Municipal Road Research Articles

Key Points of Reconstruction of Municipal Road Surface and Construction Technology

Key Points of Reconstruction of Municipal Road Surface and Construction Technology

Factors Affecting Farmers’ Utilization of Rapid Composting Technology (RCT) in Zambales, Philippines

The study aimed to determine the factors that influenced the utilization of rapid composting technology of the farmers in Zambales who had undergone training under the Expanded Rapid Modified Composting (EMRC) program. A semi-structured interview schedule was administered to 156 randomly selected EMRC beneficiaries from the six municipalities of Zambales. The study employed an ex-post facto correlational research analysis, which was a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation were used to verify the relationship of the variables such as farmers’ characteristics, farm attributes, and institutional factors with technology utilization. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the farmers’ characteristics such as household size and income, membership in farmers’ organizations, and ownership of hand tractor were found to significantly influenced RCT utilization. Farm profile of the respondents which include the soil type, and the distance of their farm from the municipal road and the CFA laboratory were the variables that showed significant effects to technology utilization. Among the institutional factors studied, the number of topics learned during the program and the adequacy of the provided input were found as contributory factors. Variables such as sex, age, civil status, educational attainment, number of years in farming, ownership of land and draft animals, farm distance from home and market, type if irrigation facilities, nature of services provided by the extension agents, and the nature of technology promotion did not significantly influence RCT utilization. About 106 or 68% of the respondents utilized the technology. Several constraints on the use of RCT were identified, among which are the unavailability of inoculants, insufficient knowledge on the promoted technology, unsustainability of the extension services provided to the farmers, and the farmers’ preconceived ideas on the negative effects of the introduced technology to health and crop production. The farmers utilized the RCT (trial stage) but did not reach the adoption stage. This study showed that the characteristics of the technology users, farm profile, and institutional factors are important determinants on the utilization of rapid composting techniques. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for the improvement on the provision of extension services particularly in enhancing the rate of utilization and adoption of agricultural technologies.

Discussion on Construction Management and Technical Points of Drainage Pipeline in Municipal Road Engineering

Discussion on Construction Management and Technical Points of Drainage Pipeline in Municipal Road Engineering

Analysis on Optimization Strategy of Municipal Road Design Based on BIM Technology

Analysis on Optimization Strategy of Municipal Road Design Based on BIM Technology

Performance-Based Ranking of Existing Road Bridges

Bridge condition assessment in most European countries is based on visual inspection in combination with damage assessment of bridge components. For adequate bridge management, the assessment needs to be further developed to move from the bridge component level to the system functionality level and finally to the priority ranking level for repairs in the network. Although visual inspection provides only qualitative insights into bridge condition and cannot predict load-carrying capacity, it is still very often the only way to collect data on existing bridges and can provide very important information for evaluating structural safety, traffic safety, durability, and overall bridge condition. Therefore, this paper presents a unique procedure that establishes a relationship between a country-specific bridge condition assessment procedure based on visual inspection and the systematization of key bridge performance indicators developed within the European integrated management approach at three complementary and interrelated levels—component, system, and network levels. The assessment procedure for existing bridges initiates with damage assessment based on visual inspection of bridge components and runs through weighting at component, system, and network levels to the six most important key performance indicators (KPIs) for road bridges, which are organized as graphical and numerical inputs for ranking priority maintenance. These are bridge condition assessment, structural safety, traffic safety, durability indicator, availability, and the importance of the bridge in the network. The procedure is validated on a case study set of five real bridges, using the decision-making process as an example for the small sample size. The case study bridges differ in cross-section, type, and span (which vary from 9.5 to 72 m). The bridges were built between 1958 and 2001 and are located either on state or municipal roads in Croatia. The results, in terms of condition classification and priorities of future interventions within the representative group of bridges, justify the application of the described assessment procedure. Additional digitization efforts could easily implement the described assessment approach at the infrastructure network level.

Analysis on Construction Management Suggestions of Municipal Road Comprehensive Reconstruction Project

Analysis on Construction Management Suggestions of Municipal Road Comprehensive Reconstruction Project

Practice of Construction Technology of Bored Cast-in-place Pile in Construction of Municipal Road and Bridge

Practice of Construction Technology of Bored Cast-in-place Pile in Construction of Municipal Road and Bridge

Discussion on Construction Technology and Quality Control of Municipal Road and Bridge

Discussion on Construction Technology and Quality Control of Municipal Road and Bridge

Systemic criticality\u2014a new assessment concept improving the evidence basis for CI protection

With high certainty, extreme weather events will intensify in their impact within the next 10 years due to climate change-induced increases in hazard probability of occurrence and simultaneous increases in socio-economic vulnerability. Data from previous mega-disasters show that losses from disruptions of critical services surpass the value of direct damages in the exposed areas because critical infrastructures [CI] are increasingly (inter-) dependent. Local events may have global impacts. Systemic criticality, which describes the relevance of a critical infrastructure due to its positioning within the system, needs to be addressed to reduce the likelihood of cascading effects. This paper presents novel approaches to operationalise and assess systemic criticality. Firstly, the paper introduces systemic cascade potential as a measurement of systemic criticality. It takes the relevance of a sector and the relevance of its interdependencies into account to generate a relative value of systemic importance for a CI sector. Secondly, an exemplary sectoral assessment of the road network allows reflecting the spatial manifestation of the first level of cascading effects. It analyses the impact of traffic interruptions on the accessibility of critical facilities to point out the systemically most critical segments of the municipal road network. To further operationalise the spatial dimension of criticality, a normative assertion determining the worthiness of protection of system components is required. A nationwide spatial flood protection plan incorporates this aspect in Germany for the first time. Its formal approval process was initiated in February 2020.

Capacity in municipalities: Infrastructures, maintenance debts and ways of overcoming a run-to-failure mentality

There is a growing maintenance debt of ageing and critical infrastructures in many municipalities in European welfare states. In this article, we use the multidimensional concept of local capacity as a point of departure to analyse how and in what ways Swedish municipalities work with the routine maintenance of infrastructures, including municipal road networks as well as water and sewage systems. For the road networks, maintenance is generally outsourced to contractors and there is also a large degree of tolerance for various standards on different road segments within and between the municipalities. Less used road segments are not as prioritised as those with heavy traffic. For the water and sewage systems, in-house technical capacity is needed as differences in water quality are not tolerated. Economies of scale mean that in-house capacity is translated into the creation of inter-municipal bodies. As different forms of capacities tend to reinforce each other, municipal capacity builds up over time in circular movements. These results add knowledge to current research by pointing to the ways municipalities are overcoming a run-to-failure mentality by building capacity to pay off the infrastructural maintenance debt.

Discussion on the Application of Soft Foundation Reinforcement Technology in Municipal Road Construction

Discussion on the Application of Soft Foundation Reinforcement Technology in Municipal Road Construction

Thinking and Practice of Bored Pile Construction Technology in Municipal Road and Bridge Construction

Thinking and Practice of Bored Pile Construction Technology in Municipal Road and Bridge Construction

Construction Analysis of Cast-in-place Box Girder Formwork in Municipal Road and Bridge Engineering

Construction Analysis of Cast-in-place Box Girder Formwork in Municipal Road and Bridge Engineering

Influencing Factors and Optimization Measures of Municipal Road and Bridge Construction Technology

Influencing Factors and Optimization Measures of Municipal Road and Bridge Construction Technology

Application of Expansion Joint Construction in Municipal Road and Bridge construction

Application of Expansion Joint Construction in Municipal Road and Bridge construction

Discussion on Municipal Road Design Optimization Based on BIM Technology

Discussion on Municipal Road Design Optimization Based on BIM Technology

A probabilistic approach for the evaluation of the stabilizing forces of fully grouted bolts

The essential task of the ground reinforcement techniques is to keep the rock as stable as possible. In particular passive rock bolt should resist the rock movements along its entire length and through the resulting reaction forces, to improve the load-bearing capacity of the rock. Among different calculation techniques, the calculations based on Block Reinforcement Procedure (BRP) was used in this paper, also adopting some simplified equations available in the scientific literature. However, parameters influencing the interaction are difficult to evaluate. Therefore, the problem of the reliable definition of the parameters that most influence the behavior of the bolts and the evaluation of the stabilizing forces of the potentially unstable block of rock remains. A new probabilistic approach is presented in this article, able to appropriately manage the uncertainties present on the fundamental parameters of the bolt-rock interaction and on the mechanical characteristics of the sliding surface of the block. Through the use of a Monte Carlo procedure, in fact, it was possible to obtain different samples of the safety factors of the rock block, one for each diameter of the steel bars used for its stabilization. Finally, the probabilistic management of the safety factor samples allowed the correct design of the steel bars, by evaluating the probability that the safety factor of the block with regard to potential slipping has a value lower than a pre-established limit. The probabilistic approach developed was applied to a real problem of stabilization of a potentially unstable rock block due to planar sliding, present on a municipal road in North Italy.

Charging the Budget of the City Wrocław with Urbanisation Costs (Poland)

The paper deals with the issue of charging local authorities with the costs of realisation of the provisions contained in local spatial development plans in Wrocław (Poland). Considering the planned spatial development in the area of the city Wrocław, the urbanisation costs that are chargeable to the municipality budget were identified. The economic effects of preparing areas designated for development in the residential programme offer were analysed. The paper provides an analysis of the cost of realisation of investments that belong to own duties of the municipality, including the cost of building municipality roads, sewage and water supply networks, arranging public greenery and purchasing land for public investments. The analyses were performed within the administrative borders of the city. The prognosed costs of the realisation of local spatial development plans demonstrate significant expenditure that Wrocław has to incur for the construction of sewage network and municipal roads. Additionally, the development of new areas will require the city of Wrocław to take over the real properties on which public goals are planned to be realised. One should thoroughly consider the actual need for new investment areas in the city. Demographic forecasts demonstrate that the areas designated for development significantly exceed the demand.

Nitrification and denitrification functions of microbial population in bioretention cells: a case study of Shenzhen

Bioretention cells are important facilities for purification of urban runoff in the sponge city construction, and the inside microorganisms play a key role in the treatment of runoff nitrogen. In order to reveal the mechanism of nitrogen removal in bioretention cells, 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene-Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology and real-time fluorescence quantification method are used to investigate the diversity and phylum-level distribution of total bacteria in 8 typical bioretention cells in Shenzhen, and analyze the community structure, functional gene abundance of nitrifying and denitrifying functional microorganisms and their relationship with environmental factors. The results show that: ① The main predominant phyla in the bioretention cells are Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes, Bacteroides, Acidobacteria,Chloroflexi, and Firmicutes. Their relative abundance accounts for 93.49%~94.80% of the community. ② The most abundant nitrifying bacteria in the microbial community are Nitrosomonadaceae and Nitrospira; the most abundant denitrifying bacteria are Bacillus, followed by Lysinibacillus and Pseudomonas. ③ The copy numbers of nitrification and denitrification functional genes in different bioretention cells show large differences, and the abundance of nitrification and denitrification functional genes in the samples of bioretention cells beside municipal roads all show higher values. ④ The diversity of nitrogen-converting microorganisms and the abundance of functional genes in bioretention cells are affected by the combined effects of system structure, vegetation type, and pollution load. Denitrifying bacteria are more susceptible to environmental factors.This study can provide ideas for the evaluation and improvement of the nitrogen removal function of bioretention cells.

Construction Method and Quality Control in Municipal Road Engineering

Construction Method and Quality Control in Municipal Road Engineering