Reconstruction Cost Research Articles

Production of high-quality wire rod

Currently, world wire-rod output exceeds 50 million t/yr, which is ~10% of the total rolled-metal output. To produce more competitive wire rod and hence increase sales, manufacturers need to better satisfy the requirements on the mechanical properties and structure of the steel, the dimensional precision, the bale size, and other characteristics. In the 1970s, the finishing groups of wire mills began to be replaced with finishing cell modules and two-stage cooling lines. In the next 20 years, the rolling rate of wire rod increased from 35 to 120 m/s, the bale mass reached 2.0‐2.5 t, and the dimensional accuracy of the wire rod increased from ± 0.5 mm to ± 0.10‐ 0.15 mm. Besides the structure of the wire rod, the mechanical properties and their uniform distribution over the bale length improved. The range of final products expanded [1‐3]. The mass-production of wire rod of 5.5-mm diameter was organized, without loss of productivity of the mills. There was an increase in the output of wire rod made from high-alloy and special steel and alloys and from continuous-cast billet. Reequipment of wire mills consumed considerable capital expenditure, especially in radical reconstruction. However, the investment was recouped in full, thanks to the improved quality and broader range of the wire rod. As a rule, after 10‐15 years of operation, mills are partially modernized, with the installation of up-todate equipment. Reequipment began in the Soviet Union in 1979, when a new 150 mill wire mill was introduced at Beloretsk Metallurgical Works (BMW). The 250-2 mill at Cherepovets Metallurgical Works was them reconstructed; mini mills were built in Moldavia and Belorussia with modern 320/150 small-rod and wire mills; and 150 wire mills went into operation at Makeevsk Metallurgical Plant (MMP), as well as 150 and 250/150 mills at Krivorozhstal works. In collaboration with plant specialists, researchers at the Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy (IFM) improved the design technology for a series of wire mills. As a result, high-quality wire rod went into production, including rod made from different grades of steel. For example, the rolling rate was increased at the BMW 150 mill, and metal consumption was reduced, with improvement in overall performance. In addition, rolling from lowertemperature billet reduced the metal losses on account of scale and also the gas consumption [4]. The water-cooling system for the wire rod was redesigned, and two-stage cooling was introduced, with improvement in the structure and properties of carbonand alloy-steel wire rod. This permitted simplification of the subsequent treatment and reduced metalware production costs [4‐6]. After a number of years, the BMW 150 mill and the 320/150 mill at Belorussian Metallurgical Plant (BMP) were reconstructed. At BMW, high-speed units with refined gear ratios from the electric drive to the rollers were introduced. The line for cooling wire rod in coils was reconstructed on the basis of research data from IFM, the All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Metallurgical Technology (ASIMT), and BMW; cooling by high-speed air fluxes was introduced. At BMP, the small-bar and wire mill was divided into a 320 small-bar mill and a 150 wire mill, with integration of the primary and secondary equipment [2]. The reconstruction costs for the BMP 320/150 mill (with the participation of foreign firms) were recouped within 2‐3 years of operation. Thanks to improvement in wire rod quality and performance, the manufacturing technology for metal cord was improved, and cord exports increased. Where necessary, high-speed air fluxes were used in cooling coils of high-carbon wire rod; this expanded the range of both 150 mills and improved the metal structure. The wire-rod output for the production of high-strength metal cord increased; the quality of cable and high-carbon wire rod for the manufacture of high-strength reinforcing wire was improved, thereby eliminating the need for one patenting operation in metalware production. The production of high-quality wire rod for cold bulk stamping increased; the structure and mechanical properties of the metal became more uniform over the length of the bales. At IFM, a mathematical model of continuous rolling in the finishing modules with a common cell drive has been developed. It may be used to determine and regulate the longitudinal stress in the steel between the cells, in the baseline (design) mode, as well as the rolling

Door of Perception: NIEHS Portal Shows Way to Better Disaster Response

Vol. 115, No. 4 EnvironewsOpen AccessDoor of Perception: NIEHS Portal Shows Way to Better Disaster Response Charles W. Schmidt Charles W. Schmidt Search for more papers by this author Published:1 April 2007https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.115-a213aAboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InReddit Hurricane Katrina—which killed 1,300 people, disrupted the lives of 650,000, and produced an estimated $125 billion in recovery and reconstruction costs—brought the need for better disaster response into sharp focus. In this issue, researchers introduce the NIEHS Portal, a state-of-the-art web-based system to improve decision making during disaster response [EHP 115:564–571; Pezzoli et al.].The portal was designed to fulfill three objectives: to monitor disaster-related human and environmental health impacts; to assess and reduce pollutant exposures caused by disasters; and to develop science-based recovery strategies. The portal does this by combining geographically referenced data on roads, power plants, contaminant release sources, flood measures, and local demography in a cyber-infrastructure called “Telescience,” which was developed at the University of California, San Diego. This cyberinfrastructure lets users share computer power and storage over the Internet.A user-friendly interface provides access to project-relevant databases and data integration tools. High-speed network connections allow researchers to use supercomputing facilities and massive data storage sites as if they were on their desktop. A geographic information system (GIS) manages the data, and an accessible interface allows users to contribute new information and participate in online discussions and collaborative workspaces. Contributors are responsible for the accuracy of the data they provide. Access to data associated with any given research project is governed by the members of that research group.In its current deployment, the portal assembles GIS data for Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and includes high-resolution data layers for the regions that were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Scientists have begun exploring ways to use the system. One project supports ongoing efforts to study and mitigate the health effects of flood-induced indoor mold, particularly asthma among exposed children. Scientists link high mold concentrations with population information to identify locations of potential high exposures. The portal is also supporting studies of toxic sediments, particularly hot spots generated by the release of contaminants such as sewage and industrial chemicals during the storms.The authors stress how the portal can also address the research needs of exposure biology and gene–environment interactions. The system’s massive computing power can integrate population-level studies of genetics with real-time exposure monitoring and environmental sampling, advancing the NIEHS’s goal of studying molecular processes in environmental health.SOSNineteen months after Katrina, Gulf Coast residents are still in the storm’s shadow.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 115, No. 4 April 2007Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 April 2007Published in print1 April 2007 Financial disclosuresPDF download License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days.

Color-encoded fringe projection for 3D shape measurements

A novel technique using color-encoded stripes embedded into a sinusoidal fringe pattern for finding the absolute shape of an object is proposed. Phases of the projected fringes on the surface are evaluated by Fourier transform method. Unwrapping is then performed with reference to the color-encoded stripes. When surfaces of interest contain large depth discontinuities, the color-encoded stripes can easily identify the fringe order. Compared with other phase unwrapping schemes, this method offers many major advantages, including: (1) very low computation cost for the 3D reconstruction, (2) reliable phase unwrapping to complex objects, especially for surfaces with large depth discontinuities, (3) only one-shot measurement is required, and (4) robust performance to analyze dynamic objects.

Canal atresia: “Surgery or implantable hearing devices? The expert's question is revisited”

(1) Evaluate hearing results in patients managed with external auditory canal reconstruction; (2) compare results to the expectations from treatment with surgical; placement of an osteo-integrated bone-conduction device (BAHA system); (3) assess complications of both interventions; (4) evaluate the medical cost-effectiveness of each avenue of management at 2005 rates for billings based upon relative value units (RVUs). (1) Retrospective chart review for 36 ears in 29 pediatric patients who underwent surgical canal reconstruction at a tertiary-care pediatric hospital in a major urban center with assessment of management techniques and surgical and audiologic outcomes. (2) Retrospective chart review of six pediatric patients who underwent BAHA placement in a major urban center with assessment of management techniques and surgical and audiologic outcomes. (3) Cost reassessment at 2005 billings rates based upon RVUs for canal reconstruction versus BAHA system and comparative analysis. (1) The average post-operative hearing loss in the right ear was 34.3 dB left ear was 31.6 dB. The average gain per ear was 17.3 dB. (2) Twenty-seven (93%) of EAC reconstruction patients required some form of amplification post-operatively. (3) Data available for three of the BAHA patients reflected the predicted average gain in dB (predicted 34.3 dB, observed 31.8 dB). (4) Early complications of canal reconstruction included removal of the packing by the patient, post-operative bleeding and post-operative hematoma. (5) Late complications included recurrent canal stenosis, recurrent otitis externa, canal prolapse and canal cholesteatoma. (6) Uncomplicated external auditory canal reconstruction cost $51,505.98 or $2909.94/dB of hearing gain based upon billings fro RVUs. (7) Uncomplicated two-staged BAHA system placement cost $42,448.85 or $1237.57/dB of hearing gain based upon billings for RVUs. (8) Uncomplicated single-staged BAHA system placement cost $28,341.00 or $826.27/dB of hearing gain based upon billings for RVUs. Study results indicate that even with significant investments in EAC reconstruction, most patients still required some form of amplification. There are also significant risks of early and late complications from the reconstructive procedure. Studies indicate and our results support that the osteo-integrated bone-conduction device (BAHA system) can achieve truly acceptable hearing (<or=15 dB) in school-aged children with normal bone curves, and it can match the bone-curves for children with sensorineural hearing loss. The two-staged BAHA system placement may be provided at almost one-third the cost to the medical system, on a decibel-for-decibel basis. The single-stage BAHA system placement yields even greater cost savings at just over one-quarter of the cost of surgical EAC reconstruction on a decibel-for-decibel basis. Additionally, there are fewer complications and fewer follow-up visits for the care of the implant system. This is an added value to the parents and patient for the savings in opportunity costs related to the lost time at work and school for office visits and peri-operative care. Overall, it appears that osteo-integrated bone-conduction devices may provide a higher quality of outcome for patients while resulting in significant economic savings.

Landslide risk analysis in the area North of Lisbon (Portugal): evaluation of direct and indirect costs resulting from a motorway disruption by slope movements

A risk analysis is developed for a test site located in the area north of Lisbon using a scenario of a temporary interruption of the motorway A9 due to a landslide of rotational or translational type. Landslide susceptibility is assessed at the regional scale independently for rotational and translational slides, comparing the landslide distribution with a set of assumed independent landslide predisposing factors. Susceptibility models are validated and classified through the computation of prediction rate curves based on the temporal partition of the landslide data sets. Landslide hazard maps are based on a scenario of future landslide occurrence for the next 27 years. These maps allow the definition of two critical areas on the motorway A9 with regards to landslide susceptibility. Direct costs associated with both critical spots are assessed taking into account the probable affected area of the motorway, and the reconstruction costs. Indirect costs derived from the traffic interruption are evaluated considering the alternatives paths to the motorway, and include costs resulting from: (1) additional fuel consumption; (2) decrease in tollgate income; and (3) loss of productive time. Results show that indirect costs may be 24 to 43 times higher than direct costs, assuming a temporary interruption of the motorway for 6 months.

The Incidence of State Taxes on Oil and Gas

The rising economic value of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters, for oil and gas as well as wind farms, has attracted the attention of abutting states. Thus Louisiana, faced with dwindling revenues from the oil and gas severance tax and high costs of reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina, is again considering the merits of an oil and gas processing tax that would tax OCS production. Such a tax was proposed in 1998, to be levied at a rate of $1.15 per barrel on oil and $0.06 per thousand cubic feet on natural gas. Using a multiequation partial equilibrium model, the authors show that revenue would rise by $1.5 billion in the short run but just $0.2 billion in the long run. The important general finding is that even with a clever tax, it is difficult for a state to appropriate resource rents arising outside its boundaries. Proponents and opponents of the processing tax continue to make exaggerated claims; hence the authors’ second finding is that tax modeling remains essential to help generate light rather than heat.

Using regularization and a priori information to enhance tomographic image quality

The problem of enhancement of tomographic image quality and the related problems caused by the conflict between the resolution and stability of the restoration method are considered. The Tikhonov regularization method is proposed to solve these problems. The method allows the ratio of accidental error and systematic inaccuracy of restoration to be varied by setting the regularization parameter and regularization order, which allows an optimal proportion between them to be found. A priori information in the form of constraints is applied to the reconstructed images. The use of such information decreases the time cost of reconstruction and enhances the quality of the reconstructed images, including improvement in image contrast. The results of computer modelling are given. The relative mean square deviation between the reconstructed image and the exact image, and the mean smoothness of the reconstructed image are used as characteristics of accuracy of restoration. A comparison of the reconstruction quality of the regularized solution for different regularization parameters and regularization orders in the presence of uniformly distributed 5% noise applied to the projection data is performed.

Cold In-Place Recycling and Full-Depth Reclamation Projects by Nevada Department of Transportation

One of the biggest challenges that public agencies face is how to optimize available funding. With the price of bituminous materials 70% higher than 2 years ago and increased demand for capacity improvement projects, it is more important than ever to use in-place materials when rehabilitating pavement structural sections. Cold in-place recycling (CIR) and full-depth reclamation (FDR) are two pavement rehabilitation strategies that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has used for more than 20 years. These strategies have allowed NDOT to save more than $600M over the past 20 years compared with complete reconstruction costs. In addition, traffic interruptions are minimized during construction, and natural resources are preserved. According to the Highway Performance Monitoring System data, NDOT has the highest percentage of its combined National Highway System Interstate and other roadways rated in the “good” category. The reason for this achievement is that NDOT uses a proactive Pavement Management System (PMS) to prioritize its pavement preservation projects. A considerable amount of CIR and FDR rehabilitation work is performed in conjunction with the proactive PMS. Because these strategies are more cost-effective than overlay, mill and overlay, or reconstruction, NDOT can rehabilitate more roads with less money. This report will describe how to select, design, and construct successful CIR and FDR projects. The performances of the strategies are evaluated, and life-cycle cost analysis is developed to demonstrate the cost–benefit of CIR and FDR versus conventional rehabilitation strategies.

Cold In-Place Recycling and Full-Depth Reclamation Projects by Nevada Department of Transportation: State of the Practice

One of the biggest challenges that public agencies face is how to optimize available funding. With the price of bituminous materials 70% higher than 2 years ago and increased demand for capacity improvement projects, it is more important than ever to use in-place materials when rehabilitating pavement structural sections. Cold in-place recycling (CIR) and full-depth reclamation (FDR) are two pavement rehabilitation strategies that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has used for more than 20 years. These strategies have allowed NDOT to save more than $600M over the past 20 years compared with complete reconstruction costs. In addition, traffic interruptions are minimized during construction, and natural resources are preserved. According to the Highway Performance Monitoring System data, NDOT has the highest percentage of its combined National Highway System Interstate and other roadways rated in the good category. The reason for this achievement is that NDOT uses a proactive Pavement Managem...

Critical limb ischaemia in patients over 80 years of age: options in a district general hospital.

A total of 114 reconstructions were performed in 82 octogenarian patients and the results compared with those of 33 patients who had primary amputation. The operative mortality rate was higher after amputation (45 versus 11 per cent) and the mean survival less (25 versus 34 months). Quality of life assessment using a Rosser scale suggested that, although there was no improvement in the 38 per cent with a failed reconstruction, there was a significant improvement in the 62 per cent whose reconstruction remained patent. There was minimal improvement in quality of life after primary amputation and this was due to relief of pain. Costs (including the costs of revisions and community costs) were assessed in detail. Although the mean total operative costs of reconstruction were higher than those of amputation (10,222 pounds versus 6475 pounds) this was more than offset by the high community costs of amputation. The total cost of reconstruction was 13,546 pounds, compared with 33,095 pounds for amputation. Following reconstruction 66 per cent of those patients independent before critical limb ischaemia occurred were able to return to their own home; only 33 per cent of amputees were able to do so.

Minimizing Total Cost for Urban Freeway Reconstruction with Integrated Construction/Traffic Analysis

This paper introduces an innovative approach to development of construction and traffic management plans for the I-15 Devore project, a fast-track urban freeway reconstruction project with high traffic volume in Southern California. The goal of this approach is to determine the most economical reconstruction closure scenario by integrating construction schedule, traffic delay, and agency cost. Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) software was used for scheduling analysis. The demand-capacity model based on the Highway Capacity Manual, and macroscopic and microscopic traffic simulation models were utilized for traffic delay analysis. Based on these analyses, the California Department of Transportation decided to implement eight 72 h weekday closures with round-the-clock operations for this reconstruction project. This was found to be more beneficial for both the agency and the traveling public than the alternative of: (1) 55 h weekend, (2) 10 h nighttime, or (3) one-time co...

Modeling of hurricane damage for Hawaii residential construction

Past information on Hurricane Iniki damage to Hawaii buildings of residential, commercial, and resort occupancies has been gathered and geo-referenced on GIS. Comprehensive reconstruction cost documentation has been combined with post-hurricane aerial photography and linked to a robust property tax database of construction type attributes and property valuation. Using the data available in the property tax records to define construction attributes, residential building fragilities and loss functions have been developed along with risk relativity factors. The resultant Damage Curves estimate hurricane damage to a wide variety of Hawaii building types as a function of peak gust windspeed.

Optimizing Regional Earthquake Mitigation Investment Strategies

Regional mitigation analysis is a systematic procedure to determine how much to spend on mitigation versus post-event reconstruction and to prioritize alternative mitigation strategies. It requires at least the following information: magnitude and character of the regional risk, costs and benefits associated with all possible mitigation alternatives, available budget, and specific regional objectives for risk management. Currently available loss estimation models provide increasingly comprehensive estimates of regional risk, but offer little guidance about how to use that information to make mitigation resource allocation decisions. This paper describes a linear program developed to support systematic regional earthquake mitigation analysis, and illustrates its application through a case study in Los Angeles County. Results suggest which buildings—by structural type, occupancy type, and census tract location—should be upgraded so as to minimize total mitigation and expected post-earthquake reconstruction costs.

L'Afrique et la fin de la guerre froide : de la nécessité d'un « nouveau réalisme »

Superpower disinterest turns out to be the main feature of Africa's post cold war era. Although marxism-leninism and models of socialist orientation based thereupon have utterly failed, there is not much reason for capitalism to triumph either: the debate on the limits and risks of the market forces will continue as the example of South Africa shows. The eighties have turned out to be a lost decade for development in Africa and there will be no significant rise in outside development assistance in the coming years : expectations for a Marshall Plan for Africa and hopes concerning a "peace-dividend" because of disarmament in Europe should be discounted in the context of the exploding cost of European reconstruction. Africans can either react with despair or with a "New Realism", geared at solving their problems essentially by mobilising their own resources and creativity. Europe, for its part, would be ill-advised to judge its relations with Africa merely in terms of diminishing strategic and economic interests.

PRIMARY URETHRAL RECONSTRUCTION: THE COST MINIMIZED APPROACH TO THE BULBOUS URETHRAL STRICTURE

Treatment for urethral stricture disease often requires a choice between readily available direct vision internal urethrotomy (DVIU) and highly efficacious but more technically complex open urethral reconstruction. Using the short segment bulbous urethral stricture as a model, we determined which strategy is less costly. The costs of DVIU and open urethral reconstruction with stricture excision and primary anastomosis for a 2 cm bulbous urethral stricture were compared using a cost minimization decision analysis model. Clinical probability estimates for the DVIU treatment arm were the risk of bleeding, urinary tract infection and the risk of stricture recurrence. Estimates for the primary urethral reconstruction strategy were the risk of wound complications, complications of exaggerated lithotomy and the risk of treatment failure. Direct third party payer costs were determined in 2002 United States dollars. The model predicted that treatment with DVIU was more costly (17,747 dollars per patient) than immediate open urethral reconstruction (16,444 dollars per patient). This yielded an incremental cost savings of $1,304 per patient, favoring urethral reconstruction. Sensitivity analysis revealed that primary treatment with urethroplasty was economically advantageous within the range of clinically relevant events. Treatment with DVIU became more favorable when the long-term risk of stricture recurrence after DVIU was less than 60%. Treatment for short segment bulbous urethral strictures with primary reconstruction is less costly than treatment with DVIU. From a fiscal standpoint urethral reconstruction should be considered over DVIU in the majority of clinical circumstances.

A parallel multiresolution volume rendering algorithm for large data visualization

We present a new parallel multiresolution volume rendering algorithm for visualizing large data sets. Using the wavelet transform, the raw data is first converted to a multiresolution wavelet tree. To eliminate the data dependency between processors at run-time, and achieve load-balanced rendering, we design a novel algorithm to partition the tree and distribute the data along a hierarchical space-filling curve with error-guided bucketization. Further optimization is achieved by storing reconstructed data at pre-selected tree nodes for each processor based on the available storage resources to reduce the overall wavelet reconstruction cost. At run time, the wavelet tree is first traversed according to the user-specified error tolerance. Data blocks of different resolutions that satisfy the error tolerance are then decompressed and rendered to compose the final image in parallel. Experimental results showed that our algorithm can reduce the run-time communication cost to a minimum and ensure a well-balanced workload among processors when visualizing gigabytes of data with arbitrary error tolerances.

Reconstruction of vibro-acoustic fields using hybrid nearfield acoustic holography

Hybrid nearfield acoustical holography is utilized to reconstruct the vibro-acoustic fields generated by an arbitrary structure vibrating in an unbounded fluid medium. This hybrid NAH is based on the modified Helmholtz equation least-squares method that expresses the field acoustic pressure in terms of expansions of outgoing and incoming waves. The expansion coefficients are determined by solving an over-determined linear system of equations obtained by matching the assumed-form solution to a finite number of acoustic pressures measured in the field via least squares. The measurements are taken over a conformal surface around the source at close range so that the evanescent waves can be captured. Once the expansion coefficients are specified, enough field acoustic pressures are regenerated on a conformal surface around the source and are taken as input to the Helmholtz integral formulation implemented numerically by the boundary element method. The acoustic pressure and normal velocity on the source surface are reconstructed using singular value decomposition, modified Tikhonov regularization and generalized cross-validation method. This hybrid NAH enables one to obtain a satisfactory reconstruction cost effectively because the majority of the input data are calculated but not measured. Numerical examples of reconstructing the vibro-acoustic quantities on the surfaces of an engine block and a highly elongated cylinder are demonstrated.

Optimality and Acceptance Criteria in Offshore Design

The optimal design of offshore structures is formulated as a decision theoretical problem. The objective is to maximize the expected net present value of the life cycle benefit. The general optimization problem is simplified by taking into account the cost impacts of a possible reconstruction of the structure. The analytical solution to this problem has been derived for the case, where failure events follow a stationary Poisson process. The life cycle benefit is formulated in terms of the production profile, the design and construction costs, failure costs and reconstruction costs. In order to assess the effect of potential loss of lives, the costs of fatalities are included applying the concept of the Implied Costs of Averting a Fatality ICAF. The suggested approach to optimal design, which can be applied for any type of offshore structure, is exemplified considering the special case of steel structures. Here, it is standard to represent the ultimate structural capacity in terms of the Reserve Strength Ratio RSR. For the purpose of illustration, the relation between material usage and RSR, which is valid for monopod structures, is applied. Optimal RSR’s and corresponding annual failure rates are assessed for both manned and unmanned structures covering a wide range of different realistic ratios between the potential revenues and costs for construction, failure and reconstruction.

The Fiscal Burden of Korean Reunification: A Generational Accounting Approach

This paper uses Generational Accounting to assess the fiscal impacts of Korean reunification. Our findings suggest that early reunification will result in a large increase in the fiscal burden for most current and future generations of South Koreans. The Korean reunification’s fiscal impact appears much larger than that of German reunification, due to a wider gap in productivity between the two Koreas and North Korea’s much larger share of the unified country’s population. The projected large-scale fiscal burden on South Korea is attributable primarily to the rapid increase in social welfare expenditure for North Korean residents, rather than to the direct reconstruction cost of the North Korean economic system after the disintegration of its old economic regime

THE INFLUENCE OF GEOMETRICAL PARAMETERS OF RAILWAY TRACK IN CURVES SIDE WEAR ON OUTER RAIL

The article provides data on the influence of railway track geometric parameters in curves on lateral wear of the external rail and proposes a method of calculating the additional costs of maintenance and reconstruction of small and medium radius curves.