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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Road Infrastructure'
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1
Karagania, Richard M. "Road roughness and infrastructure damage." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1997. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36011/1/36011_Karagania_1997.pdf.
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Scientific research has identified road roughness as a significant factor that
contributes to increased vehicle dynamic wheel loads and therefore damage to
pavements and bridges. The other factors include vehicle speed and vehicle
suspension type. More specifically and regarding road roughness, research has
shown that damaging effects are caused by certain wavelengths and features in road
profiles and not the overall road roughness. Various methods of classifying road
roughness based on the ride quality are available. These methods, though important,
are limited in identifying the location of features along road profiles that cause
exceptionally high dynamic wheel loads hence damage. It is the development of a
methodology for identifying the location of these abnormally high dynamic wheel
forces that this thesis addresses.
A vehicle-road interaction model was developed for this research. This computer
model uses a quarter vehicle model and recorded road profile elevation data to
simulate the response of half a vehicle axle (quarter vehicle) driving along a road. 47
road profiles over 17 bridges were measured to run the model.
Signal processing techniques developed by electrical and mechanical engineers have
been used as an additional tool to road profile analysis. These techniques are very
powerful and their application to road profile investigations is significant. Using
computer simulation and by combining ride and damage criteria analysis, a
methodology of identifying segments of road that induce high dynamic wheel forces
and the location of abnormally high dynamic wheel forces has been established.
2
Amoatey, Charles Teye. "User financed road infrastructure in Ghana opportunities for road concessioning /." [S.l. : s.n.], 2007. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:93-opus-30660.
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De, Leur Paul. "Improved approaches to manage road safety infrastructure." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/NQ61080.pdf.
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Wondemu, Kifle Asfaw. "Road infrastructure and rural poverty in Ethiopia." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/4858.
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In the face of high population growth and declining natural resource base, tackling rural poverty necessitates an increase in overall factor productivity or a rise in the market rate of return of assets possessed by the poor. Towards achieving these objectives, the role of spatial integration of markets and the efficiency with which these markets operate are considerably important, as these factors shape the structure of incentives and the level of opportunities open to the rural poor. As a result, factors that hinder the spatial integration of markets and their efficient operation will have significant impact on rural poverty. In Ethiopia markets are often segmented mainly due to high transport cost associated with poor road infrastructure. The existing poor quality and low road density are expected to contribute to rural poverty through limiting the size of the market, increasing market risk (price volatility), widening the spatial prices gaps, reducing the market return to land and labour, inflating the profitability of new technologies and reducing the incentive to produce for market. This research endeavours to empirically substantiate if there is a robust link between farm income and the quality of road infrastructure farm households have access to as well as the pathways through which the effects of road on rural income are felt. The empirical result consistently showed that improving rural road access will have significant impact on rural income in general and the income of the poor in particular. The mechanisms by which road boosts rural income and reduce poverty are also found to work through narrowing down spatial price gaps, promoting technology adoption, boosting resource allocation efficiency and raising the market return to land and labour. The result also showed that the rural poor benefits from road induced income growth.
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Nicolaides, Doros. "Power infrastructure requirements for road transport electrification." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/280689.
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Deep decarbonisation of road transportation is challenging. One of the most potentially beneficial approaches is electrification which is the subject of this PhD thesis. A widespread penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) across a large proportion of road transport demand is needed to realise the benefits of an electrified transport sector. However, this is dependent on overcoming significant barriers. This study performs a systematic analysis of how proven power charging technologies could be used to unlock the barriers to widespread electrification of road transportation. Various road transport sectors and type of journeys are explored including aspects of autonomous operations and novel wireless power transfer technologies. For each operation, a framework is proposed that allows the exploitation of current and potential future electrification technologies to enable shifting towards EVs. Based on that, simulation tools and methods are developed to calculate the power requirements of EVs and determine a suitable charging infrastructure. The additional power demand, electric load and the implications for the electricity supply network are explored. The total expenditure needed and the CO2 emission savings are also calculated for each investigated operation. Transitional strategies include the electrification of bus routes, refuse collection functions, home deliveries and aspects of autonomous operations for public transportation within the boundaries of the cities. In the long-term, focus is given on passenger cars and freight vehicles for both urban and inter-urban journeys. A nationwide adoption of all electrification strategies proposed in this thesis would increase the peak power demand of Great Britain by approximately 38 GW (72% of the current peak) and the electricity consumption by 180 TWh per year (45% of current consumption). The total capital cost required is calculated at £225 billion which is similar to the cost of other large infrastructure projects of the country. The impact would be a significant aggregate saving of approximately 2,000 MtCO2 between the numbers calculated for today's norms (2018) and those calculated for 2050.
6
Alam, Shafiqul. "Developing life cycle environmental indicators for road infrastructure." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/102099/1/Sheikh%20Mohammad%20Shafiqul_Alam_Thesis.pdf.
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This study delivered a comprehensive life cycle carbon footprint indictor for sustainable development and management of road networks. The developed indicator termed ‘Road Use Greenhouse Factor (RUG Factor)’ is scientifically validated for its quantification, impact assessment on the conventional cost-benefit analysis based economic interventions, and suitability of integration with other indicators required for sustainable road asset management. The study also made important contribution on quantitative indicator development methodology, dynamic aspect of life cycle assessment, road social indicator study, road sustainability index development and road carbon map development.
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Sultana, Masuda. "Assessment and Modelling Deterioration of Flood Affected Pavements." Thesis, Griffith University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367367.
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The efficiency of the road management system is increasingly challenged due to the frequent occurrences of extreme weather events, such as intense heavy rainfall, cyclones and flooding. The unpredictable events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the USA (2005), extreme flooding in January 2011 in South-East Queensland, Cyclones Oswald (2013) and Marcia (2015) in Queensland had severe impacts upon the road infrastructure. These roads are now subject to a wider range of climatic conditions over their service life than was originally anticipated during their design. To date, no deterioration model can accurately predict the impact of floods on pavements. To understand the impact of January 2011 flood on the structural performance of flood affected pavements, Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) deflection data and surface condition data (rutting and roughness), on flood-affected roads managed by Brisbane City Council, Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Queensland and Roads and Maritime Services, New South Wales (RMS, NSW), Australia, were collected and examined.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith School of Engineering
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Kayondo-Ndandiko, Lydia Mazzi. "Geographical Information Technologies for Road Infrastructure Maintenance in Uganda." Licentiate thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola [bth.se], School of Planning and Media Design, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-00498.
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This thesis is a documentation of research on Geographical Information Technologies (GITs) as decision support tools in Road Infrastructure Maintenance (RIM) in Uganda. The main objective is to develop an operational framework within which the use of geo-information technologies can be enhanced as decision support tools in road infrastructure maintenance works of Uganda. Specifically, the research identifies the gaps and limitations in the use of and access to GITs for RIM and defines an algorithmic framework to accentuate the use of GITs in RIM. The research undertook a participatory multifaceted approach that included a review of documentation both in academia, in form of articles, journals, books, reports and research theses and also reports and documents prepared by the road infrastructure maintenance sector. Participant observations, field visits and measures, interviews and workshops were also triangularly employed to obtain the inherent answers. Content and GIS analyses were made to arrive at the findings that are documented in the papers which are part of the thesis. The gaps to using GITs in RIM have been found to include the lack of standardized datasets to address key nation-wide and local maintenance requirements, challenges on coordinating how geospatial data are acquired and utilized and the collection of duplicate data sets at the local and national levels. Also, the present institutional arrangements do not permit the formation of lasting partnerships and operating under a coordinated GIS infrastructure. The limitations to access of GITs in the sector include; the absence of policies for accessibility and standard use of GITs, lack of infrastructure to support utilization of geographic datasets, unavailability of and limited accessibility to geographic data, lack of geospatial capacity at individual and organizational levels and the digital divide. A nondeterministic algorithmic framework approach to the accentuation of GIT usage in RIM has been suggested. This framework involves strategies on; developing a policy on data collection guidelines emphasizing the use of GPS, satellite imagery and GIS, continuous undertaking of capacity building in the benefits of GIT use and the science involved, establishment of Local Spatial Data Infrastructures (LSDI) for road maintenance data and setting aside yearly budgets for the defined activities. In this framework, the dynamic segmentation data model is considered a superior data storage strategy for road maintenance data within the GIS. Dynamic Segmentation is the process of transforming linearly referenced data (also known as events) that have been stored in a table into features that can be displayed, queried and analyzed on the map through computations. It allows for the location of multiple events stored with linearly referenced attributes without any duplication with route geometry and in effect supports sharing of network infrastructure with different applications
9
Adedokun, Adeyemi. "Application of Road Infrastructure Safety Assessment Methods at Intersections." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Kommunikations- och transportsystem, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-127334.
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Traffic safety at intersections is a particularly difficult phenomenon to study, given the fact that accidents occur randomly in time and space thereby making short-term measurement, assessment and comparison difficult. The EU directive 2008/96/EC introduced road infrastructure safety management, which offers a five layer structure for developing safer road infrastructure has been used to develop tools for accident prediction and black spot management analysis which has been applied in this work to assess the safety level of intersections in Norrköping city in Sweden. Accident data history from STRADA (Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition) and the network demand model for Norrköping city were used to model black spots and predict the expected number of accidents at intersections using PTV Visum Safety tool, after STRADA accident classification was restructured and the Swedish accident prediction model (APM) was configured and tested to work within the tool using the model from the Swedish road administration (SRA). The performance of the default (Swiss) and the Swedish APM was compared and identified locations with the high accident records, predicted accident counts and traffic volumes were audited using qualitative assessment checklist from Street-Audit tool. The results from these methods were analysed, validated and compared. This work provides recommendations on the used quantitative and qualitative methods to prevent accident occurrence at the identified locations.
10
Savchenko, L., O. Ursulian, Л. Савченко, and О. Урсулян. "The impact of vehicles load capacity on road infrastructure." Thesis, National Aviation University, 2022. https://er.nau.edu.ua/handle/NAU/54828.
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Quality of transport infrastructure determines the quality of the provision of services for the transportation of goods and passengers. The infrastructure sector is a guarantee of efficiency, mobility and uninterrupted economic activity. However, the high quality of the transport infrastructure implies significant and long-term investments. Moreover, dependence of load capacity and infrastructure cost per mile is exponential, which proves the detrimental effect of large vehicles, especially overloaded ones, on the roadway and infrastructure facilities. Visually, this can be observed in the form of rutting, which leads to a significant decrease in the speed of transportation, and also increases the accident rate of the road and shortens its service life before major repairs.Якість транспортної інфраструктури визначає якість надання послуг з перевезення вантажів і пасажирів. Сектор інфраструктури є запорукою ефективності, мобільності та безперебійної економічної діяльності. Однак висока якість транспортної інфраструктури передбачає значні та довгострокові інвестиції. Крім того, залежність вантажопідйомності та вартості інфраструктури на милю має експоненційний характер, що свідчить про згубний вплив великогабаритних транспортних засобів, особливо перевантажених, на проїжджу частину та об’єкти інфраструктури.
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Bailey, Kyle Evan. "The Road to Rio: Infrastructure, Image, and New Media." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/64392.
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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is currently in the midst of extraordinary period of mega-event hosting. Central to the preparation and hosting of such mega-events are the issues of infrastructure and image. While a large number of articles have been keen to illustrate the transformative potential (and dilemmas) of utilizing mega-events to advance an urban agenda, less understood is role that citizen journalists and traditional media journalists play in the construction of the "media geography" of mega-events. This research examines the dominant narratives in the international media coverage of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before the 2014 FIFA World Cup, specifically the 12 months leading up to that event starting with the 2013 Confederations Cup Riots. Data was derived from a content analysis of 5 western, international media outlets, as well as interviews with international and new media journalists from the New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Midia NINJA, and several other media organizations. These journalists were questioned about the dominant media narratives, as well as the role of new media, not only in reporting news on the ground in Rio de Janeiro, but also in how their presence helped shape the media's representation of Rio and perhaps construct a new "point of reference" for the city. The results of the quantitative and qualitative data suggest a couple of clear narratives. The first questioned whether or not the event's infrastructure projects would be ready in time for the start of the games. The second focused on reporting of the protests in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere, attempting to give meaning to protests and the array of grievances that sparked those demonstrations. Additionally, this research examined how traditional and new media journalists leveraged social media to mobilize and facilitate the various contestations of Rio de Janeiro's mega-events.Master of Science
12
Giudici, Henri. "Frost heave testing of norwegian materials for road infrastructure." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2014. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/7590/.
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In areas of seasonal frost, frost susceptibility composed by frost heaving during the winter and thaw softening during the spring is one of the most dangerous phenomenon for transportation, road and railway infrastructure. Therefore, the need for frost protection layer becomes imperative. The purpose of frost protection layer is to prevent frost from penetrating down through the pavement and into the sub-soils. Frost susceptible soils under the road can be cause damages on the roads or other structures due to frost heave or reduced capacity characteristics thaw period.
"Frost heave" is the term given to the upwards displacement of the ground surface caused by the formation of ice within soils or aggregates (Rempel et al., 2004). Nowadays in Scandinavia the most common material used in frost protection layer in the pavement structure of roads and in the ballast of the railway tracks are coarse-grain crushed rocks aggregates. Based on the capillary rise, the mechanics of frost heave phenomenon is based on the interaction between aggregates and water, as suggested by Konrad and Lemieux in 2005 that said that the fraction of material below the 0.063 mm sieve for coarse-grained soils must be controlled so as to reduce the sensitivity to frost heave. The study conducted in this thesis project is divided in two parts:
- the analysis of the coarse grained aggregates used in frost protection layer in Norway;
- the analysis of the frost heave phenomenon in the laboratory under known boundary conditions, through the use of the most widely used method, the frost heave test, in” closed system” (without access of water).
13
Shao, Zeshen. "Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Road Infrastructure." Thesis, Griffith University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/371946.
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There is increasing evidence that the Earth’s climate is changing. These changes can have direct impacts on road infrastructure because of their environmental effects. Temperature can affect the aging of bitumen resulting in an increase in brittle failure of the surface seals that represent more than 90% of the rural sealed roads in Australia. Further, rainfall changes can alter moisture balances and influence pavement deterioration. Brittle failure of the bitumen causes the surface to crack, with a consequent loss of waterproofing of the surface seal. The result is that surface water will enter the pavement causing potholing and will cause rapid loss of surface condition. More frequent reseal treatments will overcome the problem, but this is at a higher cost to road agencies. Road infrastructure is a long-lived investment. Roads typically have design lives of 20 to 40 years. An understanding of the expected impacts of future climate change by road designers, asset managers and planners, could produce considerable cost savings in the long term. This research aims to provide an assessment of likely effects on climate change for the South East Queensland region in the next 90 years, and further identify and assess the likely effects of climate change on road pavement.Thesis (Masters)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
School of Eng & Built Env
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Deljanin, Emir. "Ecodriving potentiality of road infrastructures according to the adequacy between infrastructure geometrical characteristics and vehicles speeds." Thesis, Nantes, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019NANT4043.
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Le lien entre les infrastructures routières et l’utilisation de l’énergie n’a pas été étudié en profondeur, car les attentes de la société en matière de transport sont essentiellement liées à l’efficacité et à la sécurité. Avec l’émergence des enjeux environnementaux, les pistes pour réduire la consommation d’énergie en procédant à des optimisations mineures de l’infrastructure routière sont explorées. Cette thèse vise à développer l’une de ces optimisations en améliorant le potentiel d’éco-conduite des infrastructures routières. Pour cela, l’énergie dépensée par les véhicules sur une route en fonction de leur dynamique, leur géométrie et la section en vitesse est modélisée. L’optimisation du sectionnement en vitesse peut faciliter l’écoconduite, limitant ainsi l’utilisation nécessaire du freinage mécanique à l’approche d’une section de réduction de vitesse. Une méthodologie en quatre étapes a été mise au point pour évaluer le sectionnement en vitesse. La première étape consiste à proposer un critère utilisable par les gestionnaires pour détecter rapidement un mauvaise position de sectionnement de vitesse (Misplaced Speed-sectioning Position, MSP). La deuxième étape quantifie le coût énergétique d’un mauvais positionnement (MSP) et la position optimale du sectionnement de la vitesse pour un éco-conducteur. Les résultats de ces deux étapes fournissent des informations au gestionnaire qui peut proposer une nouvelle disposition des sections de vitesse en tenant compte du trafic et de la configuration de la route. La troisième étape de notre méthodologie consiste en une simulation des flux de circulation permettant une meilleure évaluation énergétique des nouvelles sections de vitesse, basé sur des données réelles de trafic, et en modélisant plusieurs comportements des conducteurs. La quatrième étape est un processus d’optimisation pour trouver le sectionnement optimisé de la vitesse. Des expériences ont été menées en Bosnie-Herzegovine et en France pour démontrer la faisabilité de la méthodologieThe link between road infrastructure and use energy has not been, studied in depth , particularly as the legitimate societal expectations for transportation are primarily related to efficiency and safety. The environmental emergency implies to explore new trends as minor optimization of the road to reduce the energy use. This thesis aims to develop one of these optimization by improving the potential of eco-driving road infrastructure. This will be achieved by modeling the effect on the energy spent by vehicles on a road of the adequacy between their dynamics, geometry and the sectioning in speed of the infrastructure. A four steps methodology has been developed to assess speed sectioning. The first step is to propose a criterion usable by road managers to rapidly detect Misplaced Speed-sectioning Position (MSP). The second step quantifies the energy cost of a MSP for a particular vehicle and the optimal position of the speed sectioning for an eco-driver. The outputs of these two steps yield information to the manager who can propose a new speed sectioning layout taking into account traffic and road configuration. The third step of the methodology involves a traffic flow simulation enabling an enhanced energy evaluation of new speed sectioning, based on real traffic data, and modeling several driver behaviors. The fourth step is an optimization process to find the optimized speed sectioning. Experiments have been carried out in Bosnia-Herzegovina and France to demonstrate the feasibility of the methodology. The benefits are reduced energy consumption, air pollution and noise produced by braking
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Lee, Rachel Louise. "Do roads mean jobs? : a rhetorical analysis of transport discourse in the North West and in Edinburgh." Thesis, Lancaster University, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.289046.
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Gehl, P. "Bayesian networks for the multi-risk assessment of road infrastructure." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2017. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1546080/.
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The purpose of this study is to develop a methodological framework for the multi-risk assessment of road infrastructure systems. Since the network performance is directly linked to the functional states of its physical elements, most efforts are devoted to the derivation of fragility functions for bridges exposed to potential earthquake, flood and ground failure events. Thus, a harmonization effort is required in order to reconcile fragility models and damage scales from different hazard types. The proposed framework starts with the inventory of the various hazard-specific damaging mechanisms or failure modes that may affect each bridge component (e.g. piers, deck, bearings). Component fragility curves are then derived for each of these component failure modes, while corresponding functional consequences are proposed in a component-level damage-functionality matrix, thanks to an expert-based survey. Functionality-consistent failure modes at the bridge level are then assembled for specific configurations of component damage states. Finally, the development of a Bayesian Network approach enables the robust and efficient derivation of system fragility functions that (i) directly provide probabilities of reaching functionality losses and (ii) account for multiple types of hazard loadings and multi-risk interactions. At the network scale, a fully probabilistic approach is adopted in order to integrate multi-risk interactions at both hazard and fragility levels. A temporal dimension is integrated to account for joint independent hazard events, while the hazard-harmonized fragility models are able to capture cascading failures. The quantification of extreme events cannot be achieved by conventional sampling methods, and therefore the inference ability of Bayesian Networks is investigated as an alternative. Elaborate Bayesian Network formulations based on the identification of link sets are benchmarked, thus demonstrating the current computational difficulties to treat large and complex systems.
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Larsson, Alva. "Are we ready? : Swedish road operators readiness for automated vehicles." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Avdelningen för visuell information och interaktion, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-437609.
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The European Union as well as Governments all around the world,including the Swedish Government, are putting a lot of time, money andeffort into facilitating the implementation of Automated Vehicles (AVs).The majority of these efforts tend to focus on either the technicalaspects, action plans or the legal scope. However, little attention isbeing drawn to the practical implications of these efforts. Hence, this thesis investigates the road operators’ willingness to act and their readiness in regards to data and information provision for AVs, as well as how the readiness can be improved. In particular, focus is geared towards the three largest road operators in Sweden: the city of Stockholm, the city of Gothenburg and the Swedish Transport Administration. The primary segments of data consists of information gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews and benchmarking against international road operators. The results show a gap between the official visions of being at the forefront in automated mobility, and the actual practical implementations of these visions in the road operator organisation's. The author assigns this gap to a lack of incitements, decision-making,and monetary assets. Moreover, the findings suggest a correlationbetween the approach towards automated mobility within the organisationsand the actual level of readiness. This correlation is intensifiedduring the second data collection, when benchmarking international road operators against the Swedish. Further, the author underlines theimportance of managing this gap in order to achieve the strong coordination needed to reach the set up goals. The paper conclusively suggests, by comparing how road operators work with such matters in theNetherlands, Norway and Finland, how to overcome such obstacles.
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Nashed, Rose-Marie. "Electric roads as future road transport : A study of Electric Road System (ERS) to facilitate sustainable road transport for passenger cars." Thesis, KTH, Energiteknik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-250892.
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Sweden is a geographically large and sparsely populated country, with a need for road transport for individuals as well as for logistics. Domestic road transport largely contributes to air pollutions, where passenger cars account for the largest share. Looking ahead, the present rate of reduction of emissions is not enough to reach the climate targets of a fossil free transport sector. Electric road system (ERS) has emerged to deal with drawbacks of electric vehicles. Several solutions are being evaluated at demonstration projects. Until now, ERS is mainly associated with heavy vehicles and the relation to passenger cars is not as clear, where this study explores the social advantages of ERS and passenger cars. A case study is conducted, where an ERS implementation between Helsingborg and Malmö as part of the European route E6 in Sweden is modelled. The NPV with an economic lifespan of 20 years and an interest rate of 3.5 percent amounts to 350 MSEK, considered as high profitable. The CO2 emissions of the studied system would be reduced by 102 000 tonnes CO2, corresponding to a decrease of about 60 percent. Looking at the studied system, heavy trucks are contributing to the most impact. Nevertheless, there is great potential for passenger cars utilising ERS to decrease their emissions and fuel costs. Several semi-structured interviews have been conducted to highlight the prevailing views of ERS and passenger cars and the impact of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for decision-making of transport investments. Several diverse views of ERS and passenger cars exist. ERS is a large investment, where the main need is among heavy vehicles. However, the profitability would increase as the amount of vehicles utilising ERS increases. In a future road transport system, it is possible that several technologies such as ERS, fast chargers and autonomous vehicles could be utilised simultaneous, and complete each other rather than being substitutes. It is conceivable that ERS is planned out of the needs of heavy vehicles, where passenger cars might benefit of the system as well. More passenger cars would likely utilise ERS as it is implemented to a greater extent. Further, CBA could provide a perception of the investment. However, it does not ensure that the projects are performed or chosen out of highest NPV, since several aspects besides the profitability are considered. Available information of ERS for CBA is yet limited and more data, such as effect relations is needed to facilitate well-founded decisions. In the future, it is likely that CBA of transport investments would become more complex, where several technologies would be considered. The transport sector will most likely alter, and existing assessment methods will presumably be adjusted in line with this.Sverige är ett geografiskt stort och glesbefolkat land med ett stort behov av vägtransporter för såväl privatpersoner som för logistik. Inrikes vägtransport bidrar i stor utsträckning till luftföroreningar, där personbilar står för den största andelen av utsläppen. Den nuvarande minskningstakten av utsläpp är inte tillräcklig för att nå klimatmålen om en fossilfri transportsektor. Elvägar (ERS) har utvecklats för att hantera utmaningar med elfordon. Flera lösningar av teknologin testas vid demonstrationsprojekt och hittills är ERS främst förknippat med tunga fordon. Dock är relationen till personbilar inte lika tydlig, där denna studie undersöker de samhälleliga fördelarna med ERS relaterat till personbilar. En fallstudie har genomförts, där en installation av ERS mellan Helsingborg och Malmö som en del av E6 i Sverige modelleras. Nettonuvärdet med en ekonomisk livslängd på 20 år och en internränta om 3,5 procent uppgår till 350 MSEK, vilket betraktas som hög lönsam. Koldioxidutsläppen från det studerade systemet skulle minskas med 102 000 ton CO2, vilket motsvarar en minskning med drygt 60 procent. Utifrån det studerade systemet bidrar tunga lastbilar till den största inverkan. Likväl finns stor potential för personbilar att nyttja den installerade elvägen för att minska sina utsläpp och bränslekostnader. Flera semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts för att lyfta fram de rådande synsätten på ERS och personbilar och effekterna av samhällsekonomiska analyser (CBA) vid beslutsfattande av transportinvesteringar. Det finns flera olika synsätt på ERS relaterat till personbilar. ERS är en stor investering, där det största behovet finns bland tunga fordon. Emellertid ökar lönsamheten med antalet fordon som använder systemet. I ett framtida vägtransportsystem är det möjligt att flera teknologier såsom ERS, snabbladdning av elbilar och autonoma fordon utnyttjas samtidigt och används som komplement istället för att ersätta varandra. Det är tänkbart att ERS planeras och installeras utifrån behoven hos tunga fordon, där även personbilar kan dra fördel av systemet. Dessutom är det sannolikt att fler personbilar skulle utnyttja ERS allteftersom det installeras i större utsträckning. Vidare kan CBA ge en uppfattning om investeringen. Det säkerställer dock inte att projekten genomförs eller väljs utifrån högsta nettonuvärde, eftersom flera aspekter utöver lönsamheten beaktas. Tillgänglig information om ERS för CBA är ännu begränsad och mer data såsom effektsamband behövs för att säkerställa välgrundade beslut. I framtiden är det troligt att CBA av transportinvesteringar blir mer komplexa, där flera tekniker behöver beaktas. Transportsektorn kommer sannolikt att förändras, och befintliga bedömningsmetoder kommer förmodligen att anpassas i linje med detta.
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Graham, Tennille. "Economics of protecting road infrastructure from dryland salinity in Western Australia." University of Western Australia. School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2009. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0207.
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[Truncated abstract] The salinisation of agricultural land, urban infrastructure and natural habitat is a serious and increasing problem in southern Australia. Government funding has been allocated to the problem to attempt to reduce substantial costs associated with degradation of agricultural and non-agricultural assets. Nevertheless, Government funding has been small relative to the size of the problem and therefore expenditure needs to be carefully targeted to interventions that will achieve the greatest net benefits. For intervention to be justified, the level of salinity resulting from private landholder decisions must exceed the level that is optimal from the point of view of society as a whole, and the costs of government intervention must be less than the benefits gained by society. This study aims to identify situations when government intervention is justified to manage dryland salinity that threatens to affect road infrastructure (a public asset). A key gap in the environmental economics literature is research that considers dryland salinity as a pollution that has off-site impacts on public assets. This research developed two hydrological/economic models to achieve this objective. The first was a simple economic model representing external costs from dryland salinity. This model was used to identify those variables that have the biggest impact on the net-benefits possible from government intervention. The second model was a combined hydro/economic model that represents the external costs from dryland salinity on road infrastructure. The hydrological component of the model applied the method of metamodelling to simplify a complex, simulation model to equations that could be easily included in the economic model. The key variables that have the biggest impact on net-benefits of dryland salinity mitigation were the value of the off-site asset and the time lag before the onset of dryland salinity in the absence of intervention. ... In the case study of dryland salinity management in the Date Creek subcatchment of Western Australia, the economics of vegetation-based and engineering strategies were investigated for road infrastructure. In general, the engineering strategies were more economically beneficial than vegetation-based strategies. In the case-study catchment, the cost of dryland salinity affecting roads was low relative to the cost to agricultural land. Nevertheless, some additional change in land management to reduce impacts on roads (beyond the changes justified by agricultural land alone) was found to be optimal in some cases. Reinforcing the results from the simple model, a key factor influencing the economics of dryland salinity management was the urgency of the problem. If costs from dryland salinity were not expected to occur until 30 years or more, the optimal response in the short-term was to do nothing. Overall, the study highlights the need for governments to undertake comprehensive and case-specific analysis before committing resources to the management of dryland salinity affecting roads. There were many scenarios in the modelling analysis where the benefits of interventions would not be sufficient to justify action.
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Lozano, Francisco. "Privatizing infrastructure : from theory to practice, the Colombian toll road case." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39996.
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Schleinitz, Katja. "Cyclists’ road safety - Do bicycle type, age and infrastructure characteristics matter?" Doctoral thesis, Universitätsbibliothek Chemnitz, 2016. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:ch1-qucosa-203543.
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In den letzten Jahren hat die Verbreitung von Elektrofahrrädern, sogenannten Pedelecs, stark zugenommen. Dies ist vor dem Hintergrund der Umweltfreundlichkeit und Gesundheitsförderlichkeit dieser Form der Fortbewegung zunächst grundsätzlich positiv zu bewerten. Gleichzeitig besteht jedoch die Sorge, dass Elektrofahrradfahrer häufiger und in schwerere Unfälle verwickelt werden könnten als Fahrradfahrer. So bieten motorgestützte Elektrofahrräder das Potential, höhere Geschwindigkeiten zu erreichen als konventionelle Fahrräder, und werden zudem vor allem von älteren Verkehrsteilnehmern genutzt. Nicht zuletzt deswegen könnten sich durch diese neue Mobilitätsform auch neue Herausforderungen für die Verkehrs-, insbesondere Radinfrastrukturen ergeben. Tatsächlich jedoch blieben die Auswirkungen auf die Verkehrssicherheit bisher weitestgehend ungeklärt. Um dieser Problematik zu begegnen, wurde im Rahmen einer Naturalistic Cycling Studie (NCS) und mehreren experimentellen Untersuchungen folgenden Fragen nachgegangen: Fahren Elektrofahrradfahrer tatsächlich schneller als nicht-motorisierte Radfahrer? Wie wirken sich diese potentiell höheren Geschwindigkeiten darauf aus, wie Elektrofahrradfahrer von Autofahrern wahrgenommen werden? Welchen Einfluss hat das Alter der Radfahrer auf die Geschwindigkeiten und auch auf deren Neigung zu Unfällen bzw. sicherheitskritischen Situationen im Verkehr? Und welchen Einfluss hat die Infrastruktur auf die gewählten Geschwindigkeiten und die Auftretenshäufigkeit von kritischen Situationen? Diese und weitere Fragen wurden in insgesamt vier Arbeiten, die in internationalen Fachzeitschriften publiziert sind (I - IV), beleuchtet. Im ersten Artikel werden die Geschwindigkeiten von Fahrradfahrern (n = 31) im Gegensatz zu Pedelecfahrern (n = 49; Motorunterstützung bis 25 km/h) sowie S-Pedelecfahrern (n = 10; Motorunterstützung bis 45 km/h) betrachtet. Als Einflussgrößen wurden das Alter und die Nutzung verschiedener Infrastrukturtypen der Probanden ausgewertet. Alle Räder wurden mit einem Datenaufzeichnungssystem inklusive Kameras und Geschwindigkeitssensoren ausgestattet, um für vier Wochen ein Bild des natürlichen Fahrverhaltens zu erhalten. Unabhängig von der Infrastruktur waren S-Pedelecfahrer schneller unterwegs waren als Fahrrad- und Pedelecfahrer. Pedelecfahrer fuhren ebenfalls signifikant schneller als konventionelle Fahrradfahrer. Die höchsten Geschwindigkeiten wurden für alle Radtypen auf der (mit dem motorisierten Verkehr geteilten) Fahrbahn sowie der Radinfrastruktur gemessen. Das Alter der Fahrer hatte ebenfalls einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Geschwindigkeit: Unabhängig vom Fahrradtyp waren ältere Fahrer (65 Jahre und älter) deutlich langsamer als Probanden jüngerer Altersgruppen (41-64 Jahre sowie 40 Jahre und jünger). Die beiden jüngeren Altersgruppen fuhren selbst ohne Motorunterstützung (konventionelles Fahrrad) schneller als die älteren Pedelecfahrer. Genauere Analysen (wie etwa das Verhalten beim Bergabfahren) legen nahe, dass dieser Befund nicht allein der physischen Leistungsfähigkeit zugeschrieben werden kann. Es scheint vielmehr so, als ob ältere Fahrrad- und Elektroradfahrer durch die geringere Geschwindigkeit versuchen, Defizite in der Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit auszugleichen bzw. generell vorsichtiger fahren. Der zweite Artikel beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, inwieweit sich die Art und Häufigkeit von Unfällen und kritischen Situationen bei den drei verschiedenen Altersgruppen unterscheiden. Auch hier wurde auf die Daten aus der NCS zurückgegriffen, auf deren Basis eine umfassende Videokodierung durchgeführt wurde. Es zeigten sich keine Unterschiede zwischen den Altersgruppen hinsichtlich des Auftretens kritischer Situationen; weder in Bezug auf die absolute Anzahl, noch gemessen an der relativen Häufigkeit (pro 100 km). Ebenfalls keine Zusammenhänge fanden sich zwischen dem Alter der Fahrer und der Art von Konfliktpartnern oder der Tageszeit der kritischen Situationen. Auch hier scheint es so, dass Ältere keinem erhöhten Risiko unterliegen, und etwaige altersbedingte Einschränkungen kompensieren können. Bei der Betrachtung des Einflusses des Infrastrukturtyps auf das Auftreten von kritischen Situationen zeigte sich, dass, bezogen auf die zurückgelegten Wegstrecken, die Nutzung der mit dem motorisierten Verkehr geteilten Fahrbahn als relativ sicher einzustufen ist. Demgegenüber ergab sich ein erhöhtes Risiko für Unfälle oder kritische Situationen auf designierter Radinfrastruktur. Dies widerspricht der Wahrnehmung vieler Radfahrer, die diese Infrastruktur als besonders sicher empfinden. Es ist allerdings anzunehmen, dass diese Wahrnehmung nicht nur auf der vermeintlichen Auftretenshäufigkeit, sondern auch auf dem angenommenen Schweregrad einer möglichen Kollision beruht. Zwei weitere Artikel beschäftigen sich damit, wie Autofahrer die Geschwindigkeit beziehungsweise die Annäherung von Elektrofahrrädern wahrnehmen. Dies ist insbesondere in Kreuzungssituationen relevant, in denen Autofahrer abschätzen müssen, ob sie noch rechtzeitig vor einem Fahrrad abbiegen können ohne mit diesem zu kollidieren. Es wurde vermutet, dass die fehlende Erfahrung mit Elektrofahrrädern und der von ihnen erreichbaren Geschwindigkeit vermehrt zu entsprechenden Unfällen führen könnte. Der Frage wurde mit einem Experiment zur Lückenakzeptanz auf der Teststrecke (Artikel III) und einer Videostudie zu Schätzungen von Zeitlückengrößen (Artikel IV) nachgegangen. Es zeigte sich, dass Autofahrer die verbleibende Zeit bis zur Kollision für Elektrofahrradfahrer geringer einschätzten als für konventionelle Radfahrer. Zudem wählten Autofahrer bei einem herannahenden Elektrofahrrad signifikant kleinere Zeitlücken zum Abbiegen, als bei einem konventionellen Fahrrad. Dieser Effekt verstärkte sich sogar noch, wenn die Geschwindigkeit des herannahenden Zweirades zunahm. Diese Befunde legen nahe, dass die Einschätzung der Geschwindigkeit beziehungsweise Annäherung von Elektrofahrrädern durchaus risikobehaftet ist. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit helfen dabei, die Auswirkungen der steigenden Verbreitung von Elektrofahrrädern auf die Verkehrssicherheit einzuschätzen. Auch erlauben es die Erkenntnisse, Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit für Fahrrad- und Elektrofahrradfahrern aller Altersgruppen abzuleiten. Damit leistet diese Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Unterstützung einer sicheren, gesunden und umweltfreundlichen MobilitätElectric bicycles (e-bikes) are a relatively new form of transport. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate their effects on road safety. In 2012, at the beginning of this dissertation project, knowledge of e-bikes in general and their impact on road safety in particular was relatively scarce. As a starting point of this work, the influence of e-bikes on road safety was investigated compared relative to the road safety of conventional bicycles. Additionally, the influence of the age of the rider on safety is considered as a supplementary factor. Special attention is paid to the impact of the infrastructure utilised by riders and its characteristics. This cumulative dissertation consists of four research articles, labelled Paper I to IV accordingly. Papers I to IV have been published in peer reviewed journals. The synopsis provides an overview of previous research as well as a theoretical framework of the safety of cyclists and e-bike riders. Speed, and its perception through other road users (measured with experiments to gap acceptance and time to arrival (TTA) estimates) are considered as relevant factors for road safety. In Chapter 4, the research objectives are presented in detail. The methodology is clarified in Chapter 5, and in Chapter 6 and 7 the results are summarised and discussed. The implications of the results are considered in Chapter 8. In Paper I, the differences in speed between bicycles, pedelecs (pedal electric cycle, motor assistance up to 25 km/h) and S-pedelecs (pedal electric cycle, motor assistance up to 45 km/h) were investigated. Additionally the influence of infrastructure type, road gradient and the age of the rider were taken into account. Paper II is concerned with the influence of different conflict partners in crashes, and the utilisation of infrastructure on the safety of cyclists. For this purpose, safety critical events (SCE) involving cyclists were examined, with a special focus on the differences between younger, middle aged, and older cyclists. Papers III and IV focus on the perception of speed of e-bike and bicycle riders through other road users and its implications for road safety. Paper III specifically deals with the gap acceptance of car drivers at intersections in the presence of cyclists and e-bike riders with different speeds and under varying conditions (e.g. at intersections with different road gradients). Paper IV looks at drivers TTA estimates of approaching bicycles and e-bikes in combination with other influencing factors (e.g. speed, cyclist age)
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Adetola, Alaba Ekekiel. "A conceptual collaborative engagement framework for road infrastructure management in Nigeria." Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 2014. http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/10982/.
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Trump, Joshua Jordan. "Road Diets and Greenways: Barriers and Strategies for More Innovative Infrastructure." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/102415.
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Decision-makers for road and stormwater infrastructure across America are faced with numerous problems that require immediate action. These decision-makers are faced with an option when the time arises to consider alternatives for these infrastructure systems: abide to the status quo solution or attempt a different strategy. Typically, these stakeholders choose solutions that are built to be rebuilt. Roadways and stormwater infrastructure provide two examples of infrastructure that requires constant modification and addition. However, other solutions provide opportunities that go against traditional decision-making and provide an opportunity to transform the surrounding land. Road diets remove lanes instead of building more. Green infrastructure such as river daylighting relies on natural land systems to solve problems. Both solutions share the ability to solve their respective problems while also revitalizing, or transforming the land surrounding them. However, barriers are presented to these solutions, such as scope uncertainty and funding sources. Case study research of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and the Lick Run Greenway reveals that collaborative planning, goal framing, and unique funding structures are a few examples of overcoming barriers to innovative infrastructure.Master of Science
As roadways and stormwater infrastructure across America is placed in an increasingly precarious position, decision-makers are tasked with designing innovative solutions. Typically, the solutions that are drawn up have been used countless times over decades of research. However, in the face of an uncertain climate and population effects, old solutions are less able to solve newer, bigger problems. Innovative infrastructure can not only perform its traditional duties, but also act as an attractor to cities. Road diets, which are projects that remove vehicle lanes, and river daylighting, which are projects that unearth piped streams to collect stormwater, are two types of transformative infrastructure. This research utilizes case studies of both to understand their barriers and how to overcome these barriers. The barriers that were found include uncertainty in the scale of the project as well as how to procure funds for the project. To overcome these barriers, a few findings include active community planning through open forums as well as selectively framing information of the projects to highlight their benefits.
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Zanule, Paul Gudoi. "Road Management System and Road Safety in Uganda." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/368.
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Traffic collisions cost Uganda millions of dollars each year. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe the strategies and processes needed to implement a road management system. Such a system would significantly reduce the fatalities and accidents in Uganda, improve the transportation within Kampala's business district, and increase business profitability. Three conceptual theories framed the research study: management theory, strategic management theory, and criminology theory. Using a snowball sampling strategy, data were collected from open-ended interviews, questionnaires, observations, and archived documents from 20 administrative participants in the government and organizational leaders involved in the transport operations and transport services in the Kampala business district in Uganda. Data were analyzed using 3 phases: (a) interpretational analysis, coding, and grouping segments; (b) structural analysis, consistency, and quality; and (c) reflective analysis, consequences, what, when, where, and how. Five themes or action requirements emerged from the data analysis: to improve transport operations and transport services profitability, reduce traffic jams and fatalities, provide sufficient driving training, maintain road infrastructure, and maintain traffic law enforcement. The findings and recommendations from this study may improve the profitability of businesses, reduce the traffic jams and fatalities, and improve the gross domestic product of Uganda, thereby contributing to positive social change.
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Busacca, Allison. "Public-Private Partnerships in the United States: Charting a New Road." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1175.
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Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a 21st century solution to not only fund the infrastructure projects needed in the United States but also provide long-term insight and management. The large-scale infrastructure projects of the 20th century were distinctly a product of the federal government. That traditional model of government-financed infrastructure has proven to be unsustainable as mandatory entitlement spending strains additional federal dollars needed for infrastructure investment. Given the potential of PPPs to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, ports, transit, and other infrastructure, this thesis looks at several cities in the U.S. administering PPPs to consider what is required for their successful implementation. Transparency must be expected and metrics must be incorporated so that the ultimate beneficiary of the partnership is the public.
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Hira, Mohammad Hasnain. "Effects of Climate Change on Road Infrastructure and Development of Adaptation Measures." Thesis, Griffith University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367905.
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The primary aim of the research work is to focus on the effects of climate change for maintaining physical infrastructures (i.e. such as buildings, dams, bridges, road pavements and other road infrastructures). As infrastructure requires major investment, it is important to build necessary management system to cope with future changes. This means that recognition of likely climate change impacts and appropriate adaptation measures are critical. However, most infrastructures has been designed, built and maintained on the premise that the future climate will be similar to that experienced in the past. Since the occurrence of the most recent climate disasters in Queensland, Australia, it has become mandatory to put especial policies for design and maintenance purposes of infrastructures . Recognition of the risks associated with climate change is a valuable initial step towards improved planning of new infrastructure investments and mitigating. Road infrastructure especially pavement requires special type of maintenance policy as the material of pavement like bitumen is very much sensitive to these types of effects such as moisture or temperature.Thesis (Masters)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
Griffith School of Engineering
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Musitha, Pandelani Mumsy. "Investigating critical challenges of maintaining road infrastructure in the Limpopo Province : a case of Makhado Local Municipality." Thesis, University of Limpopo, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2393.
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Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2018Road infrastructure is usually regarded as an economic backbone of the society. Local government has a responsibility to ensure that local roads are maintained in order to facilitate a movement of people, goods and services. The study was undertaken on the premise that local roads in Makhado Local Municipality are not promoting safety. That is, road infrastructure in this municipality is considered to be deteriorating. It is against this background that the researcher found it worthwhile to investigate critical challenges of maintaining road infrastructure in the Makhado Local Municipality focusing on the following towns, Makhado, Vuwani, Waterval and Dzanani only excluding unpaved communities and other small townships, namely Tshikota and Vleifontein. The objectives of the research were to determine the condition and effects of municipal road infrastructure within Makhado Local Municipality; to examine the legal framework governing the local municipality in the context of road infrastructure provision and maintenance as well as to recommend strategies to address challenges of road infrastructure within the municipality. The research employed both qualitative and qualitative in nature. A purposive research sampling approach was used to determine the inclusion of relevant respondents to the study. The research found out that the status of road infrastructure affect various people of different biographical background within the four towns of Makhado Local Municipality in a similar way. In the findings, the study highlight the fact that deteriorating roads conditions are often due to the following: a lack of professionals such as engineers to perform the necessary environmental scanning and identify problems in order to design the roads that suit the area, soil, landscape and climate and that other factors affecting the road infrastructure include corruption in procurement of road infrastructure projects; a lack of accountability of municipal officials; a lack or poor community involvement; and poor monitoring and maintenance of road projects. The study recommends that individuals with knowledge, expertise and skills be employed and further provide proper monitoring of the road projects.
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Chen, Feng. "The Future of Smart Road Infrastructure : A Case Study for the eRoad." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Byggvetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-163544.
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In the future, physical roads will not only serve for the mobility of the vehicles but also have the capability of enabling different smart functionalities, such as car2road communication, energy harvesting or dynamic charging of electrical vehicles. To ensure the sustainability of these advances, the environmental, economic and social costs for the road infrastructure itself should not offset its possible advances. Additionally, the road infrastructure itself may also need to be modified to ensure the long-term performance of the new functionalities. This licentiate mainly focused on the electrified road (called ‘eRoad’) infrastructure, which can be a representative case of the future smart road. Specifically, a historical overview of the technology development towards the electrification of road transportation sector is presented, along with an overview of prospective technologies for implementing an eRoad’s charging infrastructure. Of these, the Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) charging technology is examined in further details. The potential knowledge gaps for a successful integration of IPT charging technology within actual road infrastructure are discussed. Some general recommendations are given throughout the licentiate thesis, regarding such as the appropriate design of eRoad structure and right selection of road materials, the cost-effective maintenance operations in the long term, and the eRoad’s role in the overall life cycle environmental impacts in the electrification of road transportation sector. This licentiate provides the basis for further focus in this field and outlines the potential research areas that need further investigation to ensure the future of systemically optimized smart road infrastructure.QC 20150410
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Verma, Manisha. "Public Private Partnerships in road transport infrastructure in India : a governance perspective." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2012. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/public-private-partnerships-in-road-transport-infrastructure-in-india-a-governance-perspective(d601954f-ebac-4fa2-80b2-49e7d49bda16).html.
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Public Private Partnerships, or PPPs, are being increasingly preferred by governments across the world for filling the infrastructure deficit, as they are claimed to provide access to private capital, and bring private sector efficiencies in provisioning of public services. In India too, a distinct policy shift towards PPPs in various sectors has been observed accompanied by a high degree of reliance on such partnerships to upscale the transport infrastructure. A growing body of literature however reveals serious flaws in the claims of economic superiority, effectiveness and profitability of the PPPs. They are being questioned on various accounts of transparency, accountability, equity, and excessive profiteering by the private partners. This gives rise to an advocacy for the enhanced role of the State in governance of PPPs. In this background, this research explores the nature of division of roles and responsibilities, allocation of risks and sharing of benefits by the State and the private partners within the PPPs in the context of road transport sector in India. It further examines the extent of investment of resources by the private partners in the projects. The factors shaping PPPs in road transport in India are also examined. This research suggests measures to strengthen the structures and mechanisms within the public and private partners to improve public infrastructure within the PPP framework. In order to achieve the research aims, and to gain a deeper perspective of the governance issues of PPPs from different administrative levels, two national and two state highways (one in construction while the other in operational stage in both cases) along with an intra-city transport project, part of which is already operationalised, were selected for the study. This study is rooted in critical realism according to which understanding of any social phenomenon can be achieved through study of the underlying multi-layered structures and mechanisms which cause the phenomenon. Research findings reveal that while PPP projects in highways largely followed the theoretical model of PPPs, the urban transportation project was found to be substantially deviating from a general PPP model discussed in the literature due to the unique requirements of urban transport infrastructure in India. The widely accepted argument of PPPs bringing in private capital to public services has been debunked by the Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System (ABRTS). The project is substantially funded by the national and state governments due to limited incentives for the private sector to invest in these projects under BOT mode. The under-developed capability within the private sector in urban transportation projects in India resulted in unbundling of services rather than one private agency providing all of them. The local urban body has retained several risks as it more suitably located to bear them more efficiently. In the PPPs in highways, the public partner has shifted many of its responsibilities to the concessionaire primarily due to shortage of adequate manpower with the public partner, and the incentive of timely completion of the project with the private partner. Adoption of the PPP mode in highways has not been able to avoid time and cost over-runs, largely due to the public partners not meeting their share of responsibilities. Land acquisition has emerged as the single most contentious issue of PPPs in infrastructure in India and is the major cause for delay in PPP projects. In addition, serious issues in land-grabbing and profiteering by the private partners have also been observed. A more active role of the State in PPPs is suggested to improve the delivery of public services through the PPP mode. This may require establishing additional structures and mechanisms of governance to meet the emerging requirements of these new modes of procurement, and to strengthen the existing ones.
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Valeri, Stephen M. "Analysis of the Use of Probe Vehicles for Road Infrastructure Data Analysis." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/43306.
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This thesis explores the concept of using sensors found in normal vehicles, also known as probe vehicles, to collect road infrastructure data. This concept was demonstrated by measuring vertical acceleration using in-vehicle sensors in order to describe road ride quality. Data collection was performed at the Virginia Smart Road using two instrumented vehicles. The gathered information was compared to road profile data collection, which is the current state-of-the-practice in ride quality assessment. Following the concept validation, the acceleration measurements were further analyzed for repeatability and effect of various independent variables (vehicle speed and type). A network-level simulation was completed using the robust set of measurements from the experiment. In addition, methodology for identifying rough sections and locations were established. Results show that under controlled testing conditions, roadway profile can accurately be estimated using probe vehicle acceleration data and may provide a more practical way to measure road smoothness. The analysis also showed that vertical acceleration data from a fleet of probe vehicles can successfully identify poorly-conditioned pavement areas. This suggests that instrumented probe vehicles might be a viable and effective way of implementing a network level roadway health monitoring program in the near future.Master of Science
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Lim, Soon Kam. "Framework and processes for enhancing sustainability deliverables in Australian road infrastructure projects." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2009. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/32053/1/Soon_Kam_Lim_Thesis.pdf.
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Road and highway infrastructure provides the backbone for a nation’s economic growth. The versatile dispersion of population in Australia and its resource boom, coupled with improved living standards and growing societal expectations, calls for continuing development and improvement of road infrastructure under the current local, state and federal governments’ policies and strategic plans. As road infrastructure projects involve huge resources and mechanisms, achieving sustainability not only on economic scales but also through environmental and social responsibility becomes a crucial issue. While sustainability is a logical link to infrastructure development, literature study and consultation with the industry found that there is a lack of common understanding on what constitutes sustainability in the infrastructure context. Its priorities are often interpreted differently among multiple stakeholders. For road infrastructure projects which typically span over long periods of time, achieving tangible sustainability outcomes during the lifecycle of development remains a formidable task. Sustainable development initiatives often remain ideological as in macro-level policies and broad-based concepts. There were little elaboration and exemplar cases on how these policies and concepts can be translated into practical decision-making during project implementation. In contrast, there seemed to be over commitment on research and development of sustainability assessment methods and tools. Between the two positions, there is a perception-reality gap and mismatch, specifically on how to enhance sustainability deliverables during infrastructure project delivery. Review on past research in this industry sector also found that little has been done to promote sustainable road infrastructure development; this has wide and varied potential impacts. This research identified the common perceptions and expectations by different stakeholders towards achieving sustainability in road and highway infrastructure projects. Face to face interviews on selected representatives of these stakeholders were carried out in order to select and categorize, confirm and prioritize a list of sustainability performance targets identified through literature and past research. A Delphi study was conducted with the assistance of a panel of senior industry professionals and academic experts, which further considered the interrelationship and influence of the sustainability indicators, and identified critical sustainability indicators under ten critical sustainability criteria (e.g. Environmental, Health & Safety, Resource Utilization & Management, Social & Cultural, Economic, Public Governance & Community Engagement, Relations Management, Engineering, Institutional and Project Management). This presented critical sustainability issues that needed to be addressed at the project level. Accordingly, exemplar highway development projects were used as case studies to elicit solutions for the critical issues. Through the identification and integration of different perceptions and priority needs of the stakeholders, as well as key sustainability indicators and solutions for critical issues, a set of decision-making guidelines was developed to promote and drive consistent sustainability deliverables in road infrastructure projects.
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Roshani, Atena. "Road infrastructure vulnerability to groundwater table variation due to sea level rise." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2014. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/74509/1/Atena_Roshani_Thesis.pdf.
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This study was conducted to assess the vulnerability of coastal road infrastructures due to climate change induced sea level rise and extreme weather conditions through the estimation of road subgrade strength reduction as a result of changes in soil moisture content. The study area located in the Gold Coast, Australia highlighted that the risk is significant. In wet seasons or areas with wet condition, the groundwater table is already high, so even a small change in the groundwater table can raise the risk of inundation; particularly, in areas with existing shallow groundwater. The predicted risk of a high groundwater table on road infrastructure is a long-term hazard. Therefore, there is time to undertake some management plans to decrease the possible risks, for instance, some deep root plants could be planted along the roads with a high level of risk, to decrease the groundwater table elevation.
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Jenelius, Erik. "Large-Scale Road Network Vulnerability Analysis." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Transport och lokaliseringsanalys, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-24952.
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Disruptions in the transport system can have severe impacts for affected individuals, businesses and the society as a whole. In this research, vulnerability is seen as the risk of unplanned system disruptions, with a focus on large, rare events. Vulnerability analysis aims to provide decision support regarding preventive and restorative actions, ideally as an integrated part of the planning process.The thesis specifically develops the methodology for vulnerability analysis of road networks and considers the effects of suddenly increased travel times and cancelled trips following road link closures. The major part consists of model-based studies of different aspects of vulnerability, in particular the dichotomy of system efficiency and user equity, applied to the Swedish road network. We introduce the concepts of link importance as the overall impact of closing a particular link, and regional exposure as the impact for individuals in a particular region of, e.g., a worst-case or an average-case scenario (Paper I). By construction, a link is important if the normal flow across it is high and/or the alternatives to this link are considerably worse, while a traveller is exposed if a link closure along her normal route is likely and/or the best alternative is considerably worse. Using regression analysis we show that these relationships can be generalized to municipalities and counties, so that geographical variations in vulnerability can be explained by variations in network density and travel patterns (Paper II). The relationship between overall impacts and user disparities are also analyzed for single link closures and is found to be negative, i.e., the most important links also have the most equal distribution of impacts among individuals (Paper III).In addition to links' roles for transport efficiency, the thesis considers their importance as rerouting alternatives when other links are disrupted (Paper IV). Such redundancy-important roads, found often to be running in parallel to highways with heavy traffic, may be warranted a higher standard than their typical use would suggest. We also study the vulnerability of the road network under area-covering disruptions, representing for example flooding, heavy snowfall or forest fires (Paper V). In contrast to single link failures, the impacts of this kind of events are largely determined by the population concentration, more precisely the travel demand within, in and out of the disrupted area itself, while the density of the road network is of small influence. Finally, the thesis approaches the issue of how to value the delays that are incurred by network disruptions and, using an activity-based modelling approach, we illustrate that these delay costs may be considerably higher than the ordinary value of time, in particular during the first few days after the event when travel conditions are uncertain (Paper VI).QC 20101004
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Jerräng, Carlstedt Ludwig. "A comparison between emergency ventilation systems semi-transvers ventilation and natural ventilation in Road Tunnel A." Thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Byggkonstruktion och brand, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-65671.
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Lingegård, Sofia. "Integrated Product Service Offerings for Rail and Road Infrastructure : Reviewing Applicability in Sweden." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Industriell miljöteknik, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-110015.
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This research aims to explore and propose a more effective management of rail and road infrastructure and the possibility of a more resource-efficient road and rail infrastructure by applying business models based on performance and a life-cycle perspective. There is a lack of efficiency in the Swedish rail and road infrastructure industries - at the same time as the availability of the rail tracks and roads is essential. Rail and road infrastructure have long lifetimes, around 40-60 years, and during these decades regular maintenance and reconstruction are needed to ensure proper function. Large amounts of resources are required to construct the infrastructure, and the overall environmental pressure depends substantially on this. This research is largely based on interviews conducted with the buyer, contractors and design consultants for rail and road infrastructure in Sweden. Literature reviews have been conducted to develop the framework needed to analyze the empirical findings. This research contributes by building on theory in areas such as Integrated Product Service Offerings (IPSOs) and eco-design, and this abstract presents a brief summary of the overall conclusions. Several challenges for rail and road infrastructure in Sweden have been identified, such as the lack of information and knowledge transfer between different projects and actors. This is due to e.g. the use of traditional short-term contracts and conservative cooperate cultures, creating sub-optimizations in management. Increased collaboration, through e.g. partnering, seems to be a promising way to increase the information and knowledge transfer between actors by increasing trust and interaction. In this way, management would be more effective, and by involving contractors in the design phase, more efficient technical solutions could be developed and used. Additionally, increased involvement by the design consultants and an iterative information loop between design, construction and maintenance could also be beneficial. The research indicates that increased cooperation increases trust. In this way, there is a possibility to remove the detailed requirements that prevent new ways of working. Rail and road infrastructure have characteristics, such as the resources used and the importance of availability, that are well-suited for IPSOs. This performance-based business model with a life-cycle perspective provides incentives to optimize the use of resources and provide a holistic view for management that is lacking today for rail and road infrastructure. However, a long-term contract such as an IPSO creates uncertainties. The actors are risk-averse, which is an obstacle in the development of new business models and contract forms. Most of the risks and uncertainties identified are due to lack of experience. This implies that an implementation of IPSOs will have a steep learning curve. Additionally, risk allocation between the actors is important for effective management: too much risk for the suppliers will make them reluctant in developing new solutions, and they will use a risk premium to cover up for the risk.
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Dall’Oglio, Andrea. "Public-private partnership: european practices, and italian applications in the road infrastructure industry." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2011. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/2334/.
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Parami, Dewi Anak Agung Diah. "Framework for implementing design build project delivery system in road infrastructure in Indonesia." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2013. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/61741/1/Anak%20Agung%20Diah_Parami%20Dewi_Thesis.pdf.
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The thesis provides a framework for potential implementation of the design-build (DB) project delivery system in road infrastructure projects in Indonesia. This framework proposed a structure of the hierarchy of factors promoting the potential implementation of the DB project delivery system and introduced ways to implement the DB project delivery system through level of hierarchical factors. These findings not only give benefit to the academic knowledge but also to the public officials in guiding them with regard to the priority of promoting factors in the process to implement the DB system.
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Weerakoon, Ruwan P. "Investigating opportunities for improving sustainability outcomes in post disaster road infrastructure recovery projects." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/102052/1/Ruwan_Weerakoon_Thesis.pdf.
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The research developed a sustainability assessment checklist for improving sustainability outcomes in post-disaster infrastructure recovery projects. The social, economic, environmental sustainability, and engineering and governance were the key elements. This research analysed three case studies and their existing disaster recovery strategies that were implemented to rebuild infrastructures damaged by natural disasters. The research sought to develop a comprehensive triple bottom line sustainability assessment checklist for post-disaster management in road infrastructure.
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Smoker, John Frank. "The Terra Nullius of infrastructure : roads to remote Indigenous towns." Thesis, Curtin University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2461.
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There are 287 discrete Aboriginal towns in remote areas of Western Australia, accommodating about 17,000 Aboriginal people and varying in population size from small towns with under 20 people up to larger towns with over 500 people and the population living in these areas continues to grow. These towns are subject to health issues like those of third world countries or even worse.The need for infrastructure is clear for the essential services of power, water, electricity and roads as well as the ever increasing range of the provision of other services such as education, health and medical services. The Homeland Movement which started many of these settlements in the late seventies has continued to grow into a major funding and responsibility issue for all levels of government.The history of roads associated with remote Aboriginal towns in Western Australia is a history of neglect. Despite the existence of some of these Aboriginal settlements going back 100 years, sections of the roads to these towns are still not seen as anyone’s responsibility. The newer settlements of the past thirty years of the Homeland Movement have seen many of these towns grow to being larger than many Western Australian rural towns. The fundamental issue is that the access roads (and the internal roads) to these Aboriginal towns that extend beyond the classified Main Roads and Local Roads are not legally classified and thus there is a presumption that they are not owned by anyone, there is no governance structure and therefore no one has taken responsibility for them or has allocated continuous adequate funding to service them.This thesis seeks to attribute the neglect to an underlying myth perpetuated since early settlement called the myth of terra nullius. This myth suggests that Aboriginal settlements never existed and was used to legally show why they did not need to be considered as having any rights. Perhaps this underlies the lack of certainty about these towns and the roads that lead to them. Perhaps they don’t really exist legally and so have no rights.The parallel to the concept of terra nullius is pursued in this thesis to explain this vacuum in acknowledging the existence of these roads and their governance needs. The thesis answers the question: Is the ownership and responsibility of Roads Associated with Remote Aboriginal Towns in Western Australia (WA) the terra nullius of Aboriginal infrastructure? The question is explored through an examination of the history of Aboriginal settlements and road governance in WA, and a series of case studies of settlements in the Kimberley including interviews with key stakeholders. The thesis shows through analysis of the history of attempts to create a future for Aboriginal roads as well as case studies and interviews that the idea of terra nullius seems to underlie this problem in practice.The research highlights the bilateral agreements between Commonwealth and State governments reflecting a history of neglect and inadequate policy processes for roads associated with remote Aboriginal towns. It reveals the lack of ownership and responsibility from all three levels of government and examines why this issue is still not being addressed. It also examines the use of myth making in the history of Western Australia and explores its continued use in avoiding classifying access and internal roads.The thesis then answers the questions: ‘If so, then what can be done?’ It does this by examining what has been lacking in previous governance of Aboriginal roads, proposing a new model based on Third World capacity building approaches, and by analysing the inside story of a new process to provide national Aboriginal road funding through the development of a Northern Alliance of the three ‘top end’ states and territory. In the process of developing this Alliance several case studies were found of success stories that illustrate the proposed structure for reforming the management of Aboriginal roads. This structure would not only help road funding but would develop a process for engagement, planning and employment of local Aboriginal people in maintaining their own roads.In concluding, a strategy entitled Connect, Engage and Deliver (the CED Strategy) has been proposed to address the question of how the Main Roads Department of Western Australian (and other government departments and road agencies) in partnership with Federal and local governments might seek to improve the implementation of their service and thus improve their engagement procedures with remote Aboriginal towns in order to develop lasting partnerships and a more sustainable remote Aboriginal access road network.
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Corcos, Sam. "The Feasibility of Road Privatization in Los Angeles." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2010. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/30.
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Los Angeles has had the worst traffic for the longest time out of any American city with many of its residents commuting for over an hour to and from work. The solution to this problem has existed for over 50 years but political forces have stopped its implementation. With the funding problems California—and the nation—faces, it is hard to convince politicians to build new roads, especially when they won’t see results for almost 20 years, long after they have left office. This funding gap is where the private sector can play a role. Using “congestion pricing,” a concept introduced in 1952 by Nobel Prize-winning economist William Vickrey, a private company can recoup its costs from road construction and turn a profit; a procedure that encourages further road construction by moving transportation decisions from bureaucrats to entrepreneurs. As we shall see, these two groups have vastly different incentives that lead to very different policies.
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Sultana, Masuda. "The Potential of Performance Based Maintenance Contracting for Road Infrastructure Systems of Developing Countries." Thesis, Griffith University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/368126.
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The road authority is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the road network system. The authorities strive to reduce cost and time of maintenance activities and to control quality of work as well as keeping the road infrastructure in an efficient state using the traditional methods of contracting. Many road authorities have considered contracting out road maintenance to the private sector based on performance measures as an alternative and better solution than traditional methods of contracts. This method is named performance based maintenance contracting (PBMC). PBMC has received a significant attention from researchers and practitioners as it has a considerable success in minimizing infrastructure maintenance costs in many developed countries over the last two decades. The application of PBMC improves the road maintenance system by applying more efficient technologies and work methods. However, effectiveness of PBMC is still a challenge for developing countries because of resource and skill limitations, corruption, shortage of fund and poor management systems.
Hence, the aim of this thesis is to analyse the potential and effectiveness of PBMC for road infrastructure maintenance systems of developing countries. This thesis presents a comprehensive state of the art review of the literature on PBMC that has been produced in recent years. This thesis defines and presents the benefits of PBMC. It briefly discusses the problems of traditional methods of contracting in developing countries. Application of PBMC in developing countries has been reviewed and analysed based on the published journal articles, conference papers, published reports and online databases.Thesis (Masters)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
Griffith School of Engineering
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Nguyen, Do Trung. "Factors Contributing to Successful Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Road Infrastructure Development in Vietnam: Stakeholder’s Perspective." Thesis, Griffith University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367420.
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Over the last two decades the demand for public services and infrastructure has increased dramatically. This increase has not been matched by the availability of funds to finance the required services aimed at improving economic development and the wellbeing of society.The movement to capitalise on the financial, design, operational and management skills ofthe private sector has attracted worldwide government attention. In particular, governments are seeking to utilise Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to deliver a wide range of services to the public as an innovative policy tool. This is particularly true in developing countries where development of infrastructure projects with private capital through the PPP route has become one of the commonly adopted procurement strategies.
After more than twenty years of economic reform associated with integration into the international economy, Vietnam has changed significantly and, as a result, its economy has grown at a rapid pace. However, this fast growth and integration have intensified certain problems, leading to calls for more and better public infrastructure. The demand for infrastructure far exceeds the financial resources available to the Vietnamese government. This has resulted in a desire to make use of PPPs, which have become increasingly popular and are now expected to play a major role in future infrastructure investment. Although PPP projects have been part of in Vietnamese infrastructure development since the early 1990s,
the progress has been significantly constrained for a variety of reasons. Not all PPP infrastructure projects have been successful when evaluated by all of the PPP stakeholders. Based on the literature review of this research, up to now, there has been no systematic evaluation of the requirements for successful PPPs infrastructure implementation in Vietnam.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
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Miliutenko, Sofiia. "Life Cycle Impacts of Road Infrastructure : Assessment of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Miljöstrategisk analys, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-89885.
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Road infrastructure is essential in the development of human society, but has both negative and positive impacts. Large amounts of money and natural resources are spent each year on its construction, operation and maintenance. Obviously, there is potentially significantenvironmental impact associated with these activities. Thus the need for integration of life cycle environmental impacts of road infrastructure into transport planning is currently being widely recognised on international and national level. However certain issues, such as energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the construction, maintenance and operation of road infrastructure, are rarely considered during the current transport planning process in Sweden and most other countries.This thesis examined energy use and GHG emissions for the whole life cycle (construction, operation, maintenance and end-of-life) of road infrastructure, with the aim of improving transport planning on both strategic and project level. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to two selected case studies: LCA of a road tunnel and LCA of three methods for asphalt recycling and reuse: hot in-plant, hot in-place and reuse as unbound material. The impact categories selected for analysis were Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and Global Warming Potential (GWP). Other methods used in the research included interviews and a literature review.The results of the first case study indicated that the operational phase of the tunnel contributed the highest share of CED and GWP throughout the tunnel’s life cycle. Construction of concrete tunnels had much higher CED and GWP per lane-metre than construction of rocktunnels. The results of the second case study showed that hot in-place recycling of asphalt gave slightly more net savings of GWP and CED than hot in-plant recycling. Asphalt reuse was less environmentally beneficial than either of these alternatives, resulting in no net savings of GWP and minor net savings of CED. Main sources of data uncertainty identified in the two case-studies included prediction of future electricity mix and inventory data for asphalt concrete.This thesis contributes to methodological development which will be useful to future infrastructure LCAs in terms of inventory data collection. It presents estimated amounts of energy use and GHG emissions associated with road infrastructure, on the example of roadtunnel and asphalt recycling. Operation of road infrastructure and production of construction materials are identified as the main priorities for decreasing GHG emissions and energy use during the life cycle of road infrastructure. It was concluded that the potential exists for significant decreases in GHG emissions and energy use associated with the road transport system if the entire life cycle of road infrastructure is taken into consideration from the very start of the policy-making process.QC 20120229
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Liljenström, Carolina. "Life Cycle Assessment in Early Planning of Road Infrastructure : Application of The LICCER-model." Thesis, KTH, Industriell ekologi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-136991.
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The transport sector stands for a significant share of society’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In planning of new road infrastructure it is mainly direct emissions from traffic on the road that is taken into account. However, construction, operation and maintenance of the road infrastructure can stand for an important part of a road’s environmental load. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology that can be used for quantification of a product’s environmental impacts, from extraction of raw materials to waste treatment. An LCA-model for assessment of life cycle GHG-emissions and energy use of road infrastructure is under development in the project LICCER (Life Cycle Considerations in EIA of Road Infrastructure). The model is for use in early planning of road infrastructure, i.e. in choice of road corridor and construction type (road, bridge, and tunnel). This thesis is contributing to the LICCER-project by evaluating the possibilities of the LICCER-model to show differences between road corridors and by analysing how other road LCA-models can complement the LICCER-model. The LICCER-model is applied to a case study for choice of road corridors in early planning. Three road corridors are analysed based on data available in the feasibility study and compared to the reference alternative. Results show that production of bitumen, explosives and aggregates and earthworks in the construction phase contribute most to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. A sensitivity analysis is performed in order to analyse how quantitative output and ranking of alternative can vary depending on changes in input parameters. Big changes are seen for changes in excavated volumes of rock, fuel use for excavation work, assumption on mass balance, share of fuels for operation of vehicles, soil stabilisation measure and choice of emission factors for aggregates and bitumen. The ranking can change for assumptions regarding estimated volumes of rock in the different road corridors. The LICCER-model and EFFEKT are relatively similar, but there are big differences between JOULESAVE and the LICCER-model. Consequentially, the outcome of studies made with JOULESAVE and the LICCER-model is significantly different, even when the same road corridors are analysed. The LICCER-model could be complemented with additional construction activities from JOULESAVE but other models may in fact complement the LICCER-model better at this stage of the model development, by providing background data or methods to account for uncertainties. Results from this thesis contribute with additional knowledge on GHG-emissions and energy consumption from road infrastructure. Results show that it is possible to use LCA-methodology and LCA-models such as the LICCER-model in early planning of road infrastructure for choice of road corridor and/or construction type and that data from the road’s feasibility study can be used to evaluate a road corridor from a life cycle perspective. Results can be useful also outside of the LICCER-project for planners and for development of LCA-methodology for early planning of road infrastructure.Transportsektorn står för en betydande del av samhällets energiförbrukning och utsläpp av växthusgaser. Vid planering av nya vägar är det främst direkta trafikrelaterade utsläpp som beaktas. Det har dock visats att byggande, drift och underhåll av väginfrastruktur kan stå för en viktig del av en vägs miljöbelastning. Livscykelanalys (LCA) är en metod för kvantifiering av en produkts miljöpåverkan, från utvinning av råvaror till avfallshantering. En LCA-modell för bedömning av växthusgasutsläpp och energianvändning under en vägs livscykel är under utveckling i projektet LICCER (Life Cycle Considerations in EIA of Road Infrastrucutre - Livscykelbedömning i MKB för väginfrastruktur). Modellen är avsedd att användas i tidiga planeringsstadier, i val av vägkorridor och konstruktionstyp (väg, bro eller tunnel). Detta examensarbete bidrar till LICCER-projektet genom att utvärdera LICCER-modellens möjligheter att visa skillnader mellan vägkorridorer och genom att analysera hur andra LCA-modeller för väg kan komplettera LICCER-modellen. LICCER-modellen tillämpas på en fallstudie för utvärdering av tre vägkorridorer baserat på data tillgänglig i förstudien. Resultatet visar att produktion av bitumen, sprängämnen och aggregat, samt schaktning av jord och berg bidrar mest till utsläpp av växthusgaser och energianvändning. En känslighetsanalys utförs för att analysera hur resultatet från fallstudien kan komma att ändras då förändringar görs i de indata som används. Stora förändringar kan ses för ändringar i volym utgrävt berg, bränsleförbrukning för schaktning, antagande om massbalans och framtida andel av bränslen och val av emissionsfaktorer för aggregat och bitumen. Rankningen mellan alternativ kan komma att ändras för andra antaganden om utgrävda volymer berg i de olika vägkorridorerna. LICCER-modellen och EFFEKT är relativt lika, men stora skillnader kan ses mellan JOULESAVE och LICCER-modellen. Det är därför en väsentlig skillnad mellan resultat av studier utförda med JOULESAVE och LICCER-modellen, även om samma vägkorridorer analyseras. LICCER-modellen kan kompletteras med ytterligare konstruktionsaktiviteter från JOULESAVE men andra modeller skulle kunna komplettera LICCER-modellen bättre under detta stadie av modellutvecklingen, t.ex. genom att tillhandahålla emissions- och energifaktorer, eller metoder för att uppskatta osäkerheten i resultatet. Studien visar att det är möjligt att använda LCA-metodik och LCA-modeller såsom LICCER-modellen i början av planeringen av väginfrastruktur för val av vägkorridor och/eller konstruktionstyp och att data tillgänglig i förstudien kan användas för att utvärdera en vägkorridor även ur ett livscykelperspektiv. Studien visar möjligheter och begränsningar med att utföra LCA i tidiga planeringsstadier för väginfrastruktur och kan som sådan ge användbar information inte bara till LICCER-projektet, utan också för de som bygger och planerar väg, och för utvecklandet av LCA-metodologi för väginfrastruktur.
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Briel, Annemarie. "Hydrological Modelling at Road Structures in a Changing Climate and Landuse." Thesis, KTH, Mark- och vattenteknik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-171827.
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An increase in the frequency and intensity of storm events is predicted by numerous climate researchers for the north of Europe. Not only this but also landuse change in form of clear-cutting can have an impact on the discharge of rivers and with that on road drainage structures. Extensive societal costs can be the consequences of blockage and underdimensioned structures. Hydrological models are powerful instruments that can be used to assess the future dimension requirements for road drainage structures especially in specifically vulnerable areas. In this thesis the hydrological model MIKE SHE was set up to study the discharge and water level at two pipe bridges and one culvert within the catchment of the river Hakerud in Västra Götaland, Sweden. Three scenarios were considered including a changing climate until 2050 and 2100 and a clear-cut scenario aiming to find out if the current design is sufficient for the future. This model can be used as an example model set-up for similar studies taking the recommendations of the experience gained in this thesis into consideration. For the Swedish Transport Administration further studies on this basis can contribute to decision making on the dimensioning of road drainage structures in the future to ensure a safe and robust infrastructural system.
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Wennström, Jonas. "Life Cycle Costing in Road Planning and Management : A Case Study on Collision-free Roads." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Bro- och stålbyggnad, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-154271.
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Construction of infrastructure does not only mean large capital investments but also future costs to operate and maintain these assets. Decision making in planning and design of roads will impact the need of future operation and maintenance activities. Additionally, infrastructure management is often under increasing pressure of aging structures, limited budgets and increased demands from public which require transparency in the decision making. Life cycle costing is a methodology that takes into account costs throughout an asset’s life cycle including investment, operation, maintenance and disposal. Despite the methodology’s existence for more than 40 years, the practical application is often reported to be scarce in both private and public sectors. Implementation in road planning and management means a high complexity where the life cycle costing can to be applied from early planning, design, construction and management in which all influence life cycle cost. Life cycle costing can also be applied in many different ways, level of detail and for different type of studies. For effective implementation of life cycle costing in road planning, design and management, different considerations need to be understood. In this thesis the application of life cycle costing has been studied through case study research. The main case selected was an investment to convert a single carriageway road to a, so called, sparse collision-free road. Through widening and separation between driving directions the traffic safety is significantly improved. However, in recent years increased operation and maintenance costs have been associated with the road type. Especially concerns regarding increased road user cost during road works have been expressed. This case was examined in two case studies from different perspectives. The first one was to study the implications on project appraisal and the second one examined the possibility to optimise pavement design. Results from cost benefit analyses based on established road appraisal techniques indicated that operation and maintenance related costs had limited impact on profitability. The second study also indicated that future cost can be influenced differently depending on criteria for optimal alternative. Based on economic analyses using established techniques, increased operation and maintenance liabilities appear to be of limited concern, in contrary to the perception. In future research this need to be set in context of road management with refined analysis in order to study implications for future management.QC 20141028
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Rackliff, Lucy. "Deriving and validating performance indicators for safety mobility for older road users in urban areas." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2013. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/13567.
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This thesis derives and validates Performance Indicators for Safe Mobility for Older Road Users in Urban Areas. Performance Indicators are objective, auditable parameters, which when used as a set can provide additional information to decision-makers about the operation of the transport system. Great Britain, in common with many countries across Europe has an ageing population. The proportion of older people who hold a driving licence and have the use of a car is also expected to rise, with future generations of older people travelling further and more frequently than previous generations. Older road users are already over-represented in traffic fatalities, particularly in urban areas. Measures to protect older road users from risk in traffic will be of crucial importance as the population ages. However, against this background the need remains for them to access key facilities such as shops, leisure activities and health care. Maintaining independent mobility is essential in maintaining mental and physical health. Traditionally, outcomes-based measures such as accident or casualty figures have been used to monitor road safety. Techniques such as hotspot analysis have identified locations on the road network where accident numbers are high, allowing modifications to road infrastructure to be designed and implemented. Using outcomes measures alone however, it is difficult to ascribe improvements in accident or casualty figures to particular policy interventions. Moreover, the effect of road safety interventions on other related policy areas mobility being one is impossible to assess without access to detailed, disaggregated exposure data. To make fully informed policy decisions about infrastructure design and how it affects older users, a better understanding of the linkages between safety and mobility is required. Performance Indicators offer the possibility to look at these linked policy objectives within a single framework. Focus group data was used in conjunction with the results of previous studies to identify the infrastructure features which present a barrier to older users safe mobility in urban areas. These included factors which increased risk, such as wide carriageways, complex junctions and fast-moving traffic, and factors which hindered mobility, such as uneven or poorly maintained pavements, poor lighting and traffic intrusion. A thematic audit of infrastructure in a case study city (Coventry) was undertaken, in order that the incidence of such infrastructure could be recorded. It was found that in many areas of the city, safe mobility for older road users was not well provided for, with the majority of locations having barriers to safety and/or mobility for both drivers and pedestrians. The audit data was then used to calculate a set of Performance Indicators, presented via spider graphs, which describe the degree to which the infrastructure caters for the safety and mobility of older drivers and pedestrians. The spider graphs allow for easy comparisons between the different geographical areas, and also between the different policy areas, allowing policy priorities to be identified. The calculated Performance Indicators were validated using case studies collected from the focus group participants. The case studies identified features that affected travel habits by causing a change of route or change of mode, providing evidence of the link between infrastructure design and safe mobility for older users. The results of the Performance Indicator analysis were then compared to accident figures, in order to identify differences between the two approaches, and to understand what policy implications would result from a monitoring framework that used Performance Indicators for safe mobility, rather than outcomes-based measures alone. One implication of the Performance Indicator approach is that it may identify different areas for priority action from those identified by accident or casualty figures. A location which does not have high accident numbers may nevertheless perform poorly on a Safety Performance Indicator measure. This is because older users who feel at risk make different route or mode choices to avoid the infrastructure, the lower accident rate being explained by lower exposure to risk. Conversely, measures to promote independent mobility for older users may increase their accident involvement, not because the environment becomes more risky, but because the exposure of older users to risk increases, because they are willing and able to walk or drive in an area they previously avoided. The thesis concludes that infrastructure design does not currently cater well for the needs of older pedestrians and drivers, and that a framework which incorporated Performance Indicators could make more explicit the trade-offs between safety and mobility, and between different categories of user. This additional information would enable policy makers and practitioners to make more informed decisions about how to prioritise competing objectives in complex urban areas.
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Rashid, Muhammad Asim. "An LTE implementation based on a road traffic density model." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Kommunikations- och transportsystem, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-101990.
Full textAbstract:
The increase in vehicular traffic has created new challenges in determining the behavior of performance of data and safety measures in traffic. Hence, traffic signals on intersection used as cost effective and time saving tools for traffic management in urban areas. But on the other hand the signalized intersections in congested urban areas are the key source of high traffic density and slow traffic. High traffic density causes the slow network traffic data rate between vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure. To match up with the emerging technologies, LTE takes the lead with good packet delivery and versatile to changes in the network due to vehicular movements and density. This thesis is about analyzing of LTE implementation based on a road traffic density model. This thesis work is aimed to use probability distribution function to calculate density values and develop a real traffic scenario in LTE network using density values. In order to analyze the traffic behavior, Aimsun simulator software has been used to represent the real situation of traffic density on a model intersection. For a realistic traffic density model field measurement were used for collection of input data. After calibration and validation process, a close to realty results extracted and used a logistic curve of probability distribution function to find out the density situation on each part of intersection. Similar traffic scenarios were implemented on MATLAB based LTE system level simulator. Results were concluded with the whole traffic scenario of 90 seconds and calculating the throughput at every traffic signal time and section. It is quite evident from the results that LTE system adopts the change of traffic behavior with dynamic nature and allocates more bandwidth where it is more needed.
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Guevara, Maldonado Jose Alberto. "Closing the Road Infrastructure Gap: Analysis of Expenditure Dynamics and Public-Private Partnership Shaping Challenges." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/78258.
Full textAbstract:
The global infrastructure gap has continually widened over the last few decades. Industry reports and academic publications suggest that, in terms of road infrastructure, both advanced and developing economies have not paid sufficient attention to modernize their infrastructure assets. A wider road infrastructure gap signifies that highway conditions have declined because governments have not had enough resources for maintenance and rehabilitation. In the same way, it also indicates that congestion levels have grown and the level of service in most road networks has dropped because public agencies have not had sufficient funds to generate new highways and expand existing corridors. This dissertation, therefore, provided insights into the difficulties associated with improving the existing highway assets and the barriers related to expanding the current roadway capacity through public-private partnerships (PPPs). The research involved three interdependent studies. In the first study, I examined the continuous deterioration of the US highway system through a system dynamics model, which focused on the dynamics of capital investments and maintenance expenditures in the US road infrastructure. The results confirmed that the American highway system is currently stuck in a capability trap. This makes it difficult for the system to improve at the rates required by the country's economic growth. In my second investigation, my attention shifted toward the governance challenges related to building new roads and expanding highway capacity through PPPs. I developed a systems map of governance variables informed by past-published evidence from actual projects. By specifically examining the shaping phase of public-private initiatives, the work uncovered the effects of feedback relationships and interdependencies on PPP feasibility. This offered insights about the relationship between governance mechanisms and successful PPP development. In the third study, I utilized variables and relationships identified in my second investigation to develop a management flight simulator in order to better explain governance difficulties in the procurement phase of PPP projects. The simulator was implemented during an educational exercise with graduate students of civil engineering. By doing so, I confirmed that the simulator has the potential to increase our understanding of PPP procurement processes. Results indicated that the simulation tool was a suitable instrument to explain how government capacity, project uncertainty, and technical complexity influence PPP tendering. Overall, my findings across the three studies illustrate different means to understand why closing the global road infrastructure gap is challenging. Together, the three inquiries indicate that examining the road infrastructure sector as a socio-technical system contributes to improve our understanding of the expenditure dynamics related to existing assets and to enhance our comprehension of the governance challenges associated with developing new roads.Ph. D.
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Mungendje, Louis. "The causal relationship between road transport infrastructure development and economic growth in Namibia (1990-2014)." Thesis, University Of Cape Town, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29943.
Full textAbstract:
The major aim of the study was to examine the short and long-run relationships and directional causality flow between road transport infrastructure development and economic growth in Namibia for the period 1990-2014. To achieve this objective, the study adopted the auto regression distributive lag (ARDL) Bounds testing approach to co-integration, to examine the short-run and long-run relationship between economic growth and transportation infrastructure in Namibia. The data was sourced from the World Bank Database on GDP from 1990 to 2014, the Namibia National Planning Commission MTEF (Medium-Term Expenditure Framework from 1990-2015) and the Roads Authority Annual Reports from 1999 to 2014, which were imported into the E-view tool to run quarterly regressions from 1990 - 2014. The results confirm a relationship among the variables. The Bounds test results indicated that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables under study. The estimated long-run model showed that there is a statistically insignificant positive relationship between expenditure on road transport and economic growth as well as between information communication technology and economic growth in Namibia. However, the short-run model revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between expenditure on road transport and economic growth. Conversely, both the long-run and short-run estimates showed a statistically insignificant and negative relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth. Lastly, the Granger causality test results showed no causality between expenditure on road transport and economic growth in Namibia. The present study offers fresh insights to policy makers on crafting appropriate policies to regulate tax consolidation revenue and infrastructure levies collection; secondly, to boost public sector borrowing on international capital markets through bond issues, infrastructure funds and revenue bonds; thirdly, to develop partner financing business models through sector budget support; fourthly, to secure private sector financing through a private debt, private equity or capital structure leveraging business model; and lastly, implementing fast-tightened fiscal and monetary policy measures on foreign direct investment which currently severely affect Namibian capital outflows.