Alpine Countries Research Articles

FREIGHT TRANSPORT IN EUROPE: Policy Issues and Future Scenarios on Trans-Border Alpine Connections

This paper presents an overview of European policy on the interconnected cross-border transport networks as well as severe problems in estimating empirically the avalanche of goods movements in the European Union (EU). In particular, it deals with the Transalpine freight transport case, which represents one of the most challenging operational and policy issues of the present and future – both international (EU) and national (the Alpine countries) – freight transport development. The paper is organised to briefly describe the main objectives of EU transport policy, to generally introduce the concept of intermodal transport with particular emphasis on intermodal freight transport and to describe past, present and future development of Trans-Alpine intermodal transport. The scenarios of future development of Trans-Alpine intermodal transport have been particularly analysed.

Internationalisierung der hotellerie — unternehmerische barrieren; hemmnisse und chancen von klein‐ und mittelbetrieben

The article deals with factors that act as an incentive to internationalisation of the hotels in the small‐to‐medium‐sized enterprises (SME) category in the traditional tourism countries, and also discusses the obstacles to internationalisation. The “OLI” approach according to Dunning (ownership advantages, location‐specific advantages, advantages of internalisation) is tested against the results of a survey of hotelkeepers in the Alpine countries, particularly Austria. It is not just the size of the enterprise that acts as a limit on the extent of internationalisation of SMEs. Other factors that determine the attitude taken towards internationalisation include market intelligence, financing problems, the degree of entrepreneurial spirit, and the specific nature of tourism services.

A precipitation climatology of the Alps from high-resolution rain-gauge observations

A new precipitation climatology covering the European Alps is presented. The analysis covers the entire mountain range including adjacent foreland areas and exhibits a resolution of about 25 km. It is based on observations at one of the densest rain-gauge networks over complex topography world-wide, embracing more than 6600 stations from the high-resolution networks of the Alpine countries. The climatology is determined from daily analyses of bias-uncorrected, quality controlled data for the 20 year period 1971–1990. The daily precipitation fields were produced with an advanced distance-weighting scheme commonly adopted for the analysis of precipitation on a global scale. The paper describes the baseline seasonal means derived from the daily analysis fields. The results depict the mesoscale distribution of the Alpine precipitation climate, its relations to the topography, and its seasonal cycle. Gridded analysis results are also provided in digital form. The most prominent Alpine effects include the enhancement of precipitation along the Alpine foothills, and the shielding of the inner-Alpine valleys. A detailed analysis along a section across the Alps also demonstrates that a simple precipitation–height relationship does not exist on the Alpine scale, because much of the topographic signal is associated with slope and shielding rather than height effects. Although systematic biases associated with the rain-gauge measurement and the topographic clustering of the stations are not corrected for, a qualitative validation of the results, using existing national climatologies shows good agreement on the mesoscale. Furthermore a comparison is made between the present climatology and the Alpine sections of the global climatology of Legates and Willmott and the Greater European climatology from the Climate Research Unit (University of East Anglia). Results indicate that the pattern and magnitude of analysed Alpine precipitation critically depend upon the density of available observations and the analysis procedure adopted. © 1998 Royal Meteorological Society

European freight transport and the environment: empirical applications and scenarios

Environmental issues have received a prominent place in transport policies of most European countries. The coordination of such policies however, is fraught with many difficulties. The increasing freight flows after the European integration are a source of concern, but have not yet led to straightforward and effective environmental strategies. The paper focuses on the Trans Alpine freight transport systems in the light of the future integration of single national transport systems into the European transport network. The environmental, social and institutional peculiarities of this ‘region’ have favoured—in the past—the development of strong nationally-oriented policies, partly in contrast with the goals promoted by the European Union. The present analysis aims to highlight opportunities, and limits inherent, in the implementation of various infrastructure projects oriented towards a drastic change of the Alpine transport systems structure. The Alpine countries, viz. Austria and Switzerland, play a central role in the promotion of environmental benign modes of transport of goods, with a clear focus on rail. The route choice and modal split of freight flows in Europe are taking place simultaneously. In this paper the results of European freight flow models (based on logit analysis and neural networks) will be presented. An important exercise is then to assess the consequences of various types of eco-taxes on road transport in Europe. In this context, several policy scenarios will be dealt with.

The astro-geodetic use of CCD for gravity field refinement

The paper starts with a review of geoid projects, where vertical deflections are more effective than gravimetry. In alpine regions the economy of astrogeoids is at least 10 times higher, but many countries do not make use of this fact - presumably because the measurements are not fully automated up to now. Based upon the experiences of astrometry of high satellites and own tests the author analyses the use of CCD for astro-geodetic measurements. Automation and speeding up will be possible in a few years, the latter depending on the observation scheme. Sensor characteristics, cooling and reading out of the devices should be harmonized. Using line sensors in small prism astrolabes, the CCD accuracy will reach the visual one (±0.2″) within 5–10 years. Astrogeoids can be combined ideally with geological data, because vertical variation of rock densities does not cause systematic effects (contrary to gravimetry). So a geoid of ±5 cm accuracy (achieved in Austria and other alpine countries by 5–10 points per 1000 km 2) can be improved to ±2 cm without additional observations and border effects.

L'évolution du trafic au tunnel du Mont-Blanc

Abstract : Intensification of exchanges between North west Europe and Italy during the last 10 years made the Mont-Blanc tunnel one of the most important crossings of the Alps. Since its opening in 1965, its traffic has been multiplied by 3. The present study analyses the evolution of this traffic and its nature. A strong increase in the heavy lory traffic with growing nuisances as well as new regulations in some of the alpine countries has brought the authors to conduct traffic simulations for the year 2010.

Les échanges touristiques des pays de l'Ocdé 1980-1985

Tourist trade in Oecd countries from 1960 to 1985, by François Coulomb, Philippe Domergue. This study on international tourist trade concerns all the Oced countries during the past twenty-five years. A global appraisal is made by analyzing balance of payment statistics. By examining the performances of these countries in recent years (1980-85) the main general characteristics are obtained: opposite the Mediterranean and Alpine countries whose tourist trade balance shows a great surplus, there are "tourism consumer" countries (North Europe and other Oecd countries in general). Study of long period tendencies then shows a great stability in the relative positions: there are nevertheless certain original evolutions, such as the breakthrough of the small méditerranéen countries the weakening of the Alpine countries, or else the improvement trend of the American performances. In the second part of the study, attention is paid more specifically to analysis of the market shares held by the various countries, in a quite comparable manner to the classical study of international trade flows. The tourist trade market thus appears to be relatively open. None of the countries in competition benefit from an advantage protecting them from competition or ensuring a dominant position. Finally, the effect of relative prices on market shares is tested: despite the imperfections of the available statistics, the link observed appears to be globally satisfactory. JEL 132

Socio-economic Difficulties in Developing Tourism in small Alpine Countries: The Case of Andorra

The relationship between the size of a nation and its development has been discussed intensively and statements on the subject differ widely. Economics of scale is a common argument which attributes better chances for development to bigger states. But is this also valid for tourism? Andorra is the example of a highly specialized microstate which is big enough to offer all the tourist is looking for within its narrowborders. On the other hand a small political group governing a small country is highly flexible to the challenge of its surroundings which is the essential condition for development according to Schumpeter's theory (1926).

Wrist para-articular radius fractures in winter sports

Winter sport is of great importance in the Alpine countries. In 1980 3600 persons (10.24%) of all new admittances hospitalized in our hospital were injured when practicing winter sports. In 1983 they lessened to 2597 (7.73%) and in 1985 2999 (5.74%). Analysis of all injuries caused by winter sport activities shows that the number of injured persons is decreasing, severity of the injuries however, increasing. A comparison of the distal radius fractures in 1980, 1983 and 1985 indicates that extraarticular metaphyseal fracture types have decreased, intraarticular fracture with multiple fragments however, have increased. Mainly younger patient suffer from severe fractures. We regard the high pace-risk of the age group as the main course of this fact.

Glacial melt wataear in greenland: A renewable resource for the future

Metl water available from ice caps and glaciers, such as that found in southern Greenland, can be used as a renewable resource for a largre scale hydropower project. Previous researchers have assessed the technical and economical feasibility of such a project, with the idea that harnessing this almost unlimited resource could help to solve our energy shortages. This article presents a brief state-of-the-art reaview concerning resource availability, the utilization and methodology for a glacial power stations and some alternative beneficial uses for glacial melt water. Hydropower is to be harnessed by using existing melt water channels and lakes on the ice cap of southern Greenland and/or by melting a prepatterned system of channels and reservoirs into the ice cap. Natural protruding rocks (nunataks') could be used as natural dams for the reservoirs, eliminating the costly construction of artificial dams. the collected melt water is to be channelled through penstocks to fiords at sea level—a 2000 m drop—where it will feed the turbines of power plants. Water discharged from the turbines could then be pumped directly into tankers or huge plastic hoses. the latter would be towed by tugs to drought stricken areas to provide drinking and irrigation water. Furthermore, liquid hydrogen and oxygen could be generated locally from the. discharge water by electrolysis and shipped all over the world. Long distance transport of bulk energy is proposed in the form of sea cables and overland transmission lines, hydrogen gas pipelines and tankers for liquid hydrogen transport (or ammonia). The advantages of this project are: (1) an energy source which causes virtually no pollution; (2) cheap exploitation costs due to drilling, mining and other exploration and production costs being eliminated; (3) construction and transport facilities costs compatible with present U.S. energy source development; (4) pre-planning and engineering problems can be minimized because of practical experience gained by some alpine countries; and (5) completion within twenty years, and much sooner if alternative uses of glacial melt water are utilized.

DIE TECHNISCHE UND WIRTSCHAFTLICHE BEDEUTUNG DER GLETSCHER / The Role of Glaciers in the Economy and Technical Development of Alpine Countries

English Summary In former times the inhabitants of alpine regions looked upon glaciers as an uncanny and dangerous realm which they avoided as far as possible. It was only around the middle of the 18th Century that man became gradually aware of the beauty of the mountains, and approximately at the same time science started to take an interest in glaciers. Most of the questions raised in this field have been solved since. However, even in our times it is not sufficiently well known that glaciers, which are responsible for the characteristics of the regime of alpine rivers, are interesting not only from the point of view of physical geography, but are also of great importance for the economy and technical development of alpine countries. Torrents which are fed by the melted ice, carry great quantities of water at periods when other streams frequently run dry. Nevertheless, in the terms of hydraulic power economy, it would be an over simplification to consider glaciers as reservoirs. It must not be forgotten...