National Transportation Infrastructure Research Articles

Novel methods for the control of blast noise from explosive depth hardening

DNV Spadeadam undertakes crucial major hazards testing to improve safety across a wide range of industries, including energy and infrastructure. One common form of testing is Explosive Depth Hardening (EDH) in which plastic explosives up to 10 kg TNT are used to harden pre-cast railway crossings in order to support national transport infrastructure. The operations produce extremely high intensity noise and are carried out up to 10 times per day. The source characteristics of the explosion are not well understood and vary significantly with operational demands. This has implications on occupational and environmental blast noise impacts. Quantification of the source characteristics are important for the exposures of site personnel with regards to providing adequate hearing protection. Moreover, for the purpose of managing environmental noise impacts on local communities, the uncertainties around source directivity and strength make long-range blast noise prediction difficult. This paper presents the current research on novel blast noise mitigation undertaken in the laboratory, such as experimental water curtains, water sprays, and metamaterial designs. It is proposed to implement novel methods developed in the laboratory for use during EDH shots at full-scale, and the potential improvements to occupational and environmental noise impacts will be discussed.

The usage of genetic algorithms when planning railway transportation in international connection

The railway transport system in Ukraine stands as a pivotal sector within the nation's transportation infrastructure, accounting for a substantial portion of freight and passenger movement compared to domestic alternative modes of transportation. With direct border connections and collaboration with railways in Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, Ukrzaliznytsia JSC facilitate operations through forty international railway crossings. The political climate in Ukraine, particularly the focus on export to EU countries, has sparked increased interest in transportation towards western border regions [1, 2]. This article delves into the challenges and opportunities surrounding the enhanced cooperation of Ukrainian border terminals with EU countries during wartime and post-war periods. It analyzes the current state of freight transportation to Europe, addressing existing challenges and outlining short- and long-term development prospects for railways. Emphasis is made on the vital role of railway transport in Ukraine's integration into the European transport network, presenting avenues for implementing plans connected with railway reconstruction and development. Container transportation commands a significant market share, with a growing trend towards its adoption. Container transport facilitates a substantial reduction in loading operations, a notable increase in labor productivity, and enables comprehensive mechanization and automation of cross-docking operations. As a transit country—four out of ten existing pan-European transport corridors traverse Ukraine— the nation possesses considerable potential for developing its railway transport system. With the third-largest railway network in Europe (19,787 km, including 9,319 km of electrified tracks), railway transport assumes a leading role in Ukraine's transportation landscape. However, despite its advantages, Ukraine's transportation and logistics system lags behind those of other countries worldwide. Modernization of tracks and rolling stock necessitates significant capital investment and time, underscoring the immediate need to enhance the quality of logistics services [3]. Therefore, this article explores optimization methods for container traffic from Ukraine to EU countries with the use of mathematical methods and algorithms. The genetic algorithm among the discussed methods is recognized as one of the premier mathematical algorithms for the specified task. This approach could play a pivotal role in establishing a robust technical system for railways along Ukraine's western border, optimizing border crossing operations, and enhancing Ukrainian railway transportation capabilities. It not only aids in identifying the fastest or most economical routes but reveals weaknesses in Ukrainian border terminals. Additional strategies can be devised for modernizing and expanding border terminals and stations by leveraging this insight, facilitating the integration of Ukrainian railways into the European transport system.

Sustainable Financing for Transport Infrastructure: An Integral Approach for the Russian Federation

The development of global transport infrastructure is a crucial aspect of economic growth and prosperity. In this study, the main trends in the development of global transport infrastructure are analyzed, with a focus on the state and trends in the functioning of the national transport infrastructure of the Russian Federation. By identifying key problems and determinants of financial growth, a preliminary decomposition is made to guide future development. Proceeding from the fact that the innovative development of Russia’s transport infrastructure should occur through state stimulation of the development of intellectual and partnership relationships and the formation of a digital environment for managing projects for its innovative transformation at the state level, this study identifies the goals, methods, and levels of ensuring the implementation of innovative transformations in transport infrastructure. Consideration of the historical aspects of the formation of the modern economy and comprehension of the mechanisms of state management and tools to ensure innovative transformations in the sphere of transport allowed us to identify three stages (dogmatic, strategic regulation, and innovative integration) of transformation regarding the theory of the state management for the innovative development of transport infrastructure in Russia. Taking into account the content of these periods of transformation allowed us to detail the specifics of the modern stage; highlight the shortcomings; and propose theoretical and methodological foundations for revising the provisions of the state regulation of innovative development in transport infrastructure. To determine the effectiveness of the processes of the state regulation of innovation activity in the transport industry, we propose a model for assessing the effectiveness of innovation activity in the transport complex, which is presented in the form of a three-level parametric system, where the first group of indicators allows us to assess the innovation activity of economic entities in the transport industry; the second allows us to assess innovation potential; and the third allows us to assess the effectiveness of innovation. The novelty of the proposed model is the consideration of the principles of dynamism, perspective, and expediency, and its application allows us to establish the level of innovative development in transport infrastructure. An important factor in ensuring the sustainable development of a country’s economy and forming its positive image in the world is its financial attractiveness. Therefore, the assessment of financial attractiveness is a priority task for the development of modern sustainable transport infrastructure in Russia.

Role of logistics innovation capabilities in supply chains operations at manufacturing firms

This study aims to examine the impact of Logistics Innovation Capabilities and mitigating the disruption risk in supply chain operations in the manufacturing Industries of Karachi Pakistan. With the fast growth in Pakistan's economy and vision 2025 seeks to enhance the national transport infrastructure and logistics network system. The demand for logistics services in Pakistan has been steadily expanding. Pakistan's Industry focuses more on adopting logistics innovation capabilities to provide their customer with better services. Quantitative research is designed to study the link between the capabilities of dependent and independent variables to minimize the risk. By empirically analyzing survey data SPSS is a popular method to validate the study model. The impact of innovation in logistics technologies has a huge positive influence affect by firm performance, environment uncertainty, technology implementation & customer side. Through Logistics Innovation capabilities, many empirical studies have been conducted to minimize the supply chain risk. This study provides empirical support for dependent and independent variables. Our results can help Pakistan's manufacturing industry develop logistics strategies and adopt innovation capabilities to reduce supply chain risk.

Research on Intelligent Inspection Method of Prestressed Bridge Engineering Based on Machine Learning

Abstract As an important engineering structure for national and regional transportation infrastructure construction, bridges have important economic, social, and strategic significance. The research centers on the intelligent detection of prestressed bridge engineering, on the one hand, combined with the finite element analysis of the prestressed beam modal in the obtained area, based on LS-SVM to construct the intelligent detection method of effective prestressing of bridge engineering. On the other hand, the ResNet neural network is selected for feature extraction of bridge characteristic parameters, and LSTM is combined to complete the fusion of bridge spatiotemporal features to construct an intelligent detection model of bridge technical condition based on the ResNet-LSTM joint network. The detection performance of the two methods is evaluated through simulation and experimental tests on the dataset. The analysis shows that the maximum error for effective prestress detection of the LS-SVM model is 15.584%, which is 6.121% lower than that of the BP neural network model. The technical condition detection error of less than 0.1 is basically greater than 90% in both discontinuous and continuous time-span detection. It has been verified that the LS-SVM model has a better identification effect on effective prestressing, while the ResNet-LSTM model has a high accuracy prediction effect on the technical condition of the bridge.

ІНСТРУМЕНТ ФІНАНСУВАННЯ СONNECTING ЕUROPE FACILITY (CEF) ЯК МЕХАНІЗМ РОЗВИТКУ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ ТРАНСПОРТНОЇ ІНФРАСТРУКТУРИ УКРАЇНИ

ntroduction. Active integration into the European Union, at the same time as the blockade of seaports and the difference in the standards of the transport sector, especially at border crossing points, creates a significant load on the capacity of the transport and logistics system of Ukraine, which, in turn, requires the search and involvement of various tools for strengthening competitiveness of Ukrainian infrastructure and its successful connection with global supply chains. Problem Statement. Transport infrastructure is a key factor of the economy competitiveness. It provides access to markets, resources and services and promotes economic growth and development. However, the challenges of global changes in the field of transport, which determine the need for constant modernization and development of infrastructure, call into question the competitiveness of countries and regions that cannot provide high-quality and efficient infrastructure. The use of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding tool provides a unique opportunity to improve the national transport infrastructure, ensure its sufficient funding in order to develop cross-border cooperation and increase competitiveness.

EVALUATION OF STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF CLAYEY SOIL USING BASALT FIBER AND GROUND GRANULATED BLAST FURNACE SLAG

The fundamental requirement of humanity is met by transportation. Everyone has traveled for food or pleasure since the beginning of time. Because there is a direct link between the caliber of a nation's transportation infrastructure and its level of development, everyone has high expectations for these facilities. Today's civil engineers have significant hurdles in creating transportation systems that are analytically sound, economically sound, environmentally benign, socially believable, sustainable, and practicable. The inadequacy of traditional construction techniques in the contemporary environment is generating interest in technologies like ground improvement. The development of the economies of developing nations like India depends heavily on the availability of an affordable road network. When it comes to highways, a weak subgrade layer of the pavement necessitates a thicker pavement, which raises the cost of building the pavement. Because of their weak shear strength, high potential for swelling, and poor bearing capacity, organic soils are not appropriate for construction work. Methods for stabilization and compaction can be used to address these sorts of soils. The major goal of the study in this work is to improve the geotechnical qualities of soil by the effective usage of stabilization utilizing basalt fiber and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) in varied quantities. The study used 2%, 3%, and 4% of basalt fiber and 5%, 10%, and 15% of powdered granulated blast furnace slag in three different amounts. Compaction and an unconfined compressive test (UCS) were performed on the reinforced soil. The findings of the trial indicated that the soil's compressive strength and shear strength had been effectively improved. Key Words: Compaction test, CBR, UCS, Basalt Fiber, GGBS

Preface

XVI National Transport Infrastructure Conference with International Participation The transport infrastructure is an issue that concerns every member of our society regardless of age, gender, or race. The necessity to discuss its flaws and make amends to do better each day is constant and undeniable, but with the rapid development of computer technology now, more than ever, we must be flexible and adapt to the innovations in our sector.During the XVI National Transport Infrastructure Conference with international participation (NTICIP 2023) we celebrated and shared our achievements, but also paid attention to the problems and challenges ahead of us. Our main goal as an organizer is to create a sustainable connection between administration, science, and business.This year (2023) the main emphasis was on Road Safety, Digitalization, Technology, Strategic Infrastructure, Standards, Geotechnical Engineering and Sustainable Materials.Each guest who took part in the Conference, held from 5th to 7th of October 2023 in Nessebar, Bulgaria, had the opportunity to discuss the scientific side of engineering issues, exchange information and develop professional contacts.Organizing one of the biggest professional forums on the Balkan Peninsula is not an easy task. I am pleased to acknowledge the work of my colleagues at the Institute of Transportation Engineering and the University of Architecture Civil Engineering and Geodesy. But most of all we are all grateful to the authors for entrusting us with their work.Prof. Dr. Eng. Nikolay Mihaylov,Chairman of scientific board at Institute of transportation engineeringList NTICIP 2023 Scientific Committee is available in the Pdf.

An assessment of sustainable transport infrastructure in a national healthcare system

IntroductionHealthcare contributes significantly to carbon dioxide emissions, which can be reduced by promoting sustainable mobility amongst staff commuting. This study aims to investigate the national sustainable transport infrastructure for staff of healthcare facilities and utilise this data to develop a novel scoring and ranking system. MethodsThis was an empirical retrospective observational study. Data was collected on all 47 hospitals sustainable transport infrastructure. A working group calculated the weighted scores for each sustainable transport data point. These scores were used to calculate the Total and Active Sustainability Scores for each hospital, allowing a ranking to be formed. Results7 of 47 (15 %) hospitals had EV charging on campus. 17 of 47 (36 %) hospitals had secure bike parking. 2 of 47 (4 %) hospitals had a “bike hub”. 18 of 47 (38 %) hospitals had a bike lane. 13 of 22 (59 %) city hospitals had bike sharing facilities. 42 of 47 (89 %) hospitals had one public transport route. City hospitals ranked higher in both Total & Active Sustainability Scores. DiscussionThis study explored a new concept of measuring sustainable transport infrastructure. Frameworks examining sustainability are available, however, none allowed for ranking of hospitals. This study highlights the lack of both research in this field and sustainable transport infrastructure in hospitals.

Role of Rental Car Market in India: An Empirical Analysis

India's rental-car industry has grown to be an essential part of the nation's transportation infrastructure. The demand for rental automobiles has significantly increased in recent years as a result of growing urbanization, shifting consumer preferences, and rising disposable incomes. The function of the Indian rental-car market and its effects on various stakeholders are examined in this abstract. First off, the market for rental cars offers a practical and adaptable form of transportation, meeting the demands of both domestic and foreign tourists. It provides a large selection of vehicles, from affordable cars to high-end automobiles, guaranteeing solutions for any need and price range. Second, renting a car has emerged as a practical substitute for owning one, especially in crowded cities where parking is scarce and traffic is heavy. The growth of ride-hailing services and the shared economy have further exacerbated this trend, making rental automobiles a desirable choice for transient mobility needs. Thirdly, the rental automobile sector has given many people work opportunities, including drivers, customer service representatives, and maintenance employees. It has also aided in the expansion of related sectors including auto service and repair, petrol stations and insurance companies. But there are still issues to be solved, like the need for better infrastructure, legal frameworks, and assuring client happiness and safety. Overall, the Indian rental automobile industry is essential for offering practical and adaptable modes of transportation, boosting the nation's economy, and improving both business and leisure travellers' overall travel experiences.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR ON THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) OF NIGERIA

The construction sector makes significant contribution to employment, domestic capital formation and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, the Nigerian Construction Sector (NCS) is beset by a number of challenges including over-dependent on foreign inputs, economic volatility, low linkages and poor project cost and time performance. The study investigates the impact of the construction sector on the GDP using a 47-year annualized Time Series Data (TSD) gotten from the United Nations Statistics Department (UNSD) database. The study employs econometric methodology which involves series of tests and procedures including tests for unit root and cointegration and Polynomial Distributed Lag (PDL) model. The summary of the estimates including the PDL indicate significant effect of the construction sector on the GDP only when the lag of the GDP is not included as one of the regressors. The study concludes that the effect of the construction sector on the GDP is not robust. Finally, the study recommends for a new national housing and transport infrastructure policy for the sustainable development of the Nigerian constructed infrastructure facilities. The study has demonstrated the relationship between the NCS and GDP. The study added to the body of knowledge by using time series data involving the use of distributed lag model (DLM), autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) model and polynomial distributed lag (PDL) model to assess the relationship.

Evaluation of the Effects of the Belt and Road Initiative on the Unified Economic and Environmental Efficiency of Transportation Infrastructure in China Based on Range-Adjusted Measure Model and Difference in Difference Model

The Belt and Road Initiative has brought new opportunities for countries along the routes to develop their transportation infrastructure. Through large-scale transportation infrastructure construction, these countries enhanced the Belt and Road cooperation with each other, which further facilitates the rapid development of their own economy, but whether this can promote the sustainable development of their own environment, relevant research is still lacking. In this paper, China is taken as the study subject to evaluate the comprehensive effects that the Belt and Road Initiative exerts on the economy and environment through improving transportation infrastructure. In the study, RAM indicators were first established to measure the unified economic and environmental efficiency of transportation infrastructure, a DID model was then built to study the effects of the Initiative on the unified efficiency, and mediation models were finally created to discuss the ways in which the Belt and Road Initiative can improve the unified economic and environmental efficiency of transportation infrastructure through transformation and upgrade of industrial structure. The study result shows that the Belt and Road Initiative can significantly promote the improvement of the unified economic and environmental efficiency of the national transportation infrastructure, but the result is regionally heterogeneous. The Initiative has positive effects in improving the unified efficiency in eastern region but has no effect in the central and western regions. Although the Initiative can significantly enhance the efficiency through transforming and upgrading the industrial structure, the industrial structure rationalization plays a primary positive role. This paper provides the empirical evidences to evaluate the implementation effects of the Initiative in the transportation infrastructure sector and verifies that countries along the routes can achieve sustainable development through large-scale transportation infrastructure construction under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Political regionalism and regional aspects of transport development in Russia

The upward development of the Russian economy determines the growth ofproduction, a change in the specialization of economic activity both in Russia as a whole and inits regions. The scale and problems of the formation of the economy and transport system ofthe Russian Federation should be considered in the system of territorial and economic divisionof the country. Integral development of all elements of the national transport infrastructure inthe sectoral and spatial dimensions is necessary.

Review: Cold War and Architecture: The Competing Forces That Reshaped Austria after 1945

Review: <i>Cold War and Architecture: The Competing Forces That Reshaped Austria after 1945</i>

The Railroad Giveth and the Railroad Taketh Away

Continued railroad investment and the development of national highway transportation infrastructure factored heavily into the development of American communities during the twentieth century. Seligman, Arizona, is one of these communities, located on a major railroad route (Santa Fe Railway) and a former U.S. federal highway (U.S. Route 66). The town of Seligman was created by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a service stop and switchyard. At its founding, few roads served the community. Seligman later became a community linked to others by an auto-trail, the National Old Trails Road, and then by a paved federal highway. Through much of the postwar period, Seligman was a thriving travel center hosting significant Santa Fe Railway operations and a robust auto-traveler and tourist service industry. In the early 1980s, however, the community experienced a rapid decline. Looking at the period from 1910 to 1985 and examining what caused this dramatic transformation, this article argues that just as the construction of railroad operations birthed Seligman, the dismantling of railroad operations in the town delivered a death blow to its economy while benefiting larger communities like Barstow, California. Although the diversion of highway travelers off of Route 66 and away from town by the I-40 bypass hurt Seligman businesses, it was the loss of railroad workers’ local spending that put its economy in decline. This argument is discussed within the additional context of the social history of the community, the effects of infrastructure disinvestment on communities, and the limits of successor industries (like tourism) to support these communities.

Energy and CO2 Emissions Penalty Ranges for Geologic Carbon Storage Brine Management.

Safe and cost-effective geologic carbon storage will require active CO2 reservoir management, including brine extraction to minimize subsurface pressure accumulation. While past simulation and experimental efforts have estimated brine extraction volumes, carbon management policies must also assess the energy or emissions penalties of managing and disposing of this brine. We estimate energy and CO2 emission penalties of extracted brine management on a per tonne of CO2 stored basis by spatially integrating CO2 emissions from U.S. coal-fired electric generating units, CO2 storage reservoirs, and brine salinity data sets under several carbon and water management scenarios. We estimate a median energy penalty of 4.4-35 kWh/tonne CO2 stored, suggesting that brine management will be the largest post capture and compression energy sink in the carbon storage process. These estimates of energy demand for brine management are useful for evaluating end-uses for treated brine, assessing the cost of CO2 storage at the reservoir level, and optimizing national CO2 transport and storage infrastructure.

ДЕРЖАВНА ПІДТРИМКА ТРАНСПОРТНО-ЛОГІСТИЧНОЇ СИСТЕМИ УКРАЇНИ В ГЕОПОЛІТИЧНОМУ АСПЕКТІ

The article considers the need to develop the transport and logistics system of Ukraine, identifies the importance of transport and logistics infrastructure of the country for its geopolitical position and socio-economic development, the role of transport retrospectively, demonstrates the close relationship between transport innovation and change in geospace and geopolitics. The relevance of Gartland's theory of G. Mackinder and «land-sea» dichometry is confirmed, which determines the difference of resource potential of territories, their geography and, accordingly, features of transport and logistics systems that can be created in these territories. The possibilities of the transport and logistics system as the main leader and consolidator of the goals and objectives of globalization, glocation and the concept of sustainable development are determined. It is proved that transport and logistics systems are an important factor in stable and dynamic development of the country's economy, can positively affect living standards through employment, environmental protection, innovative tools, training, etc., is a successful prerequisite for integration into the world political and economic space. The analysis of the level of logistics development in Ukraine on the basis of the logistics efficiency index allowed, despite a certain subjective nature of the methodology for calculating the indicator to identify urgent problems of transport and logistics infrastructure and ways to improve its level. The relevance and significance of the study is to identify areas for improvement of the transport and logistics system of Ukraine for socio-economic development and its full and effective integration into the network of international transport corridors through the development of transport and logistics infrastructure in the region. The need for state support of the transport and logistics system as a subsystem of the national economy through the creation and regulation of a favorable investment and innovation field, by developing a strategy and concept for the development of national transport and logistics infrastructure, large-scale programs for their financing.

Investigation, Testing, and development of an RFID system for effective maintenance of the existing national transportation infrastructure

Investigation, Testing, and development of an RFID system for effective maintenance of the existing national transportation infrastructure

Проблемы транспортировки тяжеловесного контейнера автотранспортом по дорогам Российской Федерации

The article considers the problem of heavy cargo transporting as an integral part of functioning of industry in the country. The transportation of such types of cargo is regulated by the legislation related to the national transport infrastructure. There have been considered the ways of transporting heavy sea containers by road transport in the Russian Federation. Definitions of the divisible and indivisible cargo, the maximum mass of the road train have been given, the indicators of the maximum permissible mass of the vehicle and the axle load on the roads of Russia, approved by legislative acts of the Russian Federation, have been presented. The issues of the correct choice of freight vehicles and compliance with the rules for transportation of heavy cargo, in particular compliance with the permissible total weight and axle loads, have been considered. There has been proposed the method for calculating axle loads and the solution to the problem of redistributing axle loads by moving the seat of the towing vehicle, transporting a heavy sea container by train being used as the example. The obtained values make it possible to estimate the possibility of carrying heavy cargo without violating standards approved by the legislation of Russia

EFEITOS DA ADIÇÃO DE RESÍDUOS DE CONSTRUÇÃO CIVIL NOS CUSTOS DAS CAMADAS ESTRUTURAIS DO PAVIMENTO

A geração de resíduos sólidos na construção civil bem como sua destinação final são temas a cada dia mais debatidos. Geralmente, os resíduos descartados propiciam o surgimento de vetores de doenças, agridem o meio ambiente e prejudicam o desenvolvimento socioeconômico da região. Com isso, a reciclagem destes resíduos e sua aplicação na construção civil vêm despertando cada vez mais interesse. Uma das aplicações mais difundidas para os resíduos de construção civil é a utilização como agregado para o reforço de solos utilizados como base e sub-base para pavimentos flexíveis. Desta forma, o presente artigo objetiva analisar a influência da utilização dos resíduos de construção civil (RCC)nos custos referentes as camadas estruturais dos pavimentos. Para a análise de custos, foram projetadas quatro estruturas de pavimento segundo o método do departamento nacional de infraestrutura de transportes (DNIT), contemplando a utilização de solo-resíduo em duas delas. A análise de custos mostra a utilização de RCC como uma alternativa extremamente viável sob o ponto de vista econômico.