The Effect of the Archeological and Architectural Nature of the Cities on the Form and Design of Public Transportation Vehicles

Abstract

Multiple Islamic, Coptic, and even Jewish archeological sites are located in many Egyptian neighborhoods such as Alsayeda zainab, Aldarb Alahmar, and Algammaleya in which they are exposed to a daily and continuous high rates of traffic intensity causing vibrations. Vibrations could be stated as one of the most important challenges that face the archeological buildings and threaten their survival. The impact of vibrations varies due to the nature of the soil, the nature and building conditions, how far the source of vibration is, and the period of exposure. Traffic vibrations could also be stated as one of the most common types of vibrations having the greatest impact on buildings and archeological installations. These vibrations result from the way that the vehicles behave with different types of roads varying in shape, nature, and type of obstacles. Other elements concerning the vehicle itself such as speed, weight, and load have a direct impact on the vibrations resulting from the vehicle movement that could not be neglected. The research aims to highlight some of the requirements that should be taken into consideration when designing public transportation means operating in various archeological areas, in order to preserve the archeological nature of the place. Light-weight slow-motion vehicles should be used (25–50 km/h at maximum) having a multi-leaf steel spring suspension system instead of having an air bag one in order to reduce generated vibrations that could destroy the archeological buildings may be stated as one of the most important research outcomes. Using isolation layers in the engine chamber could also reduce the resulting noise-causing vibrations. Electrically operated engines that use solar photovoltaic cells as a source of electricity could be also used in substitution with gas ones in order to reduce the resulting engine noise.