Transportation Infrastructure Systems Research Articles

A dual-driven fusion model of evaluating the performance and carbon emissions for recycled waste pavement

Solid waste recycling is an essential approach for the sustainable transition of transportation infrastructure development. In this study, a holistic model for recycled waste pavement was developed, achieving a breakthrough in eco-efficiency-based pavement material design. Using this model, we can not only individually assess the technical feasibility of the pavement material and its carbon emissions, but also realize the unified dimensional quantification of multidimensional parameters based on decision-making expectations using a metrics fusion system, thus achieving high-level sustainability decisions for pavement schemes. The proposed model was validated by evaluating the comprehensive properties of steel slag pavements to determine a suitable and durable pavement solution. This study provides a decarbonization strategy for the transportation sector considering waste-recycled pavement design, which may promote the development of more resilient transportation infrastructure and significantly contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and mitigating climate change.•A model for solid waste pavement was established based on synthesized assessing feasibility and carbon emissions.•The field performance and climate system impacts of pavements with solid waste materials were assessed.•It was demonstrated that recycling steel slag for pavement construction can reduce carbon emissions by >50 %.•Our results contribute to achieving sustainable transportation infrastructure systems to mitigate climate issues.•Our methodology can be used not only for road construction but also in the civil engineering field.

Plug-in charging or electric roads? Powering U.S. long-haul heavy-duty trucks in 2050

Abstract Pervasive plug-in fast chargers and/or electrified roadways (eRoads) might address the limited range, long recharging times, and reliance on greenhouse gas (GHG)-intensive, costly, and heavy batteries associated with electrifying long-haul heavy-duty trucks (HDTs). While these large-scale interventions shift environmental and cost burdens onto infrastructure, there is a lack of studies investigating how eRoads affect system-level GHG emissions, costs, material use, and peak electric grid power demands. We compare these aspects for the case of electrifying U.S long-haul HDTs (Class 8) in 2050 powered by combinations of plug-in fast chargers and eRoads. Our model accounts for battery downsizing, energy consumption, and truck operation patterns in quantifying life cycle impacts of batteries, plug-in chargers, eRoads, and hourly truck electricity demand. We find that plug-in fast chargers and eRoads reduce annualized 2050 HDT life cycle GHG emissions by 8% to 14% compared to using long-range batteries, which in turn have at least 50% lower emissions than diesel trucks. Conductive rails, overhead lines, and wireless eRoads (amortized across light- and heavy-duty vehicles) have lower system-wide costs than long-range batteries, plug-in fast chargers, or diesel trucks. Cost savings from smaller batteries, lower energy use and avoided recharging time offset high eRoads capital costs. While eRoads can reduce both system-level GHG and costs compared to diesel trucks, these reductions are sensitive to eRoads capital costs and losses from wireless power transfer and air resistance. eRoads require less lithium (87%) and copper (67%) than long-range batteries but increase regional peak power demands by up to 32%. Efficient wireless power transfer and aerodynamic pantographs enhance eRoads’ GHG and cost advantages, which may diminish if future batteries are more energy-dense, cheaper, or less GHG intensive. If successfully deployed, eRoads present opportunities for tighter integration between the transportation and electricity infrastructure systems, enabling optimized charging strategies to lower GHG emissions and costs.

Potentials and Challenges of AI-Empowered Solutions to Urban Transportation Infrastructure Systems: NSF AI-Transportation Workshop Phase I

Potentials and Challenges of AI-Empowered Solutions to Urban Transportation Infrastructure Systems: NSF AI-Transportation Workshop Phase I

The Impact of Transportation on The Avocado Market in Tanzania

Avocado (Persea americana) is grown in many nations throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. The climate of Tanzania offers a perfect habitat for growing avocados. This paper investigates how transportation affects the Tanzanian avocado industry. Data were gathered from 505 farmers and 37 categories/groups using a cross-sectional design. Data analysis was done using SPSS where descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's Honest Significant Difference (HSD) test at p < 0.05 was also done. According to the results, local avocado output is dominated by men (79% male vs. 21% female). The result of the binary logit model revealed that the participation of avocado producers in a high-value market was influenced by age, educational status, the number of avocados sold, the price of avocado, and market information. With sorting (12%), grading (7%), and packaging (9%), quality during production was judged most important (25%), followed by harvesting (16%), storage (16%), and transportation (15%) with less relevance were factors impacting quality. Improving the avocado market for growers depends on addressing these problems at the national, regional, and district levels. Hence, transportation has a big influence on the avocado industry since smallholder growers have great difficulties influencing market access and produce quality. Improvement of transport infrastructure and support systems at the national, regional, and district levels will help to boost the avocado market.

Enhancing inundation monitoring of road networks using crowdsourced flood reports

As the risk of flooding continues to impose on transportation infrastructure systems, enhancing the ability to monitor flood inundations in road networks becomes more significant. This research explores the potential crowdsourced data, specifically 3-1-1 reports, has to complement information from physical flood sensors. Three flooding events in two watersheds in Harris County, Texas were studied. To assess 3-1-1 report's capabilities, a time series analysis between reports and water elevation of physical sensor data was performed to capture channel overflow. Next, a graph-based observability analysis identified multiple combinations of minimum additional sensor locations needed for complete network monitoring in the study area. To find the optimal combination, a principal component analysis assigns a criticality score based on exposure, road importance, neighborhood vulnerability, and frequency of 3-1-1 reports near a node. The results indicate that 3-1-1 reports effectively improve flood monitoring by reducing the need for physical sensors by 32% in areas that lack flood sensors. This approach can help city managers improve flood monitoring by leveraging socially sensed data to supplement physical sensors, especially in blind spots where no flood gauge exists.

Mobility Index Towards Heritage Tourism Area, Case Study: Borobudur, Prambanan, And Ratu Boko

Mobility has become a crucial factor in transportation management, especially in the tourism sector. It is a key indicator of the performance of transportation infrastructure and people's response to it. To evaluate mobility in tourist areas, there is a need for tools to represent its value. In this study, the concept of an index as a measure of performance is applied, gathering information into a simpler and more mutually agreeable form. The cultural heritage sites of Borobudur, Prambanan, and Ratu Boko are chosen as an ideal study location due to their popularity internationally. Given the limitations of previous research on mobility indexes in tourist areas, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Index (I_SUM) framework is used to develop the variables. To avoid bias, this study utilizes expert opinion methods to assess necessary and unnecessary variables in achieving the index. Eight individuals with expertise and experience in transportation and tourism are selected as respondents. Furthermore, the expert evaluation results are processed using the Content Validity Index (CVI). The outcome is 26 variables that meet the validation test out of a total of 32 previous variables, which are divided into five domains, covering accessibility, social aspects, transportation infrastructure, traffic cycle, and transportation systems.

Mobility has become a crucial factor in transportation management, especially in the tourism sector. It is a key indicator of the performance of transportation infrastructure and people's response to it. To evaluate mobility in tourist areas, there is a need for tools to represent its value. In this study, the concept of an index as a measure of performance is

Mobility has become a crucial factor in transportation management, especially in the tourism sector. It is a key indicator of the performance of transportation infrastructure and people's response to it. To evaluate mobility in tourist areas, there is a need for tools to represent its value. In this study, the concept of an index as a measure of performance is applied, gathering information into a simpler and more mutually agreeable form. The cultural heritage sites of Borobudur, Prambanan, and Ratu Boko are chosen as an ideal study location due to their popularity internationally. Given the limitations of previous research on mobility indexes in tourist areas, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Index (I_SUM) framework is used to develop the variables. To avoid bias, this study utilizes expert opinion methods to assess necessary and unnecessary variables in achieving the index. Eight individuals with expertise and experience in transportation and tourism are selected as respondents. Furthermore, the expert evaluation results are processed using the Content Validity Index (CVI). The outcome is 26 variables that meet the validation test out of a total of 32 previous variables, which are divided into five domains, covering accessibility, social aspects, transportation infrastructure, traffic cycle, and transportation systems.

Driving Economic Growth through Transportation Infrastructure: An In-Depth Spatial Econometric Analysis

This research investigates the crucial role of transportation infrastructure in influencing economic activity, thus employing advanced econometric methods including Moran’s I index, LM, Hausman, and LR tests to ensure analytical accuracy and select the appropriate spatial model. Our findings reveal that freight volumes across road, waterway, and civil aviation significantly enhance economic activity by bolstering domestic trade, industrial production, and supply chains. Conversely, the impact of passenger turnover is comparatively minor, although it still contributes to labor mobility and urban accessibility. This study highlights the need for strategic investment in transportation infrastructure and efficient public transport systems to foster economic growth and sustainable development. We recommend that policymakers focus on optimizing transportation networks and integrating intelligent transport technologies to boost economic competitiveness and societal well-being. This analysis not only sheds light on the direct economic impacts of transportation but also underscores the broader social implications, thus advocating for a holistic approach to transportation planning and policymaking.

An Integrated Infrastructure Resilience Approach, from the Geotechnical Asset to the Transport Network

The main objective of this work is to present a comprehensive and integrated methodology to enhance the resilience of transportation critical infrastructure (TCI), focusing on the interplay between geotechnical assets and the transport network. Societies are greatly dependent on transport infrastructure systems, and as the mobility of passengers and the transport of freight is continuously growing, a disruption due to natural or man-made hazards creates significant impacts and dysfunctionalities on their operation and necessitates response measures to minimize vulnerability and ensure continuous functionality and robustness through resilience. Therefore, resilience quantification allows the design of ad hoc operation action plans before, during, and after a disruption, considering the dynamics of societal, ecological, and technological (SET) environments. The current work focuses on resilience quantification methodologies for TCIs and on the influence of single geotechnical asset (i.e., slope failure) resilience capacity on the overall system (i.e., national road network) resilience. Two case studies of unexpected transport network disruptions that took place in Greece are presented, and resilience metrics and performance indicators are applied to quantify the influence of the recovery stage.

Hands-on Learning Pedagogy in Teaching Concepts Relevant in the Analysis, Design, and Maintenance of Transportation Infrastructure Systems

Learning critical concepts that are centered on the analysis, design, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure systems poses a measure of difficulty for undergraduates in engineering. Therefore, hands-on learning pedagogy should be an excellent precursor to increase understanding of these concepts, since the pedagogy incorporates real-life experience in the delivery. This paper describes how a hands-on learning pedagogy called experiment-centric pedagogy (ECP) has been used to teach these concepts to undergraduate students at a historically Black university. The research questions are as follows: (1) How well can ECP improve students’ understanding of concepts essential to the analysis and design of transportation infrastructure systems? (2) How has the ECP facilitated the achievement of the learning objectives of these concepts? and (3) Does an ECP increase the engagement of undergraduate students in their transportation infrastructure engineering learning and lead to measurable lasting gains? To answer these research questions, ECP was implemented and assessed when used to teach the concepts of stress and strain utilized in the analysis of bridges and other transportation infrastructure, sound used in the development and design of noise barriers, moisture content in controlling compaction of highway infrastructure systems, and degradation of infrastructure systems exposed to various environmental settings. Assessment results from 92 undergraduates reveal an increase in students’ motivation and cognitive understanding of the relevant concepts, as well as learning gains and an improved success rate compared to the traditional method of teaching.

Advancing the understanding of successful technology implementation factors within state DOTs: a maturity model perspective

In an effort to improve the security, dependability, and quality of infrastructure systems, the implementation of complex transportation construction and maintenance projects is essential. Building upon a previous study that identified six crucial factors for effectively implementing new and emerging technologies in the State Department of Transportations (DOTs), this research aims to comprehensively explore six critical factors using a maturity model perspective. DOTs have shown increasing interest in adopting emerging and wireless technologies, as evident in various Federal Highway Administration Every Day Counts initiative. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, using survey responses from DOT personnel to evaluate the relative significance of technology implementation factors and subfactors. The six factors for successful technology implementation explored in this study are Organization Structure, Information Technology Infrastructure, Data Security, Information Workflow, Personnel Training, and Stakeholder Engagement. The study also evaluates the relative importance of People, Process, and Technology for each of these six factors. The paper focuses on providing detailed insights into the different criteria of each technology implementation factor and subfactor to guide agencies in successful technology deployment. Understanding these factors is critical to deploying emerging technologies successfully, which, in turn, leads to much-needed efficiency and productivity in highway construction and asset management. The findings of this study can help DOTs prioritize their technology investments and ultimately contribute to the development of a more advanced and sustainable transportation infrastructure system.

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

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

Infrastructure System Obstacles and Technology Adoption by Firms in Transition Countries

Abstract This study uses business survey data to analyze firm perceptions of infrastructure systems in transition countries as obstacles to conducting business. Factors that contribute to reported perceptions are modeled, including country macroeconomic conditions, firm characteristics, and measures of overall reforms and infrastructure system reforms. Identified obstacles arise from binding constraints that limit economic growth, reflect implicit shadow costs, and signal areas in need of policy reform or infrastructure investment. The analysis covers electric power, telecommunications, transportation, and water and wastewater infrastructure systems. Also examined is whether transition indicators of reforms, intended to reflect improvements, are associated with perceptions of obstacles. Beyond identifying infrastructure obstacles and the effects of reforms during the transition process, we also explore firm adoptions of new electronic technologies, essentially a new infrastructure system, as they use email, websites, cell phones, and high-speed Internet in their business activity.

Techno-Economic Comparison between Centralized and Distributed Energy Resource Systems: A Case Study of an Underground Transportation Infrastructure System in Changsha, China

Due to their higher energy efficiency and better economic performance, distributed energy resource (DER) systems are expected to be one of the main energy supply forms in the future and have gained increasing attention in recent years. Thus, there is a need to boost our understanding of how to apply DER systems in different types of actual cases. This paper investigates a techno-economic analysis of a DER system applied in a real case in a hot-summer and cold-winter zone in China, where the climate is considered to be Cfa according to the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. An urban underground transportation infrastructure system located in Changsha (China) was chosen to analyze the techno-economic performance of a natural-gas-fired DER system in comparison with a centralized energy system (CES). First, a scientific and reasonable application program of the natural-gas-fired DER system was developed by an overall load analysis (electric load, air-conditioner load, and domestic hot water load during the operating period). Based on this load analysis, this research combined the energy consumption and the actual operating situation and then compared and analyzed different types and capacities of equipment in this case. Moreover, a comprehensive analysis of the economic benefits was estimated by comparing the natural-gas-fired DER system with conventional CESs. Overall, the total annual cost of the DER system was reduced by 18.73%, and its additional investment can be paid back within about 2.2 years. A better economic benefit was achieved by applying the natural-gas-fired DER system in an actual case, which will help encourage the widespread application of DER systems.

A probabilistic framework for the resilience assessment of transport infrastructure systems via structural health monitoring and control based on a cost function approach

The essential role of transport infrastructure systems for economic development, territorial cohesion and social transformation is widely recognized. However, key structural components of this systems, such as bridges, are rapidly aging, while the loading conditions to which they are subjected are evolving to become increasingly severe, for instance, due to changes in vehicle loads, climate crisis, etc. These circumstances contribute to reduce the level of reliability and safety of these vital infrastructure systems. Therefore, assessing the current state and predicting the future condition of transportation infrastructure, and protecting it against external hazards, proves essential. This paper focuses on an in-depth study of the role of structural control and monitoring in improving the structural resilience of transportation infrastructure as a life-cycle indicator. Subsequently, a novel framework based on a cost function approach is introduced, recognizing that the benefits of enhanced resilience come with associated investments. This enables stakeholders to assess the balance between initial investments and long-term gains, facilitating informed decisions on control and monitoring to ensure structural resilience.

Sustainable Transportation Infrastructures in Iowa—Goals and Practices

The need to incorporate sustainability principles and practices is increasing for environmental and economic reasons. It is imperative to identify and operationalize sustainability strategies into core administrative, planning, design, construction, operational, and maintenance activities for the transportation infrastructure systems by integrating sustainability into decision-making processes. The primary goal of this study is to develop an implementation plan for achieving more sustainable transportation infrastructure systems in Iowa. This research aims to guide the adoption of sustainable strategies, balancing cost, performance, and environmental impact in transportation infrastructure development. This paper presents efforts to develop a methodology for identifying the best sustainable practices for implementation in transportation infrastructure practices in Iowa by surveying state DOTs to learn about their sustainability goals and practices, identifying existing sustainability attributes and sustainable practices, and developing a GIS database where construction, materials and performance data of sustainable practices can be stored and analyzed.

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT LOGISTICS IN OPTIMIZING TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE ARCHITECTURES

Nowadays, transport infrastructure is a crucial component of any social and economic system. The arrangement of infrastructure is a top priority in economic activity due to the globalization of international logistics. This study aims to comprehensively analyse the transport infrastructure system regarding architectural objects. It also seeks to identify the main issues of the management paradigm in the industry and options for solving them. The research employed general scientific methods of cognition, including logical and structural analysis, comparison, theoretical modelling, abstraction, induction, and deduction, as well as statistical methods, specification, generalization, and formalization. The article examines innovative approaches to developing transport infrastructure in the international logistics system. The authors analysed the main issues, challenges, and achievements of managing the architectural component of transport infrastructure. The paper concludes that the effective use of transport infrastructure capabilities is essential for increasing the productivity of economic processes. The authors also identified the position and role of architectural objects in the international logistics system.

Infant mortality in Ghana: investing in health care infrastructure and systems.

Child and infant mortality is a global problem. Almost half of deaths of children under age 5 years occur in the neonatal period, the first 28 days of life, with 2.4 million neonatal deaths globally in 2020. Sub-Saharan Africa has disproportionately high numbers of neonatal deaths. Ghana's neonatal mortality rate is 22.8 per 1000 live births and remains behind targets set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Quality antenatal care, postnatal monitoring, breastfeeding support, and postnatal family planning are important in preventing neonatal deaths. While Ghana has made progress in making care more financially accessible, it has not been matched with the improvements in the critical infrastructure required to ensure quality health care. The improvements have also not eliminated out-of-pocket costs for care, which have hindered progress in decreasing infant mortality. Policymakers should consider investments in health care infrastructure, including expanding public-private partnerships. Policies that improve workforce development programs, transportation infrastructure, and health insurance systems improvements are needed.

Economics of geotechnical asset deterioration, maintenance and renewal

Transport and other infrastructure systems are supported on, adjacent to and retained by extensive systems of earthworks of varying (and increasing) age, and of variable original construction quality. These earthworks are subject to natural deterioration, which can be accelerated and complicated by the effects of climate change. The ACHILLES research program is providing improved understanding of earthworks behavior, performance and deterioration. It is also developing methods and tools to analyze and provide decision support for the construction, maintenance and renewal of earthworks, with particular emphasis on the management of existing, deteriorating assets. The work described here aims to identify the most cost-effective timing and means of extending earthworks asset lives and maintaining their safety and serviceability. Conventional cost-benefit analysis methods, of the type used for new infrastructure projects, do not directly provide the decision support needed for the maintenance and renewal of existing earthworks assets. An alternative approach is proposed and applied to a modeled example, demonstrating the potential asset management benefits of early, pre-emptive intervention, the economic attraction of deferred intervention, and the means of identifying an intermediate whole-life cost ‘sweet spot’, based on a timely assessment of intervention options. The handling of the uncertainty associated with earthworks behavior, deterioration rates and times to failure is also considered, as is the extension of the single-asset approach to the management of multiple earthworks assets.

Enhancing Seismic Damage Detection and Assessment in Highway Bridge Systems: A Pattern Recognition Approach with Bayesian Optimization.

Highway bridges stand as paramount elements within transportation infrastructure systems. The ability to ensure swift recovery after extreme events, such as earthquakes, is a fundamental trait of resilient communities. Consequently, expediting the recovery process necessitates near real-time diagnosis of structural damage to provide dependable information. In this study, a data-driven approach for damage detection and assessment is investigated, focusing on bridge columns-the pivotal supporting elements of bridge systems-based on simulations derived from nonlinear time history analysis. This research introduces a set of cumulative intensity-based damage features, whose efficacy is demonstrated through unsupervised learning techniques. Leveraging the support vector machine, a prominent pattern recognition algorithm in supervised learning, alongside Bayesian optimization with a Gaussian process, seismic damage detection and assessment are explored. Encouragingly, the methodology yields high estimation accuracies for both binary outcomes (indicating the presence of damage or the occurrence of collapse) and multi-class classifications (indicating the severity of damage). This breakthrough opens avenues for the practical implementation of on-board sensor computing, enabling near real-time damage detection and assessment in bridge structures.