Optimization of horizontal alignment geometry in road design and reconstruction

This paper presents a general formulation for optimization of horizontal road alignment, composed of tangential segments and circular curves suitably connected with transition curves (clothoids). It consists of a constrained optimization problem where the objective function is given by a line integral along the layout. The integrand is a function representing the cost of the road going through each point and, by considering different costs, a wide range of problems can be included in this formulation. To show it, we apply this methodology to three different situations. The two first cases are related with the design of a new road layout and used to solve a pair of academic examples. The third problem deals with the improvement of a road adapting the old path to current legislation, and it is solved taking as case study the reconstruction project for a regional road (NA-601) in the north of Spain.     

Integrated approach to determine highway flooding and critical points of drainage

Among the natural hazards that threaten transportation infrastructure, flooding represents a major hazard to highways as it challenges their design, operation, efficiency and safety. In extreme cases, it may lead to massive obstruction of traffic and direct damages to the road structures themselves and indirect damages to the economic activity and development of the region. To enable the prevention of such consequences, and the proposition of adaptive measures for existing infrastructure, this paper presents an integrated framework to identify the most vulnerable points to flooding along a highway. This is done through the combination of remote sensing information (e.g. LiDAR based Digital Elevation Model, satellite imagery), a high-quality dataset, and a quasi-2D hydrodynamic model. The forcing condition is defined using a hyetograph associated to a storm with duration of 1 day and return period of 100 years. The selected highway is located in the Mexican state of Tabasco, where extreme precipitation events and floods are frequent. Results demonstrate the ability of the methodology to identify critical water levels along the road (h > 1.50 m) at those locations where flooding has been experienced, as well as points of inspection for the highway drainage. These locations were visited in the field and maintenance problems were detected that do increase its level of exposure. We show that this framework is useful for the generation of a flood management strategy to the analyzed highway, which includes an optimum location of adaptive measures to an anticipated more intense future climate.     

Autonomous cars: The tension between occupant experience and intersection capacity

Systems that enable high levels of vehicle-automation are now beginning to enter the commercial marketplace. Road vehicles capable of operating independently of real-time human control under an increasing set of circumstances will likely become more widely available in the near future. Such vehicles are expected to bring a variety of benefits. Two such anticipated advantages (relative to human-driver vehicle control) are said to be increased road network capacity and the freeing up of the driver-occupant’s time to engage in their choice of leisurely or economically-productive (non-driving) tasks.In this study we investigate the implications for intersection capacity and level-of-service of providing occupants of automated (without real-time human control), autonomously-operating (without vehicle-to-X communication) cars with ride quality that is equivalent (in terms of maximum rates of longitudinal and lateral acceleration) to two types of rail systems: [urban] light rail transit and [inter-urban] high-speed rail. The literature suggests that car passengers start experiencing discomfort at lower rates of acceleration than car drivers; it is therefore plausible that occupants of an autonomously-operating vehicle may wish to instruct their vehicle to maneuver in a way that provides them greater ride comfort than if the vehicle-control algorithm simply mimicked human-driving-operation.On the basis of traffic microsimulation analysis, we found that restricting the dynamics of autonomous cars to the acceleration/deceleration characteristics of both rail systems leads to reductions in a signalized intersection’s vehicle-processing capacity and increases in delay. The impacts were found to be larger when constraining the autonomous cars’ dynamics to the more-restrictive acceleration/deceleration profile of high-speed rail. The scenarios we analyzed must be viewed as boundary conditions, because autonomous cars’ dynamics were by definition never allowed to exceed the acceleration/deceleration constraints of the rail systems. Appropriate evidence regarding motorists’ preferences does not exist at present; establishing these preferences is an important item for the future research agenda.This paper concludes with a brief discussion of research needs to advance this line of inquiry.     

地铁轨道几何不平顺指标预测方法研究

充分考虑轨道平顺状态劣化的不确定性和异质性,基于灰色区间预测建模理论建立了轨道几何不平顺指标灰色区间预测模型。为验证模型的可靠性,根据北京地铁2号线10个典型单元区段在2017年2月至2019年2月之间的12次轨检车检测数据,以三角坑不平顺指标为例,利用所建模型进行模拟并将模型预测值与实际检测值进行对比。结果表明,该模型模拟结果精度检验合格且具有较高的预测精度,可以用于预测轨道几何不平顺指标。     

Estimation of road profile variability from measured vehicle responses

When assessing the statistical variability of fatigue loads acting throughout the life of a vehicle, the question of the variability of road roughness naturally arises, as both quantities are strongly related. For car manufacturers, gathering information on the environment in which vehicles evolve is a long and costly but necessary process to adapt their products to durability requirements. In the present paper, a data processing algorithm is proposed in order to estimate the road profiles covered by a given vehicle, from the dynamic responses measured on this vehicle. The algorithm based on Kalman filtering theory aims at solving a so-called inverse problem, in a stochastic framework. It is validated using experimental data obtained from simulations and real measurements. The proposed method is subsequently applied to extract valuable statistical information on road roughness from an existing load characterisation campaign carried out by Renault within one of its markets.     

马达加斯加武海马尔墓地的发掘与研究

马达加斯加武海马尔墓群有近六百座墓,其墓葬形制与同时期东非地区阿拉伯穆斯林的墓葬形制有着明显的不同,有些墓葬与中国穆斯林的墓葬形制有较多相似之处。部分墓葬中出土了大量元、明时期的瓷器和其他随葬品,反映出武海马尔墓群主人可能是元、明时期来自中国东南沿海地区或东南亚的色目、回回商人,以及附属于他们的汉人、马来人或武海马尔当地土著,如他们的妻妾、子女、随从、伙计等,其中有些是受雇于穆斯林商人的汉人或者受穆斯林影响的汉人,因此,其葬俗保留了一些中国传统丧葬礼仪的痕迹。     

基于公路隧道内车辆对火灾影响数值研究

以武汉长江公路隧道为工程背景,利用FDS5.0数值模拟软件建立隧道实体模型,进行火灾数值模拟分析。研究不同火灾热释放率、车辆长度、火源车辆阻塞比以及附近车辆之间间距、附近车辆长度、附近车辆阻塞比6种因素下,隧道内拱顶温度和人平均身高Z=1.70 m处CO浓度的分布规律,并对这6种因素进行敏感性分析。结果表明:隧道的拱顶温度随着热释放率和阻塞比的增加而增加,随着着火车辆长度的增加而减小;Z=1.70 m处CO浓度随着火灾热释放率和车辆长度的增加而增大,随阻塞比的增大而减小;影响隧道火灾的主要因素是热释放率和车辆阻塞比,应有针对性地对这二种因素进行有效的管理。     

“中—尼—印铁路通道”线路设计及建设可行性分析

随着我国"一带一路"倡议的推进,跨国运输通道的建设成为倡议实施的关键环节之一,而我国建设复杂地质条件下跨国基础设施的经验尚不丰富。"中—尼—印铁路通道"是一条途经尼泊尔,连接中国和印度2个大国的运输通道,基于实地考察,分析该通道建设的必要性及建成后的效益,对线路进行初步规划,并总结该通道建设的难点:铁路轨道坡度大;沿线区域地质构造复杂;周边基础设施落后,施工条件恶劣;大量深长隧道以及大跨径高桥梁;环境以及气候条件复杂。同时对沿线隧道以及桥梁的建设可行性进行分析,并给出施工建议:沿线隧道采用以TBM法为主、钻爆法为辅的施工方法;桥梁建设则因地制宜,根据不同区间的地质特点,采用相应的建设方法。     

废橡胶粉改性沥青混合料的试验研究

通过对改性沥青掺入不同剂量的橡胶粉进行马歇尔、车辙、残留稳定度等试验,确定掺入不同量的橡胶粉沥青混合料的高温稳定性、水稳定性和低温性能等路用性能的变化,试验数据表明沥青混合料的各项路用性能指标都得到明显地改善和提高.     

新型公路隧道降噪吸音砂浆的制备工艺

文章根据公路隧道对降噪吸音材料的特殊要求,以水泥、陶砂、膨胀珍珠岩等材料为主要原料,结合一系列的拌制工艺,研制出一种环保无污染、防火、防撞击、施工方便快捷、喷覆式的新型隧道吸音材料--陶砂膨胀珍珠岩吸音砂浆,并采用驻波管法测试砂浆的吸音性能.