Infrastructures Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

In the last few years, there has been a significant rise in the number of private vehicles ownership, migration of people from rural areas to urban cities, and the rise in the number of under-maintained freeways; all these have added to the perennial problem of traffic congestion. Traffic flow prediction has been recognized as the solution in alleviating and reducing the problem of traffic congestion. In this research, we developed an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system trained by particle swarm optimization (ANFIS-PSO) by performing an evaluative performance of the model through traffic flow modelling of vehicles on five freeways (N1,N3,N12,N14 and N17) using South Africa Transportation System as a case study. Six hundred and fifty (650) traffic data were collected using inductive loop detectors and video cameras from the five freeways. The traffic data used for developing these models comprises traffic volume, traffic density, speed of vehicles, time, and different types of vehi...

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- Infrastructures

Selected technical problems related to the rehabilitation of cast-iron columns in structures from the turn of the 19th and 20th century are discussed in the paper. Lack of contemporary standard regulations related to the design of cast-iron structures is a significant problem in the design works and experimental investigations on cast-iron columns are frequently required. The paper presents results of the tests concerning principal properties of cast-iron—strength and deformability. The historical design principles are discussed in the light of the results of experimental investigations. As it was demonstrated, the actual load-carrying capacities of cast-iron columns may exceed by several times the values resulting from the 20th century design rules. The conservatism of the design principles resulted, however, from the material uncertainties—lack of homogeneity and hidden defects of the cast-iron. Selected examples of failures of cast-iron columns from 19th-century structures such a...

- by Tadeusz Urban
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- Infrastructures

Rutting is one of the most common distresses in asphalt pavements in Zambia. The problem is particularly prevalent at intersections, bus stops, railway crossings, police checkpoints, climbing lanes and other heavily loaded sections, where there is deceleration, slow moving or static loading. The most widely used methods to identify the source of rutting among flexible pavement layers are destructive methods; field trenching and coring methods. The Transverse Profile Analysis method (TPAM), which is a non-destructive method, was suggested by White et al. in 2002 as an alternative method, to avoid the expensive and destructive nature of the traditional methods. In this method, data from the transverse profile of the rutted section is used to deduce the layer of the pavement structure responsible for rutting failure. This study used the TPAM to determine the layers of pavement responsible for rutting on sections of the Chibuluma and Kitwe-Chingola Roads in Zambia. The method was first ...

Landslide incidents frequently occur in the upper northern region of Thailand due to its topography, which is mostly mountainous with high slopes. In the past, when landslides happened in this area, they affected traffic accessibility for rescue and evacuation. For this reason, if the risk of landslides could be evaluated, it would help in the planning of preventive measures to mitigate the damage. This study was carried out to create and develop a risk estimation model using the artificial neural network (ANN) technique for landslides at the edge of the roadside, by collecting field data on past landslides in the study areas in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai Provinces. A total of 9602 data points were collected. The variables for forecasting were: (1) land cover, (2) physiographic features, (3) slope angle, and (4) five-day cumulative rainfall. Two hidden layers were used to create the model. The number of nodes in the first and second hidden layers were five and one, respectively, whic...

- by Naruephorn Tengtrairat
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- Infrastructures

The paper is part of a case study concerning the structural assessment of a historical infrastructure in the local territory, a road three-span reinforced concrete arch bridge over a river, built by the end of World War I (1917). The purpose of the paper is twofold: first, in-situ acquired response data are systematically analysed by specific signal processing techniques, to form a devoted methodological procedure and to extract useful information toward possible interpretation of the current structural conditions; second, the deciphered information is elaborated, in view of obtaining peculiar conceptualisations of detailed features of the structural response, as meant to achieve quantitative descriptions and modelling, for final Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and intervention purposes. The proposed methodology, integrating self-implemented and adapted classical signal processing methods, and refined techniques, such as Wavelet analysis and ARMA models, assembles a rather genera...

- by Maurizio Zola
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- Infrastructures

Traditional infrastructure asset management is about maintaining the status quo of service levels in a resource-restricted, sometimes risk-increasing environment. Infrastructure asset management (IAM) is effective in addressing resource-deprived situations and in maximizing the benefits of the utility in these contexts. This makes IAM a very appropriate and useful approach for developing countries. Hence, this paper focuses on developing a fit-for-purpose integrated asset management (IAM) framework that is suitable for situations where there are risks to assets, significant uncertainties, and resource deficits, and where improvements to the current service levels are needed. To be comprehensive in the application in these contexts, there is a need to supplement IAM with a new perspective—critical necessities, next to the risks to the status quo (current levels of service). This gap was evident during application of IAM principles to the drinking water system of Al-Mafraq, Jordan. It...

- by Assela Pathirana
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- Infrastructures

The aim of this paper is to review existing publicly available and open artificial intelligence (AI) oriented datasets in different domains and subdomains of the railway sector. The contribution of this paper is an overview of AI-oriented railway data published under Creative Commons (CC) or any other copyright type that entails public availability and freedom of use. These data are of great value for open research and publications related to the application of AI in the railway sector. This paper includes insights on the public railway data: we distinguish different subdomains, including maintenance and inspection, traffic planning and management, safety and security and type of data including numerical, string, image and other. The datasets reviewed cover the last three decades, from January 1990 to January 2021. The study revealed that the number of open datasets is very small in comparison with the available literature related to AI applications in the railway industry. Another ...

- by Mauro Pappaterra
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- Infrastructures

Transnational infrastructures have long been an integral part of projects to unite Europe. From the first ceremonial train of the European Coal and Steel Community to the new border signs that have replaced checkpoints along motorways, such technologies of connection have served as powerful symbols of European unification. In interpreting infrastructures as mediating interfaces of European projects, this book aims to analyze the complex histories of network technologies in their material, institutional and symbolic performances. Taking material networks as the focal point of study allows the authors to tell a truly transnational history, broadening fruitfully our perspectives on a number of historical narratives. It expands the time frame for exploring European integration by pointing to the longer processes of international connection and co-operation. These broadened spatial and temporal horizons allow to de-centre the processes of formal integration surrounding the EU after WWII to reveal a broader range of actors and forces in European history.

- by Alexander Badenoch and +1
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- Engineering, History, European History, History of Science and Technology
- by oswar mungkasa
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- Infrastructures

Public-spaces are the mainstay of the urban settlements. Recently, more attentions were given to the expansion of buildings, industries, business centers, companies and institutions than preserving public-spaces. This study examined the utilizations and management of public-spaces of Addis Ababa; the case of Meskel-square and Jan-meda. To this end, the study involved 120 sample respondents using a random sampling method; and employed descriptive and explanatory type of research designs. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. For the analysis, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The results showed that the current state and management of the public-spaces is poor. The spaces are not attractive, not comfortable, not accessible, and lack services. The major factors that thwart users from visiting the spaces were absence of natural and artificial landscapes, absence of adequate services, and less attractiveness. Unpleasant and illegal activities, lack of shelters, and congestions were other problems. The multiple regression output suggested that the frequency of using public-space is influenced by the socioeconomic and space related factors. Similarly, the spearman rho"s correlation coefficient, independent samples t-test, and the multinomial regression model produced important results. The city government faced challenges including weakness of the public actors, lack of planning and policy direction, weak regulatory and legislative frameworks, and vulnerability of many public-spaces to improper uses. Therefore, this study recommends that the city administration should consider the planning, preservation, expansion, and management of the public-spaces to enhance the quality of life of the residents and aesthetic value of the city.

- by Dr. Abenezer W A K U M A Kitila
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- Housing, Public Space, Infrastructures, Urban Services
- by IBRAHIM AKOGUN
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- Urban Planning, Urban Design, Infrastructures, Estate Management
- by El hassani El hassan
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- Architecture, Rapport, Infrastructures, Batiment

During the last few decades, the electrical and electronics industry has experienced an enormous growth. The increase in consumption of electronic equipment has been unprecedented. Increase in the use of electronic products have resulted in increases in production of these products and hence create a new waste, or coupled with increasing consumption is the increasing accumulation and generation of Waste Electrical and Electrical Equipment / WEEE, commonly known as electronic waste / e-waste. The study was conducted to examine the management of e-waste and its disposal methods in Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in particular the generation and status of e-waste, management practices. The networking with actors in relation to e-waste management was also observed to suggest possible recommendations for proper e-waste management in the university. The qualitative method was adopted and the research approach is a case study. The most important data collection instruments were questionnaires, interviews, observations and review of documents. The study was conducted in four campuses of Addis Ababa University.. The respondents were selected purposively based on their responsibility. Accordingly, the General Service Department officers were selected for filling the questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The study estimated that the total amount of e-waste is about 4982 in number. (Main campus 2648, science faculty 648, Institute of Technology 903, and FBE Campus 783). The most important causes of e-waste generation in AAU are rapid obsolescence rate, lack of maintenance, the demand for the new equipment and accessories. Regarding the actions taken to manage the e-waste, about 4660 of 4982 put in store, only 138 of them donated. There are about 46 rooms, which could be served as offices for academic staffs in the university that are occupied by e-waste. Recycling, reusing, donating and reselling the e-waste have not been practiced in the university. The major reasons for storing of e-waste are absence of good disposal methods, poor maintenances, upgrading and refurbishment. Awareness on e-waste is very low among the General Service Departments officers. Currently the university is not implementing any of the management options of waste materials due to the administrative, informative, economical challenges that make the implementation dormant. Making partnership with stakeholders to manage e-waste is not practiced. Therefore, there is a need to adopt specific legislations that specifically deals with e-waste and creating links with the four key actors in waste management such as the authorities, manufacturers, waste dealers and the users to design effective management system.

- by Dr. Abenezer W A K U M A Kitila
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- Housing, Public Space, Infrastructures, Urban Services

Rapid technological advancements, scale economies, and high obsolescence rate contributes a significant role in generating e-waste. The study examines electronic waste management in educational institutions of Ambo town namely; Ambo University, Ambo Micro Business and TVET Colleges. It employs survey research and comparative study. The main data gathering tools were questionnaires, interviews, observation and review of documents. Through purposive sampling technique, property management heads, directors, purchasers and storekeepers have been selected as sample respondents. The findings of the study highlighted that educational institutions are engrossed with average volume of e-waste generated from laboratories, academic and administrative staffs. Workers in General Service Department have not aware of issues related to e-waste. It is found that IT and Telecommunication, consumer and lighting equipment, control and monitoring equipment are widely generated type of e-waste. The major action taken to the discarded items is storing and to some extent donating. It was realized that absence of legislation, absence of recycling/refurbishing centers, and lack of awareness are the major challenges in e-waste management. After all the study recommends to create partnership with governmental and non-governmental organization to obtain legislation, management options, and infrastructures to ensure proper e-waste management for better human and environmental health.

- by Dr. Abenezer W A K U M A Kitila
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- Housing, Public Space, Infrastructures, Urban Services

The urban areas of the developing countries are not only faced with problems of poorly developed physical infrastructure, but they are also suffering from destruction of utility lines. The study explores the integration of urban service sectors of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. The objective has accentuated around stating of the planning approach, challenges in implementation, and effects of poor coordination. It was delimited to four urban sectors namely water supply, telecommunication, transportation and electricity. The findings of the study highlighted that cross sectoral planning approach has not yet adopted and implemented among the urban service sectors of the city due to administrative/political, economic and social factors. Because of this it has been frequently observed that destruction and disruption of utility lines caused by those sectors. The major factors that have contributed to the less likely performance level of the urban sectors are weak institutional arrangements, lack of budget and monitoring by the concerned parties, poor coordination among the sectors in all phases of urban management stages. The study, above all, recommends cross-sectoral planning approach to be adopted and exercised by the urban sectors to plan, organize, implement, monitor and re-plan jointly to minimize costs, energy and time in maintaining infrastructural lines.

- by Dr. Abenezer W A K U M A Kitila
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- Housing, Public Space, Infrastructures, Urban Services

Cement is one of the construction materials widely used around the world in order to develop infrastructure and it is also one of the factors affecting economies. The production of cement consumes a lot of raw materials like limestone, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere and thus leads to global warming. Many investigations are underway in this area, essentially focusing on the eco-accommodating environment. In the research, an alternative material to cement binder is geopolymer binder, with the same efficiency. This paper presents scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of factory byproducts (i.e., fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS)). The mix design process for the manufacture of alkali-activated geopolymer binders synthesized by fly ash and GGBFS is presented. The mechanical properties (compression, split tensile and flexural strength, bond strength) of geopolymer concrete at different mix proportions and at dissimilar curin...

- by ruben nerella
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- Infrastructures

Pavement design is essentially and usually a structural long-term evaluation process which is needed to ensure that traffic loads are efficiently distributed at all levels of the total road structure. Furthermore, to get a complete analysis of its durability behavior, long-term monitoring should be facilitated, not only from the top by falling weight deflectometer (FWD) or core drilling but preferably from inside the structure and at exactly the same positions during a long-time interval. Considering that it is very hard to devise an efficient method to determine realistic in-situ mechanical properties of pavements, the determination of strain at the bottom of asphalt pavement layers through non-destructive tests is of a great interest. As it is known, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are the most promising candidates to effectively replace conventional strain gauges for a long-term monitoring application in a harsh environment. The main goals of this paper are to compile an overvi...

- by Cedric Vuye
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- Infrastructures

Optimum reservoir recovery and profitability results from guidance by an effective reservoir management plan. Success in developing the most appropriate reservoir management plan requires knowledge and considerations of (1) the reservoir system, including rocks, fluids, and rock-fluid interactions, as well as wellbores and associated equipment and surface facilities; (2) the technologies available to describe, analyze, and exploit the reservoir; and (3) the business environment under which the plan will be developed and implemented. Reservoir management plans de-optimize with time as technology and the business environment change or as new reservoir information becomes available. Reservoir characterization is essential for planning appropriately scaled reservoir management plans.
Nowadays in the oil industry the companies are implementing sound of reservoir management techniques through cooperative research and development projects. Good estimates in a field development plan give a solid foundation for decision in all phases of the petroleum activity.
At the first meeting of the first International Reservoir Characterization, in Dallas, 1985, the attendees chose the following definition of reservoir characterization: “Reservoir characterization is a quantitatively assigning reservoir properties, recognizing geologic information and uncertainties in spatial variabilityˮ.
Traditionally, its goal has been to transfer quantitative information on reservoir property distribution with enough detail and accuracy to a numerical simulator so that the fluid-flow simulation predictions would match reservoir performance. Through simulation, an appropriately detailed and accurate model of reservoir property distribution enables the operator to avoid the deleterious effects of heterogeneities and exploit them the best economic advantage. To the extent that information supplied to the simulator is incomplete, inaccurate, or at an inappropriate scale, the ability to predict reservoir performance and maximize economic returns is lessened.
In the papers will be presented a case study of field development plan from Romania, demonstrate the role of a good understanding about reservoir characterization.

The Urban Institute (UI) was contracted by the World Bank on behalf of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW), and the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), with funding from the Japanese Government to carry out a study intended to contribute to the Accra High Level Forum (HLF) on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008 by providing lessons learned for implementing the five tenets of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness—ownership, alignment, harmonization, managing for results, and mutual accountability—in the infrastructure sector. The analysis was based on 14 infrastructure case studies from four countries in Africa and three countries in Asia. The projects were selected by a Steering Committee made up of the World Bank, AFD, ADB, KfW, and JBIC. The African Development Bank (AfDB), the UK’s Department for International Development, and the European Commission also provided input. The goal of this study...

- by Ritu Nayyar-Stone
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- Engineering, Infrastructures
- by Henriette Langstrup
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- Computer Networks, Databases, Home, Software

Today, one of the most important reasons for the pervasiveness of digital currencies is the unique benefits it provides to users, which can be attributed
to the speed and efficiency of payments, especially overseas payments. This study aimed to provide a multiple infrastructure model for bitcoin use. This
research has been done qualitatively using interview tools. The survey community consists of academic experts including Profesor universitarios specializing
in the fields of digital currencies, e-commerce, international finance and finance, and empirical experts consisting of managers and experts of monetary
and financial organizations (banks, stock exchanges). The selection of samples is saturated and purposeful. Finally, 18 people were selected to answer
the interview questions. Data analysis was performed with the context theory (GT) approach. Based on the obtained results, 6 main networks, 14 main
components and 77 sub-components were obtained as multiple infrastructures for bitcoin use. The results also showed that economic and social infrastructure
can affect the use of bitcoin. If there is funding to buy the necessary devices and welcome bitcoin in the community, bitcoin will be more usable as a
digital and acceptable currency.

On 6 April 2021, a 200 m-long under-construction prestressed concrete bridge failed in the Chitwan District in central Nepal. Two of the four bridge spans collapsed without any notable evidence of dynamic force application. Under-construction bridge failures are sometimes reported and can have a significant impact on the future construction adjustments. Thus, a detailed study of failure mechanisms will be insightful for the structural engineering community. Aiming to document the failure modes and exemplify lessons for improvement, this paper reports the detailed component level failure mechanisms of the bridge using visual inspection, site measurements, finite element modeling, and some forms of non-destructive testing. The chronological failure mechanisms are presented based on the field evidence and juxtaposed with the results of analytical modeling. The sum of findings highlights that the dead load failure, triggered by the settlement of falseworks, is the most critically govern...

- by Dipesh Thapa
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- Infrastructures

The seismic response of five cultural heritage towers erected between the 10th and 19th century AD are investigated herein. Firstly, their architectural and modal characteristics were studied in the light of seismic events that hit the monuments. There exist several historical reports of strong earthquakes, as well as damaged structures and collapses. The limit analysis is adopted to examine the post-elastic behavior of the towers up to collapse due to out-of-plane failure. Recurrent damage modes were collected from recent earthquakes and a classification of four possible collapse mechanisms in towers and slender masonry structures is here proposed: overturning, separation of perpendicular walls, diagonal cracking, and dislocation of the belfry. A thorough examination of the towers under investigation verified the proposed damage classification. The capacity curves were derived combining the capacity curves of each of the collapse mechanisms. Damage thresholds were defined on these ...

- by Leonidas Alexandros Kouris
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- Geology, Infrastructures

Effective progress control is vital for steering infrastructure construction to completion with minimum delay. Walking through the infrastructure project site to record progress in different activities is time-consuming, requiring information extracted from construction drawings, schedules, and budgets, as well as data collected from the construction site. This process can be automated by using advanced remote sensing technologies. This study contributes to progress monitoring in large horizontal infrastructure projects. It presents a practical automated method using laser scanning technology that can track the project’s progress in a real construction environment with limited human input. It is robust and accurate and is currently operational. The system capitalizes on the success of laboratory experiments. This system deals with occlusions effectively, accelerates the registration process of multiple scans, reduces the noise in the data, recognizes the objects of irregular shape, ...

- by David Arditi
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- Infrastructures

The paper deals with selected technical problems related to the adaptation for new uses of the structure of existing post-industrial buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A major difficulty is the fact that the strength and geometric properties of cast-iron, steel, and masonry elements often differ significantly from the values characterizing contemporary materials. Due to uncertainty regarding the load-carrying capacity of historical structures, in many cases there is a need to carry out destructive tests of elements taken from the buildings. As the example of cast-iron girders in the former spinning mill of “I. Poznański” demonstrated, such tests can prove a significant margin of load-carrying capacity and confirm the possibility of adapting the structure to new purposes. The paper also presents examples of strengthening the existing wooden ceilings by joining with the reinforced concrete structure, which allowed the keeping of the original elements and an increa...

- by Tadeusz Urban
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- Infrastructures
- by Robert Corrigan
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- New York City, Infrastructures, Urban IPM

It is well-known that the ultra-peripheral territories as Islands present several limitations such as the lack of resources, restricted land, mass tourism, and barriers to movement, and connec-tivity between urban centers. These obstacles make ultra-peripheral regions suitable case studies considering their territorial governance and consequently, sustainable development and growth. Thus, transportation and infrastructure sustainability in these regions are not an exception. Considering all the obstacles present in these regions, the accessibility and connectivity patterns that the local population has in these territories should be assessed and monitored. Thereby, through exploratory tools, the present research assumes to examine, using accessibility and connectivity indicators, the consequences across the social-economic dimension that the regional transportation and infrastructure should convey to the Azores Islands Archipelago populations. Therefore, this article allows us to se...

- by Gualter Couto
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- Geography, Accessibility, Strategic Planning, Urban And Regional Planning

Macroscopic traffic flow variables estimation is of fundamental interest in the planning, designing and controlling of highway facilities. This article presents a novel automatic traffic data acquirement method, called MOM-DL, based on the moving observer method (MOM), deep learning and YOLOv3 algorithm. The proposed method is able to automatically detect vehicles in a traffic stream and estimate the traffic variables flow q, space mean speed vs. and vehicle density k for highways in stationary and homogeneous traffic conditions. The first application of the MOM-DL technique concerns a segment of an Italian highway. In the experiments, a survey vehicle equipped with a camera has been used. Using deep learning and YOLOv3 the vehicles detection and the counting processes have been carried out for the analyzed highway segment. The traffic flow variables have been calculated by the Wardrop relationships. The first results demonstrate that the MOM and MOM-DL methods are in good agreement...

- by Giuseppe Parla
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- Infrastructures

Road networks are disseminated of bridge structures whose typology reflects the time of design and construction of the transportation infrastructure and its relevance in the reference geographical area. Among others, masonry bridges are still widely operational, especially in those regions affected by a limited urbanization and a very high landscape value. As a consequence, the maintenance and the reliability of existing structures is a key issue for owners and managers of road and railway infrastructures. This circumstance leads to the development of an integrated approach able to cover the needs of knowledge of the technological and structural features of the bridge along with its history and current conditions. The main contribution of the study lies in the implementation of such an interdisciplinary approach through the application of archaeological stratigraphic method and 3D data management to historical masonry bridges. The survey and inspection protocol, whose first results ...

- by Carlo Rainieri
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- Infrastructures

It is a premise of this research that analyses the performances of, problems faced by and the prospects of third party logistics providers (3PL) in India. This research aimed at understanding the different technical problems faced by the 3PLs and the various methods of solving their bottlenecks in accomplishing their best services. The logistics industry in India is embryonic in haste and it is the interplay of infrastructure, technology and new categories of service providers that will define whether the industry is able to help its customers reduce their logistics costs and render effective services. A lively survey was taken at their operational ground to discern the practical allusions and illusions. To aid in this thoughtfulness, Indian Major Ports' performance, logistic theories, logistic models, relevant and related theories are focused, thereby providing theoretical foundations for new 3PLs and useful methodologies to analyse the existing 3PLs. At the firm level, the logistics focus is moving towards reducing cycle times in order to add value to their customers. Consequently, better ideas and strategies are being required by firms in order to enhance their decision making. In this research work, the researcher aim to identify the biggest bottlenecks of 3PLs in exporters and importers perspective and presents the highlights of research reviews and research gap.

- by Gian Paolo Cimellaro
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- Structural Engineering, Resilience, Disasters, Stock Market Interdependency

Pavement markings are essential elements of transportation infrastructure with critical impacts on safety and mobility. They provide road users with the necessary information to adjust driving behavior or make calculated decisions about commuting. The visibility of pavement markings for drivers can be the boundary between a safe trip and a disastrous accident. Consequently, transportation agencies at the local or national levels allocate sizeable budgets to upkeep the pavement markings under their jurisdiction. Infrastructure asset management systems (IAMS) are often biased toward high-capital-cost assets such as pavements and bridges, not providing structured asset management (AM) plans for low-cost assets such as pavement markings. However, recent advances in transportation asset management (TAM) have promoted an integrated approach involving the pavement marking management system (PMMS). A PMMS brings all data items and processes under a comprehensive AM plan and enables managing...

- by Neal Hawkins
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- Computer Science, Infrastructures

The inner periphery European countries, as is the case of Portugal, are characterized by poor access to essential areas and services of general and social relations. Contextually, this paper aims to explore the linkages between inner peripheries, ultra-peripherality concepts, and the concept of accessibility from 1985 to 2020, in parallel with the analysis of some demographic trends in the same research period. Thus, the study deals with accessibility and the analysis of accessibility-related spatial distribution to represent the traditional core—periphery pattern, with the highest accessibility in the center of the mainland and west coastal area, and the lowest accessibility in remote regions. The results show that the distribution of the road infrastructure is not uniform in Portugal. Furthermore, the NUTS II regions of PT13 Lisboa e Vale do Tejo (the Lisbon region) and PT11 Norte (northern Portugal) have the greatest road per km2. The Lisbon region has the highest concentration o...

- by Gualter Couto
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- Geography, Sustainable Development, Regional Studies, Territoriality

Emergency management services, such as firefighting, rescue teams and ambulances, are all heavily reliant on road networks. However, even for highly industrialised countries such as Germany, and even for large cities, spatial planning tools are lacking for road network interruptions of emergency services. Moreover, dependencies of emergency management expand not only on roads but on many other systemic interrelations, such as blockages of bridges. The first challenge this paper addresses is the development of a novel assessment that captures systemic interrelations of critical services and their dependencies explicitly designed to the needs of the emergency services. This aligns with a second challenge: capturing system nodes and areas around road networks and their geographical interrelation. System nodes, road links and city areas are integrated into a spatial grid of tessellated hexagons (also referred to as tiles) with geographical information systems. The hexagonal grid is desi...

Quantity Surveying (QS) is a process concerned with controlling and managing the costs of construction projects. QS Measurement relies on sophisticated measurement rules that are understood by experienced practitioners. Traditional QS systems, such as standard paperwork, are time-consuming and only approximate the cost estimate. This paper aims to design and deploy a web-based framework for automating the cost estimation of concrete construction, using ASP.NET. It introduces a user-friendly interface, which ensures that the work is completed in the chronological order of the construction phases. The proposed QS framework offers a reliable and time-efficient estimation method, in comparison to other methods (i.e., human labor using paper or Excel), which was tested using real data and was validated by experts and consultant companies. Furthermore, it automated the reading of project information from construction maps, which reduced errors when estimating costs. It could also automati...

- by Fouad AlAzzawi
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- Automation, Infrastructure, Web Technology, Infrastructures

This study addresses the feasibility of reusing pre-damaged steel beams in temporary structures. The extensive structural investigation of notch-damaged, unrepaired, and laterally unsupported steel beams was performed experimentally and numerically. The simply supported specimens were tested in two-point loading with the study parameters being the location and size of the notch. Some beams had one notch on one edge of the tension flange at different locations, and some beams had two notches on both edges of the tension flange. Three-dimensional numerical models were generated to simulate the behavior of the test beams. After verifying the model, the numerical analysis was extended to cover additional different notch depths and widths. The study showed that the capacity of beams with single notch was more influenced by the notch depth increase than it was by the increase in the notch width. Beams with double notches exhibited an even more pronounced and distinct decrease in the capac...

- by Bilal El-Ariss
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- Infrastructures

Traditional ultrasonic testing (UT) techniques have been widely used to detect surface and sub-surface defects of welds. UT inspection is a contact method which burdens the manufacturer by storing hot specimens for inspection when the material is cool. Additionally, UT is only valid for 5 mm specimens or thicker and requires a highly skilled operator to perform the inspections and interpret the signals. Infrared thermography (IRT) has the potential to be implemented for weld inspections due to its non-contact nature. In this study, the feasibility of using IRT to overcome the limitations of UT inspection is investigated to detect inclusion, porosity, cracking, and lack of fusion in 38 weld specimens with thicknesses of 3, 8 and 13 mm. UT inspection was also performed to locate regions containing defects in the 8 mm and 13 mm specimens. Results showed that regions diagnosed with defects by the UT inspection lost heat faster than the sound weld. The IRT method was applied to six 3 mm ...

- by Sattar Dorafshan
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- Infrastructures

- by Fouad J . I . AlAzzawi
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- Automation, Infrastructure, Web Technology, Infrastructures

As human beings, we have a moral responsibility to act in a manner that takes the wellbeing of humans and Earth into consideration. When building, we must consider two things: the health of the workforce associated with construction and the state of the planet after building. Many engineers in the past have made groundbreaking achievements to revolutionize the civil infrastructure systems (CIS) industry. However, additive manufacturing (AM) has yet to be significantly recognized throughout the CIS industry. In this review, the use of all fundamental materials utilized by AM in CIS like concrete, metals, and polymers, are discussed. The objective of this study is to expand upon the technology of AM, specifically in CIS and to provide a review on the evolution of AM from 2011 to 2021. The different AM techniques that are utilized to construct said structures are also included. The review study suggests that AM can be useful in the CIS industry, as homes, bridges, and benches were manu...

- by Vinayak Kaushal
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- Engineering, Infrastructures

One of the challenges currently faced by emerging countries is to get their citizens to decide to use sustainable transport for their regular trips, in order to reduce the current vehicular pollution rates. The objective of this descriptive research is to examine the perceptions of Dominicans regarding the state of the country’s transport systems and road infrastructure. For this purpose, a nationwide survey procedure was performed. This cross-sectional research used the data retrieved from a sample of 1260 citizens aged over 18, proportional in gender, age, habitat, and province of the Dominican Republic. The results showed how Dominicans believe that, compared to other road features, pedestrian roads and public transport vehicles remain in a very poor condition. Further, citizens report to be more interested about the improvement of road infrastructures than in the implementation of any other set of measures performed to promote sustainable road mobility, including those related w...

- by Sergio A Useche
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- Infrastructures

A key driver of Australia’s economic development is through promoting migration. A strong bottleneck to achieve the targets is a disproportional concentration of population in the metropolitan cities. To avoid congestion in these cities, emphasis is being given at the government level to promote the regional cities. With different city ranking systems, this study tries to identify linkage between the city ranking and people’s preference to live there. The proposed ranking system uses six components, namely, economy, mobility, environment, people, living, and governance. A comparison is done between the ranking systems by first assigning the same weightage to the six components and then assigning different weightages based on people’s preferences. This study considered 112 Australian cities, which were ranked by considering their performance based on the non-weighted and weighted parameters. Analytical Hierarchy Process is then used to assign the priorities/preferences of the compone...

- by Nitin Muttil
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- Business, Infrastructures

The construction sector is responsible for one third of the total wastes produced in the EU. Finding solutions for the reuse or recycling of these wastes is one of the major environmental concerns of modern times. The replacement of sand or cement in specific construction materials, such as concrete or mortars, is a possible solution for these wastes’ management. By using construction and demolition wastes in construction materials, namely on buildings, the cycle of circular economy is closed, increasing the life cycle of the wastes in the same sector. In this research, a reduction of cement content in rendering mortars is analysed. This reduction is achieved by a decrease of the cement/aggregate ratio simultaneously with the incorporation of very fine recycled aggregate from construction and demolition waste. Two recycled aggregates were studied: recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and mixed recycled aggregate (MRA). The fresh and hardened state properties of the mortars were analyse...

- by Rosário Veiga
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- Infrastructures

Smart cities aim to integrate technological development with different functions/components such as mobility, management of energy, natural resources, water, and the waste cycle, air quality, land use, service network, construction, but also the economy, social participation, increased employment, and citizen safety. It includes a series of coordinated and integrated social, environmental and economic interventions to enhance human capital, reduce environmental impacts and solve ecological emergencies. The holistic approach is particular to smart cities, including several mobility aspects in the main European classifications. In particular, the development of smart cities depends on several factors related to transport supply (i.e., mobility service, infrastructure details, ICT) and demand (socio-demographic aspects), and the size of the city. This paper provides an overview of the development of smart cities by defining a methodology that allows the identification of criteria for d...

- by Muhammad Ahmad Al-Rashid
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- Infrastructures

- by Jabar H. Yousif
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- Automation, Infrastructure, Web Technology, Infrastructures

Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) is the process by which decisions are made and resources allocated to ensure organisational or societal assets continue to deliver, as required. IAM is an evolving field. We discuss this evolution and present our perspectives on the future direction of IAM. IAM was born as a response to the poor state of maintenance of infrastructure, largely due to lack of resources, and emphasizes the need to prioritize maintenance and renewal using risk-based approaches. The demands on IAM have also continued to evolve as asset systems have become more complex, with multifunctionality, adaptative capacity and nature-based infrastructure, all issues that IAM must now consider. These challenges underpin the changing context of Water Infrastructure Asset Management (WIAM) and the opportunity for WIAM to harness new technical developments from other IAM domains. WIAM will need to continue to evolve, responding to these challenges and take advantage of these oppor...

- by Assela Pathirana
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- Business, Infrastructures

As important links in the transport infrastructure system, cable-stayed bridges are among the most popular candidates for implementing structural health monitoring (SHM) technology. The primary aim of SHM for these bridges is to ensure their structural integrity and satisfactory performance by monitoring their behaviour over time. Finite element (FE) model updating is a well-recognised approach for SHM purposes, as an accurate model serves as a baseline reference for damage detection and long-term monitoring efforts. One of the many challenges is the development of the initial FE model that can accurately reflect the dynamic characteristics and the overall behaviour of a bridge. Given the size, slenderness, use of long cables, and high levels of structural redundancy, precise initial models of long-span cable-stayed bridges are desirable to better facilitate the model updating process and to improve the accuracy of the final updated model. To date, very few studies offer in-depth di...

- by Erwin Oh
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- Infrastructures

It is a universal fact that concrete is one of the most employed construction materials and hence its exigency is booming at a rocket pace, which in turn, has resulted in a titanic demand of ordinary Portland cement. Regrettably, the production of this essential binder of concrete is not merely found to consume restricted natural resources but also found to be associated with emission of carbon dioxide—a primary greenhouse gas (GHG) which is directly answerable to earth heating, resulting in the gigantic dilemma of global warming. Nowadays, in order to address all these impasses, researchers are attracted to innovative Geopolymer concrete technology. However, crack development of various sizes within the concrete is inevitable irrespective of its kind, mix design, etc., owing to external and internal factors viz., over-loading, exposure to severe environments, shrinkage, or error in design, etc., which need to be sealed otherwise these openings permits CO2, water, fluids, chemicals,...

- by salmabanu luhar
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- Infrastructures

Recent seismic events that hit the central part of Italy have highlighted again the high vulnerability of the historical and architectonical heritage of Italy and the importance of preserving it. However, the seismic assessment of monumental buildings is particularly complex because each historical construction is a singular case realized by specific techniques. Therefore, the first step should be the knowledge of the building even if it is a difficult task. In the present paper, the seismic behavior of an important nineteenth century astronomical observatory, constructed between 1816 and 1819, was investigated. The building, located in Naples, in the southern part of Italy, and classified by the Italian code as an area of medium seismic hazard, was analyzed in the elastic and inelastic range under seismic actions. In this study, the results of two different models were proposed and critically compared. The first one was implemented by shell elements for walls and vaults developing ...

- by Alessandra De Angelis
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- Geology, Infrastructures