An Operational Research Approach to Shipping

This paper shows how the Operational Research approach can be used in the shipping industry to obtain effective savings. The approach is by way of a recent study to determine an optimal drydock policy in which the principal criterion was to minimize the total cost of operation. Additional areas, indicating the range of studies carried out in the marine field, are also mentioned.     

Transportation benefits from containerized cargo movements on the Trinity River, Texas

The future of waterborne commerce on the Trinity River, Texas, depends on the extent to which the waterborne transport system constitutes a definite cost saving over alternate transportation modes. This paper outlines the results of a study conducted in the area, the purpose of which was to establish potential transportation savings from containerized commodity movements on the Trinity River.     

Flexible parking requirements for office developments: New support for public parking and ridesharing

The author examines new, flexible parking requirements in several U.S. cities and Canada. Flexible requirements provide relaxations in zoning code specifications for off-street parking in return for developer commitments to ridesharing measures, support of transit or in-lieu fees for public parking. Issues examined include whether developers take advantage of flexible requirements, whether agreements with developers lead to agreed-upon action, and whether actions lead to desired results. Based on experiences of several cities, implications and cautions are drawn for local planners. The first caution relates to cities using flexible requirements to collect in-lieu fees in support of public parking. Where cities delay providing parking, inflation may make it difficult to provide the desired parking supply. Or, developers may not choose to pay the fee, such as in the case where cities grant relaxations for other measures more attractive than paying the fees.Other implications relate to flexible requirements in support of ridesharing or transit. Developers will not necessarily take advantage of relaxations tied to support of these modes. Generally, developers will take the least-cost ways to gain relaxations. They may choose to provide the parking where transit or ridesharing measures are too costly or complex. Or, they may take relaxations easier to obtain than those for ridesharing and transit. Finally, even where developers do agree to ridesharing measures, the measures may not be effective. On the other hand, developer-sponsored actions have proven effective in some cities where tight or expensive parking prevails, or where neighborhood residents have organized against office commuters parking on neighborhood streets, or where other economic or community variables favor ridesharing and transit.     

Wanting to travel,more or less: Exploring the determinants of the deficit and surfeit of personal travel

This study investigates the determinants of peoples desire to increase or decrease the amount of travel they do. We use data from 1,357 working commuters, residents of three different neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The dependent variables are indicators of Relative Desired Mobility for ten categories of travel (short- and long-distance overall and by several mode- and purpose-specific categories). These variables are measured on a five-point ordinal scale ranging from much less to much more, through which the respondents indicated the amount of travel they want to do (in the category in question) compared to what they are doing now. Censored ordered probit models were developed for these variables, with explanatory variables including general travel attitudes, specific liking for travel in each of the same separate categories, objective and subjective measures of the amount currently traveled in each category, and personality, lifestyle, and socio-demographic characteristics. The results support the hypotheses that the liking for travel has a strong positive impact, and subjective qualitative assessments of mobility have a strong negative impact, on the desire to increase ones travel. Finally, a number of general types of effects on Relative Desired Mobility were identified, among them complementarity and substitution effects. The results of this study can provide policy makers and researchers with new and valuable insight into key principles that affect individual travel demand.     

Network performance improvement under stochastic events with long-term effects

This paper is devoted to the problem of improving network performance to withstand incidents such as earthquakes, which have long-term adverse-effect upon the networks. A measure of link importance is presented based on consumers surplus. This measure is then used to define and solve a network improvement problem. Computational complexities are reduced by introducing an approximate measure of link importance which performs almost as good, and hence may be used for solving large scale problems. Several example networks are used to clarify the discussion numerically.     

Modelling behavioural rules for daily activity scheduling using fuzzy logic

The paper focuses on how trip time variability affects re-scheduling of daily activities. A delay in a trip or an early arrival can contribute to changes in the timing, location of the next activity, and to the deletion/addition of some activities. We propose the idea of using fuzzy logic rules to explain the effect of variability in travel time on the benefits perceived by an individual with the changes, and to model different actions that the individuals take in order to re-establish the steadiness of the existing timetable. The fuzzy model is used to handle the imprecision of the data which is unstructured text. The results show that large deviations in trip duration are more likely to induce significant changes in the timetable whereas small deviations are either ignored or translated into modified timing of the next activity. In choosing an action, greater importance is assigned to the flexibility of the following activity, to the magnitude of the trip time saving/delay, and to the duration of the next activity. Time savings are not favoured unless they can be readily transferred into additional activity time allocated to the next activity or to a new activity. The fuzzy rules based system is capable of predicting satisfactorily the strategy of coping with uncertainty in travel times and the satisfaction sensed with the change.     

What is induced traffic?

Investment in new or up-graded roads both raises the level and alters the pattern of accessibility over the whole area served by the road system. Vehicle-users will perceive the opportunities that this increased accessibility offers and respond in various ways, most of which can lead to more rather than less travel on the system. To the extent that travel increases overall, it can be said to have been induced by the road-improvement. Conversely, congestion as it spreads on the network will deter some travel and can be said to have a traffic suppression effect.The purpose of this first paper is to spell out, as clearly as possible, what is meant by induced traffic and to relate its various components to the full range of behavioural responses by travellers. In doing so, it draws upon the recently published (December 1994) report by the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment (SACTRA) and response by the UK Government. The paper concludes with some of the implications of induced/suppressed traffic for current methods of forecasting and evaluation of road investment, which are covered in more detail by subsequent authors.     

A New Technique of High-performance and Fast Tensioning Prestressed Anchorage CableEI北大核心

Research purposes: The large-span transition section tunnel of the Badaling Great Wall station on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway with the maximum excavation width of 32.7 m, and the largest excavation area of 494.4 m 2 , is the world's biggest traffic tunnel in the world with the largest excavation width and excavation area, which has difficult construction and high security risks. The initial support system of tunnel is mainly realized by prestressed bolt, prestressed cable and shotcrete. After test, anchor cable tension using the traditional anchor cable construction technology can't meet the design requirements, at the same time, it takes about 30 days to achieve prestressed tensioning. Therefore, we need to study the high-performance fast tensioning prestressed anchor cable technology, to effectively control surrounding rock deformation, to ensure the safety of construction, improve construction efficiency. Research conclusions:(1) The traditional anchor cable construction technology is adopted. The anchor cable tension value is mainly controlled by the grip force between the anchor rope and grouting body and the cohesive force between grouting body and surrounding rock. (2) The grip force between the anchor rope and the grouting body can be increased by about 2 times by increasing the "barb"; The cohesive force between the grouting body and the surrounding rock can be increased by 1.5 times by 6 ~ 7 MPa high-pressure grouting process. (3) The modified sulphoaluminate cement slurry can reach more than 30 MPa within 1 day of the slurry strength, so as to realize fast anchor cable tension within 1 day after grouting completion. (4)The research results can be used for reference in similar prestressed anchorage cable construction projects. © 2018, Editorial Department of Journal of Railway Engineering Society. All right reserved.     

Analysis of Passive Limited Supporting Force of Curved Shield Tunnel Excavation FaceEI北大核心

Research purposes: In the construction process of curved shield tunnels, the force of excavation face is extremely complex and the stability is difficult to control, so it is very likely that the thrust of the jack will cause uplift of the soil in front because of passive failure. Taking the sand strata as an example, this paper established a combination model of "inverted ladder-wedge prism" to reveal that the soil in front of the excavation face of curved shield tunnels uplifts up because of passive failure based on the silo theory and limit equilibrium method, and deduced the calculation method of passive limited supporting force for curved tunnels. Then, we confirmed the accuracy and reliability of this model and calculation method through programing and simulating. Research conclusions:(1) The passive limited supporting force increases with the increase of buried depth and internal friction angle, and the growth rate gradually increases. (2) When the radius of the line is less than 200 m and the internal friction angle is more than 25 degrees, the passive limited supporting force is very sensitive to the curvature radius, and when the radius is more than 800 m, the passive limited supporting force is almost no difference with straight tunnels. (3) The numerical results indicate that the numerical solution is consistent with the theoretical solution and the difference is quite small. (4) The research results can provide theoretical basis for determining the passive limited supporting force in the constructions of similar curved shield tunnels especially small turn radius shield tunnels. © 2018, Editorial Department of Journal of Railway Engineering Society. All right reserved.