Mountain Road Research Articles

Engineering on the precipice: the performance of mountain road rehabilitation in the Central Cordillera of the Philippines

Parts of the Central Cordillera of Luzon are among the most challenging locations on Earth in which to build and maintain transport infrastructure, a situation perhaps most epitomized by the Halsema Highway. Since its original construction in the 1920s, the highway has undergone phased improvement and has become a socio-economic lifeline to the rural communities it serves. Unfortunately, in 1990, continuing road improvement works had to be abandoned owing to the outcome of a 7.8 M s earthquake and the effects of subsequent typhoon damage. Earthquake reinstatement works were designed in 1998 and constructed between 2001 and 2006. The engineering geological challenge this posed was compounded by the effects of severe typhoon rains during the reconstruction period, requiring continual assessment of changing slope and drainage conditions. Since construction, the road has been affected by several new typhoons including, most notably, Typhoons Pepeng and Ompong in 2009 and 2018 respectively. Field inspections in 2010 and 2018, combined with the interpretation of satellite imagery available in Google Earth, have allowed the performance of the works implemented between 2001 and 2006 to be assessed and the outcome has been largely favourable. Very little of the recorded damage has occurred in the locations of earthquake reinstatement. Instead, several new areas of slope failure and subsequent blockage and damage to the road have developed. Many of these areas can be explained with respect to their underlying engineering geology and geomorphology. However, there are just as many that owe their origin to the pattern of rainfall and runoff arising during the passage of individual and successive typhoons, modified significantly by drainage management practices in the road corridor, where engineering serviceability and land use practices sometimes have conflicting objectives.

Visual aesthetic evaluation of highways in subtropical mountains areas

With the development of economy, the road construction of our country gets a rapid progress. Especially in mountain roads, the influence of road construction on environment has increasingly been focused. The environmental problems of road construction on project are mostly embodied in those problems of water, air, and ecology. landscape, this paper is taking the Baise-Leye highway as the study area, using the remote sensing and uc-winroad to assess the view of highway. The landscape consideration of public roads mainly focuses on the internal coordination and the protection and use of topography. The purpose is to form highways with smooth and changeable visual landscape corridors.

Research on ecological investigation and evaluation of highway area in mountainous area based on RS and GIS

With the development of economy, the road construction of our country gets a rapid progress. Especially in mountain roads, the influence of road construction on environment has increasingly been focused. The environmental problems of road construction on project are mostly embodied in those problems of water, air, and ecology. landscape, this paper is taking the Baise-Leye highway as the study area, using the remote sensing and GIS technique to investigate the eco-environment. With RS, GIS, from Remote sensing analysis and ecological degradation degree evaluation, comprehensive consideration of the ecological characteristics, economic and cultural development level, environmental pollution prevention, etc. Investigate and study the ecological status of roads before and after highway construction. Provide a basis for the rational presentation of ecological restoration measures, system of highway ecological landscape by using 3S technology and analytic hierarchy process.

Research on Subgrade Differential Settlement Control Standard and Treatment Technology Based on Driving Comfort

At present, the geogrid is commonly used to treat the differential settlement of the subgrade at the joint of the filling and excavation effectively. In order to further improve the utilization rate of geogrid in the treatment of subgrade, the driving comfort index was proposed innovatively to control the subgrade differential settlement. Based on the human‐vehicle‐road coupling system model, the influence of subgrade differential settlement area, subsidence value, and vehicle speed on the maximum vertical acceleration of the human body was analyzed. The correlation between the vertical acceleration of the human body under different vehicle speeds and the differential settlement value was obtained through multiple regression calculations, and the subgrade differential settlement control standard based on driving comfort was proposed. By establishing the finite element model of the cut to fill subgrade, the characteristics of differential settlement at the top surface of the subgrade under different geogrid laying positions, densities, and lengths were calculated and analyzed. In addition, the differential settlement layout scheme of the geogrid disposal subgrade based on driving comfort was proposed, and the effectiveness of the scheme was verified by experiments. The results show that the position and length of the grid are the main factors affecting the treatment effect of the vertical and horizontal cut to fill subgrade. The proposed layout scheme can effectively control the differential settlement of the subgrade and raise the utilization rate of the geogrid. The research results can provide theoretical value and reference for the laying of geogrid in mountainous roads.

The Spring

The Spring Sheila R. Lamb (bio) That squirrel sat right in the middle of the chicken's feed pan, stuffing his fat cheeks full of corn crumble. Ice and snow pelted down, and then hens were underfoot, eager for their evening meal. Though those birds would peck a mouse to death or quarter a toad—a foursome group effort, each hen heading in its own cardinal direction—they shied away from the squirrels. Used to be I'd let [End Page 80] my hound out with the chickens. She'd corner a squirrel quick, catch it by the neck, and shake it until the life was gone. I didn't have a dog anymore—I figured it might outlive me if I got one now—so I made for the manure shovel. I raised it, took aim, and smashed the squirrel, right on the skull. Left it in the pan. Let the hens gather round. Weather as it was didn't bode well for the squirrels or for anyone who might be driving on the mountain. When you get winter up here, it works something like this: snow and rain stick to the road and then turns into an icy sort of slush. What people don't get when they come up here to hike the trail is the altitude. They don't understand the concept of high-up. They think "country" not "mountain," until they spin out in their underprepared SUV and get caught in the ditch that runs alongside our road. Later, after the storm, Bobby tugs them out in the tow, because ice, altitude, and steep incline don't mix, at least not here on the line between South and Mountain. The ditch is a waterway, and the spring that fills it begins in my backyard. It's the water for which our entire county is named because somewhere east the spring turns into a river, into a bay, into an ocean, but here it is my backyard spring and its run-off is the reason for precarious driving on our mountain road. Way back, Eric wanted to make the spring a tourist site. Charge them a dollar or two to come and see, but the county supervisors ruled no. Said it would be too much traffic or somesuch, even though it takes some doing to find our road and the section of trail it intersects. Eric wanted to bring the tourists up anyhow. "You can't get people up here without a sign to it," I argued. "And as soon as you set out that sign, Bobby'll come on up and take it down." In addition to driving the tow truck, Bobby was also a county supervisor. No stopping him making money [End Page 81] on the side but it was the rest of us that had to kowtow to his rules. "Bobby can't stop us from doing what we want on our own property, Sarah." What you want to do, I thought loudly. But I only said, "I think he just did." "It's our spring. One of a kind. Marked from here to the ocean." I rolled my eyes and shut my mouth. Eric had been a geologist who also fancied himself some sort of expert in tourism and natural springs. Jacob I could talk to, but not Eric. No point in it. After a quarter century of marriage, I knew that Eric would push to do what he wanted but I wasn't going to give in on the spring. I wasn't going to let him give Bobby Winetree a reason to set foot on our property. Bobby didn't like us none since we bought the cabin twenty some-odd years ago. I had settled in and taught school local while Eric kept one foot in the outside world. Traveled in and out of airports for his geologist work or his mistress meetings, I supposed. I got me a henhouse, a dog, a truck, and then started the egg business which seemed to please most everyone at the time, including Bobby. Enough people done left our mountain, left the county for city work. Bobby learned to be glad for...

Investigation of the suspension of vehicles moving on stone roads

The paper studies the problem of traffic on mountain roads of natural origin. A mathematical model of a natural stone road is presented, the paper demonstrates also diagrams of “floodplain surface vs. support bed slope” correlation function. The calculation of the ride comfort of vehicles utilizes a four-mass model. Calculation results are demonstrated for a GAZ-3308 truck, as well as for a vehicle with half the suspension rate. The result obtained shows 30-50% reduction of the vibration load at a suspension rate reduction by 50%, dependent on the road type. The travel speed can be increased by 45% dependent on the road type and driver’s work time.

Drift Trike elektromos hajtásláncának tervezése

Drift trike. The name of the device stands of two separate words, one is drift, the another is Trike. Drift is a cornering technique from Japan that appeared in the 1960s on the serpentines of the Japanese mountain roads. The Drift trike is a vehicle that was invented in 2009 in New Zealand. The first trikes were not self-propelled devices, and they had to be transported to greater distances, or towed to the top of serpentine roads by cars or trucks. Thanks to today’s technologies, it is possible to design a drift trike with an electric powertrain, making it a self-propelled vehicle that can be driven on flat terrain and uphill also. In the next article, I will discuss the conceptional design of such a drivetrain.

Stability Analysis of Plant-Root-Reinforced Shallow Slopes along Mountainous Road Corridors Based on Numerical Modeling

Engineering methods such as soil nails, geosynthetic reinforcement, retaining structures, gabions, and shotcrete are implemented to stabilize road cut slopes along mountainous areas. However, these structures are not environmentally friendly and, particularly in Ethiopia, it is impossible to address all road problems due to financial limitations. Nowadays, soil reinforcement with plant roots is recognized as an environmentally sustainable alternative to improve shallow slope failure along mountainous transportation corridors. The aims of this study was, therefore, to conduct slope stability analysis along a road corridor by incorporating the effect of plant roots. Five plant species were selected for the analysis based on their mechanical characteristics. Namely, Eucalyptus globules (tree), Psidium guajava (shrub), Salix subserrata (shrub), Chrysopogon zizanioides, and Pennisetum macrourum (grasses). The roots’ tensile strength and soil parameters were determined through tensile strength testing and triaxial compression tests, respectively. The factor of safety of the slope was calculated by the PLAXIS-2D software. The study showed that when the slope was reinforced with plant roots, the factor of safety (FOS) improved from 22–34%. The decreasing effect of vegetation on slope stability was observed when soil moisture increased. The sensitivity analysis also indicated that: (1) as the spacing between plants decreased, the effect of vegetation on the slope increased. (2) Slope angle modification with a combination of plant roots had a significant impact on slope stabilization. Of the five-selected plant species, Salix subserrata was the promising plant species for slope stabilization as it exhibited better root mechanical properties among selected plant species.

Screening for Salt and Water Stress Tolerance in Fir (Abies alba) Populations

Drought periods are becoming more frequent and intense, due to the effects of climate change, threatening natural habitats worldwide, including European forests. Forest trees can also be affected by high soil salinity, because of the common practice of de-icing of mountain roads with NaCl in winter. We have evaluated the responses to salt and water stress of silver fir (Abies alba), an important forest species for which very limited information is available. One-year-old fir seedlings, with origin in seven different locations in Romania, were subjected to salt (watering with NaCl solutions of increasing concentrations) and water deficit (complete withholding of irrigation) treatments in the greenhouse. After one month, plant material was harvested and different morphological parameters were determined in the stressed and control plants. Both stress treatments inhibited growth of fir seedlings from all seven provenances, although quantitative differences in the responses to stress were observed between populations. Growth inhibition was established by the relative reduction – as compared to the non-stressed controls - in several parameters, such as stem elongation, root length, number of needles, or fresh weight and water content of roots and needles. Statistical multivariate analysis of the results suggested that seedlings from Valea Morii (population 6) were the most tolerant to both, water deficit and high (300 mM NaCl) salt concentrations. These results support the possibility to screen a large number of individuals from different populations, at the seedling stage, to select Abies alba genotypes with enhanced drought and/or salinity tolerance.
 
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 In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 4, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue.
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Continuous Athlete Monitoring in Challenging Cycling Environments Using IoT Technologies

Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions for sport analytics aim to improve performance, coaching, and strategic insights. These factors are especially relevant in cycling, where real-time data should be available anytime, anywhere, even in remote areas where there are no infrastructure-based communication technologies (e.g., LTE and Wi-Fi). In this article, we present an experience report on the use of state-of-the-art IoT technologies in cycling, where a group of cyclists can form a reliable and energy efficient mesh network to collect and process sensor data in real-time, such as heart rate, speed, and location. This data is analyzed in real-time to estimate the performance of each rider and derive instantaneous feedback. Our solution is the first to combine a local body area network to gather the sensor data from the cyclist and a 6TiSCH network to form a multihop long-range wireless sensor network in order to provide each bicycle with connectivity to the sink (e.g., a moving car following the cyclists). In this article, we present a detailed technical description of this solution, describing its requirements, options, and technical challenges. In order to assess such a deployment, we present a large publicly available data-set from different real-world cycling scenarios (mountain road cycle racing and cyclo-cross) which characterizes the performance of the approach, demonstrating its feasibility and evidencing its relevance and promising possibilities in a cycling context for providing low-power communication with reliable performance.

Autonomous lane detection on hilly terrain for perception-based navigation applications

ABSTRACTThe objective of our venture is to actualize a lane detection framework considering expanding the usability of driver assistance system functions, attempting to overcome the problems of the generalized method. It is tuned to detect mountainous roads on the Indian hilly terrain. The proposed technique acquires a video sequence as input and performs operation on each frame to extract the candidate lane lines. The novelty of this work is that a unique method is used to decide upon whether the lane is on the straight or curved roads and adaptive thresholding is used as it can adjust its value for various environmental conditions. Kalman filter is used in the lane tracking stage where the feasible results obtained for the present frame are compared with the results in the previous video frames. Comparison of the presented algorithm with the conventional method is carried out and attained an average detection accuracy of 93%.

Does familiarity breed competence or contempt? Effects of driver experience, road type and familiarity on hazard perception

Driving is one of the most complex and dangerous tasks that is regularly performed by most adults. Whereas most research examines performance in novel situations, most everyday driving occurs in highly familiar settings, such as our daily commute. Here we compared drivers’ hazard identification on familiar roads with similar but unfamiliar roads, for five road types: city streets, suburban streets, urban roads, mountain roads, and motorways. Participants were 45 experienced drivers with on average 17.6 years driving experience ( SD = 5.2), and 32 novices with on average 6.2 months solo driving ( SD = 3.5). Experienced drivers identified more hazards than novices, regardless of road type, but the magnitude of the effect was surprisingly small. The overall effect of location familiarity on hazard identification was not statistically significant, but there were significant effects of road type and significant interactions between familiarity and road type, which suggests researchers should be cautious when generalizing results obtained from one road context to another.

Longitudinal acceleration of vehicles on complex mountain roads

Longitudinal acceleration is an important parameter used to describe a vehicle's kinematic behaviour and driver behaviour. Existing research on this parameter mainly focuses on urban roads. In this study, operational data were collected from vehicles travelling on two-lane mountain roads with complex shapes under normal driving conditions. The longitudinal acceleration's relationship with and sensitivity to road geometry and driving speed were analysed. The results showed that the inflection points of the cumulative frequency profile of acceleration/deceleration were located between the 90th and 92nd percentiles. At the 85th percentile, the acceleration and deceleration rates were 0·60 and 0·85 m/s2, respectively. Additionally, the probability distribution curves for acceleration and deceleration were both positively skewed, and the peak values of the curves were 0·17 and 0·25 m/s2, respectively. Furthermore, as the curve radius increased, the acceleration and deceleration rates decreased, and as the curve deflection angle increased, the acceleration and deceleration rates increased. The critical radius at which a driver would no longer decelerate while negotiating a curve was 275 m for the observed driving behaviour. Finally, as the driving speed increased, the acceleration rate decreased and finally became zero when the driving speed reached 90 km/h.

A Multiple Feature Fully Convolutional Network for Road Extraction From High-Resolution Remote Sensing Image Over Mountainous Areas

Road extraction from the remote sensing image over mountainous areas is a difficult vision problem. In this letter, we propose a multiple feature fully convolutional network (MFFCN) on the basis of FCN for mountainous road extraction. The benefits of this model are twofold: first, MFFCN is a semantic segmentation model, which has deep convolutional networks. It avoids the problem of repeated storage and computational convolutions caused by the use of pixel blocks. Second, the MFFCN model could extract the spectral and terrain features. This method ensures the integrity and continuity of the road extraction results. The dataset is composed of GF-2 data and ASTER GDEM data in the Shigatse region of Tibet. We test our network on the dataset and compare it with four road extraction methods. The result shows that the proposed MFFCN is superior to all the comparing methods.

Numerical study of the stopping distance for runaway vehicle on truck escape ramp by using the improved equation of car driving

The stopping distance of the runaway vehicle on the mountain road directly affects the length design of the arrester bed. Since the subsidence depth of runaway vehicle wheel on the arrester bed is neglected in the past researches, the stopping distance estimated by the vehicle driving equation is not accurate. The purpose of this paper is to supplement the influence of subsidence depth on rolling resistance and the influence of mountain highway altitude on air resistance, and improve the estimation accuracy through improved vehicle driving equation. Firstly, the formula for fitting the subsidence depth is established, and the formula for calculating the pushing resistance and compaction resistance is added. Considering the influence of the altitude of the mountain road on the air resistance, the formula for calculating the corrected air resistance and the air lift is added too and the improved vehicle driving equation is generated. Secondly, a simulink model is established based on the improved vehicle driving equation and determine the attester bed entering position and the initial entering speed of the runaway vehicle. Finally, the simulation model is run and analysed. The results show that the error rate of the simulation results is less than 8.0% compared with the full-scale test data. Compared with original equation, the shortening rate of the stopping distance is up to 85.59%.

Development of technologies for mountain trams driven through sharp curves

The mountain tram is an environmentally friendly transportation system that is driven wirelessly on an embedded track constructed on former mountain roads. While it has a number of strong points, including being able to be driven in spite of a frozen road, some difficulties are caused on sharp and steep tracks. In this study, after possible technical problems were defined in mountain trams driven on sharp and steep tracks, design solutions for the coupling structure of bogie and car body were proposed. In addition, a prototype was made and its performance was tested to verify the solution. Since the distance difference of inner and outer rails on the sharp curve is severe enough to interrupt running, independently rotating wheels with different angular speeds were developed and applied. To prevent derailment due to large attack angle and lateral force caused by the previous vehicle in a 2-bogie-1-carbody design on a sharp curve, a 1-bogie-1-carbody vehicle was designed and applied. A prototype 1-bogie-1-carbody vehicle with independent rotating wheels was made to prove the performance during test drives on a small track. To absorb the large rotations of 3 degrees-of-freedom between the car bodies of a mountain tram driven on the steep curved track, a coupler was designed. After a small scale prototype was made, the performance was verified through a function test.

Optimization of Design Parameters for Leaf Spring by Taguchi Technique

Spring design in vehicles is one of the basic requirements in the system of suspension as by ensuring the proper design, the necessary comfort for passengers can be obtained. Thus, the car's stability on the road and in different places (the flat roads, winding roads and mountain roads) will be achieved. Given this importance, there are many factors that affect the design of springs (leaf springs). This research includes the study of three factors considered namely :( thickness, length and step) of springs. Taguchi experiment is used in determining the best among the tests performed. Then each factor was taken individually in control to get the design parameters for the leaf spring. Taguchi technique is applied in the design process of the three factors and mix levels to choose the optimal level for each factor that gives nominal of suitable displacement, stress and load. Optimal levels that have been achieved for case study of leaf spring of a total thickness of (12) mm were: Spring work in regions with high bumps. Spring work in flat areas and highways. Spring work in the middle regions (winding roads within cities). Applied cases studied were NISSAN, SCANIA and MAN automobiles to apply this rule and compare the actual design specifications of these automobiles. The output results showed a complete compatibility between these cases.

What Do Closed Mountain Roads Tell Us About Territories? A Critical Analysis of Abandonment, Re-Appropriation and Valorisation in the Vercors (19th-21st Century)

In the Alps, mountain roads offer clear examples of the 19th-century policy of modernising road networks. In the middle of the 1800s, the Vercors mountain range in the French departments of Isère and Drôme was criss-crossed by a network of carriageable roads. Most of these roads were built to transport wood but rapidly became tourist routes. After the Second World War, the roads started being used more and more as daily transit increased. At the end of the 1970s, however, the risk of landslides was increasingly becoming an issue. Some of the roads were closed following landslides or after the construction of safer and faster roads. At the time they were built, these roads were symbols of modernity. Later, as they became obsolete, they came to embody both the development strategies of territories and the legacy of former policies of modernisation. Now, this closed roads aren’t showed alongside other “magnificent roads”.

Invited perspectives: Mountain roads in Nepal at a new crossroads

Abstract. In Nepal and many developing countries around the world, roads are vehicles for development for communities in rural areas. By reducing travel time on foot, opportunities are opened for quicker transportation of goods and better access to employment, education, health care and markets. Roads also fuel migration and numerous social changes, both positive and negative. Poorly constructed roads in mountainous areas of Nepal have increased erosion and landslide risk as they often cut through fragile geology, destabilizing slopes and altering local hydrological conditions, with costs to lives and livelihoods. The convergence of the newly constituted decentralized Nepali government with China's Belt and Road Initiative is likely to bring more roads to rural communities. The new provincial government administrations now have the opportunity to develop policies and practices, which can realign the current trend of poorly engineered, inefficient and hazardous road construction toward a more sustainable trajectory. This commentary provides an overview of some of the obstacles along the way for a more sustainable road network in Nepal and illustrates how good governance, development and landslide risk are intertwined. The opinion presented in this brief commentary lends little hope that Nepal's current pathway of unsustainable road construction will provide the country with the much-needed sustainable road network, unless checks and balances are put in place to curb noncompliance with existing laws and policies.

Optimal Route in International Transportation of Thailand – Guangxi (China)

Objective - This study examines the selection of international transportation routes from Thailand to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi), People's Republic of China. Guangxi has been designated a significant role as the gateway to ASEAN and has several land borders and seaports connecting to countries in ASEAN. Methodology/Technique - In this work, we studied 6 connecting routes, 3 of which are road routes, namely routes R8, R9, and R12 and 3 other multimodal (road-sea) routes operating from/to Laemchabang port and Nanning of Guangxi, route through Haiphong port of Vietnam, route through Qinzhou port of China, and route through Guangzhou port of China. We analysed the data using the Cost/Time Distance Model, in combination with surveys and in-depth interviews, to investigate the limitations and benefits of each route. Findings - Base on costs in 2017, we found that sea routes have much lower costs than the land routes in general; the lowest cost is route through Qinzhou port. On the other hand, the time used in transportation is much shorter for the land routes; the shortest route is the R12 route. Furthermore, in terms of limitations and benefits, we found that the Qinzhou route has many limitations such as long custom processes for fruit and agricultural products and no backhaul cargo. Meanwhile, the limitations for route R8 include crossing Mekong river on truck ferries and the presence of very steep mountain roads in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Route R12 winds down the mountain both in Vietnam and Laos, whereas route R9 is advantageous; most of that route has a flat terrain and is operated under the Cross-Border Transport Agreement (CBTA). The route through Haiphong port is also advantageous with a direct highway from Haiphong to Hanoi of Vietnam. In conclusion, it is suggested that road transportation is more efficient than sea transportation. Novelty - Further consideration among road routes and, with emphasis on costs and time, the best route is then route R12. However, if one is concerned with risk of damage to products, then route R9 is the best. The optimal route from Thailand to Guangxi depends on the conditions and decision criteria of the stakeholders. Type of Paper - Empirical. Keywords: International Transportation; Multimodal Transportation; Cost/time Distance Model; Guangxi (China); Road Transportation; Sea Transportation. JEL Classification: F02, F10, F19.