A Multi-Parameter Approach to Support Sustainable Hydraulic Risk Analysis for the Protection of Transportation Infrastructure: The Case Study of the Gargano Railways (Southern Italy)

This paper outlines the hydrological aspects of the 2013/2014 winter flooding in the UK, as well as the impacts. The episode is considered in a long-term historical context and wider issues raised by the flood events are discussed briefly.

During the 20th century, floods in Italy have killed or injured more than 4750 people in at least 916 fatal flood events, at 739 different sites. This chapter investigates the temporal and the geographical variations of flood risk in Italy, and discusses the national flood risk levels to the levels of risk posed by other natural hazards, including landslides, earthquakes and volcanic activity. Individual risk levels are measured by mortality rates, which are given by the number of fatalities in a population, scaled to the size of the population, per unit time. Societal flood risk depends on the relative proportion of small, medium, and large severity events, which control the slope of the Zipf distribution, and on the temporal frequency of the events, i.e. on the number of events in a period, or per unit time. The chapter provides the rationale for establishing insurance against different natural hazards, and for designing national and regional flood risk reduction strategies.

The aim of this study was to provide a contribution to seismic hazard assessment of the Salento Peninsula (Apulia, southern Italy). It is well known that this area was struck by the February 20, 1743, earthquake (I0 = IX and Mw = 7.1), the strongest seismic event of Salento, that caused the most severe damage in the towns of Nardò (Lecce) and Francavilla Fontana (Brindisi), in the Ionian Islands (Greece) and in the western coast of Albania. It was also widely felt in the western coast of Greece, in Malta Islands, in southern Italy and in some localities of central and northern Italy. Moreover, the area of the Salento Peninsula has also been hit by several low-energy and a few high-energy earthquakes over the last centuries; the instrumental recent seismicity is mainly concentrated in the western sector of the peninsula and in the Otranto Channel. The Salento area has also experienced destructive seismicity of neighboring regions in Italy (the Gargano Promontory in northern Apulia, the Southern Apennines chain, the Calabrian Arc) and in the Balkan Peninsula (Greece and Albania). Accordingly, a critical analysis of several documentary and historical sources, as well as of the geologic–geomorphologic ground effects due to the strong 1743 Salento earthquake, has been carried out by the authors in this paper; the final purpose has been to re-evaluate the 1743 MCS macroseismic intensities and to provide a list of newly classified localities according to the ESI-07 scale on the base of recognized Earthquake Environmental Effects. The result is a quite different damage scenario due to this earthquake that could raise the seismic potential currently recognized for the Salento area, and consequently upgrade the seismic hazard classification of the Salento. Indeed it is important to remind that currently, despite the intense earthquake activity recorded not only in the Otranto Channel, but especially in Greece and Albania, this area is classified in the least dangerous category of the Seismic Classification of the Italian territory (IV category).

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Remote monitoring is the most important stage in controlling the technical condition of a modern vehicle under operating conditions. Remote control of the technical condition involves using V2I systems in order to form and apply individual maintenance and repair systems. V2I information model developed in the article is characterized by vehicle digital field, limited by regulatory rules, with means for technical condition parameters monitoring and components of infrastructure for each vehicle monitoring. The article describes the peculiarities of V2I information system and the process of monitoring and evaluating the vehicle technical condition under operating conditions with the possibility of forecasting. The monitoring information system is designed to ensure the vehicle efficient operation under non-stationary operating conditions, with continuous consideration of information from road and transport infrastructure. The developed monitoring system is adapted for constructive modernization of the vehicle taking into account the conditions of its operation. It also uses new technological and information methods and approaches for choosing a maintenance and repair strategy. The system is based on the previous information processing, continuous diagnostics of the technical condition and the ability to predict the parameters of the vehicle technical condition. The scheme of information exchange between the ITS vehicle elements, transport infrastructure and road infrastructure when monitoring the parameters of the vehicle technical condition under operating conditions is suggested. The structure and interconnection of functional capabilities of the vehicle on-board information system is proposed. The main idea is to implement the V2I information system for monitoring the technical condition parameters. The system is based on the general approach to investigate the "Vehicle - Driver - Operating Conditions - Vehicle Operation Infrastructure" system. As a result of the system experimental implementation, the changes in the vehicle technical condition parameters have been observed when changing the operating conditions when a separate vehicle interacts with transport and road infrastructure.</div></div>

PROTOCOL: The effects of road infrastructure, and transport and logistics services interventions on women's participation in informal and formal labour markets in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

We investigate crustal seismic attenuation by the coda quality parameter (Qc) in the Gargano area (Southern Italy), using a recently released dataset composed of 191 small earthquakes (1.0 ≤ ML ≤ 2.8) recorded by the local OTRIONS and the Italian INGV seismic networks, over three years of seismic monitoring. Following the single back-scattering theoretical assumption, Qc was computed using different frequencies (in the range of 2–16 Hz) and different lapse times (from 10 to 40 s). The trend of Qc vs. frequency is the same as that observed in the adjacent Umbria-Marche region. Qc at 1 Hz varies between 11 and 63, indicating that the area is characterized by active tectonics, despite the absence of high-magnitude earthquakes in recent decades. The 3D mapping procedure, based on sensitivity kernels, revealed that the Gargano Promontory is characterized by very low and homogeneous Qc at low frequencies, and by high and heterogeneous Qc at high frequencies. The lateral variations of Qc at 12 Hz follow the trend of the Moho in this region and are in good agreement with other geophysical observations.

Abstract. Since 1990, we have maintained a database of historical information on landslides and floods in Italy, known as the National Research Council's AVI (Damaged Urban Areas) archive. The database was originally designed to respond to a request of the Minister of Civil Protection, and was aimed at helping the regional assessment of landslide and flood risk in Italy. The database was compiled in 1991-1992 to cover the period 1917 to 1990, and then updated to cover systematically the period 1917 to 2000, and non-systematically the periods 1900 to 1916 and 2001 to 2002. The database currently contains information on more than 32000 landslide events occurred at more than 21000 sites, and on more than 29000 flood events occurred at more than 14000 sites. Independently from the AVI archive, we have obtained other databases containing information on damage caused by mass movements and inundations, daily discharge measurements and solid-transport measurements at selected gauging stations, bibliographical and reference information on landslides and inundations, and a catalogue of National legislation on hydrological and geological hazards and risk in Italy. The databases are part of an information system known as SICI (an Italian acronym for Sistema Informativo sulle Catastrofi Idrogeologiche, Information System on Hydrological and Geomorphological Catastrophes), which is currently the largest single repository of historical information on landslides and floods in Italy. After an outline of the history and evolution of the AVI Project archive, we present and discuss: (a) the structure of the SICI information system, including the hardware and software solutions adopted to maintain, manage, update, use and disseminate the information stored in the various databases, (b) the type and amount of information stored in each database, including an estimate of their completeness, and (c) examples of recent applications of the information system, including a web-based GIS system to show the location of sites historically affected by landslides and floods, and an estimate of geo-hydrological (i.e. landslide and flood) risk in Italy based on the available historical information.

In this study, the mineralogical and chemical compositions of bauxite from San Giovanni Rotondo (SGR) on the Gargano Promontory (northern Apulia, Italy) are presented and discussed with the aim of assessing the nature of its source material. Bauxite from the SGR, which is known as the “Montecatini mine”, was exploited intensively until the 1970s to recover alumina. As with most of the autochthonous peri-Mediterranean bauxites, the studied deposit is a karst bauxite with a massive, matrix-supported texture and an oolitic structure. Boehmite and hematite are the main mineral phases, and anatase, rutile, and kaolinite are present in lesser amounts along with detrital zircons and monazite grains. Calcite is abundant only in the deposit’s lower portion, triggering a significant dilution effect on trace element concentrations. However, with respect to the average crust and chondrite compositions, strong enrichments of trace metals (up to 10X Upper Continental Crust’s (UCC)) and rare earth elements (REEs, up to 800X chondrite) exist throughout the studied deposit. The distribution of REEs, the (La/Yb)N and Eu/Eu* ratios, and an Eu/Eu* versus Sm/Nd diagram have been used for determining the bauxite’s provenance. These geochemical proxies point to a parental material consisting of a mixture of distant magmatic and siliciclastic components.

Specific features of functioning of a modern road and transport infrastructure on the example of Kemerovo region are determined. As a tool for justifying management decisions and the formation of projects for short-term periods, a set of indicators of functioning and resources allocation of the road and transport infrastructure was proposed. Taking into account the situation in Kemerovo region, three types of scenarios for the development of projects in the road and transport infrastructure are considered, depending on the investment potential: optimistic, mild and pessimistic. To eliminate uncertainties in the planning of functioning and resources allocation of road and transport infrastructure at the strategic level, the model for the problem of functioning and resources allocation in the road and transport infrastructure within the fuzzy-set theory was formulated. The modeling of scenarios based on the developed fuzzy model of functioning and resources allocation in the road and transport infrastructure at a qualitative level was performed. The proposed models for the functioning and resources allocation in the road and transport infrastructure made it possible to obtain quantitative and qualitative assessments of the system condition for assessing the effectiveness of functioning in operational and strategic planning in the conditions of uncertainty.

Climate-related severe weather events pose a threat to transport infrastructure. Damage to transport infrastructure, in turn, threatens access to socio-economic opportunities (such as employment, healthcare and education). The aim of this paper is to quantify the volume of transport infrastructure at risk of weather-related hazards in the City of Cape Town, and to estimate the direct economic value thereof. Geographical Information Systems are used to overlay areas that are highly exposed to climate-related threats on the city's transport network and infrastructure, enabling the identification and quantification of the volume of infrastructure at risk. Cost estimates for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of this infrastructure obtained from various experts in the South African transport arena are applied to calculate the economic value of the infrastructure at risk. In total, the transport infrastructure at high risk in the case city is valued at R20 billion. Fires and coastal flooding pose the greatest threat. The analysis presented can inform planners and decision-makers on how to improve the resilience and where to reduce the vulnerability of transport infrastructure in the city.

PurposeRoad and transportation has a significant role in the prosperity, economic growth and development of a region. The main purpose of this study is to conduct an in-depth analysis of local residents’ attitude towards road and transport infrastructure (China–Pakistan economic corridor, CPEC) and the wider economic, social, cultural and environmental impact on local people.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a questionnaire survey from the local people. Factor analysis and structural equation modelling approach were used to test the relation between the observed and latent variables.FindingsThe result discovered that road infrastructure has significant socio-economic and cultural impacts that significantly affect the local people support for CPEC development. It also revealed that more promotion and awareness regarding benefits of the project for dwellers lead to more support of the local residents in the study area.Practical implicationsInformation provided by this study will help policymakers to gain local resident support for the project and make policies accordingly for the future projects.Originality/valueThis study investigated the attitude and support of the local people based on the road infrastructure’s social, economic, cultural and environmental impact, which has never been examined in the existing literature.

Climate change, extreme weather and flooding threaten to increase damage and disruption to our transport networks and the services that they provide. There is increased need for adaptation to maintain current asset conditions and services, and a strategic requirement to prioritise such investments in adaptation to reduce future risks. Physical network risks will not be evenly distributed across nations (e.g. due to geographical and climate change patterns), and some regions will require more investment and adaptive interventions than others to maintain services due their vulnerability to natural hazards. Comparatively, the distribution of investment for transport infrastructure does not have a uniform spatial distribution, and can favour schemes that reduce congestion on networks with high demand without considering the actual risk of being impacted. These two issues, if unchallenged, will present an unfavourable future for areas with high network risks and low transport demand that will widen spatial inequality or resilience, mobility and potential for economic growth. This study advances a method- ological framework to analyse the spatial distribution of flood risk on UK road and rail networks in the light of potential bias of regional investment. Using GIS mapping, network data and risk analysis, regional futures are categorised and discussed. There is a clear North/South divide in transport networks at risk from potential coastal and fluvial flooding, with southern regions having 10–30% of their network situated in known flood risk areas. Investment in transport infrastructure is also disproportionately favoured towards regions with high transport demand, and peripheral regional such as wales and the South west are at risk from increase disparity from high flood risk networks and a low potential for investment. The study provides preliminary evidence for the need to consider assessment approaches for long-term investment in resilience, drawing recommendations for future research.

Government infrastructure expenditure in an emerging market economy is critical for stimulating investment that will, in turn, foster economic growth. Given the recent growth in government infrastructure expenditure and the present deplorable state of infrastructure in Nigeria and in most emerging market economies, it becomes necessary to investigate whether the increasing government infrastructure expenditure actually drives both domestic investment and foreign direct investment (FDI). Thus, this study aimed at ascertaining whether government expenditure on roads infrastructure, transport infrastructure, defense infrastructure, and health-care infrastructure has significant positive relationship with the level of domestic investment and FDI in Nigeria. This study also employed econometric techniques in its investigation such as the unit root test, co-integration test, and error correction mechanism (ECM) in the estimation of the relevant relationships. The result of the co-integration test revealed that there exist long-run relationships between the variables in the models. The result of the short-run coefficients of the error correction estimates showed that government expenditure on road, transport, defense, and health infrastructure has positive relationship with domestic investment and FDI. However, this relationship was found to be insignificant. Thus, we conclude that government infrastructure expenditure is a good driver of investment in an economy.

The features of the provision of transport and logistics services by road transport in the conditions of the Russian Federation are determined. The urgency of solving the issue of reducing costs by adjusting routes of cargo delivery by road transport is substantiated. It should be made taking into account the state of the resource allocation system of the road and transport infrastructure. An additional set of indicators is proposed, which allows the process of adjusting the routes of cargo delivery to be divided into three stages and taking it into account the state of the resource allocation system of the road and transport infrastructure. An algorithm is developed for adjusting the routes of cargo delivery, taking into account the state of the resource allocation system of the road and transport infrastructure. The problem of adjusting the routes of cargo delivery, taking into account the state of the resource allocation system of the road and transport infrastructure is solved. The proposed algorithm for correcting cargo delivery routes allows it to be used for solving the problem of multi-criteria choice optimization of the route option that best meets all the requirements declared by users of the road and transport infrastructure.

Features of functioning of the modern road and transport infrastructure in terms of attracting private investments in infrastructure projects through the mechanisms of public-private partnership are identified. An additional set of indicators is proposed for evaluating the public-private partnership projects in the road and transport infrastructure. An algorithm was developed for selection of the projects implemented in the road and transport infrastructure using public-private partnership mechanisms. The problem of the preferred choice of projects for the construction of roads from a variety of alternatives was solved. The proposed algorithm for selecting public-private partnership projects in planning the resources allocation in the road and transport infrastructure, which contains additional tools in the form of a set of indicators of the functioning and resource allocation of the road and transport infrastructure, can be used to solve the problem of choosing a project that satisfies maximally all the requirements stated by the customer taking into account the level of investment opportunities.