Traffic Lines Research Articles

Retention of eucalyptus harvest residues reduces soil compaction caused by deep subsoiling

Eucalyptus harvesting, forwarding and soil tillage operations are among the main causes for compaction of forest soils, with potential impacts on productivity. This concern is especially important in areas with soils that are naturally compacted (fragipans and duripans). In these soils, tillage operations include the use of subsoilers that can reach depths of more than one meter and require heavy tractors that exert high pressure on the soil. One of the ways to try to minimize the effect of this compaction is by retaining harvest residues. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of eucalyptus harvesting on soil physical attributes, as well as to determine the potential of different types of residue management to reduce compaction from the soil tillage operation. Two experiments were conducted in the same area with a Yellow Argisol. In the first experiment, compaction caused by mechanized harvesting with harvester + forwarder was evaluated. In the second experiment, different managements of harvest residues were examined as potential modifiers of soil compaction during tillage for new plantings. For this, three managements systems were tested: (1) retention of all harvest residues and litter from the previous rotation (HR + L), (2) retention of litter from the previous rotation (L), and (3) removal of harvest residues and litter from the previous rotation (WR). Before and after harvest, sampling was carried out in the planting rows and inter-rows, and after tillage, samples were collected in the traffic line of the subsoiler-tractor set. In both experiments, undisturbed soil samples were collected from the center of the 0–10, 10–20, 20–40, 40–60, and 60–100 cm layers to determine soil density and total porosity. In each period and site of evaluation, mechanical resistance to penetration up to the 60-cm depth was also determined. The harvesting operation increased soil density at 0–10 and 60–100 cm depths only in the inter-rows. Retention of harvest residues and litter (HR + L) after harvesting avoided increases in soil density and penetration resistance caused by machine traffic during tillage. The results indicate the importance of retaining harvest residues on forest soils for achieving sustainable utilization and for conserving soil quality.

GIS and geographical analysis of the main harbors in the world

Abstract This paper points out the possibilities of better exploitation of marine traffic as well as its connection with other kinds of traffic. Special attention is given to the analysis of 1,081 harbors about their availability during the year. The methods and algorithms used in GIS are buffers, cluster, method of interpolations, and network analysis. The methods used for the purpose of conducting numerical analyses are algorithms that served for the analysis of the network, its transport features, and the connectivity with harbors in terms of geospace. The main results found in this research showed that harbors have good connectivity in the first place with road traffic and after that with air and railroad traffic. According to data from 2019, all traffic lines cover 4.1 × 1015 km, and the road traffic has the most significant potential in connection with the harbors. The most connected harbors and airports are in the east coast of North America, west coast, north Europe, southern Europe, south-east Australia, a central part of Oceania, and south-east Africa. The results in the modified Likert scale between airports and harbors showed medium results. The densest road network is located in the eastern part of USA, western and central part of Europe, and east coast of China. The number of possible connected lines between main road nodes and harbors is 0.8 × 109. This type of traffic showed excellent results and connection with harbors. The number of possible connected lines per month between railroads and harbors is 1.3 × 103. This type of traffic showed low connectivity with the harbors. In the end comparison of harbors with air, road and railroad networks were established. The geographical position of harbors was analyzed, and better understanding was performed on a global scale.

A new index to determine the optimal width of sand control project

Abstract There are several thousands of kilometers of traffic lines in desert regions that are facing blown-sand related difficulties, such as sand burial. When designing a sand control project, the width of it should be specific for different regions due to differences in regional climate, sand source richness, and wind intensity. Currently, there is no universally applicable method to judge the proper width value. The value should ensure an optimization between protection effect and economic cost. After investigating 24 sand control projects in North China and comparing several common equations for climate and wind force, we propose a new sand control index to estimate an optimal width for sand control measures and meet 5 levels of protection expectation from failed to excellent, which can reflect the characteristics of regional climate, local sand richness, and the direction of the protected facility. Threshold values for the 5 levels are decided as 13.5, 27.5, 48, and 100. This new index is validated by applying to the two stages of sand control project of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, and the results agree well with the level-5 and level-2 control effects before and after the second stage of project. This index can be applied in a variety of situations, as it covers a wide range of climatic regions and engineering conditions.

The origin of sediment and particulate phosphorus inputs into water bodies in the Swiss Midlands – A twenty-year field study of soil erosion

Sediment (S) and particulate phosphorus (PP) inputs from soil erosion of arable land into surface waters contribute substantially to water pollution. We have mapped erosion and S input to water bodies after each erosive rainfall event on 203 arable fields in the Swiss Midlands over 20 years (=4060 field years) and quantified soil loss as well as S and PP input to water bodies. On average, 21% of the total soil loss reached water bodies. A total of 353 (9%) field years provided S and PP inputs. The mean rates of S and PP input were 0.10 t ha−1 yr−1 and 0.14 kg ha−1 yr−1, and maximum values for single events were 10.71 t ha−1 and 12.96 kg ha−1, respectively. Of all investigated fields, 61% were connected to water bodies, but 88% of the total S and PP input occurred indirectly via drainage pipes with inlet shafts from roads and farm tracks. The temporal and spatial variability of S and PP input to water bodies was high. Only 7 (3%) out of 203 fields contributed to more than 50% of the total S input, and the largest 10% of field year magnitudes contributed to 73% of the total observed S input. Linear structures, such as thalwegs, traffic lines, tramlines, furrows or compacted headlands, were important pathways. More than 90% of the S and PP input resulted from linear erosion features. A wider application of conservation tillage practices in the second 10-year phase of the study led to a 5–6 fold reduction in S and PP inputs into water bodies in comparison to the first 10-year phase. With the presented unique data set, a sound basis for modelling and model validation is available. Moreover, such long-term studies are suitable to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures and programmes.

Analysis on the Countermeasures of Optimizing Urban Tourism Public Service System under the Background of Smart City

At present, there are problems in the construction of the tourism public service system such as poor coordination and coordination among various departments, lack of resource integration mechanism, and low level of information of tourism public services. Therefore, by analysing the problems existing in the tourism public service system in the context of smart cities, this paper puts forward strategies to optimize the tourism public service system. First, we build a smart tourism public service system platform for overall development and optimize the tourism public service platform. Secondly, by focusing on the behaviour of tourists, we construct a big data analysis and management system for the behaviour of smart tourism tourists. Finally, for the traffic situation in the process of tourism, a smart traffic line network based on pheromone ant colony is constructed. The results of the questionnaire survey on tourists show that the optimized public service system platform has achieved great satisfaction.

Overview of the Measures and Techniques Used to Protect Traffic Lines against Shifting Sands in China

Shifting sands are one of the main contributors to desertification in China. This paper briefly reviews the measures and techniques which are used to protect traffic lines by stabilizing and fixing sands in the desert and desertification-affected arid and semi-arid areas in north China. We introduce the types and features of these measures and techniques, including mechanical, chemical, and biological measures, and outline how they have been applied in different areas and in different traffic lines over the past six decades, from 1950s to 2010s, taking the Baotou-Lanzhou railway, the Qinghai-Tibet railway, and the Tarim Desert highway as examples Mechanical measures such as erecting sand-retaining wind walls and placing straw checkerboards have proved to be very efficient for stabilizing shifting sands and protecting traffic lines that pass through the desert areas. Chemical measures are not widely used in the current sand fixing systems because of their high cost and potential pollution risks. Biological measures are preferred because they exhibit much better sand fixation performance and longer duration than the former two types of measures despite their relatively high cost. A combination of different measures is usually adopted in some areas to attain better sand-fixing effects. Stabilizing sand dune surfaces with mechanical measures or irrigation from underground water or river if available helps early recruitment of some drought-tolerant plants (xerophytes). We also point out the restrictions for existing sand-fixing measures and techniques and future research orientation. This review has implications for addressing eco-environmental issues associated with infrastructure construction that is part of the Belt and Road Initiative in desert and desertification-affected arid and semi-arid areas in the Mongolian Plateau.

Spatial Distribution and Its Evolution Characteristics of A-grade Scenic spots of Xinjiang in the Context of Big Data

In the context of big data, based on the space analysis function in GIS, using the nearest neighbor index, kernel density analysis and the model of gravity center migration, this article studies spatial distribution and its evolution characteristics of A-grade scenic spots. The results showed that: 1) The number of A-grade scenic spots of Xinjiang grows rapidly and the grade structure is constantly optimized. 2) The spatial distribution characteristics of A-grade scenic spots of Xinjiang are as follows: the spatial distribution of scenic spots is in the pattern of "large dispersion and small agglomeration", mainly along 120km around the city and 10km on both sides of the traffic trunk lines, presenting a "cluster" distribution. 3) The spatial evolution characteristics of A- grade scenic spot in Xinjiang are as follows: the center of gravity of the scenic spot is gradually moving to the west, the overall distribution scope is constantly expanding, and the degree of local agglomeration is constantly increasing, formed three core distribution areas: Urumqi-changji, Yili and Kashgar. 4) The spatial distribution and evolution characteristics of A-grade scenic spots of Xinjiang are mainly affected by topography, the nearby city, population scale and traffic conditions.

Consideration of the loading of the traffic lines in the design of automobile roads

The article focuses on the importance of the strength and durability of highways due to the projected increase in freight traffic. It also describes the consequences of uneven distribution of loads in traffic lanes, depending on the prevailing traffic in each lane. The studies, that were carried out earlier by various scientists, were taken into account, thankfully to which results were obtained on the composition of the traffic flow, the difference in the loading of road pavements, as well as the stress-strain state of road structures. As a result, a model that reflects the dependence of the influence of the speed of movement of vehicles on the dynamic deformation of structures, was developed. Consequently, a number of design solutions were established to ensure the required strength of all structures.

Solution algorithms for the generalized train unit shunting problem

This paper proposes different algorithms to tackle the Generalized Train Unit Shunting Problem (G-TUSP). This is the pre-operational problem of managing rolling stock in a station, between arrivals and departures. It includes four sub-problems: the Train Matching Problem, the Track Assignment Problem, the Shunting Routing Problem, and the Shunting Maintenance Problem. In our algorithms, we consider different combinations for the integrated or sequential solutions of these sub-problems, typically considered independently in the literature. We assess the performance of the algorithms proposed in real-life and fictive instances representing traffic in Metz-Ville station, which includes four shunting yards. It is a main junction between two dense traffic lines in the east of France. In a thorough experimental analysis, we study the contribution of each sub-problem to the difficulty of the G-TUSP, and we identify the best algorithms. The outcomes of our algorithms are superior to solutions manually designed by experienced railway practitioners.

The Potential of Urban Transformation of the City Radial Route in Bratislava, Slovakia

The city, as a stratified urban structure, spread over time and in social coordinates, has its solid and spatial substance for the life of its inhabitants and visitors. The wider city center continues from the central city zone to the peripheral and often developing parts of the city. As a rule, ballast, uncoordinated and disarranged urban structures are usually increasing in this area. The urban explosion in the 20th century has caused oversized systems of housing estates, industrial zones, traffic lines and nodes in cities, forgetting quality, scale, functionality, and beauty. The transformation of these territories is first and foremost a question of a proper understanding of the compositional, social, ecological and economic issues and principles of the sites. Bratislava, due to the terrain morphology, developed further from the center along several main urban radial routes. The Bratislava Eastern Axis, formed by the Ružinov City Radial, binds to itself the entire transport structure of the Bratislava city part - Ružinov, its nodal spaces, major amenities (culture house, the marketplace, sports facilities, etc.), brownfield sites, parks and residential zones in a regular geometric grid. The urban and green changes in Ružinov have been studied, in relation to the main nodes and the main pedestrian lines, as well as the potential for optimal intensification and transformation of the territory, through strengthening the identity of the housing estates by the involvement of the memorable locations such as lakes, marketplace, hospital or linear park of Andrej Hlinka. Such changes are shown in the case studies of Bratislava - Ružinov on its axis in the locality of the market place Miletičova, Papánkovo Square and industrial zone Pošne. The emphasis on pedestrian and public spaces, the vitality, and identity of urban areas, the strengthening of blue and green infrastructure and the ecological principles of residential courtyards are possible only in the context of a lively society of the housing estates, dialogue and implementation of transformations with residents and local governments.

A Study on the Efficiency of Evacuation Guidance and Non-evacuation Guidance in Case of Fire

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, safety of disasters is being emphasized above all else, and electric fires are most frequent during disasters, and human and property damage is very serious. In this paper, we propose a study that can determine the efficiency of evacuation and non-evacuation guidance due to the large difference in casualties depending on the traffic line in the case of fire. Evacuation guidance was assumed to be a situation in which adequate evacuation routes were guided by a recorded voice or a trained staff, and nonevacuation guidance was assumed to be a situation without anything. Evacuation simulations were carried out using a evacuation simulation tool called PATHFINDER and SIMULEX for the analysis of the efficiency of evacuation and non-evacuation guidance. As a result, the evacuation time was similar, but in the case of nonevacuation guidance, it was not guided to the safe zone, which could cause serious damage.

Stand und Entwicklung des Fachplanungsrechts im Spiegel der jüngeren höchstrichterlichen Rechtsprechung

The report surveys in two parts the development of the law on project-related planning and thus relates in particular to the planning and approval of space-consuming infrastructure projects such as traffic routes and power lines. For this purpose, German administrative law has long provided for the specific instrument of plan approval (Planfeststellung). In this context, the Federal Administrative Court has extensive first-instance jurisdiction and uses this to shape large parts of German approval law, including beyond the actual area of plan approval law, be it in terms of legal protection and procedure, be it with regard to the requirements of substantive environmental law. On the other hand, the revision of the law on environmental protection induced by the decisions of the Aarhus Compliance Committee and the European Court of Justice has been used by the German legislator to extend procedural specifics of the plan approval to other approval decisions of environmental relevance. This firstly indicates the contours of a general law on project approval and, secondly, the nature of the plan approval as an instrument for the implementation of projects in the public interest is more strongly emphasized.

Relationship between urban construction land expansion and population/economic growth in Liaoning Province, China

The rapid expansion of urban construction land will lead to decoupling from the trend of economic development and population growth. A previous study have shown that there is a long-term bidirectional causal relationship between urban land expansion and economic and population growth. To further explore this relationship, we used remote sensing and statistical data combined with center-of-gravity shift index, coordination degree model, Theil index, and Tapio elastic decoupling index. The main results were as follows: (1) The urban construction land expansion in Liaoning Province has obvious geographical location characteristics, and it can be classified in three types: only along the traffic lines expansion, only along the coastline, along the rivers and traffic lines concurrently. (2) The per capita construction land area (PCCLA) is growing rapidly, and by 2015, 13 cities (all except Benxi) of the province exceeded the national standard for PCCLA (120 m2). Three of these cities (Yingkou, Dalian, and Huludao) exceeded the standard by more than 100%. The uncoordinated areas of land and population urbanization spread from coastal areas to central and western areas and finally to the entire province. (3) The correlation between urban construction land expansion and economic growth has changed from weak positive to strong negative decoupling. After 2010, the decoupling index for all cities became negative. In Huludao, Chaoyang, Panjin, Dalian, Shenyang, and Jinzhou, the construction land expansion was more than 3%, coupled with a 1% decrease in non-agricultural GDP. For other cities, the construction land expansion was less than 3% for a 1% decrease in non-agricultural GDP. These results demonstrate that the rapid growth of construction land was related to a negative economic growth. The findings also suggest that under the current pattern of economic growth, it may be difficult to control the expansion of construction land. New construction land should be reasonably planned and managed, and the dependence of economic growth on construction land and speed of population urbanization is a new challenge that should be reexamined by the local government.

Gazing behavior exhibited by people with low vision while navigating streets

ABSTRACT “Low vision” is defined as uncorrectable vision loss that interferes with daily activities. The gazing behavior exhibited by people with low vision as they walk is particularly important because it illustrates how they utilize information in various environments. In this study, eight participants with low vision and eight fully sighted participants were asked to navigate a roadway and a sidewalk wearing a mobile eye-tracking device. Their gazing behavior and walking behavior were recorded and analyzed. As a result, on the roadway, participants with low vision walked while fixing their gazes mainly on the road surface and white traffic lines around 10 meters ahead, as well as on the buildings around 39 meters ahead. On the sidewalk, on the other hand, they walked while fixing their gaze on mainly the road surface and tactile paving seven to eight meters ahead, as well as on the buildings around 24 meters ahead. These findings suggest that people with low vision use not only nearby objects but also distant objects as visual cues. In addition, the importance of using continuous road surface markers, such as white traffic lines and tactile paving, to enable people with low vision to walk outdoors safely is suggested.

Using the analytic hierarchy process and frequency ratio methods for landslide susceptibility mapping in Isparta-Antalya highway (D-685), Turkey

The D-685 highway, which connects Isparta to Antalya, has a dense traffic line with a length of 110 km. Landslide and debris flow are common on the road route. In some regions, rehabilitation works have been carried out by the highway commission. However, the clastic, unconsolidated, and high clay content of the lithological units in the road line causes the continuation of landslide and debris flows in different regions. Especially, heavy rain showers increase this effect. Landslide susceptibility maps based on geographical information systems (GIS) were developed to ensure safer driving on the highway and contribute to the planners. Parameters such as lithology, slope, distance from roads, distance from streams, land cover, precipitation, elevation, and aspect were used. Analytic hierarchy process and frequency ratio methods were used to assess these parameters. The obtained susceptibility maps were divided into four classes as low, moderate, high, and very high. There are large areas with high and very high susceptibility in the maps produced by both methods. Some parts of the highway pass through these high and very high susceptibility areas. According to the susceptibility maps, high and very high susceptibility areas are more intense in northern and central areas within the study area. These regions are also the sections with the highest elevation. In the study area, elevation decreases from north to south, and flat areas increase toward the south. For the validation of the maps, 16 of the 81 landslide areas were used for testing purposes. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the obtained maps have a level of reliability of over 90%.

Experimental definition and its significance on the minimum safe distance of blown sand between the proposed Qinghai-Tibet Expressway and the existing Qinghai-Tibet Railway

The Qinghai-Tibet Expressway is a major strategic project planned by China that will be built along the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor. At present, important traffic line projects, such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, have been built within this narrow corridor, particularly at the blown sand sections. How to ensure that the wind speed and its flow field between the new expressway and existing railway subgrades are not affected by each other is a priority to prevent breaking the dynamic balance of the blown sand movement of the existing subgrade, thereby avoiding aggravating or inducing new blown sand hazards and ensure the safe operation of the existing Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Therefore, defining the minimum distance of the wind speed and its flow field, which are not affected by each other, between the subgrades become a scientific problem that should be solved immediately to implement the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Expressway. For this purpose, the minimum safe distance between the subgrades of the Qinghai-Tibet Expressway and Qinghai-Tibet Railway was investigated from the perspective of blown sand by making subgrade models for conducting wind tunnel experiments and combining the observation data of the local field. Results indicated that the minimum safe distance between the two subgrades is 45–50 times the subgrade height when the Qinghai-Tibet Expressway is located at the downwind direction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and 50 times the subgrade height when the former is located at the upwind direction of the latter. These results have guiding significance for the route selection, survey, and design of the Qinghai-Tibet Expressway at the blown sand sections and for the traffic line projects in other similar sandy regions.

Lane Marking Regression From Confidence Area Detection to Field Inference

Lane marking detection is a fundamental yet challenging task for traffic scene understanding. Previous works generally predict traffic line segmentation and obtain lane marking coordinates with a post-processing step, which are vulnerable to various challenging environments including occlusion, illumination variation, shadow, background clutter. In this paper, we propose a novel method, named as Lane marking Regression Network (LRN), which can simultaneously consider confidence area detection and field inference for producing more precise lane markings in an unified encoder-decoder framework. For obtaining confidence detection of lane area, we introduce the graph diffusion mechanism to aggregate the contextual information for better detecting hard areas. The field inference considers the geometric relationship between lane area and lane markings by adopting a novel constraint regression function. Comprehensive evaluations on CULane and GD datasets well demonstrate the significant superiority of our proposed LRN over other state-of-the-arts for lane marking detection.

Preparation for Quarantine on the Cruise Ship Diamond Princess in Japan due to COVID-19.

BackgroundJapan implemented a large-scale quarantine on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in an attempt to control the spread of the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in February 2020.ObjectiveWe aim to describe the medical activities initiated and difficulties in implementing quarantine on a cruise ship.MethodsReverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 were performed for all 3711 people (2666 passengers and 1045 crew) on board.ResultsOf those tested, 696 (18.8%) tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), of which 410 (58.9%) were asymptomatic. We also confirmed that 54% of the asymptomatic patients with a positive RT-PCR result had lung opacities on chest computed tomography. There were many difficulties in implementing quarantine, such as creating a dividing traffic line between infectious and noninfectious passengers, finding hospitals and transportation providers willing to accept these patients, transporting individuals, language barriers, and supporting daily life. As of March 8, 2020, 31 patients (4.5% of patients with positive RT-PCR results) were hospitalized and required ventilator support or intensive care, and 7 patients (1.0% of patients with positive RT-PCR results) had died.ConclusionsThere were several difficulties in implementing large-scale quarantine and obtaining medical support on the cruise ship. In the future, we need to prepare for patients’ transfer and the admitting hospitals when disembarking the passengers. We recommend treating the crew the same way as the passengers to control the infection. We must also draw a plan for the future, to protect travelers and passengers from emerging infectious diseases on cruise ships.

Seismic study of a widened and reconstructed long-span continuous steel truss bridge

For those steel bridges built decades ago, widening and reconstruction is an alternative and effective strategy to improve their traffic capacity. Seismic study of a widened and reconstructed long-span continuous steel truss bridge is presented in this paper. The width and weight of the bridge deck is therefore significantly increased, but the pile foundations cannot be strengthened because of the construction restriction. As a main traffic line crossing Huangpu River in Shanghai, post-earthquake performance of uninterrupted service function and the lack of ductile components exclude the ductility seismic design of the bridge, therefore the seismic isolation design using friction pendulum bearings is an option. Key design parameters and the comprehensive isolation effects are studied to provide necessary technical supports for the seismic design of the widened and reconstructed bridge. Then, a notable pile cap vibration leading to an unfavourable seismic performance of the pile foundation is observed, and parametric analyses of the possible influence factors are further studied based on a simplified two-degree-of-freedom model of the bridge deck-pile cap interactive structure. On the basis of the achieved influence rules, design suggestions to improve the seismic performance of the pile foundation are proposed consequently.

Study on the Design of Slow Travel System of Tourist Highway Service Facilities

As an important carrier of tourism development, tourism highway also develops rapidly, and the construction of service facilities also rises gradually. The research on the slow travel system of tourism highway service facilities will help to achieve the coordinated development of eco-tourism and green development. Based on the concept of tourism highway service facilities, this paper defines and classifies the slow traffic system of tourism highway service facilities, and studies the slow traffic system of tourism highway service facilities from three aspects of slow traffic line design, safety facilities design and sign system design, and puts forward relevant design suggestions. Finally, through the field investigation of Yanming Lake Wetland Park in Jilin province, the slow system design is carried out, and the overall design drawing is proposed. Through the analysis and research of this paper, it can improve Chinese design system of slow traffic under the service facilities of tourism highway, and has the corresponding guiding role for the design of different slow traffic systems.