Principal Roads Research Articles

PAH contents in road dust on principal roads collected nationwide in Japan and their influential factors.

Fifty-four road dust samples were collected from principal roads (n = 37) and residential roads (n = 17) nationwide in Japan from March 2010 to November 2012. Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and ignition loss (IL) were determined. The total PAH contents ranged from 62 to 6,325 ng g(-1) with a geometric mean of 484 ng g(-1). The IL ranged from 0.8 to 17% with a mean of 6%. The PAH contents were correlated with the IL contents, and the IL contents were dependent on the population density. From the PAH pattern analysis, the PAHs from road dust are considered to be mainly from diesel emissions.

Characterization and evaluation of noise pollution in a tourist coastal town with an adjacent nature reserve

A noise pollution survey for a standard tourist coastal town, called El Portil (South-west Spain), that is additionally surrounded by a nature reserve, has been made. The main problem of this tourist town is that its population increases tenfold during the summer in relation to winter, this fact generating a large increase in the noise pollution experienced by the residents, who are tourists trying to relax during the holiday. The main noise sources identified were the traffic on the principal road crossing the town, and recreational activities of residents enjoying their vacation. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to characterize and assess the noise pollution experienced by the residents of a standard tourist town, in order to improve its management and development by the competent authorities.Two independent methodologies were selected to achieve this objective: (1) monitoring for 24h of a point close to the road; (2) sampling of 50 points along the studied area (the nature reserve and the town areas most affected by the main road). It has been concluded that the A-5052 road is the main source of noise pollution, generating during a summer 24h period a continuous equivalent level about 5dBA higher than in winter. In addition, summer nights are about 10dBA noisier than winter nights, which is 6dBA higher than the guideline thresholds established by the European Union. It has also been verified that the nature reserve located next to the town (Lagoon of El Portil), suffers significant noise pollution up to a distance of about 100m from the main road.

Ensemble based traffic light control for city zones using a reduced number of sensors

Rapid advances in computing, sensing and telecommunication technology offer unprecedented opportunities for artificial intelligence concepts to expand their applications in the field of traffic management and control. Our methodology gravitates around a powerful decision-making method: ensemble-based systems. This technique is used to accurately classify the near future traffic conditions and to make efficient decisions for adapting the traffic lights sequences within an urban area to optimize the traffic flows. The proposed approach requires only measurements provided by traffic sensors located along the principal roads entering the zone. This reduced number of sensors are considered to be enough relevant for classifying the near future state of the traffic and moreover, their measurements can be validated through analytical/hardware redundancy. Our methodology is meant to be implemented within the framework of a wireless sensor and actuator network and is confirmed by computer simulation, including normal or abnormal traffic conditions, for the central part of the city of Timisoara-Romania.

Стан автомобільних доріг України і шляхи його покращення

Today the state of public road facilities is strategically important for restoration and development of macroeconomic relation s between Ukrainian regions and other countries. State policy in the sphere of road construction allows speak about expecting improvement of investment attractiveness of its facilities. Under the supervision of State agency of motor roads of Ukraine there is network of public motor roads spreading to 169.1 thousand kilometers out of which 20.1 thousand kilometers are principal roads. Furthermore, there are seven motor roads travel corridors running through the territory of Ukraine - total of 5.24 thousand kilometers. Major part of it arethe hard surface roads of IV category, with overall length of 10.6 thousand kilometers. Analysis of the state of Ukrainian motor roads given in the article, showed that existing road system of Ukraine for its characteristics does not satisfy the demands of modern transport and increasing needs of economy. Therewith, almost every road construction company has most of defects are related with technical irregularities, in particular underselling of the roadbed. This defect the most common one both for being identified during the inspection of the quality of works and for amounts rejected in the most companies.Results the analysis were applied to the work of the biggestroad companies of Autonomous Republic of Crimea and has been defined the structure of defect in their work; in particular, it was identified that during design period there are a lot of mistakes, resulting in increase of expenses for processing of removal of such defects. This proves that there is a need to switch from the quality control to systematic into account the rest of the management thereof taking into account the rest of the management functions and specific features of the industry with the focus on the design period.

L’archevêque et les communautés canoniales en Bordelais à l’époque de la réforme grégorienne (1079-1145)

Canonical communities and Gregorian Reform in the Bordelais (1079-1145). The holding of two councils, chaired by the legates Amat of Oloron and Hugh of Die in Bordeaux in October 1079 and October 1080, marked the introduction of the Gregorian Reform in the Bordelais. The foundation of the Benedictine Abbey of La Sauve Majeure on October 28 1079, with its privileges (exemption, immunity, attachment to Rome), did not constitute the full extent of the Reform in the Bordelais. Less well known, the foundation of the canonical communities at St. Emilion and at Comprian nonetheless illustrate over a long period the role of the archbishops of Bordeaux in their diocese : Josselin de Parthenay (1059-1086), Amat d’Oloron (1089-1101), Arnaud Geraud de Cabanac (1103-1131) and Geoffroy du Loroux (1 135-1158). From the point of view of the archbishop, the totality of these canonical foundations sit neatly within the policy of episcopal control across the diocese. These points of control are located on the principal roads and river crossings, alongside former episcopal monasteries (for example St. Romain de Blaye, St. Seurin de Bordeaux, or even St. Vincent de Bourg) and monastic sites on the coast road where the prelate had important seigneurial rights (Soulac, Mimizan). The case of St. Emilion, equally situated at a river crossing of the Dordogne, illustrates the problems and difficulties encountered by the reformers vis-à-vis the lay powers. The viscount of Castillon defeats the project of Josselin de Parthenay, which was nonetheless of a very Gregorian character, given its indictment of lay investiture and simony. His successor, Arnaud Geraud de Cabanac, is more successful, by introducing the rule of St. Augustine and by appointing an abbot from the abbey of Lesterps.

Effect of Rain on Probability Distributions Fitted to Vehicle Time Headways

Time headway data generated from different rain conditions were fitted to probability distributions to see which ones best described the trends in headway behaviour in wet weather. Data was generated from the J5, a principal road in Johor Bahru for two months and the headways in no-rain condition were analysed and compared to the rain generated headway data. The results showed a decrease in headways between no-rain and the rain conditions. Further decreases were observed with increase in rainfall intensity. Thus between no-rain to light rain condition there was 15.66% reduction in the mean headways. Also the mean headway reduction between no-rain and medium rain condition is 19.97% while the reduction between no-rain and heavy rain condition is 25.65%. This trend is already acknowledged in the literature. The Burr probability distribution ranked first amongst five others in describing the trends in headway behaviour during rainfall. It passed the goodness of fit tests for the K-S, A2 and C-S at 95% and 99 % respectively. The scale parameter of the Burr model and the P-value increased as the rain intensity increased. This suggests more vehicular cluster during rainfall with the probability of this occurring increasing with more rain intensity. The coefficient of variation and Skewness also pointed towards increase in vehicle cluster. The Burr Probability Distribution therefore can be applied to model headways in rain and no-rain weather conditions among others.

Life-cycle planning methodology for ancillary highway assets

Central to the development of highway asset management plans is the creation of life-cycle plans for all highway assets. Understandably, significant effort has been focused to date on the condition and performance of the carriageway and structures stock, given their overall asset value. However, an understanding of current asset condition and future asset performance is lacking in most authorities for their ancillary highway assets, such as road markings or road lighting columns. A number of life-cycle planning tools are available to develop life-cycle plans, both deterministic and stochastic in nature. The challenge in including ancillary highway assets in a stochastic modelling process is the determination of the current condition of the assets, represented by a distribution of condition, and the modelling of deterioration, represented by a transition probability matrix. The methodology outlined in this paper allows for the current condition of the assets to be assessed either visually, through walked surveys or from video survey footage, or using data collection devices, where appropriate. The current condition of the assets is then translated into distributions of condition for onward use in the model. The asset lives were captured using expert engineering opinion and, through some simple assumptions, translated into transition probability matrices. A pilot study was undertaken on a London borough's principal road network, as a proof of concept, and road markings have been used throughout to demonstrate the methodology. In this pilot study, video survey footage was used to assess asset condition. Lessons learned and recommendations are included for other authorities wishing to follow a similar methodology.

Highway Capacity Prediction in Adverse Weather

The purpose of this study was to find out the effects of rainfall on traffic flow rates and the implications on highway capacities. Data was generated from a pneumatic tube detector placed on a 2 km straight section of a principal road that was operating in the free flow regime. This is with a view to isolating all bottlenecks and incidences that could affect traffic flows and to see the direct effect of the rainfall on traffic. Data from nearby rain gauge station was used to identify dry and wet traffic flow conditions. Empirical evidence exists for traffic flow contraction, speed reduction and increase in density. A speed reduction of 3.52% resulted in a flow rate change of 8.64% under rainfall conditions. Furthermore, the fundamental diagram was used to predict the capacity flows in both dry and wet conditions. A 42.27% loss of capacity was obtained at critical densities of 186.82 and 111.97 vehs km -1 for both dry and wet conditions respectively. It is concluded that adverse weather can seriously degrade the capacities of highways. At higher flow rates, the instabilities that could result from adverse weather effects can cause prolong delays to drivers with its attendant economic losses. Rainfall intensity variation should be investigated to determine capacity loss thresholds at which resources can be placed to manage traffic in adverse weather.

Robust Inference of Principal Road Paths for Intelligent Transportation Systems

Over the last few years, electronic vehicle guidance systems have become increasingly more popular. However, despite their ubiquity, performance will always be subject to availability of detailed digital road maps. Most current digital maps are still inadequate for advanced applications in unstructured environments. Lack of up-to-date information and insufficient refinement of the road geometry are among the most important shortcomings. The massive use of inexpensive Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, combined with the rapidly increasing availability of wireless communication infrastructure, suggests that large amounts of data combining both modalities will be available in the near future. The approach presented here draws on machine-learning techniques and processes logs of position traces to consistently build a detailed and fine-grained representation of the road network by extracting the principal paths followed by the vehicles. Although this work addresses the road-building problem in dynamic environments such as open-pit mines, it is also applicable to urban environments. New contributions include a fully unsupervised segmentation method for sampling roads and inferring the network topology, which is a general technique for extracting detailed information about road splits, merges, and intersections, as well as a robust algorithm that articulates these two. Experimental results with data from large mining operations are presented to validate the new algorithm.

Assessment of speed-flow-density functions under adverse pavement condition

Many of the speed, flow and density relationships postulated in different literatures are based on empirical evidences collected under favourable conditions. Those that veered into comparative analysis under contrasting conditions often use forced curves to describe the relationship between speed and flow mainly because the graph is not a function. However, the paper is an attempt to postulate that dynamic speed-flow, speed-density and flow-density functions have similar behavioural pattern. In the study, speed and flow relationship under adverse road surface condition depicted with potholes and edge subsidence among others was investigated. The study was carried out in Nigeria where adverse road surface condition on principal roads is prevalent under daylight, dry weather and off-peak conditions. It is based on the hypothesis that adverse road surface condition has significant impact on otherwise uninterrupted traffic stream. The paper compared empirical survey data from 11 locations on roadway segments with control and adverse sections. Optimum speeds for control and adverse road sections were estimated and compared. The study found 50% reduction in optimum speed and concluded that significant speed reduction will occur under adverse road surface condition. Keywords adverse-conditions, dynamic, speed-flow, speed-reduction, transportation, traffic safety, highway safety, road surface quality Language: en

Highway maintenance on England's principal roads – best value?

Local authorities are under pressure to deliver cost-effective, sustainable highway maintenance, which meets the needs of all road users. This paper investigates whether the best value performance indicator for principal roads in England is assisting in provision of ‘best value’ to all stakeholders. Most local authorities who took part in research carried out by the author are dissatisfied with their highway maintenance budget allocation. In addition, a significant proportion of authorities are prepared to carry out surface treatment (resurfacing) as opposed to deeper treatments (structural maintenance), even though this may result in roads being treated more frequently. The main recommendations from the study are that local authorities should carry out network condition surveys in accordance with current guidelines, to obtain the best possible information regarding the condition of their road network. Also, authorities should consider applying thinner treatments to their road networks to spread maintenance budgets ‘as far as possible’. It is, however, noted that such treatments will not be appropriate in all situations. Fewer annual changes to the indicator (BVPI 223 until financial year 2007/08) should also prove beneficial in terms of consistency of the annual values calculated.

Effects of the molecular mass of tense-state polymerized bovine hemoglobin on blood pressure and vasoconstriction.

Despite recent advances in the design of hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs), vasoconstriction, presumably caused by nitric oxide (NO) scavenging, vessel wall hyperoxygenation, and/or extravasation, has been identified as the principal road block hampering commercial development of HBOCs. This study was designed to analyze systemic and microvascular responses to the molecular mass and plasma concentration of tense (T)-state polymerized bovine Hb (PolybHb) solutions. Experiments were performed using the hamster window chamber model subjected to successive hypervolemic infusions of T-state PolybHb solutions. PolybHb plasma concentrations were evaluated, namely, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 g/dl, respectively. Infusion of PolybHb solutions with molecular mass >500 kDa elicited hypertension and vasoconstriction proportional to the plasma concentration and inversely proportional to the PolybHb cross-link density. However, two high-molecular mass PolybHb solutions, PolybHb(40:1)(high) PolybHb(50:1)(high), did not elicit vasoconstriction at all concentrations studied, whereas PolybHb(50:1)(high) only elicited moderate hypertension at the highest concentration studied. In contrast, infusion of PolybHb solutions with molecular mass <500 kDa elicited significant hypertension and vasoconstriction compared with PolybHb solutions with molecular mass >500 kDa that was proportional to the plasma concentration and inversely proportional to the PolybHb cross-link density. We present promising results for highly cross-linked T-state PolybHb solutions with molecular mass >500 kDa [PolybHb(40:1)(high) PolybHb(50:1)(high)], which supports the concept that HBOC size/molecular mass influences its proximity to the vascular endothelium and molecular diffusivity. The hemodynamics of HBOC within the plasma layer surrounding the abluminal side endothelium regulates NO production and consumption, vessel oxygen flux, and extravasation. Although mechanistically attractive, neither of these hypotheses can be directly tested in vivo and will require further investigation.

A STUDY ON THE LOCATION OF SUWON HWASUNG CITY OF 18TH CENTURY JOSEON DYNASTY

This paper explains the relation of Joseon dynasty's road system and Suwon Hwasung city's location. Using historical document and maps, this paper clarifies the characteristics of construction for the Suwon Hwasung city. Samnamdaero was a principal road of Joseon Dynasty that connects the capital of Hanyang and provincial city. The location of Suwon Hwasung city was on Samnamdaero road, And Samnamdaero road pierced Suwon Hwasung city. As well as, the new road was built in Suwon Hwasung city for smooth connection of the downtown and suburban. This construction of road is an example that expresses the location's character of Suwon Hwasung city. This is an important location characteristic of 18 century's new city Suwon Hwasung that was differentiated with other previous city of Joseon dynasty.

LENTIVÍRUS DE PEQUENOS RUMINANTES: CARACTERIZAÇÃO ETIOLÓGICA, INFECTIVIDADE, CONTROLE, PREVENÇÃO E DIAGNÓSTICO

Small ruminant lentivirus (LVPR) belong the family Retroviridae and subfamily Lentivirinae, being responsible for they cause the Caprine Arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) and Maedi-Visna (MV), infect-contagious illnesses that attack goats and sheep, respectively, of all the ages, independent of sex or of race, of most of the countries where these are created in an intensive way. They are answered in cells of the system monocyte/ macrophage, where the macrophages are infected more frequently and, therefore, the colostrum and milk of infected females are considered the principal roads of entrance of LVPR in the animal organism. Some methods are used more frequently in the diagnosis of LVPR, however other alternative methods have been developed for diagnosis of these viruses. This way the purpose of this revision was to approach the principal aspects related to the small ruminant lentivirus, seeking a larger evidence for future works.

Evaluation of a simplified top-down model for the spatial assessment of hot traffic emissions in mid-sized cities

Traffic emission estimation in developing countries is a key-issue for air pollution management. In most cases, comprehensive bottom-up methodologies cannot be applied in mid-sized cities because of the resource cost related to their application. In this paper, a simplified emission estimation model (SEEM) is evaluated. The model is based on a top-down approach and gives annual global hot emission. Particular attention is paid to the quality of the input traffic data. The quality of results is assessed by application of the SEEM model in the Chilean Gran Concepción urban area and by comparison with a bottom-up approach that has been led for the year 2000. The SEEM model estimates emissions with an accuracy of about 20 % and is related to important resource savings. The results of the SEEM model are then distributed in space with a disaggregation approach and using GIS techniques. The relevancy of the disaggregation approach is evaluated among several possibilities through statistical methods. A spatial disaggregation using principal roads density gives the best results in terms of emissions repartition and gives a globally accurate image of the distribution of hot emissions in a mid-sized city.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions from UK road transport

Several cases of extreme local weather conditions since the storms of October 1987 have served as reminders of some of the possible consequences of global warming, recently more usually, although less precisely, referred to as ‘climate change’. Carbon dioxide emissions have been identified as the principal likely culprit and road traffic is the only major source from the UK which is increasing in amount. Local authorities may feel impotent to make a significant contribution to a solution, but example is a worthwhile motive. A local authority can contribute in several ways: implementation of improved vehicle technologies; adopting road speed limits and upholding them; promotion of driving styles which are more sensitive to their environmental effects and of improved vehicle maintenance; policies to change mode of travel and transport and to reduce the amount of travel by several means, including fuller use of vehicles. Many of the ways of reducing carbon dioxide discharges locally will have other environmental benefits. The implementation of cleaner travel lags behind the science to allow it; local authorities have an important role to play in reducing the gap. Average vehicle loadings are low, especially for personal travel; there is much scope for improved environmental performance, and for public transport there are issues relating to value for public spending. Reductions in the amount of travel can also contribute to several government policies relating to social exclusion, promotion of sustainable communities and supporting town centre activities.

The optimal allocation of a circular principal road based on the average traveling distance of an urban traffic model

AbstractIn this paper, considering the average distance traveled by car commuters in principal roads, we theoretically give the optimal allocation of a circular principal road based on an urban traffic model. The results obtained and related properties are considered to be meaningful at the very beginning stage of designing some urban cities.

微小振動領域における鉄骨住宅の振動特性と交通振動対策

Traffic-induced vibration is one of principal problems for residence in urban area. Mid- and low-rise steel-framed buildings sometimes pose problem related to vibrations caused by road traffic as a principal road, a highway or a railroad. Traffic-induced vibration influences on habitability in the building . Especially on the three story buildings, habitability under horizontal vibration on top floor was reported. Factors of the problems are 1) vibration perception of a resident in a building, 2) dynamic property of a building, 3) predominant frequency of ground vibration, 4) frequency characteristic of vibration source. Each factor affects each other. In this paper, each factor is analyzed in order to get a knowledge for design of a low-rise steelrftamed residential building subjected to horizontal vibration.

Following the Euphrates in antiquity: north-south routes around Zeugma

This second article on ancient roads around Zeugma deals mainly with navigation along the river itself and north-south routes on both banks of the Euphrates. Like its predecessor (Comfort et al 2000), this one is based on extensive survey work in the years 1996 to 1999 during the excavations carried out at Zeugma by a Franco-Turkish mission. It discusses sites located in the region surrounding the ancient city on both east and west banks of the river Euphrates and seeks to identify the principal roads of the region used in antiquity. Maps to complement those prepared for the preceding article are included.In Comfort et al 2000, ancient crossing points of the river Euphrates in southern Turkey were discussed in the light of survey work conducted with the help of satellite photos in and around the reservoir created by the Birecik dam. This dam was completed in summer 2000. The lake created behind the Birecik dam stretches north about 100km as far as the Atatürk dam, for the most part constrained in a narrow gorge; a second lake now also reaches for about 20km south from Birecik to the Carchemish dam, itself approximately 6km north of the Syrian border. The survey was conducted over six visits between 1996 and 1999. Given the shortage of resources and the vast area covered (about 2,500km) it can only be considered a preliminary investigation and was indeed originally undertaken with a view only to proving the usefulness of satellite photographs as an aid to archaeological survey work.

Contribution of road traffic emissions to ambient air concentrations of hydrocarbons: the interpretation of monitoring measurements in Switzerland by Principal Component Analysis and road tunnel measurements

Monitoring measurements of single very volatile organic compounds (volatility range ranges up to toluene) and inorganic compounds are available for one year at the city centre of Zurich (Switzerland) and for another year for a suburban site close to Zurich. A novel approach of Principal Component Analysis with visual analysis is used to determine the proportion of motor traffic emission to the ambient air concentrations of these compounds. Passive sampler measurements allowed the extension of the analytical window to less volatile VOCs including more aromatics and chlorinated VOCs. The concentration of the class of oxygenated compounds was estimated using t-NMVOC measurements from a FID instrument operated at Zurich city centre. From our analysis we conclude that the proportion of VOCs of motor traffic including gasoline vaporisation amounts to 48-67% whereas the Swiss emission inventory (basis year 1990) gives lower values (33-48%#37;).