Highway Expansion Research Articles

Study on Roadbed Splicing Construction Technology of Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project

Study on Roadbed Splicing Construction Technology of Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project

Impacts of a metropolitan-scale freeway expansion program on air pollution and equity

ContextTo enable human mobility, economic vitality, and population well-being in growing cities, well-planned transportation infrastructure is essential. However, transportation systems can also have detrimental impacts on health and equity, including through increased air pollution and its unequal social distribution. AimsThis study focuses on estimating air quality and equity impacts of an ongoing large-scale metropolitan transportation program (known as “Tampa Bay Next”). Our objective was to characterize and quantify the air pollution levels and population exposures resulting from an interstate freeway expansion planned under Tampa Bay Next, which includes added toll lanes. MethodsWe estimated changes in individual human exposures to oxides of nitrogen (NOx) due to the proposed freeway changes, using an integrated suite of high-resolution models for travel demand, emissions, pollutant dispersion, and exposure. Inequity in the distribution of exposures among racioethnic and income groups was also estimated using a few measures of inequality (the subgroup inequality index (SII), the comparative environmental risk index, and the toxic demographic quotient index). FindingsThe planned freeway expansion was estimated to slightly decrease the daily NOx emissions (by 5.6 mg/m, p = 4×10−16), ambient concentrations (by 0.02 μg/m3, p = 2×10−4), and individual exposures (by 0.2 μg/m3, p = 2.2×10−16) on average, while increasing exposure densities during peak periods in areas surrounding downtown Tampa. Group-average exposures also decreased for all population subgroups under the planned expansion scenario. However, disparities in exposure increased for the black (ΔSII = 1.3×10−3 for the 90th percentile exposure level) and the below-poverty (ΔSII = 4.6×10−3) groups. ConclusionsResults suggest that a detailed analysis of exposures may be needed to ensure large-scale transportation improvement programs reduce inequity, even when average impacts on air quality and exposures are positive or neutral.

Does the expansion of highways contribute to urban haze pollution?——Evidence from Chinese cities

Rapid highway expansion in China has contributed positively to economic development; however, it also created environmental pollution problems. This study used direct and indirect perspectives to analyze the impact that highway expansion had on haze pollution and the mechanisms involved. To consider the spatial spillover effect of haze pollution, panel data for 283 cities in China from 2003 to 2016 served as a research sample for regression analysis, based on the spatial Durbin model. Empirical results revealed three key results: 1) The overall relationship between highway expansion and haze pollution in local cities and neighboring cities formed an inverted U-shape: as highway density increased, haze pollution first increased and then decreased; 2) The results of the mediation effect assessment identified three mechanisms by which highway expansion affected haze pollution: the transport effect, the industrial structure effect, and the market segmentation effect; and 3) Heterogeneity analysis revealed that highway expansion decreased haze pollution in central and western cities, inland cities, and in non-resource cities. The conclusions of the work were supported by conducting a robustness test of the regression results, using the generalized space two-stage least square (GS2SLS) method and other methods. Given the possible continued expansion of China's highways, this research has a guiding significance for changing the highway expansion model.

Bus Rapid Transit versus road expansion to alleviate congestion: A general equilibrium comparison

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and highway expansions actually proposed for Beirut are compared using an urban computable general equilibrium model. The model has two geographic zones, central area and suburbs, but it is economically detailed. It includes production, labor, residential and commercial real estate markets and multimodal road congestion with private car, minibus and taxi vehicles and public buses. BRT reduces road congestion by 9 %, improves traffic speed by 24 %, and reduces the road congestion externality by 18 %. The BRT improves consumer utility and achieves social welfare gains that are 7.9 % of income: two-thirds are from the BRT as a new mode and one-third from the benefits of the lower congestion for the other modes. Road expansion also improves consumer utility, but achieves lower social welfare due to its cost and lower effect on real estate prices. The BRT yields an operating surplus, but road expansion requires deficit financing.

Principles of Energy-effective Land Use in Automobile Transport in Ukraine

The article studies contamination of the environment with motor transport and the objects of road infrastructure. It considers the experience of the European Countries in implementation of investment programs to modernize the transport and the infrastructure as a whole by their “ecologization” and “green transport” to minimize the negative impact on nature and preserve the competitive opportunities. It contemplates on types and sources of bio-fuel used in European countries determines the opportunities to grow the plants for alternative fuel production in Ukraine. The concept of “greening” in relation to the transport system of Ukraine have been considered, as in the scientific literature this concept is quite new. The authors outline the basic issues of the National transport strategy for the period till 2030 on the necessity to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere with movable sources, raising a share of public transport and electric vehicles, electrical buses, muscle-driven vehicles (bikes). The directions of providing the “greening” principle of the transport system of Ukraine have been offered. The necessity of introducing the “reservation” concept for the land of automobile transport to the following normative legal documents have been substantiated: National transport strategy till 2030, State strategy of development of highways, perspective plans of construction, reconstruction or expansion of highways and others. The article contains a plan of actions to decrease the influence of transport on the environment, namely through the implementation of power-saving technologies, the use of alternative fuels, renewal and extending possibilities to use electric transport. The comparative analysis of economical and ecological aspects of different types of transport – “green vehicles”.

Evaluation of Anticipated Performance Index of Plant Species for Green Belt Development to Mitigate Air Pollution

Anticipated Performance Index (API) is an innovative ecological approach in selecting plant species for reducing air pollution, using Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) and socio-economic parameters. The present study evaluated API of 11 plant species (6 trees and 5 shrubs) for the recommendation of green belt establishment near the national highway expansion region of the Kiratpur-Nerchowk expressway. The scrutiny of the results revealed that the tolerance capacity of plant species along with their performance grade is a justified approach for selecting the most suitable plant species, which can act as sink for air pollution. API on the other hand, can also help to distinguish the sensitive plant species, which can act as bio-monitors. The results showed that among all plant species Leucaena leucocephala and Toona ciliata (API=5) qualify as ‘very good’ performers in green belt development, while Dalbergia sisso (API=4) is a ‘good’ performer. Grewia optiva and Ficus palmata were judged as ‘moderate’ performers (API=3). Whereas, all other remaining investigated trees and shrubs having lesser API values can act as bio-indicators and particularly are very less recommended for green belt establishment. Hence, on the basis of amalgamation of APTI values together with other socio-economic and biological parameters, API significantly is considered as one of the best approaches identified and recommended for long-term refinement of air quality.

On Cynicism and Citizenship: The Place of Negative Affects in US Antihighway Activism

AbstractIn Tampa, Florida, the threat of material destruction and social dislocation associated with planned highway expansion has ignited local resistance, which, in turn, brings together a loose grouping of social and political actors. Through a shared commitment to cynicism, the members of this socioeconomically diverse array of antihighway activists join one another in making claims on the state, even as they doubt these claims will ever be heeded. Cynicism, in this context, acts as an affective boundary object that enables actors to negotiate the moments of intrasubjective and intersubjective incoherence that inevitably arise in the course of private and public life. Attending to the citizen effects of cynical affects invites a reformulation of the place of negative feelings within the politics of the city, and social life more broadly.

Limited evidence for negative effects of highway widening on North American large mammals

Roads are one of the most severe threats to wildlife globally because of their pervasive and linear nature. Despite considerable attention afforded to road-effects on animals generally, little information is available concerning the specific impacts of road widening, also known as twinning or highway expansion. To address this gap, we monitored the abundance and distribution of large mammals adjacent to an 18-km section of highway in Ontario, Canada, that underwent expansion from a two-lane to a four-lane, divided highway, over 4 years. We expected to observe an initial decrease in large mammal track abundance and an increased distance from the highway, followed by a period of habituation during which track abundance and proximity to the highway would return to baseline levels. To quantify the effects of highway expansion, we monitored snow-tracks of three ungulates, two felids, and three canids on transects extending perpendicular and parallel to the highway. Our analyses revealed that proximity was species-specific and varied seasonally, but we found little evidence that the new four-lane highway alignment affected the movement ecology of large mammals in our study area. Limited increases in traffic volume could partially explain why we detected no change; however, traffic volume will rise. Although road widening is common for accommodating increased traffic volume, no studies have explicitly investigated its effects on animal movement ecology. Our findings suggest that increasing the footprint of existing roads, rather than building new roads, may be a suitable solution for accommodating increasing traffic with minimal impacts on adjacent large mammal communities.

Risk-Based Priority Setting for Large-Scale Access Management Programs with Uncertain Mobility Benefits and Costs

Access management is a set of strategies used by transportation planners to address mobility concerns without the need for major highway expansions. Although access management can significantly improve highway mobility, congestion, and safety, limited resources prevent transportation agencies from managing each access point within their network. Therefore, there is a need for a macrolevel framework that helps these agencies in prioritizing their access management needs. This research contributes to the transportation planning field by developing a two-phase methodology that prioritizes competing needs for access management across a large network of highways. The first phase, filtering, evaluates the economic efficiency of access management projects from a travel time improvement perspective. This phase extends current risk–cost–benefit analysis methods, which integrate risk analysis and cost–benefit analysis with data uncertainties. The second phase, classification, identifies a set of site-specific qualitative and quantitative factors that can affect the travel time of road users. These factors are used to set priorities for access management projects. The developed methodology was demonstrated by applying it to thousands of access points located on four major US routes. The results are of interest to transportation planners, safety managers, and state and local municipalities.

Reconfiguring transport infrastructure in post-war Asia: mapping South Korean container ports, 1952–1978

ABSTRACT In standard accounts of the origins of the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), or intermodal, shipping container, including Marc Levinson’s The Box and Alexander Klose’s The Container Principle, the story remains centered in Europe and North America, reflecting the issue emerging on the continent in the prewar era, and the post-war growth of the American trucking industry, associated with the expansion of federal highways. In contrast, this essay moves the focus to East and Southeast Asia, reflecting the significance of the Korean War and the Vietnam War as factors driving the shift from break-bulk shipping to containers, here motivated by military logistics. The post-war 1945 reconfiguration of Japan’s wartime empire, involving the reconstitution of relationships deriving from imperial connections, meant that new sites such as Busan, South Korea (1952) and Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam (1965 to early 1970s) became the focal points for vast infusions of war-related materials.

Induced Vehicle Travel in the Environmental Review Process

If we expand roadway capacity, more drivers will come, or so economic theory suggests and a substantial body of empirical research now shows. Despite strong evidence, the “induced travel” effect is often ignored, underestimated, or misestimated in the planning process, particularly in the assessment of the environmental impacts of roadway capacity expansions. Underestimating induced travel will generally lead to overestimation of the traffic congestion relief benefits a highway expansion project might generate, along with underestimation of its environmental impacts. A major reason that induced travel tends to be underplayed in environmental analyses is that travel demand models do not typically include all of the feedback loops necessary to accurately predict the induced travel effect. We developed an online tool, based on elasticities reported in the literature, to facilitate the estimation of the induced vehicle travel impacts of roadway capacity expansion projects in California, with potential future expansion to other geographies. We describe the tool, apply it to five case study highway capacity expansion projects, and then compare the results with the induced travel estimates reported in the environmental impact analyses for those projects. Our results suggest that environmental analyses frequently fail to fully capture the induced vehicle travel effects of highway capacity expansion projects.

Application Research of BIM Technology in Bridge Reconstruction and Extension Engineering

Regarding the characteristics, engineering needs and technical difficulties of the Chuhe Bridge of the Hening Expressway Project, relying on the four-to-eight expansion project of the Hening Expressway, combined with modern information technologies such as BIM, big data, cloud computing, mobile Internet, etc. Virtual simulation and other technologies can solve the technical problems in the construction of expressway expansion projects, and directly serve the expansion project of Hening Expressway.

Test-loading Capacity Estimation of Slip-lined RCPs using a plastic approach

As many reinforced concrete pipes (RCPs) need to be rehabilitated due to the reconstruction, expansion of highways and structural damage. Inserting a corrugated steel pipe (CSP) into the existing RCP is an economical rehabilitation technique in China, the current research seeks to better understand the performance of the RCP rehabilitated with grouted CSP by using the reinforced concrete pipes (RCPs) as the host pipes. Experiments were conducted to (1) determine the test-loading capacity of five specimens; (2) understand the role of the liner (CSP); (3) understand the influence of eccentric rehabilitation on the test-loading capacity of the slip-lined pipe; (4) explore an approach to estimate the load-carrying capacity of the rehabilitated pipes. The test-loading capacity of an RCP rehabilitated with grouted CSP mainly depends on the RCP and the grout before the first peak value of the applied versus diameter change curve, CSP improved the maximum test-loading capacity and ductility of rehabilitated pipe. The test-loading capacity of an eccentric rehabilitated pipe was lower than that of a concentric rehabilitated pipe. The comparison of the calculated results showed that the plastic approach was reasonable for an RCP rehabilitated grout CSP. Meanwhile, an approach for analyzing a vertical eccentric rehabilitated pipe was proposed based on the plastic approach. The errors between the theoretical results and experimental results were basically less than 30%.

Air pollution emission effects of changes in transport supply: the case of Bogotá, Colombia.

Transportation policy and planning decisions, including decisions on new infrastructure and public transport improvements, affect local and global environmental conditions. This work studies the effect of increased road capacity on traffic-related emissions in Bogotá using a tool that couples a transportation model with emission factors from COPERT IV. We followed a parametric approach varying transport supply and demand, comparing three scenarios: a baseline scenario that represents the transportation system in Bogota in 2015; scenario 1 incorporates five highway capacity-enhancement projects in Bogotá and assumes insensitive travel demand; scenario 2 incorporates the new highway projects but assumes a demand increase of 13% in vehicle trips with private cars. Results include daily and annual values of traffic-related emissions of five air pollutant criteria: CO, NOx, PM10, SO2, and VOC for the baselinescenario, scenario 1, and scenario 2. We found a reduction in emissions after adding highway capacity and assuming inelastic demand (scenario 1). Scenario 1 results in a 15% reduction in PM10 emissions and a 10% reduction in NOx emissions. In contrast, results for scenario 2 suggest increased emissions for all air pollutant criteria (e.g., VOC and CO emissions increase by 21% and 22% compared with the baseline scenario). Therefore, new traffic demand would eliminate the emission savings observed in scenario 1 and could potentially further degrade air quality in Bogotá. While an exact estimate of induced demand that may result from highway expansion in Bogotá is not available, this analysis highlights that such projects could lead to an increase in emissions unless there is a combined effort to managing demand of private vehicle trips.

The safety effect of open-median management on one-side widened freeways: A driving simulation evaluation

Introduction: Highway expansions and upgrades are often required to increase road network capacity. The widening of one side of a highway, referred to as ‘one-side widening,’ is sometimes implemented in these highway expansion projects. During one-side widening, to save costs, openings can be configured on existing medians (as opposed to removing the existing medians altogether). The median openings allow vehicles in the outer lanes to enter the inner lanes, but they also raise safety concerns and may require alternate open-median management strategies for traffic authorities. There is little existing research that has evaluated the safety effect of these open-median management strategies. Method: To bridge this gap, this study proposes a procedure that evaluates the safety of open-median management strategies for one-side widened highways. The proposed procedure was implemented through driving simulation experiments on a section of Binlai Freeway in Shandong, China. First, the minimum location requirements for median openings were determined by calculating the short length of the weaving segment. Then, simulation tests were carried out to observe driving performance and workload measures. Results: The results indicate that the procedure successfully evaluates the safety effect of open-median management strategies for one-side widened freeways. It was also found that driving performance and workload are sensitive to the opening length and traffic flow. Conclusions: Therefore, median opening placement should be carefully selected in consideration of not only driving performance and workload but also traffic volume predictions. Practical Applications: The findings in this study can guide open-median management strategies for traffic safety one-side widened highways.

Expressway to Power: Infrastructure Projects and Political Support

This paper provides causal evidence on how political parties consolidate power in an electoral democracy. We collect administrative data on expressway construction by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey, and use province-by-year variation in expressway construction to show that vote shares for the AKP increased in response to the expressways. For the average province in which the length of the expressway network increased from 51km to 193km, the estimates imply that the expressway expansion increased the AKP's vote share by 4.2 percentage-points or one-third of the increase from 2002 to 2011. Electoral gains by the AKP primarily came at the expense of its more established rivals. The estimates account for province and year fixed effects, which allows us to control for any fixed province characteristics and time-specific factors that might be related to expressway expansion and vote shares. We further show that the estimates are robust to arbitrary region-specific time trends, province-specific quadratic time trends, and are not driven by province-by-year variation in other investments undertaken by the AKP. Examining mechanisms, we do not find evidence that increased economic growth due to the express-ways drove increased vote shares for the AKP. We find evidence that the visibility and success of the expressway expansion project signalled competence and stability. The electoral benefits of the expressway were stronger in provinces that experienced greater political instability between 1995 and 2002, losses for the rival parties were greater in provinces they previously controlled indicating changes in perception, and there were no similar electoral gains to less visible projects.

Research on Evolutionary Design Method of BIM Technology in Highway Reconstruction and Expansion Project

BIM technology is widely used in expressway Construction projects. In the process of transforming two-dimensional design into three-dimensional design, there are still many problems that need to be solved urgently. Based on the Beijing-Shanghai highway reconstruction and expansion project, this paper proposes an evolutionary design method. Based on the application standard of project model technology, the method uses BIM model software, based on skeleton lines and templates, using EKL programming language to realize the structure size from coarse to fine, information from summary to detail, and progressive design method for component granularity from bottom to high. At the same time, a three-dimensional design method for automatically generating road centerlines is proposed. The results show that the evolutionary design method is in line with the current project habits, matching the existing design concepts, and can efficiently complete the design work at different stages, effectively avoiding a lot of repetitive work.

Study of Deformation Behaviors and Mechanical Properties of Central Diaphragm in a Large‐Span Loess Tunnel by the Upper Bench CD Method

The central diaphragm is often used to reduce the span to maintain the stability and safety of structure in the construction of large‐span loess tunnel due to the structure complexities. In this paper, relying on the field monitoring and measurement for Wangcun tunnel in Huangling‐Yan’an expressway expansion project, the crown settlement and horizontal convergence of primary support steel rib and central diaphragm steel rib during the construction are analyzed by the upper bench CD method. According to the internal force transfer, deformation coordination, and arch foot displacement between the two structures, the support system is regarded as the arch‐beam fixed structure with three times of statically indeterminate and movable abutment under the loads, and the mechanical calculation model of sidewall steel rib and the central diaphragm structure bearing loads and deformation together is established. Finally, through the mechanical model mentioned above, the deformation characteristics of central diaphragm structure and the horizontal convergence in the upper bench of tunnel are calculated and analyzed. The research shows the following: (1) the accumulated settlement of sidewall steel rib in Part I is greater than that of the sidewall steel rib in Part II, and the accumulated settlement of each part at the support structure during the tunnel excavation is less than the reserved deformation of 150 mm specified in the tunnel excavation; (2) the settlement located at the waist and maximum excavation line position of central diaphragm is mainly affected by the excavation of Parts I and II in upper bench; (3) during the whole excavation process, the excavation of Part I and Part II has the greatest influence on the convergence at arch waist and the maximum excavation line position in Part I, and the convergence at the above two positions all experienced four stages of “convergence‐expansion‐convergence‐gradual stability”; and (4) the errors between the horizontal convergence and the deformation of central diaphragm obtained by the mechanical model and the field monitoring data are between 12.7% and 27.5%. The calculated results are in good agreement with the actual situation. The research can provide a theoretical basis for the study of deformation and mechanical properties for support structure in the construction of large‐span loess tunnel by the upper bench CD method.

Restoring Identity to People and Place: Reanalysis of Human Skeletal Remains from a Cemetery at Catoctin Furnace, Maryland

Nearly four decades ago, a highway expansion project resulted in the excavation of 35 unmarked graves at Catoctin Furnace, an industrial ironworking village in western Maryland. Initial analysis identified the remains as Africans or African Americans associated with the late 18th- and early 19th-century operation of the ironworks. Renewed efforts to learn more about these poorly documented individuals and connect the site’s untold past to present generations through heritage tourism, prompted reanalysis of the skeletons. Updated assessments of demography and pathology, along with new analyses including heavy metals and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, elucidate the life histories of these early laborers and their involvement in furnace operations. Some data derived from recent testing differentiate the Catoctin Furnace individuals from their plantation-based contemporaries in the mid-Atlantic, suggesting regional differences in diet and possible occupational exposure to toxins.

Carbon Emissions and Expressway Traffic Flow Patterns in China

Traffic flow patterns severely impact vehicle carbon emissions. A field test was conducted in this study to obtain fuel consumption and traffic volume data under various traffic flow patterns and to explore the relationship between traffic flow patterns and vehicle carbon emissions. Carbon emission data were obtained via the indirect carbon emission accounting method proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Carbon emission prediction models for diesel trucks and gasoline passenger cars were established respectively with volume to capacity ratio as an explanatory variable. The results show that carbon emissions are highest under the congested flow conditions, followed by unstable flow, free flow, and steady flow. The relationship between the volume to capacity ratio and carbon emissions is a cubic curve function. The carbon emissions of trucks and passenger cars with a volume to capacity ratio of 0.4 to 0.5 are relatively small. The proposed carbon emissions models effectively quantify the carbon emissions of vehicles under different traffic flow patterns. The results of this study may provide data to support and a workable reference for expressway operation management and future low-carbon expressway expansion construction projects.