Major Road Projects Research Articles

Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Childhood Asthma—Are the Risks Appropriately Mitigated in Australia?

Childhood asthma is a major health issue in Australia, and traffic emissions play a causative role. Two urban planning policies that impact children’s exposure to traffic emissions are considered in terms of the potential health risks to children in a Melbourne suburb with high truck volumes and hospital attendances for childhood asthma. Firstly, the health impact assessment component of the state planning approval of a major road project, and secondly, local government placement of childcare centres and schools in relation to freight routes. Three sources of air quality monitoring data were examined: (i) a Victorian EPA reference site; (ii) a site with planning approval for development into a childcare centre; and (iii) five sites within the boundary of the West Gate Tunnel Project, an AUD 10 billion road and tunnel project. The Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network data was utilised to assess distances of childcare centres and schools from major truck routes. A range of cconcentration–response functions for childhood asthma (0–18 years) from international systematic meta-analyses and a smaller Australian cross-sectional study were applied to comparative elevations in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations between the EPA reference monitor (used for project risk assessment) and local roadside data. It was found that comparative elevations in NO2 concentrations were associated with the following risk increases: developing asthma 13%, active asthma 12%, and lifetime asthma 9%. Overall, 41% of childcare centres (n = 51) and 36% of schools (n = 22) were ≤150 m to a high-density truck route. Truck emissions likely make a substantial contribution to childhood asthma outcomes in the project area. This study exemplifies how current practices may not be commensurate with guiding policy objectives of harm minimisation and equitable protection.

Effect of different waste plastic fractions on the thermal kinetics and microstructural behaviour of bitumen used for bituminous mix

The price of raw polymers used for making most of the waste plastics has confined the implementation of polymer modified bitumen (PMB) only to the major road projects. In view of the same, an attempt to make a PMB by such wastes was considered as a “state-of-art” in this investigation. Therefore, the different proportions of waste plastic fractions were blended with the pristine bitumen and the resulting blend characterized by thermal kinetics analysis, microstructural analysis, and Marshall mix design, respectively. The major findings have predicted the highest thermal stability of the blend was achieved by mixing plastic bags, plastic milk pouches, and plastic cups together in proportion of 2:0.25:1 to virgin bitumen with no thermal decomposition. Further, uniform dispersion of “bee-like structure” in that blend has reflected its homogeneity. Besides, such modified bitumen has elevated the Marshall quotient of the bituminous mix by 16%, which can preferentially be used in the rural roads safely, confirmed by Marshall mix design.

Predictors of noise annoyance from construction of a large metropolitan highway project

The aim of this study was to investigate factors that may explain annoyance from noise generated by a large road construction project. A total of 1409 participants were divided in two groups based on the distance of their dwelling to the construction site. They responded to a socio-acoustic survey in order to describe their personal situation and their perception of various noise sources. Socio-demographically, there were no differences between groups. However, the target group (closer to the construction site) exhibited a higher level of annoyance. Noise levels generated by the construction work explained a marginal proportion of the variance in annoyance (<1%). Socio-demographic, psychosocial and contextual factors explained a much larger proportion of the variance (between 51.7 and 70.0%). When identifying a policy response for noise generated by the construction of a major road project, special consideration should be given to these factors.

Use of the Safe System Assessment Framework as a Safety Key Performance Indicator

As part of the Northern and South-Eastern Suburban Roads Upgrade packages, Major Road Projects Victoria has sought to incorporate road safety metrics into the tender designs review process. The Australian Road Research Board adapted the Safe System Assessment Framework (Austroads 2016) to meet this need. Twelve road projects were assessed to provide baselines scores for the reference designs. The submitted tender designs will then be reassessed to provide an assessment of road safety in the designs. This work provided an extension in use of Safe System Assessment Framework as well as insight into current gaps in road safety design practice.

How well do Australian government urban planning policies respond to the social determinants of health and health equity?

There is now wide recognition and evidence that the built environment affects population health and health equity. This research provides a thematic analysis of 108 urban planning policy documents from Australian state, territory, and federal governments to address the question: How well do Australian government urban planning policies respond to the social determinants of health and health equity? Health and health equity were discussed explicitly in several policies, most often as a secondary or co-benefit to environmental, social, and economic concerns. The most significant themes in the documents associated with health were visions for urban development that is compact, mixed use, walkable and transit oriented. These attributes are summed up in the term’ liveable’. However, strategies to improve liveability were largely confined to areas targeted for residential infill and redevelopment, leaving car dependent and generally lower income, outer metropolitan areas potentially untouched. In addition, there were strategies that potentially conflicted with liveability, walkability, and transit orientation; the most notable being major road projects. This thematic analysis of Australian urban planning policies shows that some social determinants of health and health equity are being acted upon. However, policy conflicts and contradictions mean the policies are unlikely to deliver more healthy and equitable cities without further consideration of some of the structural issues likely to undermine healthy and equitable urban development.

Evaluation of PPP road projects in Greece

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore and evaluate the problems encountered by five major road projects recently implemented in Greece as public–private partnerships (PPP) and make recommendations for improvement of the relevant managerial practices and contractual clauses for the benefit of similar future projects.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was adopted in this research as only senior engineers with specific managerial experience were deemed suitable for the purposes of this research. In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with CEOs of the PPPs and heads of independent engineers involved in the projects’ implementation as well as with senior officials of two Greek Ministries.FindingsThe experts identified different areas of weakness relevant to the revenue risks, the planning of the scope, the management of designs and legal permits as well as the toll policy selected. They also made specific recommendations for the streamlining of the relevant procedures in the future.Practical implicationsThe experts’ opinions and recommendations constitute a solid basis for the achievement of higher efficiency in the management of future PPP projects worldwide.Originality/valueThis research offers a holistic perspective to PPP project management as it sheds light to the problems encountered by the Greek PPP programme as a whole and incorporates the experience gained at the contracts’ renegotiation. The research draws from the experience of experts and offers recommendations for systemic improvements which can be widely applied in any geographical context.

Comparative Analysis on the Adoption and Use of BIM in Road Infrastructure Projects

AbstractThe uses of building information modeling (BIM) in building and infrastructure projects are numerous. Most previous BIM case examples focused on buildings, and limited studies have reported on the adoption and use of BIM in infrastructure projects. Therefore, this research aims to analyze and compare the adoption and use of BIM in infrastructure projects, particularly in constructing major road projects in Australia and the People’s Republic of China. The related BIM uses and associated technologies of the projects were analyzed based on a case study approach. Subsequently, a number of comparative analyses were conducted on the cultural and managerial aspects between the projects, as well as different BIM uses between buildings and infrastructure projects. The results show both case studies had quite similar uses of BIM, yet the adopted managerial strategies and issues encountered were rather different. The evolution of BIM uses from buildings to infrastructure projects is also discussed. The rese...

Roads: An Anthropology of Infrastructure and Expertise by Penny Harvey and Hannah Knox

Reviewed by: Roads: An Anthropology of Infrastructure and Expertise by Penny Harvey and Hannah Knox Jay Bowman Roads: An Anthropology of Infrastructure and Expertise Penny Harvey and Hannah Knox. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2015. 203 pp.; maps, diagrs., photos, notes, bibliog., and index. $27.00 paperback (ISBN 978-0801479649) Penny Harvey and Hannah Knox have written a fruitful book, based on fieldwork in Peru from 2005 to the present, which should be useful to a wide range of readers. Their book follows the conception, implementation, construction and aftermath of two major road projects. The first is the Interoceanic Highway, which runs from the southwest Andean highlands to the border with Brazil, and which has a political history stretching back to the 1920s; the second is a notably shorter stretch of road connecting two smaller Amazonian towns in the Northeast. Despite the wide range of academic traditions employed throughout the book, Harvey and Knox provide lucid descriptions of the literature on critical infrastructures and theory used in the study of infrastructure projects, and more importantly, its relevance to the case study and the study of infrastructure more widely. The nuance and clarity of their writing should make this book valuable to a wide ranging audience—civil engineers, Peru specialists and development scholars, geographers and scholars in cognate disciplines alike. There has been a wealth of new studies of infrastructure projects throughout the developing world. These studies have been taken up by geographers and similar fields (anthropology in the case of Harvey and Knox) because the impacts of new or failing infrastructures are theoretically productive in studying the interconnections between technological systems, social change and development. The theoretical significance of this scholarship is given more urgency by governmental decisions: the BRICs economic group (Brazil, Russia, India and China), alongside the World Bank, are currently pushing for large-scale infrastructure projects as public-goods investments in a time of global economic downturn. Of course, the agendas of global financial institutions do not automatically translate into newly initiated projects, and by focusing not on the “what” of these roads projects but on the “when,” Harvey and Knox deliver an impressive political anthropology of road building. Through rigorous mixed methodologies, Harvey and Knox puncture the modernist assumptions of command and control employed [End Page 368] by state leaders and international bankers. The inevitable complications of diverse terrain, public corruption and pre-existing webs of social connections along the route produce “gaps that exist between the intended effects of infrastructural projects and the way those intentions play out in actual practice” (p. 5). Political life, therefore, is the struggle through which these gaps are formed and manipulated. Part I of the book is a rich ethnography of the social life of the road projects. Taking locals’ aspirations seriously, Harvey and Knox demonstrate the immense importance these projects have for the lives of those living along the roadways. From dreams of new jobs, social and educational connections with the city, or an entire village that picks up and moves from a nearby riverbank to the road for easier shipping, the roads are transformative. The integrative potential of the roads, of course, confronts a hierarchy of existing interconnections, demonstrating through richly told stories how uneven development plays out in the lives the roads encounter. Part II of the book begins with the ways in which numbers are mobilized as “foundations for an epistemological engagement with the world” (p. 82). Harvey and Knox draw on scholars such as Verran (2001) and Lave (1988), who argue that the enumeration and categorization of the world by civil engineers does not represent a universal ideal of proper infrastructure construction. Instead, numbers are created within political, legal and technocratic spheres that allow for the transformation of the world, mobilizing “the material articulations of imagination, ideology, and social life” (quoting Anand, p. 5). The authors, therefore, are “interested in what numbers do, in the relationships they entail and the worlds they create” (p. 82). An arresting example of this is the $4 million, seven-volume ‘pre-feasibility study’ commissioned by the Ministry of Transport prior to authorization and the rewarding of contracts. Drawing from national regulations, World Bank data and international civil engineering...

Determining sustainability impact assessment indicators

Sustainability impact assessment (SIA) can enlighten the decision-making process for major public investment projects. This paper addresses the use of SIA on projects, and suggests that since policies constrain plans which constrain projects, it is necessary to assign SIA indicators to the strategic, tactical and operational levels. We have examined (1) what indicators are actually chosen as being the most significant and (2) how assessors should choose their indicators. We let 538 of our students – assembled in 121 groups – identify indicators for an SIA of a major road project, and analysed the propensities of an exemplar SIA. We observed a lack of predictability in the students' choice of indicators, and that the exemplar SIA bore similar characteristics. Predictability in a tool designed to assure enlightened decision-making is essential, since lack of it can entail challenges concerning – just to mention some – transparency issues, governance, stakeholder participation and effectiveness. Discussions related to choice of indicators for SIA concern their commensurability and whether it is possible to price them or not. We point out that first step should be to make sure all relevant indicators are considered. Afterwards we propose a framework with nine different categories that will help assessors to identify an exhaustive indicator list. Our main argument is that indicators should be assigned to the strategic, tactical or operational level, as well as to one of the economic, social or environmental dimensions.

Hubris or humility? Accuracy issues for the next 50 years of travel demand modeling

This study reviews the 50-year history of travel demand forecasting models, concentrating on their accuracy and relevance for public decision-making. Only a few studies of model accuracy have been performed, but they find that the likely inaccuracy in the 20-year forecast of major road projects is ±30 % at minimum, with some estimates as high as ±40–50 % over even shorter time horizons. There is a significant tendency to over-estimate traffic and underestimate costs, particularly for toll roads. Forecasts of transit costs and ridership are even more uncertain and also significantly optimistic. The greatest knowledge gap in US travel demand modeling is the unknown accuracy of US urban road traffic forecasts. Modeling weaknesses leading to these problems (non-behavioral content, inaccuracy of inputs and key assumptions, policy insensitivity, and excessive complexity) are identified. In addition, the institutional and political environments that encourage optimism bias and low risk assessment in forecasts are also reviewed. Major institutional factors, particularly low local funding matches and competitive grants, confound scenario modeling efforts and dampen the hope that technical modeling improvements alone can improve forecasting accuracy. The fundamental problems are not technical but institutional: high non-local funding shares for large projects warp local perceptions of project benefit versus costs, leading to both input errors and political pressure to fund projects. To deal with these issues, the paper outlines two different approaches. The first, termed ‘hubris’, proposes a multi-decade effort to substantially improve model forecasting accuracy over time by monitoring performance and improving data, methods and understanding of travel, but also by deliberately modifying the institutional arrangements that lead to optimism bias. The second, termed ‘humility’, proposes to openly quantify and recognize the inherent uncertainty in travel demand forecasts and deliberately reduce their influence on project decision-making. However to be successful either approach would require monitoring and reporting accuracy, standards for modeling and forecasting, greater model transparency, educational initiatives, coordinated research, strengthened ethics and reduction of non-local funding ratios so that localities have more at stake.

Insularity and sustainable transport

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to propose answers to such questions as: are major road projects currently implemented on Reunion Island sufficient to conclusively solve the problems of traffic congestion and urban sprawl? What coercive measures are to be implemented by local authorities for post‐project period management? Which option should be chosen: congestion charges and regulations, or access rights and permits?Design/methodology/approachThis paper is in four parts. First, the paper explains the various constraints to be overcome in road infrastructure and land development. Then the main characteristics of road transport are described. Third, the characteristics, cost and expected role are presented. Last, the various solutions are compared.FindingsDeveloping road infrastructures may appear as a solution to the congestion problem. Therefore, only quality public transport development and incentive measures to control traffic can reduce road congestion in the long run – provided the alternative is technically feasible, economically motivating and reliable enough for motorists to leave their cars at home.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper is to underline the specific constraints dictated by its geographical features resulting in additional costs and technical difficulties and to mention the disastrous effects of its essentially car‐based transportation policy. It also suggests the implementation of traffic permits or tolls to access to the road infrastructures even if of such policies is not easy due to a lot of social constraints.

Restoring Connectivity in Landscapes Fragmented by Major Roads: A Case Study Using Wooden Poles as “Stepping Stones” for Gliding Mammals

Tree‐dwelling mammals may be vulnerable to road mortality if forced to cross canopy gaps on the ground. This group of mammals has received scant attention worldwide despite major road projects potentially causing severe fragmentation to their habitat. Gliding mammals may be enabled to cross road gaps that exceed their gliding capability by the installation of tall wooden poles to act as “stepping stones.” We investigated whether such glide poles installed across two land‐bridges in eastern Australia could restore landscape connectivity for small gliding petaurid marsupials. Hair‐traps revealed repeated use of all poles at both locations over periods of 1–3 years. Camera traps at one site suggest a crossing frequency on the poles by the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis) of once every 3.8 nights. Radio‐tracked animals did not glide directly over the road but instead used the poles to cross on the bridge. Hair‐traps and camera traps installed within the middle of two reference land‐bridges that lacked glide poles failed to detect crossings by gliding mammals despite their presence in adjacent forest. These observations suggest that glide poles can facilitate road crossing and thereby restore habitat connectivity for gliding mammals. This lends support to the notion that glide poles have the potential to mitigate road‐induced habitat fragmentation for gliding mammals worldwide.

Bulldozers, Land, and The Bottom: Environmental Justice and a Rapid Assessment Process

In 2005, I was invited to meet with representatives from Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to discuss the possibility of conducting a social needs assessment in a low-income, minority neighborhood. The Newtown Pike Extension (NPE) is a major road project that will significantly impact a low-income minority area in downtown Lexington, KY. As part of a major mitigation for environmental justice, a Project Team consisting of federal, state, and local stakeholders completed a social needs assessment in 2006. This paper describes the successful use of a qualitative, teambased, intensive applied approach to understand social needs from the community perspective. A rapid assessment procedure (RAP) was used that quickly revealed unanticipated barriers directly related to the unique culture of the community and beliefs about the project and stakeholders. Results were immediately useful in making positive changes in project decision-making.

Integrated transport policies

Integrated transport is not about what sort of transport people want, it is about what sort of city and countryside they want—close-knit friendly streets or suburban sprawl. This paper contends that sustainable transport is achievable but expresses the concern that the civil engineering profession could be more a hindrance than help. It concludes that if we continue to see major road projects as the natural order and all other transport projects as too small, too green or too unworldly, we will be left behind and will have missed the point.

Quality failure costs in civil engineering projects

A methodology was developed to measure cost of quality failures in two major road projects, largely based upon a work‐shadowing method. Shows how the initial data were collected and categorised into definable groups and how the costs were estimated for each of these categories. The findings suggest that, if the projects examined are typical, the cost of failures may be a significant percentage of total costs, and that conventional means of identifying them may not be reliable. Moreover, the costs will not be easy to eradicate without widespread changes in attitudes and norms of behaviour within the industry and improved managerial co‐ordination of activities throughout the supply chain.

Decentralised site management—a case study

Where projects are complex, there may be a need for greater decentralisation of control in order to avoid the bureaucratic inefficiencies of central direction. Decentralisation does not, however, dispense with the need to co-ordinate activities. This paper shows how a major UK construction company successfully implemented a balance between cellular autonomy and overall project risk management in a major road project.

Highway applications of geotextiles : Belongia, D L; Puffer, W Civ Engng, NY, V51, N5, May 1981, P60–P63

The successful use of geotextiles on poor soils and water in highway subgrades and sideslopes is examined in this two-part article, In Lakeshore Resort Cuts Cost of Road Relocation with Fabric Filter, Mr. Belongia explores the inclusion of woven filter fabric in the design of a major road project, resulting in significant time and cost savings. The site of a highway relocation had a soil profile of 0-4 feet of miscellaneous fill underlain by 5-12 feet of highly organic silt and peat. Filter fabric was placed on the miscellaneous fill or organic subgrade, and limestone basecoarse was pushed onto the fabric, and then compacted and paved. In Engineering Fabric Use in New York Highway Construction, Mr. Puffer reviews the required criteria for use, the installation guidelines and cost effectiveness of three innovative highway construction projects employing fabric.

Site investigations in coalfields

Summary The paper primarily considers the diagnosis and evaluation of shallow workings from which coal, ironstone and fireclay have been extracted by underground methods close to outcrop. Instability problems affecting normal structures are mainly attributed to 'room and pillar' workings, and current work on the behaviour of the latter is briefly discussed. The resultant compaction of collapsed strata (goaf) is problematical and evidence is presented which throws doubt on the compaction of 'bell-pit' workings of probable mediaeval age. Investigation techniques are discussed in detail and attention drawn to the importance of geological structure, particularly faults. Associated 'steps' caused by differential movements are not always fully appreciated. The detailed case histories are taken from the Yorkshire coalfied and consider urban development, re-development and a major road project. It is concluded that exploration on an areal basis is necessary if all the factors connected with shallow workings and other industrial legacies are to be fully elucidated. In order to rationalize techniques it is advocated that larger investigations should comprise more than one stage. A detailed pre-survey appreciation of the available mining, industrial and geological literature is an integral part of this type of project, and the full co-operation of all the parties involved should stem from this period.