Multifunctional Infrastructure Research Articles

Testing Photovoltaic Pavers for Roadway Applications

<p><em>Concrete and asphalt are the primary materials used to construct roadways for motor vehicles, bike paths for pedestrians and bicyclists, and runways for aircraft. Solar Roadways®, Inc. (SR) in Sandpoint, ID, proposed using robust, Solar Road Panels (SRPs) as an alternative roadway material due to the potential for creating a modular, multi-functional infrastructure product with cost-savings, user-safety, power-generation, and a better alternative in terms of environmental sustainability when compared to contemporary pavement materials. Typical roadway construction materials, on average, need to be replaced every 10-15 years while also requiring regular annual maintenance to maintain proper safety standards. SR’s novel roadway material is intended to extend roadway replacement timelines, lower annual maintenance costs, and provide energy to the power grid. In this study, we tested the mechanical properties of the “SR3” model prototype SRP and evaluated its suitability as a replacement roadway material with the added benefit of generating electric power. Specifically, we tested this unique pavement material in submerged water environments, under extreme temperature conditions, and under dynamic loading conditions.</em></p>

Methodolody for planning multi-functional transport corridors taking into consideration the special requirements of electromobility

To introduce greater electromobility, there should be 1 million electric private vehicles on the german roads by 2020. Therefore, it will be necessary to plan and construct multi-functional infrastructure corridors to in-clude traffic infrastructure, equipment for generating energy (solar power units and wind turbines), charging systems (charging points, places and lanes) and supply networks. Zwickau University has developed a new methodology for designing multi-functional corridors to create infrastructure corridors with variable dimensions, taking into account constraints. Within a pilot scheme, the corridor route and the energy balance (energy needs/energy yields) have been determined for a section of freeway.

Multifunctional Roads

Rural roads are built to improve people’s mobility and to enhance access to markets, administrative centres, schools and health posts, and are credited with important socio-economic changes. A less studied aspect is the impact of roads on hydrological resources, as roads interact with existing surface and groundwater flows, redistributing water-related hazards and resources across space with significant consequences on people and their livelihoods. In Ethiopia, the government has embarked on a massive road construction programme over the last decade, mainly to serve the needs of an essentially rural population and agrarian economy. In parallel, the government has also been investing significantly in water harvesting and conservation measures and irrigation to serve the needs of a population whose livelihoods depend heavily on rain-fed agriculture. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 in the semi-arid region of Tigray, Ethiopia, this article explores the opportunities and potential for multifunctional infrastructures. We argue that the two distinctive objectives of improving road connectivity and water availability for irrigation are interlinked and can be served by the same infrastructure, which we call multifunctional roads.

Estimating ozone risks using forest monitoring networks—results for science, policy, and society

Few integration steps (adding low-cost ozone measurements, link to existing conventional monitors, joint data processing) transformed the traditional forest monitoring network into a multifunctional infrastructure producing information relevant for estimating risk to vegetation and human health Traditionally, forest monitoring networks have been designed to assess status and trends of forest condition. We argue that they can help providing answers to a much broader range of questions for science, policy, and society. Here, we concentrate on the example of ground-level ozone pollution. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the value of present forest monitoring networks as infrastructures that—with few integration steps—can provide important data and information to estimate the risk posed by ground-level ozone to vegetation and human health. We measured ozone concentration by passive samplers at the local (Trentino, northern Italy) plots of the ICP Forests Level I network over the period 2007–2011. By integrating these data with those from conventional ozone monitors (mostly located in urban areas), we (i) obtained an even distribution of air quality measurements over the investigated area, (ii) estimated international exposure indicators for vegetation and human population, and (iii) obtained data allowing geostatistical modeling and mapping of ozone concentrations, exposure, and associated potential risk. Mean May–July ozone concentration ranged from 58 to 169 μg m−3, depending on forest site and year. Modeling and mapping (root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) = 12.31 μg m−3) provided evidence that the risk threshold for vegetation in terms of AOT40 was exceeded in large parts (90 %) of the study area, and frequently even by two times, depending on the year. With respect to population, up to 43 % of the dwellers were exposed to medium–high risk of exceedances of the information threshold. Ozone measurements carried out at the ICP Forests Level I forest monitoring network permitted mapping ozone levels and the estimation of possible risk for vegetation and human health. Forest monitoring networks can be seen as infrastructures that can be useful to address a wide range of environmental issues and with a much broader scope than their original one.

Historical analysis of rationalizing South West coastal polders of Bangladesh

After more than a decade of meeting the designated objective of increasing productivity in agriculture, the South West coastal polders of Bangladesh have ended up as different man-made disasters. The failure of the polders to deliver the intended outcome is basically attributed to the lack of understanding of their hydro-morphological characteristics, inadequacy in their operation and maintenance, and failure to take into account their social relationship and culture roles. Changes in socioeconomic settings have also forced changes in the designated functions of the polders, but now the emerging context of climate change has become a major issue in rationalizing the coastal polders. In this context, this study is an attempt to review the historical and ongoing process of rationalization of the South West coastal polders, revealing that it is essential to take an integrated view of the hydrologic cycle and the interactions of human interventions. Finally, this paper recommends that an extended cost–benefit analysis with a multi-objective focus or a multi-criteria analysis, if monetizing is not possible, should be an option in rationalizing this multi-functional infrastructure. Proper macro-planning would require development of an institution capable of dealing with a task which is multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary in nature.

City blood: A visionary infrastructure solution for household energy provision through water distribution networks

This paper aims to expand current thinking about the future of energy and water utility provision by presenting a radical idea: it proposes a combined delivery system for household energy and water utilities, which is inspired by an analogy with the human body. It envisions a multi-functional infrastructure for cities of the future, modelled on the human circulatory system.Red blood cells play a crucial role as energy carriers in biological energy distribution; they are suspended in the blood, and distributed around the body to fuel the living cells. So why not use an analogous system – an urban circulatory system, or “city blood” – to deliver energy and water simultaneously via one dedicated pipeline system? This paper focuses on analysing the scientific, technological and economic feasibilities and hurdles which would need to be overcome in order to achieve this idea.We present a rationale for the requirement of an improved household utility delivery infrastructure, and discuss the inspirational analogy; the technological components required to realise the vignette are also discussed. We identify the most significant advance requirement for the proposal to succeed: the utilisation of solid or liquid substrate materials, delivered through water pipelines; their benefits and risks are discussed.

Single infrastructure utility provision to households: Technological feasibility study

This paper contemplates the future of utility infrastructure, and considers whether an “All-in-One” approach could supply all necessary utility services to tomorrow's households.The intention is not to propose infrastructure solutions that are currently technically feasible or justifiable, however; the objective is to present visions of future infrastructure that would only be possible with new advances in science and technology, or significant improvements and adaptations of existing knowledge and techniques.The All-in-One vision is explored using several vignettes, each of which envisions a novel, multi-functional infrastructure for serving future communities. The vignettes were conceived using imaginative exercises and brain-storming activities; each was then rooted in technological and scientific feasibility, as informed by extensive literature searches and the input of domain leaders. The vignettes tell their own stories, and we identify the challenges that would need to be overcome to make these visions into reality.The main aim of this work is to encourage radical approaches to thinking about future infrastructure provision, with a focus on rationalisation, efficiency, sustainability and resilience in preparation for the challenging times ahead. The All-in-One concept introduces the possibility of a unified and singular system for infrastructure service provision; this work seeks to explore the possibility space opened thereby.

Sophisticated strategies for information encounter in the lymph node: the reticular network as a conduit of soluble information and a highway for cell traffic.

The lymph node is the crossroad in which soluble signals and cells carried by lymph meet lymphocytes emigrating from blood. Efficient interactions among these elements depend on the reticular network, which comprises reticular fibers, related extracellular matrix components, and associated fibroblastic reticular cells. This network provides a three-dimensional scaffold for attachment of APCs and pathways for the migration of T cells to these APCs. In addition, the network constitutes a miniature conduit system for bulk flow delivery of soluble molecules to distinct sites in the paracortex, particularly the high endothelial venule. The delivered mediators, such as chemokines, regulate the phenotype of the high endothelial venule, the recruitment of lymphocytes, and the behavior of the recruited lymphocytes. Thus, the reticular network is a multifunctional infrastructure that facilitates encounters of cells with other cells and factors necessary for effective and efficient immune surveillance.

Practices and Hydrological Effects of Road Water Harvesting in Northern Ethiopia: Towards Design of Multi-Functional Infrastructures

Infrastructure development (including roads and railways) are among the major investments in many countries in Africa. Road hydraulic structures (road side drainages, culverts and bridges) are mostly designed to discharge concentrated flow of water. Unmanaged water from roads could lead to erosion, flooding, water logging, siltation, and even landslides. To convert such problems into opportunities, road water harvesting (RWH) was systematically promoted in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, in the years 2014-2018. The method/approach used include: (i) participatory selection of RWH technologies, (ii) implementation of the technologies through community mobilization, and (iii) monitoring the hydrological effects/benefits of the interventions (mainly on soil moisture and groundwater levels). Results of the study revealed that harvesting water from road catchments is found to have several benefits: increase in groundwater recharge (enhancing infiltration and reducing flooding), improvement in soil moisture, and increase in availability of surface water in ponds/reservoirs. Road water harvesting/management was found to be an instrument to create resilience to rainfall variability and reduce the negative effects of water from roads; an opportunity which need to be promoted not only in water and land management but also in infrastructural development whereby multi-functional roads could be designed/constructed.