastructure networks, including transport, are crucial to the social and economic function of urban areas but are at increasing risk from natural hazards. Minimizing disruption to these networks should form part of a strategy to increase urban resilience. A framework for assessing the disruption from flood events to transport systems is presented that couples a high-resolution urban flood model with transport modelling and network analytics to assess the impacts of extreme rainfall events, and to quantify the resilience value of different adaptation options. A case study in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK shows that both green roof infrastructure and traditional engineering interventions such as culverts or flood walls can reduce transport disruption from flooding. The magnitude of these benefits depends on the flood event and adaptation strategy, but for the scenarios considered here 3-22% improvements in city-wide travel times are achieved. The network metric of betweenness centrality, weighted by travel time, is shown to provide a rapid approach to identify and prioritize the most critical locations for flood risk management intervention. Protecting just the top ranked critical location from flooding provides an 11% reduction in person delays. A city-wide deployment of green roofs achieves a 26% reduction, and although key routes still flood, the benefits of this strategy are more evenly distributed across the transport network as flood depths are reduced across the model domain. Both options should form part of an urban flood risk management strategy, but this method can be used to optimize investment and target limited resources at critical locations, enabling green infrastructure strategies to be gradually implemented over the longer term to provide city-wide benefits. This framework provides a means of prioritizing limited financial resources to improve resilience. This is particularly important as flood management investments must typically exceed

Oil and gas to Europe - An overview of existing and planned infrastructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nies, Susanne; Schuelke, Christian

2011-04-01

The European Union's Hydrocarbon energy supply depends heavily on imports. While the European Commission has recommended diversifying and increasing domestic resources, notably with renewable resources which should grow to 20 % by 2020, dependence on hydrocarbon imports will remain not only substantial, but will increase. Particular attention must thus be paid to the question of transportation, and also to the countries of origin, investments in infrastructures, their protection, relations with transit countries, 'competing consumers' (notably China and emerging countries, but also the United States), energy wastefulness in producing countries, and finally, price. Security of supply depends on adequate and reliable infrastructure, and must always be thought of in the long term. This entirely revised edition of the fourth study conducted by the European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy Program at Ifri includes discussions about pipeline routes and potential outputs, their current use and financial requirements for transportation, ongoing projects and those planned for the future, their cost, their financing and their probable operational start-up date. While all infrastructures are necessarily examined (including Norway, the United Kingdom, and North Africa), particular attention is paid to transportation infrastructure that connects Europe with Russia and the former Soviet Union (Central Asia, Caspian Sea). It will be immediately clear that the issue of gas is dominant in current discussions. Contents: 1. Setting up Gas and Oil Infrastructures in Europe. 2. EU Actions on Gas and Oil Infrastructure. 3. Oil Transport to the EU. IV. Gas from the North, South and East - European Demand for Gas and Sources of Supply. V. Turkey and Ukraine: Two Major Transit Countries for EU. VI. Conclusion and Prospectus. Appendix

Mesoscale carbon sequestration site screening and CCS infrastructure analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Keating, Gordon N; Middleton, Richard S; Stauffer, Philip H; Viswanathan, Hari S; Letellier, Bruce C; Pasqualini, Donatella; Pawar, Rajesh J; Wolfsberg, Andrew V

2011-01-01

We explore carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at the meso-scale, a level of study between regional carbon accounting and highly detailed reservoir models for individual sites. We develop an approach to CO(2) sequestration site screening for industries or energy development policies that involves identification of appropriate sequestration basin, analysis of geologic formations, definition of surface sites, design of infrastructure, and analysis of CO(2) transport and storage costs. Our case study involves carbon management for potential oil shale development in the Piceance-Uinta Basin, CO and UT. This study uses new capabilities of the CO(2)-PENS model for site screening, including reservoir capacity, injectivity, and cost calculations for simple reservoirs at multiple sites. We couple this with a model of optimized source-sink-network infrastructure (SimCCS) to design pipeline networks and minimize CCS cost for a given industry or region. The CLEAR(uff) dynamical assessment model calculates the CO(2) source term for various oil production levels. Nine sites in a 13,300 km(2) area have the capacity to store 6.5 GtCO(2), corresponding to shale-oil production of 1.3 Mbbl/day for 50 years (about 1/4 of U.S. crude oil production). Our results highlight the complex, nonlinear relationship between the spatial deployment of CCS infrastructure and the oil-shale production rate.

The Influence Of Highway Transportation Infrastructure Condition Toward Commodity Production Generation for The Resilience Needs at Regional Internal Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Akbardin, Juang; Parikesit, Danang; Riyanto, Bambang; Mulyono, Agus Taufik

2018-02-01

The poultry commodity consumption and requirement is one of the main commodities that must be fulfilled in a region to maintain the availability of meat from poultry. Poultry commodity production is one of the production sectors that have a clean environment resistance. An increasing of poultry commodity generation production requires a smooth distribution to arrive at the processing. The livestock location as a commodity production is placed at a considerable far distance from residential and market locations. Zones that have poultry commodity production have an excess potential to supply other zones that are lacking in production to the consumption of these commodities. The condition of highway transportation infrastructure that is very diverse with the damage level availability in a zone has an influence in the supply and demand of poultry commodity requirement in the regional internal of Central Java province. In order to know the effect of highway transportation infrastructure condition toward the poultry commodity movement, demography factor and availability of freight vehicles will be reviewed to estimate the amount of poultry commodity movement generation production. Thus the poultry commodity consumption requirement that located in the internal - regional zone of central java province can be adequated from the zone. So it can be minimized the negative impacts that affect the environment at the zone in terms of comparison of the movement attraction and generation production at poultry commodity in Central Java.

Atmosphere-vegetation-soil interactions in a climate change context; Impact of changing conditions on engineered transport infrastructure slopes in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tang, A.M.; Hughes, P.N.; Dijkstra, T.A.; Askarinejad, A.; Brenčič, M.; Cui, Y.J.; Diez, J.J.; Firgi, T.; Gajewska, B.; Gentile, F.; Grossi, G.; Jommi, C.; Kehagia, F.; Koda, E.; Maat, Ter H.W.; Lenart, S.; Lourenco, S.; Oliveira, M.; Osinski, P.; Springman, S.M.; Stirling, R.; Toll, D.G.; Beek, Van V.

2018-01-01

In assessing the impact of climate change on infrastructure, it is essential to consider the interactions between the atmosphere, vegetation and the near-surface soil. This paper presents an overview of these processes, focusing on recent advances from the literature and those made by members of

WAYS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE PROGAM-TARGETED OF INFRASTRUCTURE OBJECTS IN RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Frolova

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The relevance of this article due to the fact that the current situation inRussiais complemented by the negative eff ects of market reforms in the economy, initiated economic sanctions that have been taken against our country. In view of this, for the eff ective fi nancing costs of the federal budget for the development of transport infrastructure is a very topical issues related to the targeted program planning. The study aims to study ways to improve the effi ciency of program fi nancing expenditures of the federal budget for the development of transport infrastructure. The results will contribute to solving urgent problems in the development of transport infrastructure, high technology and housing sectors.

Infrastructure Requirements for an Expanded Fuel Ethanol Industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, Robert E. [Downstream Alternatives, Inc., South Bend, IN (United States)

2002-01-15

This report provides technical information specifically related to ethanol transportation, distribution, and marketing issues. This report required analysis of the infrastructure requirements for an expanded ethanol industry.

Infrastructure for the Geospatial Web

Science.gov (United States)

Lake, Ron; Farley, Jim

Geospatial data and geoprocessing techniques are now directly linked to business processes in many areas. Commerce, transportation and logistics, planning, defense, emergency response, health care, asset management and many other domains leverage geospatial information and the ability to model these data to achieve increased efficiencies and to develop better, more comprehensive decisions. However, the ability to deliver geospatial data and the capacity to process geospatial information effectively in these domains are dependent on infrastructure technology that facilitates basic operations such as locating data, publishing data, keeping data current and notifying subscribers and others whose applications and decisions are dependent on this information when changes are made. This chapter introduces the notion of infrastructure technology for the Geospatial Web. Specifically, the Geography Markup Language (GML) and registry technology developed using the ebRIM specification delivered from the OASIS consortium are presented as atomic infrastructure components in a working Geospatial Web.

Sustainable concretes for transportation infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

performance in concrete for structural and transportation applications. Based on the challenges associated with coal ash (including SDA) and the economic costs linked to cement production, this research seeks to develop an environmentally friendly an...

Water and Carbon Footprints for Sustainability Analysis of Urban Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Water and transportation infrastructures define spatial distribution of urban population and economic activities. In this context, energy and water consumed per capita are tangible measures of how efficient water and transportation systems are constructed and operated. At a hig...

Microfour-point probe for studying electronic transport through surface states

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Christian Leth; Grey, Francois; Shiraki, I.

2000-01-01

Microfour-point probes integrated on silicon chips have been fabricated with probe spacings in the range 4-60 mum. They provide a simple robust device for electrical transport measurements at surfaces, bridging the gap between conventional macroscopic four-point probes and scanning tunneling...... transport through surface states, which is not observed on the macroscopic scale, presumably due to scattering at atomic steps. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics....

Charge-spin Transport in Surface-disordered Three-dimensional Topological Insulators

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xingyue

As one of the most promising candidates for the building block of the novel spintronic circuit, the topological insulator (TI) has attracted world-wide interest of study. Robust topological order protected by time-reversal symmetry (TRS) makes charge transport and spin generation in TIs significantly different from traditional three-dimensional (3D) or two-dimensional (2D) electronic systems. However, to date, charge transport and spin generation in 3D TIs are still primarily modeled as single-surface phenomena, happening independently on top and bottom surfaces. In this dissertation, I will demonstrate via both experimental findings and theoretical modeling that this "single surface'' theory neither correctly describes a realistic 3D TI-based device nor reveals the amazingly distinct physical picture of spin transport dynamics in 3D TIs. Instead, I present a new viewpoint of the spin transport dynamics where the role of the insulating yet topologically non-trivial bulk of a 3D TI becomes explicit. Within this new theory, many mysterious transport and magneto-transport anomalies can be naturally explained. The 3D TI system turns out to be more similar to its low dimensional sibling--2D TI rather than some other systems sharing the Dirac dispersion, such as graphene. This work not only provides valuable fundamental physical insights on charge-spin transport in 3D TIs, but also offers important guidance to the design of 3D TI-based spintronic devices.

ON PROBLEM OF REGIONAL WAREHOUSE AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE OPTIMIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Yu. Miretskiy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article suggests an approach of solving the problem of warehouse and transport infrastructure optimization in a region. The task is to determine the optimal capacity and location of the support network of warehouses in the region, as well as power, composition and location of motor fleets. Optimization is carried out using mathematical models of a regional warehouse network and a network of motor fleets. These models are presented as mathematical programming problems with separable functions. The process of finding the optimal solution of problems is complicated due to high dimensionality, non-linearity of functions, and the fact that a part of variables are constrained to integer, and some variables can take values only from a discrete set. Given the mentioned above complications search for an exact solution was rejected. The article suggests an approximate approach to solving problems. This approach employs effective computational schemes for solving multidimensional optimization problems. We use the continuous relaxation of the original problem to obtain its approximate solution. An approximately optimal solution of continuous relaxation is taken as an approximate solution of the original problem. The suggested solution method implies linearization of the obtained continuous relaxation and use of the separable programming scheme and the scheme of branches and bounds. We describe the use of the simplex method for solving the linearized continuous relaxation of the original problem and the specific moments of the branches and bounds method implementation. The paper shows the finiteness of the algorithm and recommends how to accelerate process of finding a solution.

Human initiated cascading failures in societal infrastructures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Barrett

Full Text Available In this paper, we conduct a systematic study of human-initiated cascading failures in three critical inter-dependent societal infrastructures due to behavioral adaptations in response to a crisis. We focus on three closely coupled socio-technical networks here: (i cellular and mesh networks, (ii transportation networks and (iii mobile call networks. In crises, changes in individual behaviors lead to altered travel, activity and calling patterns, which influence the transport network and the loads on wireless networks. The interaction between these systems and their co-evolution poses significant technical challenges for representing and reasoning about these systems. In contrast to system dynamics models for studying these interacting infrastructures, we develop interaction-based models in which individuals and infrastructure elements are represented in detail and are placed in a common geographic coordinate system. Using the detailed representation, we study the impact of a chemical plume that has been released in a densely populated urban region. Authorities order evacuation of the affected area, and this leads to individual behavioral adaptation wherein individuals drop their scheduled activities and drive to home or pre-specified evacuation shelters as appropriate. They also revise their calling behavior to communicate and coordinate among family members. These two behavioral adaptations cause flash-congestion in the urban transport network and the wireless network. The problem is exacerbated with a few, already occurring, road closures. We analyze how extended periods of unanticipated road congestion can result in failure of infrastructures, starting with the servicing base stations in the congested area. A sensitivity analysis on the compliance rate of evacuees shows non-intuitive effect on the spatial distribution of people and on the loading of the base stations. For example, an evacuation compliance rate of 70% results in higher number

Understanding the relationships between household decisions and infrastructure investment in disaster recovery : cases from Superstorm Sandy : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

Hurricanes, storms and floods damage roads, bridges, transit lines and other elements of our : transportation infrastructure. Restoring the transportation infrastructure is widely recognized as an : important element of short-term recovery as the rec...

The Impact of Transport on International Trade Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Duško

2016-09-01

Full Text Available International trade implies transport of specific quantity of goods to (frequently large distances, the success of which depends on the safety and speed of delivery. These are greatly conditioned by the quality of means of transport and infrastructure. This is why international trade development is affected by transport, and the development of means of transport and infrastructure is, to a great extent, influenced by demand for international delivery of various commodities. This paper looks at the interdependence of international trade and transport, showing how transport played a very significant role in international trade development in the past as it does today, commensurate to the role of international trade in the development of carriers and transport infrastructure.

Transportation infrastructure between nuclear power plant gates and nearest line-haul networks: Plan and procedure for data development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saricks, C.L.; Singh, M.K.; Stammer, R.E. Jr.

1988-06-01

This study is concerned with the segments of the transportation system that include possible routings over public roads and private (or public) rail links, and waterway access (within 25 miles) from the gates of typical reactor sites to proximate links of what can be termed the national through-route system. These routings are by no means uniform throughout the United States. Local roads and rail links near reactor sites may be subject to a wide variety of jurisdictions for maintenance, repair, and inspection; may or may not (at present) qualify for federal assistance under the Federal-Aid Highway and related funding programs; may or may not meet accepted construction standards for facilities expected to bear heavy loads; and, perhaps most importantly for the spent-fuel transportation program, may be subject to occasional and currently unavoidable disruptions that could seriously impair shipment schedules. The overall objectives of the study are to describe a framework for identifying the characteristics of the near-site transportation networks of all existing nuclear power plants that could give rise to important shipment scheduling and programming constraints. These characteristics cover both transportation infrastructure and existing structural and environmental limitation, and define a scope and schedule for constructing a data base for the transportation networks surrounding all nuclear power plants. 6 refs., 4 figs., 8 tabs

Transportation Infrastructure Impacts Evaluation: The Case of Egnatia Motorway in Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Athanasios P. Vavatsikos

2014-05-01

Full Text Available To expand GIS abilities to the consideration of decision criteria, OR/MS researchers strongly pronounce in favor of developing synergies between GIS and multicriteria decision making tools. The rationale of this integration is the GIS ability to store and manage and visualize geographically referenced data and the efficiency of Operational Research tools for modeling decision problems. As a result, MultiCriteria Spatial Decision Support Systems (MC-SDSS provide a consistent framework that allows alternatives’ ranking combining both spatial data and DMs preferences according to a selected decision rule. Regarding to their applicability in situations that involve classification, multiattribute decision models are considered as a very attractive procedure in urban and regional planning concerning the appraisal of transportation infrastructure construction. In the present a spatial multicriteria evaluation of the impacts derived by the realization of Egnatia Motorway is performed. Egnatia Motorway is considered one of the most significant interventions that have taken place in Greece during the early pre-Olympic Games period and up to the year 2007. With a length of 670 km, it crosses 12 prefectures starting from the Igoumenitsa Port, which provides links by boat to Italy, ending to Kipi in Evros (Greek-Turkish borders. It is a dual carriageway with two traffic lanes per direction with an overall construction cost of about 6b€. Aiming to enrich Northern Greece’s potential in transport industry and tourism, European Union has heavily invested in its construction. In the present paper an integration among GIS functionalities and multi-attribute decision making models such as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP and Ideal Point Methods is proposed in order to estimate the impacts provoked by the construction and operation of Egnatia Motorway in regional level.

MODEL OF FEES CALCULATION FOR ACCESS TO TRACK INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. I. Mishchenko

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of the article is to develop a one- and two-element model of the fees calculation for the use of track infrastructure of Ukrainian railway transport. Methodology. On the basis of this one can consider that when planning the planned preventive track repair works and the amount of depreciation charges the guiding criterion is not the amount of progress it is the operating life of the track infrastructure facilities. The cost of PPTRW is determined on the basis of the following: the classification track repairs; typical technological processes for track repairs; technology based time standards for PPTRW; costs for the work of people, performing the PPTRW, their hourly wage rates according to the Order 98-Ts; the operating cost of machinery; regulated list; norms of expenditures and costs of materials and products (they have the largest share of the costs for repairs; railway rates; average distances for transportation of materials used during repair; standards of general production expenses and the administrative costs. Findings. The models offered in article allow executing the objective account of expenses in travelling facilities for the purpose of calculation of the proved size of indemnification and necessary size of profit, the sufficient enterprises for effective activity of a travelling infrastructure. Originality. The methodological bases of determination the fees (payments for the use of track infrastructure on one- and two-element base taking into account the experience of railways in the EC countries and the current transport legislation were grounded. Practical value. The article proposes the one- and two-element models of calculating the fees (payments for the TIF use, accounting the applicable requirements of European transport legislation, which provides the expense compensation and income formation, sufficient for economic incentives of the efficient operation of the TIE of Ukrainian railway transport.

Risk and Interdependencies in Critical Infrastructures A Guideline for Analysis

CERN Document Server

Utne, Ingrid; Vatn, Jørn

2012-01-01

Today’s society is completely dependent on critical networks such as  water supply, sewage, electricity, ICT and transportation. Risk and vulnerability analyses are needed to grasp the impact of threats and hazards. However, these become quite complex as there are strong interdependencies both within and between infrastructure systems. Risk and Interdependencies in Critical Infrastructures: A  guideline for analysis provides methods for analyzing risks and interdependencies of critical infrastructures.  A number of analysis approaches are described and are adapted to each of these infrastructures. Various approaches are also revised, and all are supported by several examples and illustrations. Particular emphasis is given to the analysis of various interdependencies that often exist between the infrastructures.  Risk and Interdependencies in Critical Infrastructures: A  guideline for analysis provides a good tool to identify the hazards that are threatening your infrastructures, and will enhance the un...

Evaluating the transport, health and economic impacts of new urban cycling infrastructure in Sydney, Australia - protocol paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Rissel, Chris; Greaves, Stephen; Wen, Li Ming; Capon, Anthony; Crane, Melanie; Standen, Chris

2013-10-17

There are repeated calls to build better cycling paths in Australian cities if the proportion of people cycling is to increase. Yet the full range of transport, health, environmental and economic impacts of new cycling infrastructure and the extent to which observed changes are sustained is not well understood. The City of Sydney is currently building a new bicycle network, which includes a new bicycle path separated from road traffic in the south Sydney area. This protocol paper describes a comprehensive method to evaluate this new cycling infrastructure. A cohort of residents within two kilometres of the new bicycle path will be surveyed at baseline before a new section of bicycle path is built, and again 12 and 24 months later to assess changes in travel behaviour, sense of community, quality of life and health behaviours. Residents in a comparable area of Sydney that will not get a new separated bike path will act as a comparison group. At baseline a sub-set of residents who volunteer will also take a small GPS device with them for one week to assess travel behaviour. This research should contribute to the advancement in evaluation and appraisal methods for cycling projects.

Flood vulnerability of critical infrastructure in Cork, Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de Bruijn Karin M.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recent flood events in Ireland and particularly in County Cork have caused significant disruption to health service provisions, interruption of water and power supplies, and damage to roads and other transportation infrastructure, affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people over a prolonged period of weeks. These events clearly reveal- the vulnerability of the critical infrastructure to flooding and the dependence of society on critical infrastructure. In order to reduce the flood vulnerability and increase the resilience of the critical infrastructure networks in the future, detailed evidence-based analysis and assessment is essential. To this end a case study has been carried out on Cork City which analyses this vulnerability as it was in 2009, and as it is currently, and identifies adaptation options to reduce the future vulnerability of critical infrastructure to flooding and to build a more resilient society. This paper describes the storyline approach and CIrcle tool and their application to Cork City which focused on the analysis of the flood vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the impacts of failure of the infrastructure for other critical functions and on society.

Infrastructural development factors of leasing entrepreneurship in real sector of economy

Science.gov (United States)

Aleksandrova, Olga; Ivleva, Elena; Kirdyashkin, Alexey; Shashina, Nina

2017-10-01

Given paper is aimed at determining factors, which influence leasing infrastructure development. It also examines the possibilities of overcoming infrastructural growth restrictions and barriers to the development of enterprises of industry, and construction sector. The phenomenon of infrastructural changes has been poorly researched economically and institutionally. These are a kind of quantitative and qualitative growth potential for the economy, for short and long-term periods for transportation or energy company and real estate development company.

Vehicle infrastructure integration (VII) based road-condition warning system for highway collision prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-05-01

As a major ITS initiative, the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) program is to revolutionize : transportation by creating an enabling communication infrastructure that will open up a wide range of : safety applications. The road-condition warn...

Assessing Accessibility and Transport Infrastructure Inequities in Administrative Units in Serbia’s Danube Corridor Based on Multi-Criteria Analysis and Gis Mapping Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana VULEVIC

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The Danube Regions, especially the sub-national units of governance, must be ready to play an active role in spatial development policies. A precondition for this is good accessibility and the coordinated development of all transport systems in the Danube corridor. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a multi-criteria model for potential decision making related to the evaluation of transportation accessibility in Serbia’s Danube Corridor. Geographic Information Systems (GIS, based on maps, indicate the existing counties’ transport infrastructures inequities (between well-connected and isolated counties in terms of accessibility to central places. Through the research, relevant indicators have been identifi ed. This provides an outline of transportation perspectives regarding the development achieved and also fosters the increase of transportation accessibility in some peripheral Serbian Danube administrative units – counties (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics level 3 – NUTS 3.

INFRASTRUCTURE IN RAIL TRANSPORT IN BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debora Brito dos Santos

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Rail transport is the second mode most used in the country, due to the low cost of transporting large volumes over long distances. Although there was no investment in the expansion for a long time, after privatization there was a resumption of maintenance and expansion of the railways, but it is far from achieving international quality and performance indices. The objective of this work was a study on the rail transport in the country, to raise the structure of the Brazilian railway network. For the development of this article, the method used was bibliographic research in books, articles and websites. Although the Brazilian railway network is just over 12% of the railroad network in the United States, after the privatization of the sector, growth has resumed. The Bioceanic, a railroad that will connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, will improve the flow of agricultural production to overseas

Genetic Algorithms for Agent-Based Infrastructure Interdependency Modeling and Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

May Permann

2007-03-01

Today’s society relies greatly upon an array of complex national and international infrastructure networks such as transportation, electric power, telecommunication, and financial networks. This paper describes initial research combining agent-based infrastructure modeling software and genetic algorithms (GAs) to help optimize infrastructure protection and restoration decisions. This research proposes to apply GAs to the problem of infrastructure modeling and analysis in order to determine the optimum assets to restore or protect from attack or other disaster. This research is just commencing and therefore the focus of this paper is the integration of a GA optimization method with a simulation through the simulation’s agents.

Dirac-Screening Stabilized Surface-State Transport in a Topological Insulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Brüne

2014-12-01

Full Text Available We report magnetotransport studies on a gated strained HgTe device. This material is a three-dimensional topological insulator and exclusively shows surface-state transport. Remarkably, the Landau-level dispersion and the accuracy of the Hall quantization remain unchanged over a wide density range (3×10^{11}  cm^{−2}transport is surface-state dominated, where bulk transport would have been expected to coexist already. Moreover, the density dependence of the Dirac-type quantum Hall effect allows us to identify the contributions from the individual surfaces. A k·p model can describe the experiments but only when assuming a steep band bending across the regions where the topological surface states are contained. This steep potential originates from the specific screening properties of Dirac systems and causes the gate voltage to influence the position of the Dirac points rather than that of the Fermi level.

Transport of oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, and ivermectin in surface runoff from irrigated pasture.

Science.gov (United States)

Bair, Daniel A; Popova, Ina E; Tate, Kenneth W; Parikh, Sanjai J

2017-09-02

The transport of oxytetracycline, chlortetracycline, and ivermectin from manure was assessed via surface runoff on irrigated pasture. Surface runoff plots in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California were used to evaluate the effects of irrigation water application rates, pharmaceutical application conditions, vegetative cover, and vegetative filter strip length on the pharmaceutical discharge in surface runoff. Experiments were designed to permit the maximum potential transport of pharmaceuticals to surface runoff water, which included pre-irrigation to saturate soil, trimming grass where manure was applied, and laying a continuous manure strip perpendicular to the flow of water. However, due to high sorption of the pharmaceuticals to manure and soil, less than 0.1% of applied pharmaceuticals were detected in runoff water. Results demonstrated an increase of pharmaceutical transport in surface runoff with increased pharmaceutical concentration in manure, the concentration of pharmaceuticals in runoff water remained constant with increased irrigation flow rate, and no appreciable decrease in pharmaceutical runoff was produced with the vegetative filter strip length increased from 30.5 to 91.5 cm. Most of the applied pharmaceuticals were retained in the manure or within the upper 5 cm of soil directly beneath the manure application sites. As this study evaluated conditions for high transport potential, the data suggest that the risk for significant chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, and ivermectin transport to surface water from cattle manure on irrigated pasture is low.

Modeling green infrastructure land use changes on future air ...

Science.gov (United States)

Green infrastructure can be a cost-effective approach for reducing stormwater runoff and improving water quality as a result, but it could also bring co-benefits for air quality: less impervious surfaces and more vegetation can decrease the urban heat island effect, and also result in more removal of air pollutants via dry deposition with increased vegetative surfaces. Cooler surface temperatures can also decrease ozone formation through the increases of NOx titration; however, cooler surface temperatures also lower the height of the boundary layer resulting in more concentrated pollutants within the same volume of air, especially for primary emitted pollutants (e.g. NOx, CO, primary particulate matter). To better understand how green infrastructure impacts air quality, the interactions between all of these processes must be considered collectively. In this study, we use a comprehensive coupled meteorology-air quality model (WRF-CMAQ) to simulate the influence of planned land use changes that include green infrastructure in Kansas City (KC) on regional meteorology and air quality. Current and future land use data was provided by the Mid-America Regional Council for 2012 and 2040 (projected land use due to population growth, city planning and green infrastructure implementation). These land use datasets were incorporated into the WRF-CMAQ modeling system allowing the modeling system to propagate the changes in vegetation and impervious surface coverage on meteoro

Dynamic Collaboration Infrastructure for Hydrologic Science

Science.gov (United States)

Tarboton, D. G.; Idaszak, R.; Castillo, C.; Yi, H.; Jiang, F.; Jones, N.; Goodall, J. L.

2016-12-01

Data and modeling infrastructure is becoming increasingly accessible to water scientists. HydroShare is a collaborative environment that currently offers water scientists the ability to access modeling and data infrastructure in support of data intensive modeling and analysis. It supports the sharing of and collaboration around "resources" which are social objects defined to include both data and models in a structured standardized format. Users collaborate around these objects via comments, ratings, and groups. HydroShare also supports web services and cloud based computation for the execution of hydrologic models and analysis and visualization of hydrologic data. However, the quantity and variety of data and modeling infrastructure available that can be accessed from environments like HydroShare is increasing. Storage infrastructure can range from one's local PC to campus or organizational storage to storage in the cloud. Modeling or computing infrastructure can range from one's desktop to departmental clusters to national HPC resources to grid and cloud computing resources. How does one orchestrate this vast number of data and computing infrastructure without needing to correspondingly learn each new system? A common limitation across these systems is the lack of efficient integration between data transport mechanisms and the corresponding high-level services to support large distributed data and compute operations. A scientist running a hydrology model from their desktop may require processing a large collection of files across the aforementioned storage and compute resources and various national databases. To address these community challenges a proof-of-concept prototype was created integrating HydroShare with RADII (Resource Aware Data-centric collaboration Infrastructure) to provide software infrastructure to enable the comprehensive and rapid dynamic deployment of what we refer to as "collaborative infrastructure." In this presentation we discuss the

Developing Sustainable Urban Water-Energy Infrastructures: Applying a Multi-Sectoral Social-Ecological-Infrastructural Systems (SEIS) Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaswami, A.

2016-12-01

Urban infrastructure - broadly defined to include the systems that provide water, energy, food, shelter, transportation-communication, sanitation and green/public spaces in cities - have tremendous impact on the environment and on human well-being (Ramaswami et al., 2016; Ramaswami et al., 2012). Aggregated globally, these sectors contribute 90% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 96% of global water withdrawals. Urban infrastructure contributions to such impacts are beginning to dominate. Cities are therefore becoming the action arena for infrastructure transformations that can achieve high levels of service delivery while reducing environmental impacts and enhancing human well-being. Achieving sustainable urban infrastructure transitions requires: information about the engineered infrastructure, and its interaction with the natural (ecological-environmental) and the social sub-systems In this paper, we apply a multi-sector, multi-scalar Social-Ecological-Infrastructural Systems framework that describes the interactions among biophysical engineered infrastructures, the natural environment and the social system in a systems-approach to inform urban infrastructure transformations. We apply the SEIS framework to inform water and energy sector transformations in cities to achieve environmental and human health benefits realized at multiple scales - local, regional and global. Local scales address pollution, health, wellbeing and inequity within the city; regional scales address regional pollution, scarcity, as well as supply risks in the water-energy sectors; global impacts include greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts. Different actors shape infrastructure transitions including households, businesses, and policy actors. We describe the development of novel cross-sectoral strategies at the water-energy nexus in cities, focusing on water, waste and energy sectors, in a case study of Delhi, India. Ramaswami, A.; Russell, A.G.; Culligan, P.J.; Sharma, K

Emerging issues in transportation information infrastructure security

Science.gov (United States)

1996-07-31

On October 26-27, 1995, over two hundred transportation leaders and decision-makers from around the nation convened in Cambridge, Massachusetts to participate in a two day symposium on "Challenges and Opportunities for Global Transportation in the 21...

Transport and transformation of surface water masses across the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Transport and transformation of surface water masses across the Mascarene Plateau during the Northeast Monsoon season. ... Mixing occurs in the central gap between intermediate water masses (Red Sea Water [RSW] and Antarctic Intermediate Water [AAIW]) as well as in the upper waters (Subtropical Surface Water ...

Technology Needs of Future Space Infrastructures Supporting Human Exploration and Development of Space

Science.gov (United States)

Carrington, Connie; Howell, Joe

2001-01-01

The path to human presence beyond near-Earth will be paved by the development of infrastructure. A fundamental technology in this infrastructure is energy, which enables not only the basic function of providing shelter for man and machine, but also enables transportation, scientific endeavors, and exploration. This paper discusses the near-term needs in technology that develop the infrastructure for HEDS.

Water and Carbon Footprints for Sustainability Analysis of Urban Infrastructure - abstract

Science.gov (United States)

Water and transportation infrastructures define spatial distribution of urban population and economic activities. In this context, energy and water consumed per capita are tangible measures of how efficient water and transportation systems are constructed and operated. At a hig...

Transport and logistics as network competencies in a localized industrial cluster

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Leif Gjesing

2004-01-01

This chapter argues that transport is more than infrastructure and transport capacity for the processes governing industrial organisation.......This chapter argues that transport is more than infrastructure and transport capacity for the processes governing industrial organisation....

Applications of asymmetric nanotextured parylene surface using its wetting and transport properties

Science.gov (United States)

Sekeroglu, Koray

In this thesis, basic digital fluidics devices were introduced using polymeric nanorods (nano-PPX) inspired from nature. Natural inspiration ignited this research by observing butterfly wings, water strider legs, rye grass leaves, and their asymmetric functions. Nano-PPX rods, manufactured by an oblique angle polymerization (OAP) method, are asymmetrically aligned structures that have unidirectional wetting properties. Nano-PPX demonstrates similar functions to the directional textured surfaces of animals and plants in terms of wetting, adhesion, and transport. The water pin-release mechanism on the asymmetric nano-PPX surface with adhesion function provides a great transport property. How the asymmetry causes transport is discussed in terms of hysteresis and interface contact of water droplets. In this study, the transport property of nano-PPX rods is used to guide droplets as well as transporting cargo such as microgels. With the addition of tracks on the nano-PPX rods, the surfaces were transformed into basic digital fluidics devices. The track-assisted nano-PPX has been employed to applications (i.e. sorting, mixing, and carrying cargo particles). Thus, digital fluidics devices fabricated on nano-PPX surface is a promising pathway to assemble microgels in the field of bioengineering. The characterization of the nano textured surface was completed using methods such as Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, Contact Angle Goniometry, and Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy. These methods helped to understand the physical and chemical properties of nano-PPX. Parameters such as advancing and receding contact angles, nanorod tilt angle, and critical drop volumes were utilized to investigate the anisotropic wetting properties of nano-PPX surface. This investigation explained the directional wetting behavior of the surface as well as approaching new design parameters for adjusting surface properties. The nanorod tilt angle was a key parameter

The spatio-temporal Development of Copenhagen's bicycle infrastructure 1912-2013

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carstensen, Trine Agervig; Olafsson, Anton Stahl; Bech, Nynne Marie

2015-01-01

Cycling plays an important role in low-carbon transitions. Around the globe, cities are constructing bicycle infrastructure. The city of Copenhagen has a bicycle-friendly infrastructure celebrated for its fine-meshed network. This study documents the spatio-temporal development of Copenhagen......’s bicycle infrastructure and explores how the development corresponds to other processes of urban transformation. The study builds on historical maps of bicycle infrastructure that are digitised into geographical information, which allows for a comprehensive analysis of the formation of the network....... In search for identifying drivers, the study analyses the city’s spatial growth pattern, migration pattern, development of road network and changes in the transport culture. Analyses reveal that the bicycle infrastructure expanded at a relatively constant pace during distinct periods of urban transformation...

NATURAL GAS TRANSPORTATION

OpenAIRE

Stanis³aw Brzeziñski

2007-01-01

In the paper, Author presents chosen aspects of natural gas transportation within global market. Natural gas transportation is a technicaly complicated and economicly expensive process; in infrastructure construction and activities costs. The paper also considers last and proposed initiatives in natural gas transportation.

Transport Infrastructures and Acceptability: the Role of Economic Evaluation for Conflict Mitigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Maffii

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Large and medium-size transport infrastructure shall increasingly cope with acceptability-related problems. This is due to the lack of confidence that nowadays characterises the relations between public administrations and their citizens, as well as between citizens and the project promoters. Moreover, the subjects that take advantage from the project implementation and those not often do not coincide, whereas the latter are not compensated for the damages they bear. A sound cost-benefit analysis supporting the entire decision-making process may be a valuable tool for fostering the dialogue with all concerned subjects, provided that a set of basic conditions is met. Firstly, cost-benefit analysis has to be credible as far as the effects generated by the project are concerned. Therefore, it shall: (i secure transparency of: results achieved by the evaluation (including the assumptions and criteria that led to such results, and procedures embedded into the evaluation process; (ii be performed by independent evaluators rather than those sponsoring the project; (iii be as much robust as possible, and finally (iv deliver structured and thorough risk analyses. In order to reinforce credibility and soundness of the analysis and the evaluations undertaken, previous project experiences shall be duly taken into account, which implies fine-tuning ex-ante evaluations upon the basis of the results obtained by ex-post analysis of projects already implemented. Additionally, the evaluation shall be dynamic, as it shall back since the very beginning the whole process of infrastructure designing, and until the project is finalised. Transparency of such process is then a key pre-requisite.\tThe second condition refers to the fact that stakeholders interested into the project shall be actively involved into the planning process. Further major token is that the economic evaluation at the level of approximation featuring the various steps of the project cycle feeds

Transport logistical effects of new traffic infrastructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Leif Gjesing

2004-01-01

The article examines the consequences for transport and logistics reorganisation following the establishment of fixed links across Great belt and Oresund in Denmark......The article examines the consequences for transport and logistics reorganisation following the establishment of fixed links across Great belt and Oresund in Denmark...

Aspheric surface testing by irradiance transport equation

Science.gov (United States)

Shomali, Ramin; Darudi, Ahmad; Nasiri, Sadollah; Asgharsharghi Bonab, Armir

2010-10-01

In this paper a method for aspheric surface testing is presented. The method is based on solving the Irradiance Transport Equation (ITE).The accuracy of ITE normally depends on the amount of the pick to valley of the phase distribution. This subject is investigated by a simulation procedure.

Solute transport across the articular surface of injured cartilage.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Hooi Chuan; Moeini, Mohammad; Quinn, Thomas M

2013-07-15

Solute transport through extracellular matrix (ECM) is important to physiology and contrast agent-based clinical imaging of articular cartilage. Mechanical injury is likely to have important effects on solute transport since it involves alteration of ECM structure. Therefore it is of interest to characterize effects of mechanical injury on solute transport in cartilage. Using cartilage explants injured by an established mechanical compression protocol, effective partition coefficients and diffusivities of solutes for transport across the articular surface were measured. A range of fluorescent solutes (fluorescein isothiocyanate, 4 and 40kDa dextrans, insulin, and chondroitin sulfate) and an X-ray contrast agent (sodium iodide) were used. Mechanical injury was associated with a significant increase in effective diffusivity versus uninjured explants for all solutes studied. On the other hand, mechanical injury had no effects on effective partition coefficients for most solutes tested, except for 40kDa dextran and chondroitin sulfate where small but significant changes in effective partition coefficient were observed in injured explants. Findings highlight enhanced diffusive transport across the articular surface of injured cartilage, which may have important implications for injury and repair situations. Results also support development of non-equilibrium methods for identification of focal cartilage lesions by contrast agent-based clinical imaging. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working paper : national costs of the metropolitan ITS infrastructure : updated with 2004 deployment data

Science.gov (United States)

The purpose of this report, "Working Paper National Costs of the Metropolitan ITS infrastructure: Updated with 2004 Deployment Data," is to update the estimates of the costs remaining to deploy Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) infrastructure ...

The influence of surface roughness on volatile transport on the Moon

Science.gov (United States)

Prem, P.; Goldstein, D. B.; Varghese, P. L.; Trafton, L. M.

2018-01-01

The Moon and other virtually airless bodies provide distinctive environments for the transport and sequestration of water and other volatiles delivered to their surfaces by various sources. In this work, we conduct Monte Carlo simulations of water vapor transport on the Moon to investigate the role of small-scale roughness (unresolved by orbital measurements) in the migration and cold-trapping of volatiles. Observations indicate that surface roughness, combined with the insulating nature of lunar regolith and the absence of significant exospheric heat flow, can cause large variations in temperature over very small scales. Surface temperature has a strong influence on the residence time of migrating water molecules on the lunar surface, which in turn affects the rate and magnitude of volatile transport to permanently shadowed craters (cold traps) near the lunar poles, as well as exospheric structure and the susceptibility of migrating molecules to photodestruction. Here, we develop a stochastic rough surface temperature model suitable for simulations of volatile transport on a global scale, and compare the results of Monte Carlo simulations of volatile transport with and without the surface roughness model. We find that including small-scale temperature variations and shadowing leads to a slight increase in cold-trapping at the lunar poles, accompanied by a slight decrease in photodestruction. Exospheric structure is altered only slightly, primarily at the dawn terminator. We also examine the sensitivity of our results to the temperature of small-scale shadows, and the energetics of water molecule desorption from the lunar regolith - two factors that remain to be definitively constrained by other methods - and find that both these factors affect the rate at which cold trap capture and photodissociation occur, as well as exospheric density and longevity.

Modeling Fate and Transport of Rotavirus in Surface Flow by Integrating WEPP and a Pathogen Transport Model

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattarai, R.; Kalita, P. K.; Davidson, P. C.; Kuhlenschmidt, M. S.

2012-12-01

More than 3.5 million people die each year from a water related diseases in this world. Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related illness. Even in a developed country like the United States, there have been at least 1870 outbreaks associated with drinking water during the period of 1920 to 2002, causing 883,806 illnesses. Most of these outbreaks are resulted due to the presence of microbial pathogens in drinking water. Rotavirus infection has been recognized as the most common cause of diarrhea in young children throughout the world. Laboratory experiments conducted at the University of Illinois have demonstrated that recovery of rotavirus has been significantly affected by climatic and soil-surface conditions like slope, soil types, and ground cover. The objective of this study is to simulate the fate and transport of Rotavirus in overland and near-surface flow using a process-based model. In order to capture the dynamics of sediment-bound pathogens, the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) is coupled with the pathogen transport model. Transport of pathogens in overland flow can be simulated mathematically by including terms for the concentration of the pathogens in the liquid phase (in suspension or free-floating) and the solid phase (adsorbed to the fine solid particles like clay and silt). Advection, adsorption, and decay processes are considered. The mass balance equations are solved using numerical technique to predict spatial and temporal changes in pathogen concentrations in two phases. Outputs from WEPP simulations (flow velocity, depth, saturated conductivity and the soil particle fraction exiting in flow) are transferred as input for the pathogen transport model. Three soil types and three different surface cover conditions have been used in the experimental investigations. Results from these conditions have been used in calibrating and validating the simulation results. Bare surface conditions have produced very good agreement between

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

Critical infrastructure protection research results of the first critical infrastructure protection research project in Hungary

CERN Document Server

Padányi, József

2016-01-01

This book presents recent research in the recognition of vulnerabilities of national systems and assets which gained special attention for the Critical Infrastructures in the last two decades. The book concentrates on R&D activities in the relation of Critical Infrastructures focusing on enhancing the performance of services as well as the level of security. The objectives of the book are based on a project entitled "Critical Infrastructure Protection Researches" (TÁMOP-4.2.1.B-11/2/KMR-2011-0001) which concentrated on innovative UAV solutions, robotics, cybersecurity, surface engineering, and mechatrinics and technologies providing safe operations of essential assets. This report is summarizing the methodologies and efforts taken to fulfill the goals defined. The project has been performed by the consortium of the Óbuda University and the National University of Public Service.

The use of modern data about the composition and properties of soils for the development of transport infrastructure of Tyumen

Science.gov (United States)

Eremin, Dmitry

2017-10-01

Sedimentary properties territory Tura-Pyshma interfluve, where Tyumen is located are determined by the general course of ancient and especially the newest tectonic movements. Active development of the transport network on the territory of the Tour-Pyshma interfluve has created the need for a contemporary study of regional peculiarities of grounds. This will allow you to create roads with the quality meet the international standards. The use of average values of indicators of the properties of silty-clay soils during the development of the transport infrastructure projects of the city of Tyumen and its environs is ineffective due to the genetic characteristics of the rocks located at the depth of 1.5-5.0 meters. Detailed analysis showed that the studied soil belongs to the covering carbonate loams and clays, differing in its characteristics from loess-like sediments of the European part of Russia. The thickness of the covering rocks is not more than 5 meters. It’s low-carbonate, non-saline and often has a layered structure. The upper three meters of sediments contain the minimum quantity of water-soluble salts (dry residue less than 0.1%). Studied covering loams are characterized by favorable physical properties: the density of the bulk and the particle is 1.44 to 1.62 and 2.70-2.78 g/cm3, respectively. Water permeability is high - the filtration coefficient varies from 3.4 to 6.4 m/day, the minimum water velocity observed in the clay types of soil. The presence of sand layers adversely affects the permeability of soil. Therefore, the design and construction of transport infrastructure of the city and the surrounding territories it is necessary to consider regional features of grounds.

Modeling Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure to Support Passenger Vehicles †

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Muratori

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The year 2014 marked hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs first becoming commercially available in California, where significant investments are being made to promote the adoption of alternative transportation fuels. A refueling infrastructure network that guarantees adequate coverage and expands in line with vehicle sales is required for FCEVs to be successfully adopted by private customers. In this paper, we provide an overview of modelling methodologies used to project hydrogen refueling infrastructure requirements to support FCEV adoption, and we describe, in detail, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s scenario evaluation and regionalization analysis (SERA model. As an example, we use SERA to explore two alternative scenarios of FCEV adoption: one in which FCEV deployment is limited to California and several major cities in the United States; and one in which FCEVs reach widespread adoption, becoming a major option as passenger vehicles across the entire country. Such scenarios can provide guidance and insights for efforts required to deploy the infrastructure supporting transition toward different levels of hydrogen use as a transportation fuel for passenger vehicles in the United States.

Recovering full repair costs of INDOT infrastructure damaged by motor vehicle crashes : [technical summary].

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

There are approximately 4,000 instances per year that require infrastructure located along right-of-way maintained by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) to be replaced or repaired due to motor vehicle crashes. This infrastructure includ...

Climate Change driven evolution of hazards to Europe's transport infrastructure throughout the twenty-first century

Science.gov (United States)

Matulla, Christoph; Hollósi, Brigitta; Andre, Konrad; Gringinger, Julia; Chimani, Barbara; Namyslo, Joachim; Fuchs, Tobias; Auerbach, Markus; Herrmann, Carina; Sladek, Brigitte; Berghold, Heimo; Gschier, Roland; Eichinger-Vill, Eva

2017-06-01

Road authorities, freight, and logistic industries face a multitude of challenges in a world changing at an ever growing pace. While globalization, changes in technology, demography, and traffic, for instance, have received much attention over the bygone decades, climate change has not been treated with equal care until recently. However, since it has been recognized that climate change jeopardizes many business areas in transport, freight, and logistics, research programs investigating future threats have been initiated. One of these programs is the Conference of European Directors of Roads' (CEDR) Transnational Research Programme (TRP), which emerged about a decade ago from a cooperation between European National Road Authorities and the EU. This paper presents findings of a CEDR project called CliPDaR, which has been designed to answer questions from road authorities concerning climate-driven future threats to transport infrastructure. Pertaining results are based on two potential future socio-economic pathways of mankind (one strongly economically oriented "A2" and one more balanced scenario "A1B"), which are used to drive global climate models (GCMs) producing global and continental scale climate change projections. In order to achieve climate change projections, which are valid on regional scales, GCM projections are downscaled by regional climate models. Results shown here originate from research questions raised by European Road Authorities. They refer to future occurrence frequencies of severely cold winter seasons in Fennoscandia, to particularly hot summer seasons in the Iberian Peninsula and to changes in extreme weather phenomena triggering landslides and rutting in Central Europe. Future occurrence frequencies of extreme winter and summer conditions are investigated by empirical orthogonal function analyses of GCM projections driven with by A2 and A1B pathways. The analysis of future weather phenomena triggering landslides and rutting events requires

Innovative Technologies in Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

2004-12-01

An historical overview of the transportation infrastructure of the United States and Texas is provided. Data for trends in transportation is analyzed and projections for the future are postulated. A survey of current technologies in transportation is...

Sea surface temperature and Ekman transport in the Persian Gulf

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. H.

2002-12-01

Full Text Available   The wind drift motion of the water which is produced by the stress of the wind exerted upon the surface of the ocean is described by Ekmans theory (1905. Using the mean monthly values for the wind stress and SST, seasonal Ekman transport for the Persian Gulf was computed and contoured. The geostrophic winds have combined with the SST to estimate the effect of cooling due to Ekman transport of colder northern waters and inflow from the Oman Sea. The monthly SST mainly obtained from the 10 10 grided data of Levitus atlas and Hormuz Cruis Experiment for 1997.   Analyses show a NW to SE Ekman transport due to wind stress and significant interannual variability of SST on sea surface in the Persian Gulf. The seasonal variation of SST shows a continental pattern due to severe interaction between the land and sea. But these variations somehow moderates because of Ekman transport in Persian Gulf.

A Screen Space GPGPU Surface LIC Algorithm for Distributed Memory Data Parallel Sort Last Rendering Infrastructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loring, Burlen; Karimabadi, Homa; Rortershteyn, Vadim

2014-07-01

The surface line integral convolution(LIC) visualization technique produces dense visualization of vector fields on arbitrary surfaces. We present a screen space surface LIC algorithm for use in distributed memory data parallel sort last rendering infrastructures. The motivations for our work are to support analysis of datasets that are too large to fit in the main memory of a single computer and compatibility with prevalent parallel scientific visualization tools such as ParaView and VisIt. By working in screen space using OpenGL we can leverage the computational power of GPUs when they are available and run without them when they are not. We address efficiency and performance issues that arise from the transformation of data from physical to screen space by selecting an alternate screen space domain decomposition. We analyze the algorithm's scaling behavior with and without GPUs on two high performance computing systems using data from turbulent plasma simulations.

Use of fitness-for-purpose criteria for transport infrastructure products

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Steyn, WJVDM

2006-09-01

Full Text Available certification of non-standard products to assess their fitness for- purpose. Therefore, this paper provides background to the Agrément concept, discusses the current evaluation systems being available through Agrément for road infrastructure and reflects...

Performance Risks Allocation in Bot Infrastructure in Nigeria: A Case Study of Lagos Infrastructure Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanni Gabriel A.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The study assessed allocation, criteria and allotment effectiveness of performance risks in Build- Operate-Transfer (BOT transportation infrastructure in Nigeria using Lagos Infrastructure Project (LIP as a case study. LIP is the only BOT-procured tolled road that has attained ‘operate’ stage of BOT cycle in Nigeria. It revealed that more operating risks were actually allocated to the concessionaire than the grantor and most of the risks were preferred retained by the allottee. Significant fraction of the risks was effectively allocated between the concessionaire and grantor except those that involve close interface between participants. While grantor rated nine risks high and seven risks very high; the concessionaire assessed nine risks to be high and five risks to be very high; the grantor rated the effectiveness level to be seventy three per cent and the concessionaire assessed it to be sixty four per cent. The study recommended that the evolving knowledge from Lagos Infrastructure Project (LIP should be documented to guide future BOT transactions in Nigeria.

Benefits to Minnesotans of communications infrastructure public-private partnership

Science.gov (United States)

1997-06-01

This paper presents a summary of the benefits of a communications infrastructure public-private partnership between the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the team of International Communications Systems (ICS) and Stone & Webster.

Eco-logical : an ecosystem approach to developing transportation infrastructure projects in a changing environment

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-13

The development of infrastructure facilities can negatively impact critical habitat and essential ecosystems. There are a variety of techniques available to avoid, minimize, and mitigate negative impacts of existing infrastructure as well as future i...

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2012 (NTAD2012) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportatio...

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2011 (NTAD2011) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportatio...

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2009 (NTAD2009) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportatio...

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2010 (NTAD2010) is a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and associated infrastructure. These datasets include spatial information for transportatio...

Towards low carbon transport in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-05-15

The ambitious target of 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 requires transformation of the transport system in Europe. Decarbonising transport calls for the use of less and cleaner energy, and more efficient use of modern transport infrastructure and services. These strategic targets in EU policy are supported by substantial investment in research to develop innovative and sustainable solutions in efficient use of transport infrastructure and services, more energy-efficient transport, and use of alternative fuels and propulsion systems. This Policy Brochure, which is produced by the Transport Research and Innovation Portal (TRIP), highlights the contribution of research and innovation in meeting the EU targets on CO2 emission reduction in the transport system.

36 CFR 13.460 - Use of snowmobiles, motorboats, dog teams, and other means of surface transportation...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., motorboats, dog teams, and other means of surface transportation traditionally employed by local rural... of snowmobiles, motorboats, dog teams, and other means of surface transportation traditionally... this chapter, the use of snowmobiles, motorboats, dog teams, and other means of surface transportation...

A Different Trolley Problem: The Limits of Environmental Justice and the Promise of Complex Moral Assessments for Transportation Infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Epting, Shane

2016-12-01

Transportation infrastructure tremendously affects the quality of life for urban residents, influences public and mental health, and shapes social relations. Historically, the topic is rich with social and political controversy and the resultant transit systems in the United States cause problems for minority residents and issues for the public. Environmental justice frameworks provide a means to identify and address harms that affect marginalized groups, but environmental justice has limits that cannot account for the mainstream population. To account for this condition, I employ a complex moral assessment measure that provides a way to talk about harms that affect the public.

Reactive solute transport in streams: A surface complexation approach for trace metal sorption

Science.gov (United States)

Runkel, Robert L.; Kimball, Briant A.; McKnight, Diane M.; Bencala, Kenneth E.

1999-01-01

A model for trace metals that considers in-stream transport, metal oxide precipitation-dissolution, and pH-dependent sorption is presented. Linkage between a surface complexation submodel and the stream transport equations provides a framework for modeling sorption onto static and/or dynamic surfaces. A static surface (e.g., an iron- oxide-coated streambed) is defined as a surface with a temporally constant solid concentration. Limited contact between solutes in the water column and the static surface is considered using a pseudokinetic approach. A dynamic surface (e.g., freshly precipitated metal oxides) has a temporally variable solid concentration and is in equilibrium with the water column. Transport and deposition of solute mass sorbed to the dynamic surface is represented in the stream transport equations that include precipitate settling. The model is applied to a pH-modification experiment in an acid mine drainage stream. Dissolved copper concentrations were depressed for a 3 hour period in response to the experimentally elevated pH. After passage of the pH front, copper was desorbed, and dissolved concentrations returned to ambient levels. Copper sorption is modeled by considering sorption to aged hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) on the streambed (static surface) and freshly precipitated HFO in the water column (dynamic surface). Comparison of parameter estimates with reported values suggests that naturally formed iron oxides may be more effective in removing trace metals than synthetic oxides used in laboratory studies. The model's ability to simulate pH, metal oxide precipitation-dissolution, and pH-dependent sorption provides a means of evaluating the complex interactions between trace metal chemistry and hydrologic transport at the field scale.

Transport Infrastructure of China in Modern Conditions and its Role in the Development of Trade and Economic Relations with Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasiya S. Volkova

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article examines transport infrastructure of China, its features, advantages and disadvantages, as well as the impact on trade and economic relations between Russia and China. The role of investment in the relations between the two friendly countries is of particular importance for mutual economic development. With the aim of improving trade relations, long-term contracts are being established in the main areas in which partnership between countries is of strategic importance. Important points have been singled out, which contribute to building up the interaction between Russia and China.

Policy Model of Sustainable Infrastructure Development (Case Study : Bandarlampung City, Indonesia)

Science.gov (United States)

Persada, C.; Sitorus, S. R. P.; Marimin; Djakapermana, R. D.

2018-03-01

Infrastructure development does not only affect the economic aspect, but also social and environmental, those are the main dimensions of sustainable development. Many aspects and actors involved in urban infrastructure development requires a comprehensive and integrated policy towards sustainability. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate an infrastructure development policy that considers various dimensions of sustainable development. The main objective of this research is to formulate policy of sustainable infrastructure development. In this research, urban infrastructure covers transportation, water systems (drinking water, storm water, wastewater), green open spaces and solid waste. This research was conducted in Bandarlampung City. This study use a comprehensive modeling, namely the Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS) with Rapid Appraisal of Infrastructure (Rapinfra), it uses of Analytic Network Process (ANP) and it uses system dynamics model. The findings of the MDS analysis showed that the status of Bandarlampung City infrastructure sustainability is less sustainable. The ANP analysis produces 8 main indicators of the most influential in the development of sustainable infrastructure. The system dynamics model offered 4 scenarios of sustainable urban infrastructure policy model. The best scenario was implemented into 3 policies consist of: the integrated infrastructure management, the population control, and the local economy development.

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2013 (NTAD2013) is a set of nationwide geographic datasets of transportation facilities, transportation networks, associated infrastructure, and other political and administrative entities. These datasets i...

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2015 (NTAD2015) is a set of nationwide geographic datasets of transportation facilities, transportation networks, associated infrastructure, and other political and administrative entities. These datasets i...

National Transportation Atlas Databases : 2014.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

The National Transportation Atlas Databases 2014 (NTAD2014) is a set of nationwide geographic datasets of transportation facilities, transportation networks, associated infrastructure, and other political and administrative entities. These datasets i...

Is debt replacing equity in regulated privatized infrastructure in developing countries?

OpenAIRE

da Silva, Luis Correia; Estache, Antonio; Jarvela, Sakari

2004-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution of the financing structure of regulated privatized utilities and transport companies. To do so, the authors rely on a sample of 121 utilities distributed over 16 countries, and 23 transport infrastructure operators and 23 transport services operators distributed over 23 countries. They show that leverage rates vary significantly a...

Note of presentation of the context and objectives of the national action framework for the development of alternative fuels in the transport sector and the deployment of corresponding infrastructures in application of article 3 of the 2014/97/EU directive of the 22 October 2014 on the deployment of an infrastructure for alternative fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

This report proposes a rather detailed overview of the present situation and perspectives of development of the market of alternative fuels, and of the corresponding infrastructures. It presents the various existing or currently being elaborated legal, regulatory, incentive, and informative measures which directly or indirectly promote the deployment of alternative fuels and of corresponding infrastructures. It defines national objectives of development of alternative fuels, with quantified targets of deployment of infrastructures for electric recharging networks and for natural gas and hydrogen refuelling networks for road transport and in river and maritime ports

Assessing the likely impacts of climate change on infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holper, Paul; Nolan, Michael

2007-01-01

Full text: In 2005, the Victorian Government contracted CSIRO, Maunsell Australia and Phillips Fox to undertake an overview assessment of the likely impacts of climate change on the State's infrastructure, establish the categories of infrastructure most at risk and outline opportunities for adaptation responses. The Government released the assessment in May 2007. Climate change poses a significant risk to infrastructure and its owners, managers and long-term operators. The work was undertaken on the basis that it should not be assumed that future climate and its impacts will simply be an extension of what has been experienced in the past. Major infrastructure items have long useful life spans (20-100 years). A bridge built today is expected to still be in use in tens, if not hundreds, of years. This means that recognition of likely climate change impacts and appropriate adaptation measures should occur now. Recognition of the risks associated with climate change is a valuable first step towards better planning of new infrastructure investments and reducing potential damage to existing infrastructure.lnfrastructure types examined were water, power, telecommunications, transport and buildings. The climate change projections used in this report are based on CSIRO climate modelling, supported by findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climatic and other variables considered were temperature, rainfall, available moisture, humidity, winds, fire-weather frequency and intensity, solar radiation levels and sea-level rise. For each climate change variable identified, we described a worst-case impact for low and high climate change projections for the years 2030 and 2070. The assessment was made on the basis of 'business as usual' with no adaptation responses to climate change. The report also details the current governance structures associated with each infrastructure type. Overall, the report assessed the likely impact of climate change on

Franchising partnerships for roads engineering infrastructure operation and maintenance

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Wall, K

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This is a presentation delivered at the 27th SATC (Southern African Transport Conference) conference 2008, focusing on franchising principles and applying these principles to water services infrastructure, operation and maintenance...

Internationally Recommended Best Practices in Transportation Financing Public-Private Partnerships (P3s)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martin, Lawrence; Lawther, Wendell; Hodge, Graeme

2013-01-01

Transportation financing public-private partnerships (P3s) are a common practice in many countries. However, they represent a relatively new approach to transportation infrastructure financing for state and local governments in the United States. In a transportation financing P3 project, a private...... sector partner designs-builds-finances-operates- maintains (DBFOM) a transportation infrastructure asset (road, highway, bridge, tunnel, etc.) with an emphasis on financing. Under this type of arrangement, the private sector partner is primarily responsible for securing all or substantially all...... of the funding necessary to construct new transportation infrastructure and/or rehabilitate existing transportation infrastructure. This study reviews the international experience of national and sub-national governments with transportation financing P3s. The primary purpose of this study is to identify...

Ab initio transport across bismuth selenide surface barriers

KAUST Repository

Narayan, Awadhesh; Rungger, Ivan; Droghetti, Andrea; Sanvito, Stefano

2014-01-01

© 2014 American Physical Society. We investigate the effect of potential barriers in the form of step edges on the scattering properties of Bi2Se3(111) topological surface states by means of large-scale ab initio transport simulations. Our results

Understanding the infrastructure of European Research Infrastructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindstrøm, Maria Duclos; Kropp, Kristoffer

2017-01-01

European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) are a new form of legal and financial framework for the establishment and operation of research infrastructures in Europe. Despite their scope, ambition, and novelty, the topic has received limited scholarly attention. This article analyses one ER....... It is also a promising theoretical framework for addressing the relationship between the ERIC construct and the large diversity of European Research Infrastructures.......European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) are a new form of legal and financial framework for the establishment and operation of research infrastructures in Europe. Despite their scope, ambition, and novelty, the topic has received limited scholarly attention. This article analyses one ERIC...... became an ERIC using the Bowker and Star’s sociology of infrastructures. We conclude that focusing on ERICs as a European standard for organising and funding research collaboration gives new insights into the problems of membership, durability, and standardisation faced by research infrastructures...

A New Concept to Transport a Droplet on Horizontal Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myong, Hyon Kook

2014-01-01

A fluid transport technique is a key issue for the development of microfluidic systems. In this paper, a new concept for transporting a droplet without external power sources is proposed and verified numerically. The proposed device is a heterogeneous surface which has both hydrophilic and hydrophobic horizontal surfaces. The numerical simulation to demonstrate the new concept is conducted by an in-house solution code (PowerCFD) which employs an unstructured cell-centered method based on a conservative pressure-based finite-volume method with interface capturing method (CICSAM) in a volume of fluid (VOF) scheme for phase interface capturing. It is found that the proposed concept for droplet transport shows superior performance for droplet transport in microfluidic systems

Public awareness of and support for infrastructure changes designed to increase walking and biking in Los Angeles County.

Science.gov (United States)

Gase, Lauren N; Barragan, Noel C; Simon, Paul A; Jackson, Richard J; Kuo, Tony

2015-03-01

Policies to promote active transportation are emerging as a best practice to increase physical activity, yet relatively little is known about public opinion on utilizing transportation funds for such investments. This study sought to assess public awareness of and support for investments in walking and biking infrastructure in Los Angeles County. In the fall of 2013, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health conducted a telephone survey with a random sample of registered voters in the region. The survey asked respondents to report on the presence and importance of walking and biking infrastructure in their community, travel behaviors and preferences, and demographics. One thousand and five interviews were completed (response rate 20%, cooperation rate 54%). The majority of participants reported walking, biking, and bus/rail transportation investments as being important. In addition, participants reported a high level of support for redirecting transportation funds to active transportation investment - the population average was 3.28 (between 'strongly' and 'somewhat' support) on a 4 point Likert scale. Voters see active transportation infrastructure as being very important and support redirecting funding to improve the infrastructure. These findings can inform policy-decisions and planning efforts in the jurisdiction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Mexican transportation infrastructure projects.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

This research examined the legal, financial, institutional and policy processes that Mexico uses to plan, finance, construct, and implement its transportation network. It documents through twelve case studies the state of the practice in planning, fi...

Heat in the Barents Sea: transport, storage, and surface fluxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. H. Smedsrud

2010-02-01

Full Text Available A column model is set up for the Barents Sea to explore sensitivity of surface fluxes and heat storage from varying ocean heat transport. Mean monthly ocean transport and atmospheric forcing are synthesised and force the simulations. Results show that by using updated ocean transports of heat and freshwater the vertical mean hydrographic seasonal cycle can be reproduced fairly well.

Our results indicate that the ~70 TW of heat transported to the Barents Sea by ocean currents is lost in the southern Barents Sea as latent, sensible, and long wave radiation, each contributing 23–39 TW to the total heat loss. Solar radiation adds 26 TW in the south, as there is no significant ice production.

The northern Barents Sea receives little ocean heat transport. This leads to a mixed layer at the freezing point during winter and significant ice production. There is little net surface heat loss annually in the north. The balance is achieved by a heat loss through long wave radiation all year, removing most of the summer solar heating.

During the last decade the Barents Sea has experienced an atmospheric warming and an increased ocean heat transport. The Barents Sea responds to such large changes by adjusting temperature and heat loss. Decreasing the ocean heat transport below 50 TW starts a transition towards Arctic conditions. The heat loss in the Barents Sea depend on the effective area for cooling, and an increased heat transport leads to a spreading of warm water further north.

Infrastructure Joint Venture Projects in Malaysia: A Preliminary Study

Science.gov (United States)

Romeli, Norsyakilah; Muhamad Halil, Faridah; Ismail, Faridah; Sufian Hasim, Muhammad

2018-03-01

As many developed country practise, the function of the infrastructure is to connect the each region of Malaysia holistically and infrastructure is an investment network projects such as transportation water and sewerage, power, communication and irrigations system. Hence, a billions allocations of government income reserved for the sake of the infrastructure development. Towards a successful infrastructure development, a joint venture approach has been promotes by 2016 in one of the government thrust in Construction Industry Transformation Plan which encourage the internationalisation among contractors. However, there is depletion in information on the actual practise of the infrastructure joint venture projects in Malaysia. Therefore, this study attempt to explore the real application of the joint venture in Malaysian infrastructure projects. Using the questionnaire survey, a set of survey question distributed to the targeted respondents. The survey contained three section which the sections are respondent details, organizations background and project capital in infrastructure joint venture project. The results recorded and analyse using SPSS software. The contractors stated that they have implemented the joint venture practice with mostly the client with the usual construction period of the infrastructure project are more than 5 years. Other than that, the study indicates that there are problems in the joint venture project in the perspective of the project capital and the railway infrastructure should be given a highlights in future study due to its high significant in term of cost and technical issues.

Infrastructure Joint Venture Projects in Malaysia: A Preliminary Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romeli Norsyakilah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As many developed country practise, the function of the infrastructure is to connect the each region of Malaysia holistically and infrastructure is an investment network projects such as transportation water and sewerage, power, communication and irrigations system. Hence, a billions allocations of government income reserved for the sake of the infrastructure development. Towards a successful infrastructure development, a joint venture approach has been promotes by 2016 in one of the government thrust in Construction Industry Transformation Plan which encourage the internationalisation among contractors. However, there is depletion in information on the actual practise of the infrastructure joint venture projects in Malaysia. Therefore, this study attempt to explore the real application of the joint venture in Malaysian infrastructure projects. Using the questionnaire survey, a set of survey question distributed to the targeted respondents. The survey contained three section which the sections are respondent details, organizations background and project capital in infrastructure joint venture project. The results recorded and analyse using SPSS software. The contractors stated that they have implemented the joint venture practice with mostly the client with the usual construction period of the infrastructure project are more than 5 years. Other than that, the study indicates that there are problems in the joint venture project in the perspective of the project capital and the railway infrastructure should be given a highlights in future study due to its high significant in term of cost and technical issues.

The Risks of Investments in Transport Infrastructure Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Pokorná

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Investment decisions should not be taken without an in-depth analysis of the risks. This is an important stage in project preparation and should be performed simultaneously with the planning of the financial operations. Infrastructure development requires that project risks and responsibilities be assigned to the public or private entity that is best able to manage them. The risks and their financial impacts are usually not quantified equally by all parties. Each party views the given risks according to the guarantees provided. These guarantees are related to the form of participation in the project.

Analysis of extreme values of the economic efficiency indicators of transport infrastructure projects

Science.gov (United States)

Korytárová, J.; Vaňková, L.

2017-10-01

Paper builds on previous research of the authors into the evaluation of economic efficiency of transport infrastructure projects evaluated by the economic efficiency ratio - NPV, IRR and BCR. Values of indicators and subsequent outputs of the sensitivity analysis show extremely favourable values in some cases. The authors dealt with the analysis of these indicators down to the level of the input variables and examined which inputs have a larger share of these extreme values. NCF for the calculation of above mentioned ratios is created by benefits that arise as the difference between zero and investment options of the project (savings in travel and operating costs, savings in travel time costs, reduction in accident costs and savings in exogenous costs) as well as total agency costs. Savings in travel time costs which contribute to the overall utility of projects by more than 70% appear to be the most important benefits in the long term horizon. This is the reason why this benefit emphasized. The outcome of the article has resulted how the particular basic variables contributed to the total robustness of economic efficiency of these project.

Recovery act : states' use of highway infrastructure funds and compliance with the act's requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) included more than $48 billion for the Department of Transportations (DOT) investment in transportation infrastructure, including highways, rail, and transit. This testimonybased...

Demystifying the Barriers to Transport Infrastructure Project Development in Fast Developing Regions: The Case of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianyi Nie

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Transport infrastructure (TI has become one of the primary drivers for sustainable economic growth and social progress. However, a wider take-up is currently inhibited in fast developing regions (FDRs by many barriers, which have not been explored explicitly in previous studies. In this study, a three-dimensional framework (i.e., macro environment, local environment, and the construction process is proposed to structure the barriers in a reasonable way. Professionals’ opinions on the importance of the barriers are collected through questionnaire survey. The survey results were analyzed by the ranking analysis technique. It is found that the top five barriers are “difficulty in survey and design during the construction process”, “weak support from economy”, “insufficient funding”, “harsh regional climate”, and “cost overrun”. Further analysis, based on a factor analysis, indicates that these critical barriers could be grouped into three clusters: “administration on transport infrastructure”, “construction technology and cost management”, and “geographical and economic conditions”. The research findings demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework, and the implication is that a barriers-based checklist favors stakeholders to improve the efficiency and sustainability of TI development in FDRs. Although the study is situated in China, it sheds light on the subject in other developing countries.

Report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission : transportation for tomorrow.

Science.gov (United States)

2007-11-01

President Dwight D. Eisenhower had the foresight : to understand how a system of Interstate highways : would transform the Nation. If there was ever a : time to take a similarly daring look at a broadened : surface transportation network, it is now! ...

Models of Fate and Transport of Pollutants in Surface Waters

Science.gov (United States)

Okome, Gloria Eloho

2013-01-01

There is the need to answer very crucial questions of "what happens to pollutants in surface waters?" This question must be answered to determine the factors controlling fate and transport of chemicals and their evolutionary state in surface waters. Monitoring and experimental methods are used in establishing the environmental states.…

Response of the global surface ozone distribution to Northern Hemisphere sea surface temperature changes: implications for long-range transport

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Kan; Liu, Junfeng; Ban-Weiss, George; Zhang, Jiachen; Tao, Wei; Cheng, Yanli; Tao, Shu

2017-07-01

The response of surface ozone (O3) concentrations to basin-scale warming and cooling of Northern Hemisphere oceans is investigated using the Community Earth System Model (CESM). Idealized, spatially uniform sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of ±1 °C are individually superimposed onto the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and North Indian oceans. Our simulations suggest large seasonal and regional variability in surface O3 in response to SST anomalies, especially in the boreal summer. The responses of surface O3 associated with basin-scale SST warming and cooling have similar magnitude but are opposite in sign. Increasing the SST by 1 °C in one of the oceans generally decreases the surface O3 concentrations from 1 to 5 ppbv. With fixed emissions, SST increases in a specific ocean basin in the Northern Hemisphere tend to increase the summertime surface O3 concentrations over upwind regions, accompanied by a widespread reduction over downwind continents. We implement the integrated process rate (IPR) analysis in CESM and find that meteorological O3 transport in response to SST changes is the key process causing surface O3 perturbations in most cases. During the boreal summer, basin-scale SST warming facilitates the vertical transport of O3 to the surface over upwind regions while significantly reducing the vertical transport over downwind continents. This process, as confirmed by tagged CO-like tracers, indicates a considerable suppression of intercontinental O3 transport due to increased tropospheric stability at lower midlatitudes induced by SST changes. Conversely, the responses of chemical O3 production to regional SST warming can exert positive effects on surface O3 levels over highly polluted continents, except South Asia, where intensified cloud loading in response to North Indian SST warming depresses both the surface air temperature and solar radiation, and thus photochemical O3 production. Our findings indicate a robust linkage between basin-scale SST

Response of the global surface ozone distribution to Northern Hemisphere sea surface temperature changes: implications for long-range transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Yi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The response of surface ozone (O3 concentrations to basin-scale warming and cooling of Northern Hemisphere oceans is investigated using the Community Earth System Model (CESM. Idealized, spatially uniform sea surface temperature (SST anomalies of ±1 °C are individually superimposed onto the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and North Indian oceans. Our simulations suggest large seasonal and regional variability in surface O3 in response to SST anomalies, especially in the boreal summer. The responses of surface O3 associated with basin-scale SST warming and cooling have similar magnitude but are opposite in sign. Increasing the SST by 1 °C in one of the oceans generally decreases the surface O3 concentrations from 1 to 5 ppbv. With fixed emissions, SST increases in a specific ocean basin in the Northern Hemisphere tend to increase the summertime surface O3 concentrations over upwind regions, accompanied by a widespread reduction over downwind continents. We implement the integrated process rate (IPR analysis in CESM and find that meteorological O3 transport in response to SST changes is the key process causing surface O3 perturbations in most cases. During the boreal summer, basin-scale SST warming facilitates the vertical transport of O3 to the surface over upwind regions while significantly reducing the vertical transport over downwind continents. This process, as confirmed by tagged CO-like tracers, indicates a considerable suppression of intercontinental O3 transport due to increased tropospheric stability at lower midlatitudes induced by SST changes. Conversely, the responses of chemical O3 production to regional SST warming can exert positive effects on surface O3 levels over highly polluted continents, except South Asia, where intensified cloud loading in response to North Indian SST warming depresses both the surface air temperature and solar radiation, and thus photochemical O3 production. Our findings indicate a robust linkage

Methane Bubbles Transport Particles From Contaminated Sediment to a Lake Surface

Science.gov (United States)

Delwiche, K.; Hemond, H.

2017-12-01

Methane bubbling from aquatic sediments has long been known to transport carbon to the atmosphere, but new evidence presented here suggests that methane bubbles also transport particulate matter to a lake surface. This transport pathway is of particular importance in lakes with contaminated sediments, as bubble transport could increase human exposure to toxic metals. The Upper Mystic Lake in Arlington, MA has a documented history of methane bubbling and sediment contamination by arsenic and other heavy metals, and we have conducted laboratory and field studies demonstrating that methane bubbles are capable of transporting sediment particles over depths as great as 15 m in Upper Mystic Lake. Methane bubble traps were used in-situ to capture particles adhered to bubble interfaces, and to relate particle mass transport to bubble flux. Laboratory studies were conducted in a custom-made 15 m tall water column to quantify the relationship between water column height and the mass of particulate transport. We then couple this particle transport data with historical estimates of ebullition from Upper Mystic Lake to quantify the significance of bubble-mediated particle transport to heavy metal cycling within the lake. Results suggest that methane bubbles can represent a significant pathway for contaminated sediment to reach surface waters even in relatively deep water bodies. Given the frequent co-occurrence of contaminated sediments and high bubble flux rates, and the potential for human exposure to heavy metals, it will be critical to study the significance of this transport pathway for a range of sediment and contaminant types.

Public Infrastructure and Regional growth: Evidence from Turkey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elburz, Z.; Nijkamp, P.; Pels, A.J.H.

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of public transportation infrastructure investments on regional economic growth in Turkish NUTS 2 regions between 2004 and 2011. To offer an advanced statistical analysis, we employ an augmented production function model for measuring the effects of

Green Infrastructure, Groundwater and the Sustainable City

Science.gov (United States)

Band, L. E.

2014-12-01

The management of water is among the most important attributes of urbanization. Provision of sufficient quantities and quality of freshwater, treatment and disposal of wastewater and flood protection are critical for urban sustainability. Over the last century, two major shifts in water management paradigms have occurred, the first to improve public health with the provision of infrastructure for centralized sanitary effluent collection and treatment, and the rapid drainage and routing of stormwater. A current shift in paradigm is now occurring in response to the unintended consequences of sanitary and stormwater management, which have degraded downstream water bodies and shifted flood hazard downstream. Current infrastructure is being designed and implemented to retain, rather than rapidly drain, stormwater, with a focus on infiltration based methods. In urban areas, this amounts to a shift in hydrologic behavior to depression focused recharge. While stormwater is defined as surface flow resulting from developed areas, an integrated hydrologic systems approach to urban water management requires treatment of the full critical zone. In urban areas this extends from the top of the vegetation and building canopy, to a subsurface depth including natural soils, fill, saprolite and bedrock. In addition to matric and network flow in fracture systems, an urban "karst" includes multiple generations of current and past infrastructure, which has developed extensive subsurface pipe networks for supply and drainage, enhancing surface/groundwater flows and exchange. In this presentation, Band will discuss the need to focus on the urban critical zone, and the development and adaptation of new modeling and analytical approaches to understand and plan green infrastructure based on surface/groundwater/ecosystem interactions, and implications for the restoration and new design of cities.

Summary of the Border Infrastructure Finance Workshop : January 20-21, 2016, San Diego, California

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-01

On January 20-21, 2016, the U.S.-Mexico Joint Working Committee for Transportation Planning (JWC), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) sponsored a workshop on Border Infrastructure...

Transport and agricultural productivity: A cross-national analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sike Liu

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The transportation infrastructure plays a significant role in the development of agriculture. In this study we examine the relationship between transport and agricultural performance by employing the World Bank’s roads infrastructure indicators. Based on a cross-country sample, a classic method is employed to test the hypothesis that better transport fosters agricultural productivity. The empirical results of the method support the hypothesis. As for this method, the estimation results of the widely-used inter-country aggregate agricultural production function describe that a country with better transport can produce more agricultural outputs given the same amounts of agricultural inputs and the same education level. Our empirical work lends support to the claim of Gollin and Rogerson (2010 [19] that transport is a basic factor explaining the poor economic performance of many developing countries, apart from physical and education investments, more emphasis should be placed on improving the transport infrastructure of these countries.

Oil and gas delivery to Europe. An Overview of Existing and Planned Infrastructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nies, S.

2011-01-01

The European Union?s hydrocarbon energy supply depends heavily on imports. While the European Commission has recommended diversifying and increasing domestic resources, notably with renewable resources which should grow to 20% by 2020, dependence on hydrocarbon imports will remain not only substantial, but will increase. Particular attention must thus be paid to the question of transportation, and also to the countries of origin, investments in infrastructure, their protection, relations with transit countries, 'competing consumers? (notably China and emerging countries, but also the United States), energy wastefulness in producing countries, and, finally, price. Security of supply depends on adequate and reliable infrastructure, and must always be thought of in the long term. This entirely revised edition of the fourth study conducted by the European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy program at Ifri includes discussions about pipeline routes and potential outputs, their current use and financial requirements for transportation, ongoing projects and those planned for the future, their cost, their financing, and their probable operational start-up date. While all infrastructures are necessarily included (including Norway, the United Kingdom, and North Africa), particular attention is paid to transportation infrastructure that connects Europe with Russia and the former Soviet Union (Central Asia, Caspian Sea). It will be immediately clear that the issue of gas is dominant in current discussions. (author)

Oil and gas delivery to Europe. An Overview of Existing and Planned Infrastructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nies, S.

2011-07-01

The European Union?s hydrocarbon energy supply depends heavily on imports. While the European Commission has recommended diversifying and increasing domestic resources, notably with renewable resources which should grow to 20% by 2020, dependence on hydrocarbon imports will remain not only substantial, but will increase. Particular attention must thus be paid to the question of transportation, and also to the countries of origin, investments in infrastructure, their protection, relations with transit countries, 'competing consumers? (notably China and emerging countries, but also the United States), energy wastefulness in producing countries, and, finally, price. Security of supply depends on adequate and reliable infrastructure, and must always be thought of in the long term. This entirely revised edition of the fourth study conducted by the European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy program at Ifri includes discussions about pipeline routes and potential outputs, their current use and financial requirements for transportation, ongoing projects and those planned for the future, their cost, their financing, and their probable operational start-up date. While all infrastructures are necessarily included (including Norway, the United Kingdom, and North Africa), particular attention is paid to transportation infrastructure that connects Europe with Russia and the former Soviet Union (Central Asia, Caspian Sea). It will be immediately clear that the issue of gas is dominant in current discussions. (author)

Decision analysis and risk models for land development affecting infrastructure systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Thekdi, Shital A; Lambert, James H

2012-07-01

Coordination and layering of models to identify risks in complex systems such as large-scale infrastructure of energy, water, and transportation is of current interest across application domains. Such infrastructures are increasingly vulnerable to adjacent commercial and residential land development. Land development can compromise the performance of essential infrastructure systems and increase the costs of maintaining or increasing performance. A risk-informed approach to this topic would be useful to avoid surprise, regret, and the need for costly remedies. This article develops a layering and coordination of models for risk management of land development affecting infrastructure systems. The layers are: system identification, expert elicitation, predictive modeling, comparison of investment alternatives, and implications of current decisions for future options. The modeling layers share a focus on observable factors that most contribute to volatility of land development and land use. The relevant data and expert evidence include current and forecasted growth in population and employment, conservation and preservation rules, land topography and geometries, real estate assessments, market and economic conditions, and other factors. The approach integrates to a decision framework of strategic considerations based on assessing risk, cost, and opportunity in order to prioritize needs and potential remedies that mitigate impacts of land development to the infrastructure systems. The approach is demonstrated for a 5,700-mile multimodal transportation system adjacent to 60,000 tracts of potential land development. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

A desk study of surface diffusion and mass transport in clay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cook, A.J.

1988-09-01

The concept of a geological barrier to radionuclide migration from theoretical radioactive waste repositories has drawn attention to the physico-chemical properties of clays, which are traditionally regarded as retarding media. This report addresses the different mechanisms of transport of radionuclides through clay and in particular focuses on the surface diffusion movement of sorbed cations. The relative contributory importance of the different transport mechanisms is governed by the pore size distributions and interconnections within the clay fabric. Surface diffusion data in the literature have been from experiments using compacted montmorillonite and biotite gneiss. A possible programme of laboratory work is outlined, based on diffusion experiments, which describes the way of measuring the effect of surface diffusion more accurately in clays, mudstones and shales. (author)

Settlement characteristics of major infrastructures in Shanghai

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Jiao

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Critical infrastructures in Shanghai have undergone uneven settlement since their operation, which plays an important role in affecting the security of Shanghai. This paper, taking rail transportation as example, investigates settlement characteristics and influencing factors of this linear engineering, based on long-term settlement monitoring data. Results show that rail settlement is related to geological conditions, regional ground subsidence, surrounding construction activities and structural differences in the rail systems. In order to effectively decrease the impact of regional ground subsidence, a monitoring and early-warning mechanism for critical infrastructure is established by the administrative department and engineering operators, including monitoring network construction, settlement monitoring, information sharing, settlement warning, and so on.

The Design of a Renewable Hydrogen Fuel Infrastructure for London

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parissis, O.; Bauen, A.

2006-01-01

The development of a least cost hydrogen infrastructure is key to the introduction of hydrogen fuel in road transport. This paper presents a generic framework for modelling the development of a renewable hydrogen infrastructure that can be applied to different cases and geographical regions. The model was designed by means of mixed integer linear programming and developed in MATLAB. It was applied to the case of London aiming to examine the possibilities of developing a renewable hydrogen infrastructure within a 50 years time horizon. The results presented here are preliminary results from a study looking at the least cost solutions to supplying hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable energy resources to large urban centres. (authors)

Better state-of-good-repair indicators for the transportation performance index.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-07-01

The Transportation Performance Index was developed for the US Chamber of Commerce to track the : performance of transportation infrastructure over time and explore the connection between economic : health and infrastructure performance. This project ...

Interannual variability of surface and bottom sediment transport on the Laptev Sea shelf during summer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Wegner

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Sediment transport dynamics were studied during ice-free conditions under different atmospheric circulation regimes on the Laptev Sea shelf (Siberian Arctic. To study the interannual variability of suspended particulate matter (SPM dynamics and their coupling with the variability in surface river water distribution on the Laptev Sea shelf, detailed oceanographic, optical (turbidity and Ocean Color satellite data, and hydrochemical (nutrients, SPM, stable oxygen isotopes process studies were carried out continuously during the summers of 2007 and 2008. Thus, for the first time SPM and nutrient variations on the Laptev Sea shelf under different atmospheric forcing and the implications for the turbidity and transparency of the water column can be presented.

The data indicate a clear link between different surface distributions of riverine waters and the SPM transport dynamics within the entire water column. The summer of 2007 was dominated by shoreward winds and an eastward transport of riverine surface waters. The surface SPM concentration on the southeastern inner shelf was elevated, which led to decreased transmissivity and increased light absorption. Surface SPM concentrations in the central and northern Laptev Sea were comparatively low. However, the SPM transport and concentration within the bottom nepheloid layer increased considerably on the entire eastern shelf. The summer of 2008 was dominated by offshore winds and northward transport of the river plume. The surface SPM transport was enhanced and extended onto the mid-shelf, whereas the bottom SPM transport and concentration was diminished. This study suggests that the SPM concentration and transport, in both the surface and bottom nepheloid layers, are associated with the distribution of riverine surface waters which are linked to the atmospheric circulation patterns over the Laptev Sea and the adjacent Arctic Ocean during the open water season. A continuing trend toward

An integrated GIS-MARKAL toolbox for designing a CO2 infrastructure network in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Broek, M.A.; Brederode, E.; Ramirez, C.A.; Kramers, K.; van der Kuip, M.; Wildenborg, T.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Turkenburg, W.C.

2009-01-01

Large-scale implementation of carbon capture and storage needs a whole new infrastructure to transport and store CO2. Tools that can support planning and designing of such infrastructure require incorporation of both temporal and spatial aspects. Therefore, a toolbox that integrates ArcGIS, a

Development of road infrastructure as a tool of transforming Ibiono ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal of Social Sciences ... Development of road infrastructure as a tool of transforming Ibiono Ibom local government area. V Umoren ... The improvement of transportation network in the rural area in this regard becomes imperative.

Permafrost Hazards and Linear Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Stanilovskaya, Julia; Sergeev, Dmitry

2014-05-01

The international experience of linear infrastructure planning, construction and exploitation in permafrost zone is being directly tied to the permafrost hazard assessment. That procedure should also consider the factors of climate impact and infrastructure protection. The current global climate change hotspots are currently polar and mountain areas. Temperature rise, precipitation and land ice conditions change, early springs occur more often. The big linear infrastructure objects cross the territories with different permafrost conditions which are sensitive to the changes in air temperature, hydrology, and snow accumulation which are connected to climatic dynamics. One of the most extensive linear structures built on permafrost worldwide are Trans Alaskan Pipeline (USA), Alaska Highway (Canada), Qinghai-Xizang Railway (China) and Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean Oil Pipeline (Russia). Those are currently being influenced by the regional climate change and permafrost impact which may act differently from place to place. Thermokarst is deemed to be the most dangerous process for linear engineering structures. Its formation and development depend on the linear structure type: road or pipeline, elevated or buried one. Zonal climate and geocryological conditions are also of the determining importance here. All the projects are of the different age and some of them were implemented under different climatic conditions. The effects of permafrost thawing have been recorded every year since then. The exploration and transportation companies from different countries maintain the linear infrastructure from permafrost degradation in different ways. The highways in Alaska are in a good condition due to governmental expenses on annual reconstructions. The Chara-China Railroad in Russia is under non-standard condition due to intensive permafrost response. Standards for engineering and construction should be reviewed and updated to account for permafrost hazards caused by the

Tracking the deployment of the integrated metropolitan ITS infrastructure in Orlando : FY99 results

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

In January 1996, Secretary Pea set a goal of deploying the integrated metropolitan Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) infrastructure in 75 of the nations largest metropolitan areas by 2006. In 1997, the U.S. Department of Transportation ini...

Effects of landscape-based green infrastructure on stormwater ...

Science.gov (United States)

The development of impervious surfaces in urban and suburban catchments affects their hydrological behavior by decreasing infiltration, increasing peak hydrograph response following rainfall events, and ultimately increasing the total volume of water and mass of pollutants reaching streams. These changes have deleterious effects on downstream surface waters. Consequently, strategies to mitigate these impacts are now components of contemporary urban development and stormwater management. This study evaluates the effectiveness of landscape green infrastructure (GI) in reducing stormwater runoff volumes and controlling peak flows in four subdivision-scale suburban catchments (1.88 – 12.97 acres) in Montgomery County, MD, USA. Stormwater flow rates during runoff events were measured in five minute intervals at each catchment outlet. One catchment was built with GI vegetated swales on all parcels with the goal of intercepting, conveying, and infiltrating stormwater before it enters the sewer network. The remaining catchments were constructed with traditional gray infrastructure and “end-of-pipe” best management practices (BMPs) that treat stormwater before entering streams. This study compared characteristics of rainfall-runoff events at the green and gray infrastructure sites to understand their effects on suburban hydrology. The landscape GI strategy generally reduced rainfall-runoff ratios compared to gray infrastructure because of increased infiltration, ul

Integrated technique of planning the capital repair of residential buildings and objects of transport infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Dement'eva, Marina

2017-10-01

The paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of two fundamentally different methods for planning capital repairs of objects of transport infrastructure and residential development. The first method was based on perspective long-term plans. Normative service life were the basis for planning the periodicity of repairs. The second method was based on the performance of repairs in fact of the onset of the malfunction. Problems of financing repair work, of the uneven aging of constructs and engineering systems, different wear mechanism in different conditions of exploitation, absence of methods of planning repairs of administrative and production buildings (depots, stations, etc.) justify the need to optimize methods of planning the repair and the relevance of this paper. The aim of the study was to develop the main provisions of an integrated technique for planning the capital repair of buildings of any functional purpose, which combines the advantages of each of the discussed planning methods. For this purpose, the consequences of technical and economic risk were analyzed of the buildings, including stations, depots, transport transfer hubs, administrative buildings, etc when choosing different planning methods. One of the significant results of the study is the possibility of justifying the optimal period of capital repairs on the basis of the proposed technical and economic criteria. The adjustment of the planned repair schedule is carried out taking into account the reliability and cost-effectiveness of the exploitation process.

Energy Transmission and Infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mathison, Jane

2012-12-31

The objective of Energy Transmission and Infrastructure Northern Ohio (OH) was to lay the conceptual and analytical foundation for an energy economy in northern Ohio that will: • improve the efficiency with which energy is used in the residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and transportation sectors for Oberlin, Ohio as a district-wide model for Congressional District OH-09; • identify the potential to deploy wind and solar technologies and the most effective configuration for the regional energy system (i.e., the ratio of distributed or centralized power generation); • analyze the potential within the district to utilize farm wastes to produce biofuels; • enhance long-term energy security by identifying ways to deploy local resources and building Ohio-based enterprises; • identify the policy, regulatory, and financial barriers impeding development of a new energy system; and • improve energy infrastructure within Congressional District OH-09. This objective of laying the foundation for a renewable energy system in Ohio was achieved through four primary areas of activity: 1. district-wide energy infrastructure assessments and alternative-energy transmission studies; 2. energy infrastructure improvement projects undertaken by American Municipal Power (AMP) affiliates in the northern Ohio communities of Elmore, Oak Harbor, and Wellington; 3. Oberlin, OH-area energy assessment initiatives; and 4. a district-wide conference held in September 2011 to disseminate year-one findings. The grant supported 17 research studies by leading energy, policy, and financial specialists, including studies on: current energy use in the district and the Oberlin area; regional potential for energy generation from renewable sources such as solar power, wind, and farm-waste; energy and transportation strategies for transitioning the City of Oberlin entirely to renewable resources and considering pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transportation as well as drivers

Modelling of Transport Projects Uncertainties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Leleur, Steen

2009-01-01

This paper proposes a new way of handling the uncertainties present in transport decision making based on infrastructure appraisals. The paper suggests to combine the principle of Optimism Bias, which depicts the historical tendency of overestimating transport related benefits and underestimating...... to supplement Optimism Bias and the associated Reference Class Forecasting (RCF) technique with a new technique that makes use of a scenario-grid. We tentatively introduce and refer to this as Reference Scenario Forecasting (RSF). The final RSF output from the CBA-DK model consists of a set of scenario......-based graphs which function as risk-related decision support for the appraised transport infrastructure project....

Intelligent Transport Systems in the Management of Road Transportation

Science.gov (United States)

Kalupová, Blanka; Hlavoň, Ivan

2016-11-01

Extension of European Union causes increase of free transfer of people and goods. At the same time they raised the problems associated with the transport, e.g. congestion and related accidents on roads, air traffic delays and more. To increase the efficiency and safety of transport, the European Commission supports the introduction of intelligent transport systems and services in all transport sectors. Implementation of intelligent transport systems and services in the road transport reduces accident frequency, increases the capacity of existing infrastructure and reduces congestions. Use of toll systems provides resources needed for the construction and operation of a new road network, improves public transport, cycling transport and walking transport, and also their multimodal integration with individual car transport.

Serotonin-induced down-regulation of cell surface serotonin transporter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Trine Nygaard; Christensen, Peter Møller; Gether, Ulrik

2014-01-01

The serotonin transporter (SERT) terminates serotonergic signaling and enables refilling of synaptic vesicles by mediating reuptake of serotonin (5-HT) released into the synaptic cleft. The molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling SERT activity and surface expression are not fully understood...

Modeling marine surface microplastic transport to assess optimal removal locations

OpenAIRE

Sherman, Peter; Van Sebille, Erik

2016-01-01

Marine plastic pollution is an ever-increasing problem that demands immediate mitigation and reduction plans. Here, a model based on satellite-tracked buoy observations and scaled to a large data set of observations on microplastic from surface trawls was used to simulate the transport of plastics floating on the ocean surface from 2015 to 2025, with the goal to assess the optimal marine microplastic removal locations for two scenarios: removing the most surface microplastic and reducing the ...

Patterned gradient surface for spontaneous droplet transportation and water collection: simulation and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Xianhua; Zhu, Yiying; Shi, Tielin; Tang, Zirong; Liao, Guanglan

2016-01-01

We demonstrate spontaneous droplet transportation and water collection on wedge-shaped gradient surfaces consisting of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. Droplets on the surfaces are modeled and simulated to analyze the Gibbs free energy and free energy gradient distributions. Big half-apex angle and great wettability difference result in considerable free energy gradient, corresponding to large driving force for spontaneous droplet transportation, thus causing the droplets to move towards the open end of the wedge-shaped hydrophilic regions, where the Gibbs free energy is low. Gradient surfaces are then fabricated and tested. Filmwise condensation begins on the hydrophilic regions, forming wedge-shaped tracks for water collection. Dropwise condensation occurs on the hydrophobic regions, where the droplet size distribution and departure diameters are controlled by the width of the regions. Condensate water from both the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions are collected directionally to the open end of the wedge-shaped hydrophilic regions, agreeing with the simulations. Directional droplet transport and controllable departure diameters make the branched gradient surfaces more efficient than smooth surfaces for water collection, which proves that gradient surfaces are potential in water collection, microfluidic devices, anti-fogging and self-cleaning. (paper)

The post-2015 delivery of universal and sustainable access to infrastructure services. Working Paper

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doczi, Julian, Dorr, Tobias; Mason, Nathaniel; Scott, Andrew

2013-06-15

In this new working paper, the authors focus specifically on what would be necessary to achieve High Level Panel-style goals and targets for water, energy and transport, if these were to be eventually adopted by world leaders. In all three cases, much of the advocacy - and the proposed High Level Panel goals - have emphasized the need to strive for universal and sustainable access to at least basic levels of services from these sectors. Many of the proposals for post-2015 goals and targets appear ambitious, but what would it take to achieve them? This paper assesses what is needed to achieve goals for universal and sustainable access to infrastructure, specifically water, energy and transport. Using illustrative goals and targets, the paper reviews the development challenges in each sector, and what will be necessary to overcome the barriers to universal and sustainable access to water, energy and transport infrastructure services, in the areas of governance, finance, capacity development and environmental protection. The paper ends with general conclusions about infrastructure in the post-2015 development agenda.

An Eulerian two-phase flow model for sediment transport under realistic surface waves

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, T. J.; Kim, Y.; Cheng, Z.; Chauchat, J.

2017-12-01

Wave-driven sediment transport is of major importance in driving beach morphology. However, the complex mechanisms associated with unsteadiness, free-surface effects, and wave-breaking turbulence have not been fully understood. Particularly, most existing models for sediment transport adopt bottom boundary layer approximation that mimics the flow condition in oscillating water tunnel (U-tube). However, it is well-known that there are key differences in sediment transport when comparing to large wave flume datasets, although the number of wave flume experiments are relatively limited regardless of its importance. Thus, a numerical model which can resolve the entire water column from the bottom boundary layer to the free surface can be a powerful tool. This study reports an on-going effort to better understand and quantify sediment transport under shoaling and breaking surface waves through the creation of open-source numerical models in the OpenFOAM framework. An Eulerian two-phase flow model, SedFoam (Cheng et al., 2017, Coastal Eng.) is fully coupled with a volume-of-fluid solver, interFoam/waves2Foam (Jacobsen et al., 2011, Int. J. Num. Fluid). The fully coupled model, named SedWaveFoam, regards the air and water phases as two immiscible fluids with the interfaces evolution resolved, and the sediment particles as dispersed phase. We carried out model-data comparisons with the large wave flume sheet flow data for nonbreaking waves reported by Dohmen-Janssen and Hanes (2002, J. Geophysical Res.) and good agreements were obtained for sediment concentration and net transport rate. By further simulating a case without free-surface (mimic U-tube condition), the effects of free-surface, most notably the boundary layer streaming effect on total transport, can be quantified.

Anthropogenic infrastructure as a component of urbogeosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleksii Chuiev

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the definition of the concept of "anthropogenic infrastructure" and attempts to find its place in the structure of urbogeosystems. The concept itself can not be called new, as many foreign authors have already used it, but the final definition never happened. The reasons why city studies are becoming more relevant in the face of ever-accelerating urbanization are briefly presented. Prerequisites for the emergence of the urban environment and approaches to its study are given. A special attention is paid to the consideration of urbosystems and their component structure. The main four components are described, which include the technosphere, biosphere, population and abiotic nature. The causes of the appearance of urban ecosystems and their specific features are analyzed. Based on the deficiencies of the "Urbosphere", "Urbosystem" and "Urboecosystem", the notion of "Urbogeosystem" is formed once again. Since architectural and construction objects are key components of such systems, their integration into anthropogenic infrastructure allows us to operate with a more general concept. Functional zones of the city, which are part of the anthropogenic infrastructure, are described. These include residential, industrial, forest and park areas. Examples of the use and functioning of each of the zones are given. An attempt has been made to estimate the boundaries of urbogeosystems. The existing approaches to the classification of anthropogenic infrastructure are analyzed. For one of them, it is advisable to allocate separately "hard" and "soft" infrastructure by the nature of the tasks of society, which they are called upon to satisfy. An alternative approach is to divide the anthropogenic infrastructure into "human" and "physical" ones. If the first satisfies the socio-cultural needs of people, the second is used for production, development, establishment of communications, transportation. It is proved why it is expedient to

Safety impacts of bicycle infrastructure: A critical review.

Science.gov (United States)

DiGioia, Jonathan; Watkins, Kari Edison; Xu, Yanzhi; Rodgers, Michael; Guensler, Randall

2017-06-01

This paper takes a critical look at the present state of bicycle infrastructure treatment safety research, highlighting data needs. Safety literature relating to 22 bicycle treatments is examined, including findings, study methodologies, and data sources used in the studies. Some preliminary conclusions related to research efficacy are drawn from the available data and findings in the research. While the current body of bicycle safety literature points toward some defensible conclusions regarding the safety and effectiveness of certain bicycle treatments, such as bike lanes and removal of on-street parking, the vast majority treatments are still in need of rigorous research. Fundamental questions arise regarding appropriate exposure measures, crash measures, and crash data sources. This research will aid transportation departments with regard to decisions about bicycle infrastructure and guide future research efforts toward understanding safety impacts of bicycle infrastructure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

Critical infrastructure protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradley, F. [Canadian Electricity Association, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2003-04-01

The need to protect critical electrical infrastructure from terrorist attacks, or other physical damage, including weather related events, or the potential impact of computer viruses and other attacks on IT resources are discussed. Activities of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) are highlighted which seek to safeguard the North American bulk electric power system principally through the Information Sharing and Analysis Sector (ES-ISAC). ES-ISAC serves the electricity sector by facilitating communication between electric sector participants, federal government and other critical infrastructure industries by disseminating threat indications, analyses and warnings, together with interpretations, to assist the industry in taking infrastructure protection actions. Attention is drawn to the numerous cyber incidents in recent years, which although resulted in no loss of service to electricity customers so far, in at least one instance (the January 25th SOL-Slammer worm incident) resulted in degradation of service in a number of sectors, including financial, transportation and telecommunication services. The increasing frequency of cyber-based attacks, coupled with the industry's growing dependence on e-commerce and electronic controls, are good reasons to believe that critical infrastructure protection (CIP) poses a serious challenge to the industry's risk management practices. The Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) is an active participant in ES-ISAC and works cooperatively with a range of partners, such as the Edison Electric Institute and the American Public Power Association to ensure coordination and effective protection program delivery for the electric power sector. The Early Warning System (EWS) developed by the CIP Working Group is one of the results of this cooperation. EWS uses the Internet, e-mail, web-enabled cell phones and Blackberry hand-held devices to deliver real-time threat information to members on a 24/7 basis. EWS

Security infrastructure for dynamically provisioned cloud infrastructure services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Demchenko, Y.; Ngo, C.; de Laat, C.; Lopez, D.R.; Morales, A.; García-Espín, J.A.; Pearson, S.; Yee, G.

2013-01-01

This chapter discusses conceptual issues, basic requirements and practical suggestions for designing dynamically configured security infrastructure provisioned on demand as part of the cloud-based infrastructure. This chapter describes general use cases for provisioning cloud infrastructure services

Mathematical modelling of tsunami impacts on critical infrastructures: exposure and severity associated with debris transport at Sines port, Portugal.

Science.gov (United States)

Conde, Daniel; Baptista, Maria Ana; Sousa Oliveira, Carlos; Ferreira, Rui M. L.

2015-04-01

a flux-splitting technique with a reviewed Roe-Riemann solver and appropriate source-term formulations to ensure full conservativeness. Additionally, STAV-2D features Lagrangian-Eulerian coupling enabling solid transport simulation under both continuum and discrete approaches, and has been validated with both laboratory data and paleo-tsunami evidence (Conde, 2013a; Conde, 2013b). The interactions between the inundating flow and coal stockpiles or natural mobile bed reaches were simulated using a continuum debris-flow approach, featuring fractional solid transport, while the containers at the new terminal were advected with an explicit Lagrangian method. The meshwork employed at the port models the existing geometry and structures in great detail, enabling explicitly resolved interactions between the current infrastructure and the overland propagating tsunami. The obtained preliminary results suggest that several structures, some of them critical in a nationwide context, are exposed to tsunami actions. The coal deposition pattern and the final location of monitored containers were determined for two magnitude scenarios (8.5 Mw and 9.5 Mw) in the case of a tsunami generated at the Horseshoe fault and one magnitude scenario (9.5 Mw) for a tsunami generated at the Gorringe bank. The inland washing of the coal stockpiles may impose great loss of both economical and environmental value, while the impact of large mobile debris, such as the containers in the terminal area, significantly increases the severity of infrastructural damage. Acknowledgements This work was partially funded by FEDER, program COMPETE, and by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) with project RECI/ECM-HID/0371/2012. References Baptista M.A. & Miranda, J.M. (2009), Revision of the Portuguese catalog of tsunamis. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 9, 25-42. Canelas, R.; Murillo, J. & Ferreira, R.M.L. (2013), Two-dimensional depth-averaged modelling of dam

EIA application in China's expressway infrastructure: clarifying the decision-making hierarchy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Kai-Yi; Sheate, William R

2011-06-01

China's EIA Law came into effect in 2003 and formally requires road transport infrastructure development actions to be subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). EIAs (including project EIA and plan EIA, or strategic environmental impact assessment, SEA) have been being widely applied in the expressway infrastructure planning field. Among those applications, SEA is applied to provincial level expressway network (PLEI) plans, and project EIA is applied to expressway infrastructure development 'projects' under PLEI plans. Three case studies (one expressway project EIA and two PLEI plan SEAs) were examined to understand currently how EIAs are applied to expressway infrastructure development planning. Through the studies, a number of problems that significantly influence the quality of EIA application in the field were identified. The reasons causing those problems are analyzed and possible solutions are suggested aimed at enhancing EIA practice, helping deliver better decision-making and ultimately improving the environmental performance of expressway infrastructure. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Roadside Infrastructure for Safer European Roads (RISER) D06: European Best Practice for Roadside Design: Guidelines for Roadside Infrastructure on New and Existing Roads

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomson, R.; Fagerlind, H.; Martinez, A.V.; Amenguel, A.; Naing, C.; Hill, J.; Hoschopf, H.; Dupré, G.; Bisson, O.; Kelkka, M.; Horst, A.R.A. van der; Garcia, J.

2006-01-01

The European Commission Directorate General for Transportation and Energy (DGTREN) sponsored a research project to investigate the best practice guidelines for roadside infrastructure. The RISER consortium has compiled the following document which is a synthesis of existing practice in Europe with

An assessment of the condition of South Africa's transport fixed infrastructure

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Wall, Kevin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the “report cards” of the condition of engineering infrastructure in South Africa, the product of cooperation between the CSIR and SAICE, have been to draw the attention of government, and of the public at large, to the importance...

Volcanic ash impacts on critical infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Thomas M.; Stewart, Carol; Sword-Daniels, Victoria; Leonard, Graham S.; Johnston, David M.; Cole, Jim W.; Wardman, Johnny; Wilson, Grant; Barnard, Scott T.

2012-01-01

supply managers include: monitoring turbidity levels in raw water intakes, and if necessary increasing chlorination to compensate for higher turbidity; managing water demand; and communicating monitoring results with the public to allay fears of contamination. Ash can cause major damage to wastewater disposal systems. Ash deposited onto impervious surfaces such as roads and car parks is very easily washed into storm drains, where it can form intractable masses and lead to long-term flooding problems. It can also enter wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), both through sewer lines and by direct fallout. Damage to modern WWTPs can run into millions of dollars. Ash falls reduce visibility creating hazards for ground transportation. Dry ash is also readily remobilised by vehicle traffic and wind, and dry and wet ash deposits will reduce traction on paved surfaces, including airport runways. Ash cleanup from road and airports is commonly necessary, but the large volumes make it logistically challenging. Vehicles are vulnerable to ash; it will clog filters and brake systems and abrade moving parts within engines. Lastly, modern telecommunications networks appear to be relatively resilient to volcanic ash fall. Signal attenuation and interference during ash falls has not been reported in eruptions over the past 20 years, with the exception of interference from ash plume-generated lightning. However, some telecommunications equipment is vulnerable to airborne ash, in particular heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems which may become blocked from ash ingestion leading to overheating. This summary of volcanic ash impacts on critical infrastructure provides insight into the relative vulnerability of infrastructure under a range of different ashfall scenarios. Identifying and quantifying these impacts is an essential step in building resilience within these critical systems. We have attempted to consider interdependencies between sectors in a holistic way using

Surface assisted electric transport in Ag2S thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karashanova, D.; Starbov, N.

2006-01-01

Electric transport measurements of thickness-dependent electronic and ionic conductivity of epitaxial Ag 2 S films are used to split both kinds of conductivity into bulk and surface components. The established considerable electronic and ionic surface conductances demonstrate unambiguously the co-existance of electronic and ionic space charge regions in the vicinity of silver sulfide free surface oriented along the zone axes [1-bar 01-bar ]. The parameters of both space charge layers - surface potential, thickness of the space charge region and concentration of the surface compensating charges, are calculated. It is estimated that for intrinsic silver sulfide, the effective surface potential of (1-bar 01-bar ) Ag 2 S surface is negative, its value being about -610mV at 400K

Infrastructure design & road safety : OECD Workshop B3 (Infrastructure design and road safety) for CEE's and NIS held on 15th-18th November 1994, Prague (Czech Republic). Part 2: Lectures.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2012-01-01

The workshop 'Infrastructure design and road safety ' was one of the initiatives which the OECO Steering Committee for Road Transport Research developed with the aim of exchanging information in the road transport sector, in order to respond to the urgent needs expressed by Central and Eastern

Potential future exposure of European land transport infrastructure to rainfall-induced landslides throughout the 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Schlögl, Matthias; Matulla, Christoph

2018-04-01

In the face of climate change, the assessment of land transport infrastructure exposure towards adverse climate events is of major importance for Europe's economic prosperity and social wellbeing. In this study, a climate index estimating rainfall patterns which trigger landslides in central Europe is analysed until the end of this century and compared to present-day conditions. The analysis of the potential future development of landslide risk is based on an ensemble of dynamically downscaled climate projections which are driven by the SRES A1B socio-economic scenario. Resulting regional-scale climate change projections across central Europe are concatenated with Europe's road and railway network. Results indicate overall increases of landslide occurrence. While flat terrain at low altitudes exhibits an increase of about 1 more potentially landslide-inducing rainfall period per year until the end of this century, higher elevated regions are more affected and show increases of up to 14 additional periods. This general spatial distribution emerges in the near future (2021-2050) but becomes more pronounced in the remote future (2071-2100). Since largest increases are to be found in Alsace, potential impacts of an increasing amount of landslides are discussed using the example of a case study covering the Black Forest mountain range in Baden-Württemberg by further enriching the climate information with additional geodata. The findings derived are suitable to support political decision makers and European authorities in transport, freight and logistics by offering detailed information on which parts of Europe's ground transport network are at particularly high risk concerning landslide activity.

Transportation of Large Wind Components: A Review of Existing Geospatial Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mooney, Meghan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Maclaurin, Galen [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-09-01

This report features the geospatial data component of a larger project evaluating logistical and infrastructure requirements for transporting oversized and overweight (OSOW) wind components. The goal of the larger project was to assess the status and opportunities for improving the infrastructure and regulatory practices necessary to transport wind turbine towers, blades, and nacelles from current and potential manufacturing facilities to end-use markets. The purpose of this report is to summarize existing geospatial data on wind component transportation infrastructure and to provide a data gap analysis, identifying areas for further analysis and data collection.

Surface charge-specific interactions between polymer nanoparticles and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhattacharjee, Sourav, E-mail: sourav.bhattacharjee@wur.nl [Wageningen University, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (Netherlands); Opstal, Edward J. van; Alink, Gerrit M. [Wageningen University, Division of Toxicology (Netherlands); Marcelis, Antonius T. M.; Zuilhof, Han [Wageningen University, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (Netherlands); Rietjens, Ivonne M. C. M. [Wageningen University, Division of Toxicology (Netherlands)

2013-06-15

The surface charge-dependent transport of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) across Caco-2 monolayers grown on transwell culture systems as an in vitro model for intestinal transport was tested. The transport of well-characterized, monodisperse, and fluorescent tri-block copolymer nanoparticles (TCNPs/size {approx}45 nm) and polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs/size {approx}50 nm), with different surface charges (positive and negative), was quantified. The positive PNPs showed a higher intracellular uptake and flux across the Caco-2 monolayers than the negative PNPs. Multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp), a specific ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, was found to play a major role in the cellular efflux of positive PNPs, whereas the multidrug resistance protein 1 took part in the efflux of negative PNPs from Caco-2 cells. The positive PNPs also caused an increased cellular uptake and apical to basolateral transport of the carcinogen PhIP across the Caco-2 monolayer. The flavonoid quercetin, which is known to interact with ABC transporters, promoted the intracellular uptake of different PNPs and interfered with the normal distribution patterns of PNPs in the transwell system. These results indicate that PNPs display surface charge-specific interactions with ABC transporters and can even affect the bioavailability of toxic food-borne compounds (like pro-carcinogens).

Surface charge-specific interactions between polymer nanoparticles and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharjee, Sourav; van Opstal, Edward J.; Alink, Gerrit M.; Marcelis, Antonius T. M.; Zuilhof, Han; Rietjens, Ivonne M. C. M.

2013-06-01

The surface charge-dependent transport of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) across Caco-2 monolayers grown on transwell culture systems as an in vitro model for intestinal transport was tested. The transport of well-characterized, monodisperse, and fluorescent tri-block copolymer nanoparticles (TCNPs/size 45 nm) and polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs/size 50 nm), with different surface charges (positive and negative), was quantified. The positive PNPs showed a higher intracellular uptake and flux across the Caco-2 monolayers than the negative PNPs. Multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp), a specific ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, was found to play a major role in the cellular efflux of positive PNPs, whereas the multidrug resistance protein 1 took part in the efflux of negative PNPs from Caco-2 cells. The positive PNPs also caused an increased cellular uptake and apical to basolateral transport of the carcinogen PhIP across the Caco-2 monolayer. The flavonoid quercetin, which is known to interact with ABC transporters, promoted the intracellular uptake of different PNPs and interfered with the normal distribution patterns of PNPs in the transwell system. These results indicate that PNPs display surface charge-specific interactions with ABC transporters and can even affect the bioavailability of toxic food-borne compounds (like pro-carcinogens).

Surface charge-specific interactions between polymer nanoparticles and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharjee, Sourav; Opstal, Edward J. van; Alink, Gerrit M.; Marcelis, Antonius T. M.; Zuilhof, Han; Rietjens, Ivonne M. C. M.

2013-01-01

The surface charge-dependent transport of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) across Caco-2 monolayers grown on transwell culture systems as an in vitro model for intestinal transport was tested. The transport of well-characterized, monodisperse, and fluorescent tri-block copolymer nanoparticles (TCNPs/size ∼45 nm) and polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs/size ∼50 nm), with different surface charges (positive and negative), was quantified. The positive PNPs showed a higher intracellular uptake and flux across the Caco-2 monolayers than the negative PNPs. Multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp), a specific ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, was found to play a major role in the cellular efflux of positive PNPs, whereas the multidrug resistance protein 1 took part in the efflux of negative PNPs from Caco-2 cells. The positive PNPs also caused an increased cellular uptake and apical to basolateral transport of the carcinogen PhIP across the Caco-2 monolayer. The flavonoid quercetin, which is known to interact with ABC transporters, promoted the intracellular uptake of different PNPs and interfered with the normal distribution patterns of PNPs in the transwell system. These results indicate that PNPs display surface charge-specific interactions with ABC transporters and can even affect the bioavailability of toxic food-borne compounds (like pro-carcinogens).

Hydrogen infrastructure development in The Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smit, R.; Weeda, M.; De Groot, A.

2007-08-01

Increasingly people think of how a hydrogen energy supply system would look like, and how to build and end up at such a system. This paper presents the work on modelling and simulation of current ideas among Dutch hydrogen stakeholders for a transition towards the widespread use of a hydrogen energy. Based mainly on economic considerations, the ideas about a transition seem viable. It appears that following the introduction of hydrogen in niche applications, the use of locally produced hydrogen from natural gas in stationary and mobile applications can yield an economic advantage when compared to the conventional system, and can thus generate a demand for hydrogen. The demand for hydrogen can develop to such an extent that the construction of a large-scale hydrogen pipeline infrastructure for the transport and distribution of hydrogen produced in large-scale production facilities becomes economically viable. In 2050, the economic viability of a large-scale hydrogen pipeline infrastructure spreads over 20-25 of the 40 regions in which The Netherlands is divided for modelling purposes. Investments in hydrogen pipelines for a fully developed hydrogen infrastructure are estimated to be in the range of 12,000-20,000 million euros

Thermoelectric Transport by Surface States in Bi2Se3-Based Topological Insulator Thin Films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Long-Long; Xu Wen

2015-01-01

We develop a tractable theoretical model to investigate the thermoelectric (TE) transport properties of surface states in topological insulator thin films (TITFs) of Bi 2 Se 3 at room temperature. The hybridization between top and bottom surface states in the TITF plays a significant role. With the increasing hybridization-induced surface gap, the electrical conductivity and electron thermal conductivity decrease while the Seebeck coefficient increases. This is due to the metal-semiconductor transition induced by the surface-state hybridization. Based on these TE transport coefficients, the TE figure-of-merit ZT is evaluated. It is shown that ZT can be greatly improved by the surface-state hybridization. Our theoretical results are pertinent to the exploration of the TE transport properties of surface states in TITFs and to the potential application of Bi 2 Se 3 -based TITFs as high-performance TE materials and devices. (paper)

What is the right way to run a transport route infrastructure?; Wie betreibt man Verkehrswegeinfrastruktur richtig? Behoerde oder Gesellschaft nach Handelsrecht: Welche Organisation garantiert in Zeiten knapper Kassen der oeffentlichen Hand hoehere Effizienz bei gleicher Qualitaet?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scherz, Wolfgang [Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (HLB), Kassel (Germany). Infrastruktur-Agentur Hessen; Averkamp, Michael

2010-07-01

From the perspective of owners of publicly accessible transport route infrastructure - especially at a time when budgets are tight - there are two major questions that need to be posed and a rapid answer demanded: does a maintenance organisation established in the form of a public agency or a commercial enterprise yield better results, that is, higher and better output with declining input (agency versus company); and should an agency or transport infrastructure firm outsource all or part of its maintenance organisation (make-or-buy)? The authors, based on their experience gained in a variety of management functions in corporations and agencies as well as in executive coaching, provide quite different perspectives on these issues. (orig.)

The introduction of dengue follows transportation infrastructure changes in the state of Acre, Brazil: A network-based analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lana, Raquel Martins; Gomes, Marcelo Ferreira da Costa; Lima, Tiago França Melo de; Honório, Nildimar Alves; Codeço, Cláudia Torres

2017-11-01

Human mobility, presence and passive transportation of Aedes aegypti mosquito, and environmental characteristics are a group of factors which contribute to the success of dengue spread and establishment. To understand this process, we assess data from dengue national and municipal basins regarding population and demographics, transportation network, human mobility, and Ae. aegypti monitoring for the Brazilian state of Acre since the first recorded dengue case in the year 2000 to the year 2015. During this period, several changes in Acre's transport infrastructure and urbanization have been started. To reconstruct the process of dengue introduction in Acre, we propose an analytic framework based on concepts used in malaria literature, namely vulnerability and receptivity, to inform risk assessments in dengue-free regions as well as network theory concepts for disease invasion and propagation. We calculate the probability of dengue importation to Acre from other Brazilian states, the evolution of dengue spread between Acrean municipalities and dengue establishment in the state. Our findings suggest that the landscape changes associated with human mobility have created favorable conditions for the establishment of dengue virus transmission in Acre. The revitalization of its major roads, as well as the increased accessibility by air to and within the state, have increased dengue vulnerability. Unplanned urbanization and population growth, as observed in Acre during the period of study, contribute to ideal conditions for Ae. aegypti mosquito establishment, increase the difficulty in mosquito control and consequently its local receptivity.

Plant Transporter Identification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Bo

Membrane transport proteins (transporters) play a critical role for numerous biological processes, by controlling the movements of ions and molecules in and out of cells. In plants, transporters thus function as gatekeepers between the plant and its surrounding environment and between organs......, tissues, cells and intracellular compartments. Since plants are highly compartmentalized organisms with complex transportation infrastructures, they consequently have many transporters. However, the vast majority of predicted transporters have not yet been experimentally verified to have transport...... activity. This project contains a review of the implemented methods, which have led to plant transporter identification, and present our progress on creating a high-throughput functional genomics transporter identification platform....

Sustainable Transportation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hall, Ralph P.; Gudmundsson, Henrik; Marsden, Greg

2014-01-01

The transportation system is the backbone of economic and social progress and the means by which humans access goods and services and connect with one another. Yet, as the scale of transportation activities has grown worldwide, so too have the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts...... that relate to the construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and the operation or use of the different transportation modes. The concept of sustainable transportation emerged in response to these concerns as part of the broader notion of sustainable development. Given the transportation...... sector’s significant contribution to global challenges such as climate change, it is often said that sustainable development cannot be achieved without sustainable transportation....

The legal imperative to protect critical energy infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shore, J.J.M.

2008-03-15

Canada's critical infrastructure is comprised of energy facilities, communications centres, finance, health care, food, government and transportation sectors. All sectors face a range of physical or cyber threats from terrorism and natural phenomenon. Failures or disruptions in the sectors can cascade through other systems and disrupt essential services. The power outage in 2003 demonstrated gaps in North America's emergency preparedness. In 2006, al-Qaida called for terrorist attacks on North American oil fields and pipelines, specifically targeting Canada. Studies have confirmed that Canada is vulnerable to attacks on energy infrastructure. Government agencies and the private sector must work ensure the safety of Canada's energy infrastructure, as the primary responsibility of government is the protection of its citizenry. The fulfilment of the government's commitment to national security cannot be achieved without protecting Canada's critical energy infrastructure. However, Canada has not yet provided a framework linking federal government with critical infrastructures, despite the fact that a draft strategy has been under development for several years. It was concluded that governments and the private sector should work together to reduce risks, protect the public, and secure the economy. National security litigation against the government and legal imperatives for energy facility owners and operators were also reviewed. 98 refs., 20 figs.

Simulating Impacts of Disruptions to Liquid Fuels Infrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilson, Michael [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Resilience and Regulatory Effects; Corbet, Thomas F. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Policy and Decision Analytics; Baker, Arnold B. [ABB Consulting, Albuquerque, NM (United States); O' Rourke, Julia M. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2015-04-01

This report presents a methodology for estimating the impacts of events that damage or disrupt liquid fuels infrastructure. The impact of a disruption depends on which components of the infrastructure are damaged, the time required for repairs, and the position of the disrupted components in the fuels supply network. Impacts are estimated for seven stressing events in regions of the United States, which were selected to represent a range of disruption types. For most of these events the analysis is carried out using the National Transportation Fuels Model (NTFM) to simulate the system-level liquid fuels sector response. Results are presented for each event, and a brief cross comparison of event simulation results is provided.

77 FR 29525 - National Defense Transportation Day and National Transportation Week, 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-18

... accelerate our economy in the years ahead. The need for strong and sustainable transportation networks has... remains strong, and our journey moves forward. In recognition of the importance of our Nation's transportation infrastructure, and of the men and women who build, maintain, and utilize it, the Congress has...

DIESIS : An Interoperable European Federated Simulation Network for Critical Infrastructures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rome, E.; Bologna, S.; Gelenbe, E.; Luiijf, H.A.M.; Masucci, V.

2009-01-01

Critical Infrastructures (CI) that are vital for a society and an economy, such as telecommunication systems, energy supply systems, transport systems and others, are getting more and more complex. Dependencies emerge in various ways, due to the use of information and communication technologies,

Transport mechanism of an initially spherical droplet on a combined hydrophilic/hydrophobic surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myong, Hyon Kook; Kwon, Young Hoo [Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Kookmin University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-11-15

Fluid transport is a key issue in the development of microfluidic systems. Recently, Myong (2014) has proposed a new concept for droplet transport without external power sources, and numerically validated the results for a hypothetical 2D shape, initially having a hemicylindrical droplet shape. Myong and Kwon (2015) have also examined the transport mechanism for an actual water droplet, initially having a 3D hemispherical shape, on a horizontal hydrophilic/hydrophobic surface, based on the numerical results of the time evolution of the droplet shape, as well as the total kinetic, gravitational, pressure and surface free energies inside the droplet. In this study, a 3D numerical analysis of an initially spherical droplet is carried out to establish a new concept for droplet transport. Further, the transport mechanism of an actual water droplet is examined in detail from the viewpoint of the capillarity force imbalance through the numerical results of droplet shape and various energies inside the droplet.

Transports: Price of a strategy; Transports: Le prix d'une strategie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonnafous, Alain [Commissariat General du Plan, Paris (France)

2000-02-02

This is a report of the Workshop 'Strategic orientations of the transport policy' presided by Alain Bonnafous. In France the State invests annually ten billion Francs in transport infrastructures of national or regional interest. It contributes by several billiard Francs to ensure the financial balance of the public operators of the sector. The results are disappointing from many points of view. It plunged SNCF into debts, delayed building top-priority infrastructure, impaired competition between railway and road transports, etc. These drawbacks are explainable largely by the transport policy. This document urges for a joint action of all public means. There two sections. The first, titled 'Elements of reflection and recommendations' contains a synthesis and two reports on tariffing and financing the transport infrastructures. The recommendation is argued to submit all the transport modes to the same fare-establishing principles. A more rational methodology would allow establishing a fair competition, discouraging the unprofitable investment and solving the traffic jamming problems. A second recommendation aims at braking the dividers between the financial circuits, i.e., to set an end to an irrational system by which projects though very gainful for community fail to find financing while others less profitable benefit of afforded resources. The transport effectiveness drives the global competitiveness and affects the employment level. Solely a policy able to manage coherently the financing, fare-establishment, fiscal matters, and regulation could offer it to this country at a reasonable price. The second section contains the reports concerning the competitiveness of public operators. It analyses their economic situation and urges at breaking the vicious circle of their plunging in over-debts. Indeed, it suggests another long term vision upon the financial elements of these establishments and risks they are exposed to.

Time-Dependent Liquid Transport on a Biomimetic Topological Surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Cunlong; Li, Chuxin; Gao, Can; Dong, Zhichao; Wu, Lei; Jiang, Lei

2018-05-02

Liquid drops impacting on a solid surface is a familiar phenomenon. On rainy days, it is quite important for leaves to drain off impacting raindrops. Water can bounce off or flow down a water-repellent leaf easily, but with difficulty on a hydrophilic leaf. Here, we show an interesting phenomenon in which impacting drops on the hydrophilic pitcher rim of Nepenthes alata can spread outward to prohibit water filling the pitcher tank. We mimic the peristome surface through a designed 3D printing and replicating way and report a time-dependently switchable liquid transport based on biomimetic topological structures, where surface curvature can work synergistically with the surface microtextures to manipulate the switchable spreading performance. Motived by this strange behavior, we construct a large-scaled peristome-mimetic surface in a 3D profile, demonstrating the ability to reduce the need to mop or to squeegee drops that form during the drop impacting process on pipes or other curved surfaces in food processing, moisture transfer, heat management, etc.

Investing in Alternative Fuel Infrastructure: Insights for California from Stakeholder Interviews: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melaina, Marc; Muratori, Matteo; McLaren, Joyce; Schwabe, Paul

2017-03-13

Increased interest in the use of alternative transportation fuels, such as natural gas, hydrogen, and electricity, is being driven by heightened concern about the climate impacts of gasoline and diesel emissions and our dependence on finite oil resources. A key barrier to widespread adoption of low- and zero-emission passenger vehicles is the availability of refueling infrastructure. Recalling the 'chicken and egg' conundrum, limited adoption of alternative fuel vehicles increases the perceived risk of investments in refueling infrastructure, while lack of refueling infrastructure inhibits vehicle adoption. In this paper, we present the results of a study of the perceived risks and barriers to investment in alternative fuels infrastructure, based on interviews with industry experts and stakeholders. We cover barriers to infrastructure development for three alternative fuels for passenger vehicles: compressed natural gas, hydrogen, and electricity. As an early-mover in zero emission passenger vehicles, California provides the early market experience necessary to map the alternative fuel infrastructure business space. Results and insights identified in this study can be used to inform investment decisions, formulate incentive programs, and guide deployment plans for alternative fueling infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Quantification of chemical transport processes from the soil to surface runoff.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Kun; Huang, Chi-Hua; Wang, Guang-Qian; Fu, Xu-Dong; Parker, Gary

2013-01-01

There is a good conceptual understanding of the processes that govern chemical transport from the soil to surface runoff, but few studies have actually quantified these processes separately. Thus, we designed a laboratory flow cell and experimental procedures to quantify the chemical transport from soil to runoff water in the following individual processes: (i) convection with a vertical hydraulic gradient, (ii) convection via surface flow or the Bernoulli effect, (iii) diffusion, and (iv) soil loss. We applied different vertical hydraulic gradients by setting the flow cell to generate different seepage or drainage conditions. Our data confirmed the general form of the convection-diffusion equation. However, we now have additional quantitative data that describe the contribution of each individual chemical loading process in different surface runoff and soil hydrological conditions. The results of this study will be useful for enhancing our understanding of different geochemical processes in the surface soil mixing zone. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

High-speed surface transportation corridor : a conceptual framework, final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-10-08

Efficient transportation is indispensable for economic growth and prosperity. In this study we propose the development of a high-speed surface corridor and compatible vehicles. We present a conceptual framework for this corridor and vehicle. This pro...

Ontario-U.S. power outages : impacts on critical infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This paper described the power outage and resulting blackout that occurred on August 14, 2003 and identified how critical infrastructure was directly and interdependently impacted in Canada. The aim of the paper was to assist critical infrastructure protection and emergency management professionals in assessing the potential impacts of large-scale critical infrastructure disruptions. Information for the study was acquired from Canadian and American media reports and cross-sectoral information sharing with provincial and federal governments and the private sector. The blackout impacted most of the sources and means of generating, transmitting and distributing power within the area, which in turn impacted all critical infrastructure sectors. Landline and cellular companies experienced operational difficulties, which meant that emergency responders were impacted. Newspapers and the electronic media struggled to release information to the public. The banking and finance industry experienced an immediate degradation of services. The power outage caused shipping and storage difficulties for commercial retailers and dairy producers. A number of incidents were reported where only partially treated waste water was released into neighbouring waterways. The timing of the blackout coincided with the closures of workplaces and created additional difficulties on transportation networks. Many gas station pumps were inoperable. Police, fire departments and ambulance services experienced a dramatic increase in the volume of calls received, and all branches of the emergency services sector encountered transportation delays and difficulties with communications equipment. Nuclear reactors were also impacted. An estimated 150,000 Government of Canada employees were unable to report to work. Estimates have indicated that the power outage cost Ontario's economy between $1 and $2 billion. The outage negatively impacted 82 per cent of small businesses in Ontario. 170 refs., 3 figs

Economy-wide Impact of Investment in Road Infrastructure in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

Generally the research conducted so far did not consider the issue of policy simulation ... transport infrastructure contributes to growth indirectly by enabling firms to .... Each cell shows the payment from the account of its column to the ... where agents make decisions on the basis of their past experience of the ..... Implications.

U.S. and Texas international trade and transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-01

This report, funded by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center, examines various : aspects of international trade, transportation, and foreign practices implemented facilitate and fund : transport-related infrastructure. The report is c...

The impact of northern gas on North American gas infrastructure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Letwin, S.

2004-01-01

The three business units that Enbridge operates are crude oil pipelines; natural gas liquids (NGL) transportation; and gas transmission and distribution. The need for more infrastructure will increase as the demand for natural gas increases. This presentation outlined the issues that surround and sometimes impede infrastructure development. It also emphasized the need for northern gas supply at a time when conventional natural gas supplies are decreasing and demand is growing. Additional LNG supply is required along with new supply from Alaska, Mackenzie Delta and the east coast. The issue of a secure source of supply was discussed along with northern gas expectations. It is expected that Mackenzie Delta gas (1.2 bcf/day) will be available by 2008 to 2010 and Alaska North Slope gas (4 bcf/day) will be available from 2012 to 2014. Gas demand by industrial, residential, commercial and power generation sectors across North America was illustrated. The challenge lies in creating infrastructure to move the supply to where it is most in demand. General infrastructure issues were reviewed, such as prices, regulatory streamlining, lead times, stakeholder issues and supporting infrastructure. 19 figs

Engineering Information Infrastructure for Product Lifecycle Managment

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Fumihiko

For proper management of total product life cycle, it is fundamentally important to systematize design and engineering information about product systems. For example, maintenance operation could be more efficiently performed, if appropriate parts design information is available at the maintenance site. Such information shall be available as an information infrastructure for various kinds of engineering operations, and it should be easily accessible during the whole product life cycle, such as transportation, marketing, usage, repair/upgrade, take-back and recycling/disposal. Different from the traditional engineering database, life cycle support information has several characteristic requirements, such as flexible extensibility, distributed architecture, multiple viewpoints, long-time archiving, and product usage information, etc. Basic approaches for managing engineering information infrastructure are investigated, and various information contents and associated life cycle applications are discussed.

Natural gas infrastructure requirements for merchant plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sukaly, B.

1998-01-01

Merchant power plants are complicated with diverse risks. Of course where there are risks there are opportunities for reward. Creating an effective merchant plant requires a strong organization that is committed to marketing, trading and risk management. The organization must have the infrastructure to capitalize on the opportunities a merchant plant provides. The market dynamics are ever changing and move at incredible speeds--what was a moneymaking deal yesterday is no longer valid today. The merchant plant owner is the expert in setting up the actual infrastructure for trading the various commodities, including forward pricing, cash and physical trades, transportation and operation for maximizing the plant's potential. Optionally, the plant's risk profile and a risk management program are the key factors in determining the sucres of the merchant plant project

Surface Effect on Oil Transportation in Nanochannel: a Molecular Dynamics Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Haixia; Du, Yonggang; Xue, Qingzhong; Zhu, Lei; Li, Xiaofang; Lu, Shuangfang; Jin, Yakang

2017-12-01

In this work, we investigate the dynamics mechanism of oil transportation in nanochannel using molecular dynamics simulations. It is demonstrated that the interaction between oil molecules and nanochannel has a great effect on the transportation properties of oil in nanochannel. Because of different interactions between oil molecules and channel, the center of mass (COM) displacement of oil in a 6-nm channel is over 30 times larger than that in a 2-nm channel, and the diffusion coefficient of oil molecules at the center of a 6-nm channel is almost two times more than that near the channel surface. Besides, it is found that polarity of oil molecules has the effect on impeding oil transportation, because the electrostatic interaction between polar oil molecules and channel is far larger than that between nonpolar oil molecules and channel. In addition, channel component is found to play an important role in oil transportation in nanochannel, for example, the COM displacement of oil in gold channel is very few due to great interaction between oil and gold substrate. It is also found that nano-sized roughness of channel surface greatly influences the speed and flow pattern of oil. Our findings would contribute to revealing the mechanism of oil transportation in nanochannels and therefore are very important for design of oil extraction in nanochannels.

Flood Risk Assessment on Selected Critical Infrastructure in Kota Marudu Town, Sabah, Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayog Janice Lynn

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the risk of flood on selected critical infrastructure in a flood-prone catchment in Sabah, Malaysia. Kota Marudu, located in the Bandau floodplain, one of the Sabah’s northern water catchments, was selected as the study site due to its frequent flood occurrence and large floodplain coverage. Two of its largest rivers, namely Sungai Bongon and Sungai Bandau, tends to flood during rainy season and cause temporary displacements of thousands of people living in the floodplain. A total of 362 respondents participated in the questionnaire survey in order to gather information on historical flood occurrence. Three flood depth groups were determined, which are 1 less than 0.3 meter, 2 0.3 – 0.6 meter and 3 more than 0.6 meter, while three categories of critical infrastructure were defined, namely transportation system, communication system and buildings. It is found that the transportation system encounters the most severe impact as flood inundation increases, where 92% of the respondents believe that the transportation access should be abandoned when flood depth is more than 0.6m. The findings of this study will be used for detailed risk assessment, specifically on the vulnerability of the critical infrastructures to flood in this floodplain.

Identify priorities: the challenge of governance in transport infrastructure; Identificar las prioridades: el reto de la gobernanza en las infraestructuras de transporte

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aparicio Mourelo, A.

2012-11-01

The possibility of having a new infrastructure deletes the existing map, but this is adequate for the needs of mobility, This is not to make the region attractive to new investors. the result is the prioritization of infrastructure are poorly adapted to the actual demand for mobility, with long lead-times and high cost of service. (Author) 23 refs.

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PHENOMENA IN SOIL STABILIZATION FOR ROADS OR HIGHWAYS INFRASTRUCTURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anghel STANCIU

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Reducing the impact on the environment of constructing transportation infrastructures can be achieved through reusing or recycling certain materials. In this context, the current trend is to use materials that do not have a negative impact on the environment and provide a long term solution. Such local materials for the construction of transportation infrastructure are the active clays. This paper presents the physicochemical and mineralogical structure of clays and their behavior regarding the interaction with water. A negative effect of this interaction is the swelling, the contraction and, respectively, the swell pressure. These produce effects (fissures, cracks in the structure of roads, highways and, respectively, airport runways. The authors analyze the possibility to reduce these effects by clay stabilization with mineral binders (cement, lime. Results on lime mixtures testing are presented in terms of physical and mechanical properties, and optimum percentages of the mixtures are presented. It is also concluded that this solution is more cost-effective than the classical one as replacing the clay layer from the roadbed with other filling materials transported from other areas.

Operational demands as determining factor for electric bus charging infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beekman, R.; Van Den Hoed, R.

2016-01-01

Many cities in Europe have ambitious goals when it comes to making their public transport buses emission free. This article outlines the reasoning behind the choices made in the city of Amsterdam with regards to charging infrastructure for electric buses. Emphasising the importance of operational

Modelling of Transport Projects Uncertainties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Leleur, Steen

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a new way of handling the uncertainties present in transport decision making based on infrastructure appraisals. The paper suggests to combine the principle of Optimism Bias, which depicts the historical tendency of overestimating transport related benefits and underestimating...... to supplement Optimism Bias and the associated Reference Class Forecasting (RCF) technique with a new technique that makes use of a scenario-grid. We tentatively introduce and refer to this as Reference Scenario Forecasting (RSF). The final RSF output from the CBA-DK model consists of a set of scenario......-based graphs which functions as risk-related decision support for the appraised transport infrastructure project. The presentation of RSF is demonstrated by using an appraisal case concerning a new airfield in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk....

Shoe leather epidemiology: active travel and transport infrastructure in the urban landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mutrie Nanette

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Building new transport infrastructure could help to promote changes in patterns of mobility, physical activity, and other determinants of population health such as economic development. However, local residents may not share planners' goals or assumptions about the benefits of such interventions. A particularly contentious example is the construction of major roads close to deprived residential areas. We report the qualitative findings of the baseline phase of a longitudinal mixed-method study of a new urban section of the M74 motorway in Glasgow, Scotland, that aims to combine quantitative epidemiological and spatial data with qualitative interview data from local residents. Methods We interviewed 12 residents purposively sampled from a larger study cohort of 1322 to include men and women, different age groups, and people with and without cars, all living within 400 metres of the proposed route of the new motorway. We elicited their views and experiences of the local urban environment and the likely impact of the new motorway using a topic guide based on seven key environmental constructs (aesthetics, green space, convenience of routes, access to amenities, traffic, road danger and personal danger reflecting an overall ecological model of walking and cycling. Results Traffic was widely perceived to be heavy despite a low local level of car ownership. Few people cycled, and cycling on the roads was widely perceived to be dangerous for both adults and children. Views about the likely impacts of the new motorway on traffic congestion, pollution and the pleasantness of the local environment were polarised. A new motorway has potential to cause inequitable psychological or physical severance of routes to local amenities, and people may not necessarily use local walking routes or destinations such as parks and shops if these are considered undesirable, unsafe or 'not for us'. Public transport may have the potential to promote or

Shoe leather epidemiology: active travel and transport infrastructure in the urban landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogilvie, David; Mitchell, Richard; Mutrie, Nanette; Petticrew, Mark; Platt, Stephen

2010-05-11

Building new transport infrastructure could help to promote changes in patterns of mobility, physical activity, and other determinants of population health such as economic development. However, local residents may not share planners' goals or assumptions about the benefits of such interventions. A particularly contentious example is the construction of major roads close to deprived residential areas. We report the qualitative findings of the baseline phase of a longitudinal mixed-method study of a new urban section of the M74 motorway in Glasgow, Scotland, that aims to combine quantitative epidemiological and spatial data with qualitative interview data from local residents. We interviewed 12 residents purposively sampled from a larger study cohort of 1322 to include men and women, different age groups, and people with and without cars, all living within 400 metres of the proposed route of the new motorway. We elicited their views and experiences of the local urban environment and the likely impact of the new motorway using a topic guide based on seven key environmental constructs (aesthetics, green space, convenience of routes, access to amenities, traffic, road danger and personal danger) reflecting an overall ecological model of walking and cycling. Traffic was widely perceived to be heavy despite a low local level of car ownership. Few people cycled, and cycling on the roads was widely perceived to be dangerous for both adults and children. Views about the likely impacts of the new motorway on traffic congestion, pollution and the pleasantness of the local environment were polarised. A new motorway has potential to cause inequitable psychological or physical severance of routes to local amenities, and people may not necessarily use local walking routes or destinations such as parks and shops if these are considered undesirable, unsafe or 'not for us'. Public transport may have the potential to promote or discourage active travel in different socioeconomic

Papers of the Canadian Institute's 3. annual conference : oil sands supply and infrastructure : labour supply, upgraders, transportation, pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

The focus of this conference was on the development of the oil sands industry, with specific reference to issues concerning supply and infrastructure. Energy source development and transmission issues were discussed, as well as transportation systems. The impact of increased oil sands development on pipelines was also examined. Various fuel options were discussed, including the use of hydrogen, natural gas and alternate fuels in manufacturing and processing plants. Economic drivers and the creation of new markets were examined, and various export opportunities were reviewed. The environmental impact of increased oil sands activity was discussed, with specific reference to the Boreal regions. Management challenges in the oil sands industry were also discussed along with issues concerning human resources, labour supply, training and education. The conference featured 15 presentations, of which 13 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

Security infrastructure for on-demand provisioned Cloud infrastructure services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Demchenko, Y.; Ngo, C.; de Laat, C.; Wlodarczyk, T.W.; Rong, C.; Ziegler, W.

2011-01-01

Providing consistent security services in on-demand provisioned Cloud infrastructure services is of primary importance due to multi-tenant and potentially multi-provider nature of Clouds Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment. Cloud security infrastructure should address two aspects of the

Transport Infrastructure and the Environment in the Global South: Sustainable Mobility and Urbanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Cervero

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Abstrak. Integrasi infrastruktur transportasi dan perkembangan kota harus ditingkatkan kepentingannya. Di banyak kota di belahan bumi bagian selatan, investasi pada Bus Rapid Transit (BRT memberikan kesempatan untuk peningkatan tersebut. Akan tetapi, sampai saat ini, sistem BRT telah gagal dalam menciptakan pembangunan yang kompak dan multi-guna bukan saja karena kurangnya perencanaan strategis kawasan stasiun tetapi juga dampak dari penempatan jalur-jalur dan stasiun pada wilayah perkotaan yang stagnan dan pada median jalan yang sibuk. Sistem BRT selama ini dipertimbangkan dan dirancang sebagai suatu investasi pergerakan dan bukan pembentuk kota. Disebabkan mayoritas pertumbuhan kota di masa depan di seluruh dunia akan berada pada kota-kota menengah yang cocok untuk investasi BRT, kesempatan untuk membuat sistem BRT sebagai investasi pembentuk kota tidak boleh disia-siakan. Pembangunan yang berorientasi transit adalah salah satu dari sejumlah model yang paling menjanjikan untuk mendorong pola pergerakan dan urbanisasi yang lebih berkelanjutan di kota-kota di belahan bumi selatan.Kata kunci. Transportasi publik, bus rapid transit, tata guna lahan, keberlanjutan, pembangunan berorientasi transitAbstract. The integration of transport infrastructure and urban development must be elevated in importance. In many cities of the Global South, recent Bus Rapid Transit (BRT investments provide an unprecedented opportunity to do just that. To date, however, BRT systems have failed to leverage compact, mixed-use development due not only to little strategic station-area planning but also factors like siting lines and stations in stagnant urban districts and busy roadway medians. BRT systems are being conceived and designed as mobility investments rather than city-shaping ones. Given that the majority of future urban growth worldwide will be in intermediate-size cities well-suited for BRT investments, the opportunities for making these not only mobility

Modeling and analysis of surface roughness effects on sputtering, reflection, and sputtered particle transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brooks, J.N.; Ruzic, D.N.

1990-01-01

The microstructure of the redeposited surface in tokamaks may affect sputtering and reflection properties and subsequent particle transport. This subject has been studied numerically using coupled models/codes for near-surface plasma particle kinetic transport (WBC code) and rough surface sputtering (fractal-TRIM). The coupled codes provide an overall Monte Carlo calculation of the sputtering cascade resulting from an initial flux of hydrogen ions. Beryllium, carbon, and tungsten surfaces are analyzed for typical high recycling, oblique magnetic field, divertor conditions. Significant variations in computed sputtering rates are found with surface roughness. Beryllium exhibits high D-T and self-sputtering coefficients for the plasma regime studied (T e = 30-75 eV). Carbon and tungsten sputtering is significantly lower. 9 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Transport planning - It’s not rocket science

OpenAIRE

Williams, D.

2017-01-01

When new transport infrastructure is designed and modelled we look at how it is used collectively, rather than at the individual level. However when we try change the behavior to alternative modes of transport we look at changing the individuals’ behavior. This paper provides a summary of the three tools available to governments to create change to how people travel: regulation/restriction, providing new infrastructure and Voluntary Travel Behavior Change. The paper explores each option and p...

Integrated land-use and transport modelling using OTP to determine lowest cost trips

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Heerden, Q

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This presentation discusses the link between economic infrastructure, that includes transport, and social infrastructure that includes social well-being and the basic necessities of people. It shows how transport models and urban models influence...

NGNP Infrastructure Readiness Assessment: Consolidation Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castle, Brian K.

2011-01-01

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project supports the development, demonstration, and deployment of high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). The NGNP project is being reviewed by the Nuclear Energy Advisory Council (NEAC) to provide input to the DOE, who will make a recommendation to the Secretary of Energy, whether or not to continue with Phase 2 of the NGNP project. The NEAC review will be based on, in part, the infrastructure readiness assessment, which is an assessment of industry's current ability to provide specified components for the FOAK NGNP, meet quality assurance requirements, transport components, have the necessary workforce in place, and have the necessary construction capabilities. AREVA and Westinghouse were contracted to perform independent assessments of industry's capabilities because of their experience with nuclear supply chains, which is a result of their experiences with the EPR and AP-1000 reactors. Both vendors produced infrastructure readiness assessment reports that identified key components and categorized these components into three groups based on their ability to be deployed in the FOAK plant. The NGNP project has several programs that are developing key components and capabilities. For these components, the NGNP project have provided input to properly assess the infrastructure readiness for these components.

NGNP Infrastructure Readiness Assessment: Consolidation Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brian K Castle

2011-02-01

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project supports the development, demonstration, and deployment of high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). The NGNP project is being reviewed by the Nuclear Energy Advisory Council (NEAC) to provide input to the DOE, who will make a recommendation to the Secretary of Energy, whether or not to continue with Phase 2 of the NGNP project. The NEAC review will be based on, in part, the infrastructure readiness assessment, which is an assessment of industry's current ability to provide specified components for the FOAK NGNP, meet quality assurance requirements, transport components, have the necessary workforce in place, and have the necessary construction capabilities. AREVA and Westinghouse were contracted to perform independent assessments of industry's capabilities because of their experience with nuclear supply chains, which is a result of their experiences with the EPR and AP-1000 reactors. Both vendors produced infrastructure readiness assessment reports that identified key components and categorized these components into three groups based on their ability to be deployed in the FOAK plant. The NGNP project has several programs that are developing key components and capabilities. For these components, the NGNP project have provided input to properly assess the infrastructure readiness for these components.

Low-carbon infrastructure strategies for cities

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, C. A.; Ibrahim, N.; Hoornweg, D.

2014-05-01

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avert potentially disastrous global climate change requires substantial redevelopment of infrastructure systems. Cities are recognized as key actors for leading such climate change mitigation efforts. We have studied the greenhouse gas inventories and underlying characteristics of 22 global cities. These cities differ in terms of their climates, income, levels of industrial activity, urban form and existing carbon intensity of electricity supply. Here we show how these differences in city characteristics lead to wide variations in the type of strategies that can be used for reducing emissions. Cities experiencing greater than ~1,500 heating degree days (below an 18 °C base), for example, will review building construction and retrofitting for cold climates. Electrification of infrastructure technologies is effective for cities where the carbon intensity of the grid is lower than ~600 tCO2e GWh-1 whereas transportation strategies will differ between low urban density (~6,000 persons km-2) cities. As nation states negotiate targets and develop policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, attention to the specific characteristics of their cities will broaden and improve their suite of options. Beyond carbon pricing, markets and taxation, governments may develop policies and target spending towards low-carbon urban infrastructure.

Intelligent SUBsurface Quality : Intelligent use of subsurface infrastructure for surface quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hooimeijer, F.L.; Kuzniecow Bacchin, T.; Lafleur, F.; van de Ven, F.H.M.; Clemens, F.H.L.R.; Broere, W.; Laumann, S.J.; Klaassen, R.G.; Marinetti, C.

2016-01-01

This project focuses on the urban renewal of (delta) metropolises and concentrates on the question how to design resilient, durable (subsurface) infrastructure in urban renewal projects using parameters of the natural system – linking in an efficient way (a) water cycle, (b) soil and subsurface

Surface proton transport of fully protonated poly(aspartic acid) thin films on quartz substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagao, Yuki, E-mail: ynagao@jaist.ac.jp; Kubo, Takahiro

2014-12-30

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Proton transport of fully protonated poly(aspartic acid) thin film was investigated. • The thin film structure differed greatly from the partially protonated one. • Proton transport occurs on the surface, not inside of the thin film. • This result contributes to biological transport systems such as bacteriorhodopsin. - Abstract: Thin film structure and the proton transport property of fully protonated poly(aspartic acid) (P-Asp100) have been investigated. An earlier study assessed partially protonated poly(aspartic acid), highly oriented thin film structure and enhancement of the internal proton transport. In this study of P-Asp100, IR p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution (P-MAIR) spectra were measured to investigate the thin film structure. The obtained thin films, with thicknesses of 120–670 nm, had no oriented structure. Relative humidity dependence of the resistance, proton conductivity, and normalized resistance were examined to ascertain the proton transport property of P-Asp100 thin films. The obtained data showed that the proton transport of P-Asp100 thin films might occur on the surface, not inside of the thin film. This phenomenon might be related with the proton transport of the biological system.

Surface proton transport of fully protonated poly(aspartic acid) thin films on quartz substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagao, Yuki; Kubo, Takahiro

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Proton transport of fully protonated poly(aspartic acid) thin film was investigated. • The thin film structure differed greatly from the partially protonated one. • Proton transport occurs on the surface, not inside of the thin film. • This result contributes to biological transport systems such as bacteriorhodopsin. - Abstract: Thin film structure and the proton transport property of fully protonated poly(aspartic acid) (P-Asp100) have been investigated. An earlier study assessed partially protonated poly(aspartic acid), highly oriented thin film structure and enhancement of the internal proton transport. In this study of P-Asp100, IR p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution (P-MAIR) spectra were measured to investigate the thin film structure. The obtained thin films, with thicknesses of 120–670 nm, had no oriented structure. Relative humidity dependence of the resistance, proton conductivity, and normalized resistance were examined to ascertain the proton transport property of P-Asp100 thin films. The obtained data showed that the proton transport of P-Asp100 thin films might occur on the surface, not inside of the thin film. This phenomenon might be related with the proton transport of the biological system

Influence of transport infrastructure on water permeability of soils of Western Siberia

Science.gov (United States)

Eremin, Dmitry; Eremina, Diana

2017-10-01

Correctly designed transport infrastructure should support the current economic relations. It should provide a reserve for development of economy of the region in the future. In Western Siberia, new highways are actively being built and major repairs of the operating roads are being conducted. Local materials are often used in the roadbed construction. In the Tyumen region, it is usually sandy silt and clayey sand. The soil has unfavourable physico-mechanical properties. The soil is prone to water and wind erosion. This type of ground gets on the adjacent to the road territory. Studies on the influence of highways on soil permeability were carried out on the basis of the federal highway Tyumen-Omsk. Three types of soils, which are actively used in the agricultural sector, were considered. It is found that the content of particles with the size less than 0.01 mm reaches 32% in the soil used in road construction. It is noted that a part of these particles accumulates on the adjacent to the road territory since it is being washed out from roadbed. The content of physical clay (initial values. The width of active accumulation of silt particles reaches 15-20 m along the roads. The soils at the distance up to 10 m from the highway are almost impermeable to water. Absence of a natural hydrological drain, results in the territory bogging. An inverse close correlation was established between the content of physical clay (<0.01 mm) and water permeability (r = 0.90).

Elements for a Geopolitics of Infrastructure Megaprojects in Latin America and Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Vladimir Sánchez Calderón

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper develops a critical approach to projects and initiatives of supranational physical connection through infrastructure improvement for transport and energy, regarding specifically their socio-spatial implications at the national and local levels. With this purpose, we examined how infrastructure projects in Colombia are linked to two sub-continental initiatives that seek to build a physical platform for the region: the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP for Central America (including Colombia, and the Initiative for Regional Integration of South America (IIRSA.

Nonadiabaticity and single-electron transport driven by surface acoustic waves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flensberg, Karsten; Niu, Q.; Pustilnik, M.

1999-01-01

Single-electron transport driven by surface acoustic waves (SAW) through a narrow constriction, formed in a two-dimensional electron gas, is studied theoretically. Due to long-range Coulomb interaction, the tunneling coupling between the electron gas and the moving minimum of the SAW...

Contour Crafting Simulation Plan for Lunar Settlement Infrastructure Build-Up

Science.gov (United States)

Khoshnevis, B.; Carlson, A.; Leach N.; Thangavelu, M.

2016-01-01

Economically viable and reliable building systems and tool sets are being sought, examined and tested for extraterrestrial infrastructure buildup. This project focused on a unique architecture weaving the robotic building construction technology with designs for assisting rapid buildup of initial operational capability Lunar and Martian bases. The project aimed to study new methodologies to construct certain crucial infrastructure elements in order to evaluate the merits, limitations and feasibility of adapting and using such technologies for extraterrestrial application. Current extraterrestrial settlement buildup philosophy holds that in order to minimize the materials needed to be flown in, at great transportation costs, strategies that maximize the use of locally available resources must be adopted. Tools and equipment flown as cargo from Earth are proposed to build required infrastructure to support future missions and settlements on the Moon and Mars.

A Cis-Lunar Propellant Infrastructure for Flexible Path Exploration and Space Commerce

Science.gov (United States)

Oeftering, Richard C.

2012-01-01

This paper describes a space infrastructure concept that exploits lunar water for propellant production and delivers it to users in cis-lunar space. The goal is to provide responsive economical space transportation to destinations beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) and enable in-space commerce. This is a game changing concept that could fundamentally affect future space operations, provide greater access to space beyond LEO, and broaden participation in space exploration. The challenge is to minimize infrastructure development cost while achieving a low operational cost. This study discusses the evolutionary development of the infrastructure from a very modest robotic operation to one that is capable of supporting human operations. The cis-lunar infrastructure involves a mix of technologies including cryogenic propellant production, reusable lunar landers, propellant tankers, orbital transfer vehicles, aerobraking technologies, and electric propulsion. This cislunar propellant infrastructure replaces Earth-launched propellants for missions beyond LEO. It enables users to reach destinations with smaller launchers or effectively multiplies the user s existing payload capacity. Users can exploit the expanded capacity to launch logistics material that can then be traded with the infrastructure for propellants. This mutually beneficial trade between the cis-lunar infrastructure and propellant users forms the basis of in-space commerce.

Bike Infrastructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Silva, Victor; Harder, Henrik; Jensen, Ole B.

Bike Infrastructures aims to identify bicycle infrastructure typologies and design elements that can help promote cycling significantly. It is structured as a case study based research where three cycling infrastructures with distinct typologies were analyzed and compared. The three cases......, the findings of this research project can also support bike friendly design and planning, and cyclist advocacy....

Morphing Surfaces Enable Acoustophoretic Contactless Transport of Ultrahigh-Density Matter in Air

Science.gov (United States)

Foresti, Daniele; Sambatakakis, Giorgio; Bottan, Simone; Poulikakos, Dimos

2013-01-01

The controlled contactless transport of heavy drops and particles in air is of fundamental interest and has significant application potential. Acoustic forces do not rely on special material properties, but their utility in transporting heavy matter in air has been restricted by low power and poor controllability. Here we present a new concept of acoustophoresis, based on the morphing of a deformable reflector, which exploits the low reaction forces and low relaxation time of a liquid with enhanced surface tension through the use of thin overlaid membrane. An acoustically induced, mobile deformation (dimple) on the reflector surface enhances the acoustic field emitted by a line of discretized emitters and enables the countinuos motion of heavy levitated samples. With such interplay of emitters and reflecting soft-structure, a 5 mm steel sphere (0.5 grams) was contactlessly transported in air solely by acoustophoresis. PMID:24212104

Infrastructure system restoration planning using evolutionary algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Corns, Steven; Long, Suzanna K.; Shoberg, Thomas G.

2016-01-01

This paper presents an evolutionary algorithm to address restoration issues for supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure. Rapid restoration of infrastructure after a large-scale disaster is necessary to sustaining a nation's economy and security, but such long-term restoration has not been investigated as thoroughly as initial rescue and recovery efforts. A model of the Greater Saint Louis Missouri area was created and a disaster scenario simulated. An evolutionary algorithm is used to determine the order in which the bridges should be repaired based on indirect costs. Solutions were evaluated based on the reduction of indirect costs and the restoration of transportation capacity. When compared to a greedy algorithm, the evolutionary algorithm solution reduced indirect costs by approximately 12.4% by restoring automotive travel routes for workers and re-establishing the flow of commodities across the three rivers in the Saint Louis area.

Effect of surface roughness scattering on the transport properties of a 2DEG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yarar, Z.

2004-01-01

In this work surface roughness scattering of electrons in a two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed at heterojunction interfaces is investigated for various auto-correlation functions. Gaussian, exponential and Lorentzian auto-correlation functions are used to represent surface roughness. Poisson and Schrodinger equations are solved self consistently at the hetero interface to find the energy levels, the wave functions corresponding to each level and electron concentrations at each level. Using these wave functions and the auto-correlation functions mentioned above, the scattering rates due to surface roughness are calculated. Scattering rates resulting from acoustic and optical phonons are also calculated. These rates are used to study the transport properties of the two dimensional electrons using ensemble Monte Carlo method at various temperatures. Emphasis is given to the effect of surface roughness scattering on the transport properties of the electrons

Northeast Asia regional energy infrastructure proposals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hippel, David von; Gulidov, Ruslan; Kalashnikov, Victor; Hayes, Peter

2011-01-01

Economic growth in the countries of Northeast Asia has spurred a massive increase in the need for energy, especially oil, gas, coal, and electricity. Although the region, taken as a whole, possesses financial, technical, labor, and natural resources sufficient to address much of the region's needs now and into the future, no one country has all of those attributes. As a result, over the past two decades, there has been significant interest in regional proposals that would allow sharing of resources, including infrastructure to develop and transport energy resources from the Russian Far East to South Korea, China, and Japan, and cooperation on energy-efficiency, renewable energy, and the nuclear fuel cycle as well. In this article we review some of these proposals, identify some of the factors that could contribute to the success or failure of infrastructure proposals, and explore some of the implications and ramifications of energy cooperation activities for energy security in the region.

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Crosscutting Issues Planning Conference Report

Science.gov (United States)

2001-10-01

space, parks, and schools are all intermixed within walkable neighborhoods. What we’ve seen over the last 50 years is the tendency to isolate land...insert a mixed-use community into a suburb to bring a walkable neighborhood into a place that, for the most part, has been dependent on automobiles...aim for, to use the infrastructure in place to help reinsert mixed-use communities with transportation options, including walkability , into places

Magnetic transport apparatus for the production of ultracold atomic gases in the vicinity of a dielectric surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haendel, S.; Marchant, A. L.; Wiles, T. P.; Hopkins, S. A.; Cornish, S. L.

2012-01-01

We present an apparatus designed for studies of atom-surface interactions using quantum degenerate gases of 85 Rb and 87 Rb in the vicinity of a room temperature dielectric surface. The surface to be investigated is a super-polished face of a glass Dove prism mounted in a glass cell under ultra-high vacuum. To maintain excellent optical access to the region surrounding the surface, magnetic transport is used to deliver ultracold atoms from a separate vacuum chamber housing the magneto-optical trap (MOT). We present a detailed description of the vacuum apparatus highlighting the novel design features; a low profile MOT chamber and the inclusion of an obstacle in the transport path. We report the characterization and optimization of the magnetic transport around the obstacle, achieving transport efficiencies of 70% with negligible heating. Finally, we demonstrate the loading of a hybrid optical-magnetic trap with 87 Rb and the creation of Bose-Einstein condensates via forced evaporative cooling close to the dielectric surface.

Trans-European transport networks and urban systems in European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maksin-Mićić Marija

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The trans-European transport network has different effects at interregional macro-regional and mezzo-regional level, and its effectiveness rises at the lower regional levels. Possible approaches to the trans-European transport network impact and effect survey and policy options have been pointed out. In that respect the brief review of survies, strategic framework and policies in European Union has been given. The importance of increased accessibility and mobility for regional expansion and for more balanced and polycentric system of city networks has been underlined. The question is how the new major transport infrastructure affects the development of functional complementarity between cities and regions. The new trans-European or major transport infrastructure does not per se create regional and urban system network development, although it can affect the conditions for the processes that create growth and development. The effects can be increased by co-ordination of measures of regional and urban policy, land use, transport and other policies. The necessary measure is the introduction of spatial impact assessment as sectorial policy instrument for the large transport infrastructure projects.

Transport statistics 1996

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Shepperson, L

1997-12-01

Full Text Available This publication contains transport and related statistics on roads, vehicles, infrastructure, passengers, freight, rail, air, maritime and road traffic, and international comparisons. The information compiled in this publication has been gathered...

Alternative transportation study : Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

This report provides an assessment of historic and current visitation, infrastructure, and transportation conditions at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas in southwest Oklahoma. The study defines transportation-related goals ...

Aging infrastructure creates opportunities for cost-efficient restoration of aquatic ecosystem connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Neeson, Thomas M; Moody, Allison T; O'Hanley, Jesse R; Diebel, Matthew; Doran, Patrick J; Ferris, Michael C; Colling, Timothy; McIntyre, Peter B

2018-06-09

A hallmark of industrialization is the construction of dams for water management and roads for transportation, leading to fragmentation of aquatic ecosystems. Many nations are striving to address both maintenance backlogs and mitigation of environmental impacts as their infrastructure ages. Here, we test whether accounting for road repair needs could offer opportunities to boost conservation efficiency by piggybacking connectivity restoration projects on infrastructure maintenance. Using optimization models to align fish passage restoration sites with likely road repair priorities, we find potential increases in conservation return-on-investment ranging from 17% to 25%. Importantly, these gains occur without compromising infrastructure or conservation priorities; simply communicating openly about objectives and candidate sites enables greater accomplishment at current funding levels. Society embraces both reliable roads and thriving fisheries, so overcoming this coordination challenge should be feasible. Given deferred maintenance crises for many types of infrastructure, there could be widespread opportunities to enhance the cost effectiveness of conservation investments by coordinating with infrastructure renewal efforts. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

Ab initio transport across bismuth selenide surface barriers

KAUST Repository

Narayan, Awadhesh

2014-11-24

© 2014 American Physical Society. We investigate the effect of potential barriers in the form of step edges on the scattering properties of Bi2Se3(111) topological surface states by means of large-scale ab initio transport simulations. Our results demonstrate the suppression of perfect backscattering, while all other scattering processes, which do not entail a complete spin and momentum reversal, are allowed. Furthermore, we find that the spin of the surface state develops an out-of-plane component as it traverses the barrier. Our calculations reveal the existence of quasibound states in the vicinity of the surface barriers, which appear in the form of an enhanced density of states in the energy window corresponding to the topological state. For double barriers we demonstrate the formation of quantum well states. To complement our first-principles results we construct a two-dimensional low-energy effective model and illustrate its shortcomings. Our findings are discussed in the context of a number of recent experimental works.

Modeling marine surface microplastic transport to assess optimal removal locations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sherman, Peter; Van Sebille, Erik

2016-01-01

Marine plastic pollution is an ever-increasing problem that demands immediate mitigation and reduction plans. Here, a model based on satellite-tracked buoy observations and scaled to a large data set of observations on microplastic from surface trawls was used to simulate the transport of plastics

Transport of particles by surface waves: a modification of the classical bouncer model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ragulskis, M; Sanjuan, M A F

2008-01-01

We consider a ball under the influence of gravity on a platform. A propagating surface wave travels on the surface of the platform, while the platform remains motionless. This is a modification of the classical bouncing ball problem and describes the transport of particles by surface waves. Phase and velocity maps cannot be expressed in an explicit form owing to implicit formulations, and no formal analytical analysis is possible. Numerical analysis shows that the transition to chaos is produced via a period doubling route, which is a common property for classical bouncers. The bouncing process can be sensitive to the initial conditions, which can build the ground for control techniques that can dramatically increase the effectiveness of particle transport in practical applications

Impact of the Topological Surface State on the Thermoelectric Transport in Sb2Te3 Thin Films.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinsche, Nicki F; Zastrow, Sebastian; Gooth, Johannes; Pudewill, Laurens; Zierold, Robert; Rittweger, Florian; Rauch, Tomáš; Henk, Jürgen; Nielsch, Kornelius; Mertig, Ingrid

2015-04-28

Ab initio electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory and tight-binding methods for the thermoelectric properties of p-type Sb2Te3 films are presented. The thickness-dependent electrical conductivity and the thermopower are computed in the diffusive limit of transport based on the Boltzmann equation. Contributions of the bulk and the surface to the transport coefficients are separated, which enables to identify a clear impact of the topological surface state on the thermoelectric properties. When the charge carrier concentration is tuned, a crossover between a surface-state-dominant and a Fuchs-Sondheimer transport regime is achieved. The calculations are corroborated by thermoelectric transport measurements on Sb2Te3 films grown by atomic layer deposition.

Transport Accessibility In Light Of The DEA Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Górniak Joanna

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The development of transport infrastructure and increasing the efficiency of transport services are major factors of economic growth. The concept of transport accessibility can be analysed in various aspects. This article focuses on the accessibility of freight transport by road and rail, measured with infrastructure equipment. The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficiency of selected European countries in 2000, 2005 and 2010 in terms of transport accessibility for given expenditures and results. The efficiency will be measured with the Data Envelopment Analysis, which assesses the efficiency with which a given economy transforms expenditures into results. The hypothesis assumes the existence of differences between the efficiency in terms of transport accessibility in European countries and a possibility to increase this efficiency by using the experience of countries with a high efficiency level.

Sensor Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrero-Ibáñez, Juan; Zeadally, Sherali; Contreras-Castillo, Juan

2018-04-16

Modern society faces serious problems with transportation systems, including but not limited to traffic congestion, safety, and pollution. Information communication technologies have gained increasing attention and importance in modern transportation systems. Automotive manufacturers are developing in-vehicle sensors and their applications in different areas including safety, traffic management, and infotainment. Government institutions are implementing roadside infrastructures such as cameras and sensors to collect data about environmental and traffic conditions. By seamlessly integrating vehicles and sensing devices, their sensing and communication capabilities can be leveraged to achieve smart and intelligent transportation systems. We discuss how sensor technology can be integrated with the transportation infrastructure to achieve a sustainable Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and how safety, traffic control and infotainment applications can benefit from multiple sensors deployed in different elements of an ITS. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges that need to be addressed to enable a fully operational and cooperative ITS environment.

Sensor Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Guerrero-Ibáñez, Juan; Zeadally, Sherali

2018-01-01

Modern society faces serious problems with transportation systems, including but not limited to traffic congestion, safety, and pollution. Information communication technologies have gained increasing attention and importance in modern transportation systems. Automotive manufacturers are developing in-vehicle sensors and their applications in different areas including safety, traffic management, and infotainment. Government institutions are implementing roadside infrastructures such as cameras and sensors to collect data about environmental and traffic conditions. By seamlessly integrating vehicles and sensing devices, their sensing and communication capabilities can be leveraged to achieve smart and intelligent transportation systems. We discuss how sensor technology can be integrated with the transportation infrastructure to achieve a sustainable Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and how safety, traffic control and infotainment applications can benefit from multiple sensors deployed in different elements of an ITS. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges that need to be addressed to enable a fully operational and cooperative ITS environment. PMID:29659524

Sensor Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems