Performance evaluation of the inside intersection median-turn lane markings on the mobility and safety performance of signalized intersections in the Philippines and Japan

Signalized intersections are one of the key elements that play a vital role at road networks. The efficiency and safety levels of intersections can affect the operational performance of the whole system. In general, turning traffic, especially median-turning, has always been considered as the most problematic movement in the operation of intersections. This becomes more critical with high turning demand where exclusive turning lanes (single or double) can be assigned to provide larger capacities for these movements and to reduce conflicts with through traffic. However, improper treatment of median-turn lanes could create cross-maneuvering behavior which may limit the expected increase in capacity and create safety issues. Median-turning lane markings are commonly provided at intersections in Japan to guide drivers while turning which is expected to reduce the conflicts among turning traffic. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, exclusive median-turn lanes are installed at intersections without proper treatment which may contribute to the low mobility and safety levels. Therefore, this study evaluated the impact of inside intersection lane markings on the operation of median-turn lanes in terms of mobility and safety. The vehicle maneuver, speed and interactions between the turning traffic were utilized as essential components for the assessment. The empirical analysis shows that conflicting trajectories were present on double turn lanes without median-turn lane markings in the Philippines, which resulted to serious conflicts among the turning vehicles and negatively influenced the turning speed and saturation flow rate of the turn lanes. On the other hand, the turn lane markings in Japan, provided a positive impact to mobility and safety of the turning lanes. Moreover, it was also found that the geometric characteristics and traffic signal phasing scheme highly affects the capacity and safety condition of signalized intersections.     

An overview of biodiesel in Asian countries and the harmonization of quality standards

Recently, biofuels have been actively introduced as transportation fuels in Asian countries. Common drivers to use biofuels are energy security, fuel diversification, and the reduction of greenhouse gases. In addition, some Southeastern Asian countries look forward to utilizing the abundant agricultural resources and providing stability for farmers. However, a compromised quality of biofuels could cause vehicle trouble, which is why the quality standard of the fuels is very important. On the other hand, the quality standard of biofuels differs from country to country and could cause vehicle trouble in some countries and not others. These differing standards may become an obstacle to trade. In this situation, the harmonization of the biodiesel standards in the East Asia Summit (EAS) region has been initiated by the ERIA biodiesel working group, in which members are the specialists from each country. This review summarizes the introduction of biofuels in this region and the recent activities regarding the harmonization of the fuel quality standard. Important background for this review is based on the results of the ERIA biodiesel working group meeting.     

部分充填钢管混凝土桥墩振动台试验

为了完善部分充填圆形钢管混凝土桥墩的抗震设计理论及其工程应用，对2座采用此类桥墩的两跨高架桥缩尺模型（相似比为1：6.7）进行了强地震动输入下的破坏性振动台试验，研究无偏心部分充填圆形钢管混凝土桥墩和有偏心部分充填圆形钢管混凝土桥墩的破坏机理和地震响应。研究发现无偏心桥墩在墩底附近产生了均匀的钢管局部屈曲变形和明显的水平裂缝，而有偏心桥墩并没有产生水平裂缝，所以无偏心桥墩的纵桥向墩顶位移远大于有偏心桥墩。同时，受横桥向恒载偏心的影响，有偏心桥墩的墩顶横桥向位移和墩底局部屈曲变形主要集中在靠近中轴线的一侧，塑性发展区域也大于无偏心桥墩，这使得其墩顶横桥向最大位移大于无偏心桥墩。不过，由于有偏心桥墩并未发生开裂，所以其横桥向残余位移与无偏心桥墩相差不大，均在3 cm左右，验证了有偏心部分充填圆形钢管混凝土桥墩若经过合理的截面设计，其抗震性能也能满足既定的要求。此外，恒载偏心使得有偏心桥墩在横桥向两侧所耗散的能量不相等，可能会导致其横桥向两侧的累积塑性变形存在差异，不利于其优越的抗震性能和耗能能力的充分发挥。因此在设计有偏心部分充填圆形钢管混凝土桥墩时，需要合理选取混凝土充填高度和径厚比等结构参数，减少恒载偏心对其抗震性能的不利影响。