Road Shoulder Research Articles

Community response to road traffic noise in Kumamoto

The present study used the same questionnaire and noise measurement method as was employed in the Muroran-Gothenburg Joint Study. The object was to investigate the difference in community response owing to different environmental and/or social factors, such as climate, house structure, nationality and characteristics of the cities, by directly comparing data from Kumamoto (or Kyushu), Muroran (or Hokkaido) and, in the near future, Gothenburg. For the survey, an area along a main road in Kumamoto was selected, which had a traffic volume greater than 60 000 vehicles/day in 1989. The interview method was used in the survey. Day-long measurements were conducted at the reference point in the area and 10-minute simultaneous measurements were also conducted at the road shoulder and in front of the houses. The following main conclusions can be presented. (1) noise exposure in front of the wall facing the road may be greater than that in front of the wall of the living room. (2) L eq contributes most to TV/radio disturbance in Kumamoto, but contributes least in Muroran; this difference appears to be dependent upon the difference in noise exposure and window type: 96 dB(A) maximum noise level and single pane in Kumamoto vs. 86 dB(A) and double pane in Muroran.

Detection of Guard Wires Buried in Snow by an FM-CW Radar

This paper presents the detection results of metallic guard wires covered/embedded in snow measured by an FM-CW radar. First, the brief principle of an FM-CW radar as well as its applica-tion to object mapping are explained, and then an FM-CW radar system is explored which is operative in the microwave L-band frequencies. The explored radar system was applied to the actual field measurement for the purpose of detecting metallic objects buried in snow. The radar system mounted on a van showed its potential ability in detecting and mapping the guard wires on road shoulders at least 50cm deep in snowpack in a real time operation, demonstrating its usefulness for monitoring snow shoveling actions.

Thermal design of snow-melt road, utilizing short-term thermal energy storage under the road.

A theoretical analysis of a snow-melt road has been performed using a method of imaging line sources. The results showed that: (1) The snow-melt road proposed in this report is assumed to be a uniform concrete road which has a deep heat storage zone 2.9m under the road. (2) The heat loss through the road shoulder can be eliminated by a thermal insulator buried in the shoulder 50cm deep. (3) The power of the proposed type of heat storage is far superior to the standard one. Over 5 days, the surface heat flux of this road is larger than the standard one. (4) The optimal relation between the pitch, the depth of the buried heat transfer pipes and the temperature of water used are shown in the figures. A thermal design process is proposed.

Mommy Learns to Drive the Studebaker

workshop leader, and author of several books of poetry. NELI MOODY-BERNE, Palo Alto, California, a writer, actress, and choreographer, says her maternal roots go back to the Ohio/West Virginia border. JO RAYMOND MOTT lives in Archer, Florida . This is her first appearance in Appalachian Heritage. TESSA NELSON-HUMPHRIES is British and also an American Citizen. "I came here in the wake of a Kentucky husband who was a Professor of Biology at Cumberland College." She teaches at the college and is a published poet, lecturer, and photographer. SALLIE ODUM lives in Berea and works at Berea College. She has had poetry published in journals and periodicals including The New Oxford Review and Appalachian Heritage. ALFRED H. PERRIN, former President of the Friends of the Berea College Library, is currently living in Burnsville, North Carolina. PHYLLIS PRICE'S work has appeared in both regional and national publications. She currently resides in Stone Mountain, Georgia. RON RASH lives in Pendleton, South Carolina. This is his second appearance in Appalachian Heritage. RICHARD SEARS, a member of the English facutly at Berea College, is the author of several books on early Berea history. CHARLES SEMONES, Harrodsburg, Kentucky , has had his work appear in several regional publications. VERNA MAE SLONE Uves in Hindman, Kentucky. She achieved national recogniztion with her first book, What My Heart Wants to Tell. DEBORAH HALE SPEARS, fronton, Ohio, incorporates earth themes in many of her prose pieces, fiction, and poetry. GORDON LLOYD SWARTZ HI has a degree in Agriculture but has "been a West Virginia coal miner for the past 15 years." MICHAEL THOMPSON lives in Berea and does porcelain repair and restoration. RAY TRAIL was Art Director for the CBS television station in San Diego, California, until his retirement. Mommy Learns to Drive the Studebaker Like a big, green jackrabbit the car lurches and swerves over the icy wooden bridge while big sister shifts the gears. Mommy can't quite do the gears and clutch at the same time. When a car comes towards us, she gets 'way over on the road's shoulder as if she is beggin' pardon for bein' in the way. We used to fight over whose turn it was to shift the gears while Mommy just kept on clutchin', ears deaf to the din. -Jo Raymond Mott 80 ...

First Report of a Parasitic Fly (Diptera: Phoridae) from a Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) Alate Female (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

A number of phorid flies are known to parasitize various life stages of bees and wasps, including reproductives (Kistner 1982). Several genera of phorids are known or assumed to be parasitic on worker ants but not on reproductives (Borgmeier 1963; Borgmeier and Prado 1975). Williams (1980) summarized the known data on phorids attacking and parasitizing fire ants sens. str., Solenopsis (Solenopsis) spp., in South America. To date, only one species is definitely known to parasitize fire ant workers, although other species are assumed to be parasitic on fire ants (Williams 1980). None of these species are present in the United States (Borgmeier 1963). Fire ant colonies collected as part of our continuing survey for biological control agents of fire ants were processed by the methods given in Jouvenaz et al. (in press). One colony of Solenopsis invicta Buren, collected 5-Feb-85 on the road shoulder of BR-070, km 616, ca. 1/2 way between Caceres and Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brasil, in disturbed cerrado (arid tropical savanna), was found to contain an unidentified nematode (Jouvenaz et al. in press). During studies of the nematode, 200 adult workers, 200 worker pupae, 200 adult males, and 65 alate females (all that were present in the collection) were dissected, yielding one puparium of a phorid fly (identified by D. H. Habeck, Dept. Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL) from one alate female (virgin queen). The first two body segments of the puparium were darkened and heavily sclerotized. Two large conspicuous horn-like structures were noted on the prothoracic segment, probably the prothoracic spiracles. The remainder of the puparium was white and unmelanized. No gross morphological alterations were noticed in the alate ant before dissection. After several months preservation in 70% ethanol, the unmelanized portion of the puparium cleared, revealing the partially developed pupa inside. The pupa had developed to the point of eye facet coloration but no other parts were melanized. Since fire ants are not routinely dissected as part of our survey in Brazil, a special effort was made to collect alate females from fire ant nests on a subsequent trip (February to March 1986). Alate females were found in 93 colonies. These were preserved in alcohol and dissected in the United States. Up to 20 alate females were dissected from each colony (total of 1,561). No fly puparia were found although an unidentified microsporidian disease and nematodes were found. This is the first report of a phorid fly parasitizing alate female ants of any species. This find raises the possibility that a species of phorid exists that may be good biological control agents for queens and alate females of fire ants, not just workers. The success of a biological control program for fire ants using parasitoids which affect only worker ants would not seem to hold much promise, because of the large numbers of workers in fire ant colonies (Markin et al. 1973). The possibility exists that this is an instance of mistaken parasitism by the fly. During mating flights, activity on the surface of fire ant mounds becomes very hectic and a phorid could attack an alate by mistake. All reported cases of attack on worker ants describe the ant as stunned (Williams 1980; Kistner 1982). An alate female which

Recent Sightings and a Specimen Record of the Trumpeter Swan in the Willamette Valley, Oregon

The range and population of the Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) in the United States and Canada have been greatly reduced because of a number of factors. The major nesting areas today are in Alaska where the population is increasing; there are only remnant nesting populations elsewhere (Banko 1960, Hansen et al. 1971, Palmer 1976). The Trumpeter Swan's status in Oregon in the late 1970's was listed as occasional in the coastal areas and in the high desert east of the Cascade Mountains (Eltzroth and Ramsey 1979). The only breeding records in Oregon are from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) where transplanted birds from Red Rock Lakes NWR in Montana established a small breeding population in 1958 (Cornely et al. 1985). Gabrielson and Jewett (1940) listed about 12 sources for sight records in Oregon from 1806 to 1940, including several from the Willamette Valley. They considered this species near extirpation and reported no sight records in Oregon after 1929. The scarcity of Trumpeter Swans in western Oregon was reflected by (1) unsubstantiated reports of wintering birds on the Columbia River (Marshall 1969), (2) no verified observations from 1929 to the late 1950's (Banko 1960), and (3) suspected, but unverified, wintering in Oregon and as far south as the Sacramento Valley in California (Hansen et al. 1971). Other than the transplanted birds and their progeny at Malheur NWR (first transplanted in 1939), only two specimens of Trumpeter Swans are known for Oregon. One specimen (current location unknown) was reportedly collected at Malheur Lake (now Malheur NWR) in 1877 and one was taken in April 1881 on the Columbia River about 5 km west of Portland (Gabrielson and Jewett 1940). In this paper, we describe the first Trumpeter Swan specimen from the Willamette Valley. Also, we list post-1974 winter sight records that were obtained from American Birds; Oregon Birds; newsletters from bird clubs and Oregon Audubon chapters including Warbler, Sandpiper, Corvallis Chat, Grapeleaf, and Quail; and R. L. Jarvis (pers. comm.). We acquired a juvenile male Trumpeter Swan from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on 9 April 1986. The swan was found freshly dead on a road shoulder near Airlie (Polk County) on 6 March 1986; it was then stored in a freezer. After the bird thawed for 2 days at room temperature, weights and measurements were taken, the liver and kidneys were removed for contaminants analysis, and the gizzard was opened and inspected. Gross examination revealed no signs of disease; a good supply of body fat was present. We found an apparently lethal wound from a bullet that penetrated one wing and the breast. The plumage was gray except for white on the tail and underside of the body. A small penis was present. The mandibles were black except for a small area that was dark pink. The legs and feet were dark gray and splotched with orange-yellow. The huge gizzard (120 x 76 mm) contained mostly sand with a little grit and plant material. No lead or steel shot was detected in the gizzard contents. Weights (g) were: whole body-11,890, liver-138.6, kidneys54.4, and heart (approximately 160.5). Measurements in cm (following procedures of Baldwin et al. [1931]) were: bursa depth-4.2, body with feathers-159.0, wing chord-63.4, tail-17.8, tarsus13.8, middle toe with claw-17.8, and exposed culmen-10.7. Body weight and measurements were within the range listed for Trumpeter Swans, but most were much larger than those of Tundra Swans (Palmer 1976). A flock of 16 Trumpeter Swans was sighted near Airlie on 17 January 1986. This is the same area where our specimen was found in March. The swan was donated to the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University (Specimen #FW 5152). Recent sight records by experienced birdwatchers indicate that the Trumpeter Swan is an uncommon winter resident in the Willamette Valley (Table 1). Although Trumpeter Swans are frequently confused with Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) that commonly spend the winter there (Eltzroth and Ramsey 1979) the two species usually form segregated flocks in Oregon. These sightings indicate that wintering Trumpeter Swans may be increasing in the Willamette Valley.

Incidence and Geographic Distribution of Sweet Clover Necrotic Mosaic Virus in Alberta

Incidence and Geographic Distribution of Sweet Clover Necrotic Mosaic Virus in Alberta

Latencies in Vehicle Steering: It is Possible to Measure Drivers’ Response Latencies and Attention Unobtrusively on the Road

This paper reviews results from a series of studies in which latencies in driver/ vehicle steering responses were measured on the road, unobtrusively, and with representative samples of unsuspecting drivers. Based on the fact that an obstacle on the road shoulder induces an avoidance response, i.e., a lateral displacement towards the middle of the road, a stimulus event was introduced at various distances when a car was approaching so that the time available to drivers for an avoidance response was known. It was found, first, that the average steering response started at latencies greater than 1 s, reached the half-way point at 2.5 s and the maximum at 3-4 s, depending on the situation. Second, this method was applied in a project on the effects of a warning flasher on driver behavior in school zones. It was found that the flasher reduced the drivers’ steering response latencies. This was supposedly the first time to measure drivers’ attention unobtrusively.

Drivers’ steering reaction to a light stimulus on a dark road

When a car was approaching on a dark road, a small lamp was lit on the road shoulder. The onset of the light was timed by means of infrared beams directed over the road at a constant distance from each other so that for each passing car, a randomly selected beam was used to switch the lamp on. The lateral displacement due to the onset of the light was measured for 815 cars and lorries and these data were plotted as a function of the time available for this avoidance response. The average avoidance response, towards the centre-line, started at a latency of less than 2s, reached its halfway strength at 2-5 s and its maximum at little more than 3 s. It was concluded that the typical driver/vehicle steering response latency, in a fully unexpected situation, is of the order of 2-5 s and the upper, safe limit at little more than 3 s.

Observations on environmental problems in West Africa (a viewpoint)

There is a dearth of information in West Africa on trace element contents in soils and plants and the associated diseases. Here, the population is mostly rural, relatively stable and close to the earth, hence endemic diseases resulting from anomalously high or low trace element concentration in soils may assume an important health problem. Grinding stones are traditional utensils used in most parts of Africa, but no one knows what effect, if any, contaminations from trace elements of the rocks have on the health of rural population in West Africa. A significant amount of sediment pollution in West Africa comes from soils piled on road shoulders along major highways and city roads. Before the materials are used most of it is washed into rivers, and in cities and towns they clog up the open sewer systems and make them breeding grounds for mosquitoes and flies. The West African environmental health problems are, to a great extent, sanitary problems.

Moisture transients at the pavement edge: analytical studies of the influence of materials and cross-section design

The Paper describes the development and application of theoretical analyses of the infiltration of water from the surface of an unsealed road shoulder into the pavement and the subsequent redistribution and drainage of this infiltrated water. A review of the properties of a wide range of unsaturated granular soils enables the moisture characteristics of compact, granular pavement materials to be described in a form suitable for engineering design application. A simplified model of one-dimensional infiltration is then introduced to assist in interpreting more complex flow situations and to provide a basis for concise presentation of patterns of pavement edge infiltration and drainage. For theoretical analysis of two-dimensional moisture transients at the pavement edge, the governing equations for unsaturated flow in non-swelling soils are solved by numerical analysis. These techniques are outlined and predictions are compared with the results of simple experiments. Quasi-non-dimensional patterns of edge infiltration and drainage are then presented to describe the standard case of full width construction on an impermeable subgrade in some detail, and then to show how conditions are altered as a result of variations in the cross-section design. The designs which are analysed include cross-sections in which the shoulders are less permeable than the pavement base and cross-sections with various types of subdrainage. Cette étude décrit le développement et l'application d'analyses théoriques de l'infiltration d'eau de surface d'une embase de route dans la chaussée et la redistribution et l'écoulement subséquents de cette eau infiltrée. Une revue des propriétés d'une grande série de sols granulaires non saturés, permet la description des caractéristiques de matériaux de chaussée compacts et granulaires dans une forme qui convienne à l'application de projet de génie civil. Un modèle simplifié d'une infiltration à une dimension est alors introduit afin de permettre l'interprétation d'états d'écoulement plus complexes et pour pourvoir une base pour la présentation concise de modèles d'infiltration et de drainage de bord de chaussée. Pour l'analyse théorique de l'humidité passagère à deux dimensions au bord de la chaussée, les équations dirigeantes pour l'écoulement non saturé dans des sols non gonflés sont résolus par analyses numériques. Ces techniques sont examinées et les prévisions sont compartées aux résultats d'expériences simples. Des modèles quasi non dimensionnels d'infiltration et de drainage de bord sont alors présentés en détail afin de décrire le cas normal d'une construction en pleine largeur sur un substratum imperméable et montrer ensuite de quelle manière les conditions sont changées par suite des variations dans le projet de coupe. Les projets qui sont analysés comprennent des coupes dans lesquelles les embases sont moins perméables que la base de la chaussée et des coupes de divers types de sous-drainage.

Development and selected applications of a low hydraulic head laboratory permeameter : MCINNES, DB, PUBLIC WKS DEPT. W. A. AUS 4F, 1T, 13R. 2ND AUS-N. Z. CONF. GEOMECH, BRISBANE, 1975, INST. ENGRS, AUS. NAT. CONF. PUBL. NO. 75/4, P228–232

Liquid flow through soil developed under low hydraulic head conditions is discussed. Such conditions arise for example in studies of seepage from shallow ground evaporation tanks, and infiltration phenomena. A laboratory technique for the determination of soil permeability under these conditions and closely simulating those evident insitu is described. Features of the technique include means for accurately maintaining and measuring the vertically downwards flow from a shallow pool of water ponded on one of the flat ends of a cylindrical specimen. Special attention has been given to the problem of specimen boundary leakage often encountered in laboratory permeability testing of gravels. A bentonite gel jacket is used to surround the specimen and eliminate leakage. The use of the technique also allows for the direct testing, without re-compaction, of field tube samples and for a study of the effect of drying subsequent to compaction upon permeability. Certain applications of the use of the technique and associated results are discussed. These applications include a determination of: (a) The influence of compaction upon the water conductivity characteristics of road shoulder materials after long periods of wetting. (b) The influence of desiccation, following compaction and prior to wetting, upon the permeability of a clayey-sand. Comments are then made relating to the practical implications of these permeability measurements.

The Effects of Roads on Populations of Small Mammals

Little is known about the effects of roads on populations of animals. Pienaar (1968) summarized the possible effects of roads on organisms in a national park, but most workers have been concerned with mortality of animals along roadways (e.g. Simmons 1938; Knobloch 1939; Haugen 1944; McClure 1951; Hodson 1966; Evenden 1971; Bellis & Graves 1971). Roads affect many mammals by facilitating access to food or by increasing the food supply, but they may lead to damaging or fatal accidents. Bellis & Graves (1971) reported that Odocoileus virginiana* often fed on grassy road shoulders and as a result were frequently hit by vehicles. Taylor (1971) related the numerous skeletal fractures in east African viverrids to their habit of catching prey along roadways. In contrast, road verges provide a ready supply of grass and this has allowed some microtines to flourish and even expand their ranges (Baker 1971). In other cases, road verges provide important habitats for conservation of plants and animals (Anon. 1966; Kabat & Thompson 1963; Joselyn, Warnock & Etter 1968). However, roadside soil and vegetation are often contaminated by lead and other heavy metals used as additives in gasoline (Lagerwerff & Specht 1970; Smith 1971) and vegetation may be severely injured by high levels of sodium chloride (Hofstra & Hall 1971). Roads and railways have been found to inhibit the movements of feral Rangifer tarandus, but not those of domestic R. tarandus (Klein 1971). Studies of the effects of roadways on the dispersal of mammals are lacking although Buckner (1957) reported some data for Clethrionomys gapperi. This study documents the effects of roadways on the movements of small and mediumsized mammals (small mammals less -than 700 g; medium-sized mammals 700 to approx. 14 000 g) obtained from capture-recapture studies and from direct observation of roadways. The term road 'clearance' used in this paper, refers to the distance an animal had to move between forest margins to cross the roadway. Clearance may be equivalent to right-of-way, but this is not always the case.

The Role of the Florida Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex badius , 1 in Old Field Mineral Nutrient Relationships 2

The study has shown that the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) causes phosphorus and potassium to accumulate at the surface of colony sites in abandoned fields and along road shoulders. Soil samples from the crater surface of 5 harvester ant colonies contained 10.4±1.0 ppm phosphorus and 16.5±3.9 ppm potassium. Soil samples from control areas not associated with an ant colony contained 6.2±0.5 ppm phosphorus and 6.6±1.0 ppm potassium. The growth (height) of buttonweed, Diodia teres Walt, seedlings was greater in soils from ant mounds than in soils from control areas. The accumulation of nutrients is caused by the deposition of debris and waste products (seed covers, dead ants, feces, and other metabolic wastes) around the crater rim. The soil enrichment increases the standing crop of plants immediately surrounding the colony crater. The gradual mineralization of nitrogen and other inorganic nutrients is responsible for the continued greater growth of plants at sites abandoned for several years. Colonies are long-lived and may move to new locations several times during a period of years. The increased plant growth could possibly reduce the foraging radius of the workers by increasing local seed production.

Effects of Monuron on Halogeton and Associated Salt-Desert Shrub Vegetation

ALOGETON (Halogeton glomeratus) is an introduced, poisonous 11 annual plant which is rapidly invading the salt-desert ranges of western North America (6). The poisonous constituent of this plant is water-soluble oxalic acid, which varies from 17 to more than 30 percent of the dry weight in its leaves during the growing season.3 Because of the poisonous property of halogeton and its dense population on disturbed site, it is of considerable importance to the livestock industry (1, 2, 3, 8, 12). The borrow pits of highways in the Great Basin usually have a large population of halogeton. (The borrow pits are drainage areas immediately adjacent to the road shoulders and the soil used to build up the roadbed is borrowed from these pits.) The additional moisture derived from drainage of the roadbed substantially increases the vigor and densities of these populations. Halogeton is a prolific producer. Germination, establishment and survival studies indicate that an inch of seed-producing stem can potentially produce from 3 to 39 plants during the following growing season. These calculations are based on the potential of the black seeds. Data on the germination of brown seed (5, 12, 13, 14) and the establishment and survival of their seedlings are not available. The disturbed and denuded soils of livestock and game trails, railroad rights-of-way, and highway rights-of-way have provided some of the major avenues by which halogeton has spread into new habitats. Highway rights-of-way are probably one of the more important routes to new infestations because of the profusion of both brown seeds and black seeds in and on the soil of the borrow pits and man's intense use of roads and the immediately adjacent areas (6, 11). Sterilization of the soil surface appeared to have promise as a means for reducing the spread of the weed. Available data indicate that embryos which escape from the coat below a depth of ?4 inch do not emerge from the soil. The vegetation bordering the borrow pit is often weak in vigor or reduced in density to a degree that halogeton can invade. Therefore, closing of highway rights-ofway as a pathway of incursion by halogeton necessitates sterilization of the soil surface under the adjacent perennial vegetation until vigor and density of the vegetation would prevent the growth and development of invading plants. Soil sterilization under the perennial vegetation would not accomplish its purpose in the event it