Including congestion effects in urban road traffic CO2 emissions modelling: Do Local Government Authorities have the right options?

Tailpipe emissions from vehicles on urban road networks have damaging impacts, with the problem exacerbated by the common occurrence of congestion. This article focuses on carbon dioxide because it is the largest constituent of road traffic greenhouse gas emissions. Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are typically responsible for facilitating mitigation of these emissions, and critical to this task is the ability to assess the impact of transport interventions on road traffic emissions for a whole network.This article presents a contemporary review of literature concerning road traffic data and its use by LGAs in emissions models (EMs). Emphasis on the practicalities of using data readily available to LGAs to estimate network level emissions and inform effective policy is a relatively new research area, and this article summarises achievements so far. Results of the literature review indicate that readily available data are aggregated at traffic level rather than disaggregated at individual vehicle level. Hence, a hypothesis is put forward that optimal EM complexity is one using traffic variables as inputs, allowing LGAs to capture the influence of congestion whilst avoiding the complexity of detailed EMs that estimate emissions at vehicle level.Existing methodologies for estimating network emissions based on traffic variables typically have limitations. Conclusions are that LGAs do not necessarily have the right options, and that more research in this domain is required, both to quantify accuracy and to further develop EMs that explicitly include congestion, whilst remaining within LGA resource constraints.     

Greenhouse gas emissions from road construction: An assessment of alternative staging approaches

The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with road construction activities are analyzed. The main focus of this analysis is on the vehicle emissions associated with alternative project staging approaches, specifically a full closure of the road during construction, versus an intermittent road closure. The analysis includes the direct and upstream emissions associated with materials, construction equipment, mobilization of resources to the work site, and maintenance activity associated with the project over its lifetime. The analysis is based on one case study of a road project in New Jersey. The assumptions underlying the staging analysis are based on hypothetical approaches. Results provide an assessment of the main sources of project related emissions and the ability to minimize total project emissions by minimizing traffic disruption. In the analysis with a full closure of the road, traffic disruption accounts for 26% of total emissions, while with an intermittent road closure, traffic disruption accounts for only 2% of total emissions. The other main sources are from materials and life-cycle maintenance. The analysis demonstrates the feasibility of minimizing project related GHG emissions during road construction activities.     

Generating lane-based intersection maps from crowdsourcing big trace data

Lane-based road information plays a critical role in transportation systems, a lane-based intersection map is the most important component in a detailed road map of the transportation infrastructure. Researchers have developed various algorithms to detect the spatial layout of intersections based on sensor data such as high-definition images/videos, laser point cloud data, and GPS traces, which can recognize intersections and road segments; however, most approaches do not automatically generate Lane-based Intersection Maps (LIMs). The objective of our study is to generate LIMs automatically from crowdsourced big trace data using a multi-hierarchy feature extraction strategy. The LIM automatic generation method proposed in this paper consists of the initial recognition of road intersections, intersection layout detection, and lane-based intersection map-generation. The initial recognition process identifies intersection and non-intersection areas using spatial clustering algorithms based on the similarity of angle and distance. The intersection layout is composed of exit and entry points, obtained by combining trajectory integration algorithms and turn rules at road intersections. The LIM generation step is finally derived from the intersection layout detection results and lane-based road information, based on geometric matching algorithms. The effectiveness of our proposed LIM generation method is demonstrated using crowdsourced vehicle traces. Additional comparisons and analysis are also conducted to confirm recognition results. Experiments show that the proposed method saves time and facilitates LIM refinement from crowdsourced traces more efficiently than methods based on other types of sensor data.     

Urban single-lane roundabouts: A new analytical approach using multi-criteria and simultaneous multi-objective optimization of geometry design,efficiency and safety

Building safe and effective roundabouts requires optimizing traffic (operational) efficiency (TE) and traffic safety (TS) while taking into account geometric factors, traffic characteristics and local constraints. Most existing simulation-based optimization models do not simultaneously optimize all these factors. To capture the relationship among geometry, efficiency and safety, we put forward a model formulation in this paper. We present a new multi-criteria and simultaneous multi-objective optimization (MOO) model approach to optimize geometry, TE and TS of urban unsignalized single-lane roundabouts. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first model that uses the multi-criteria decision-making method known as analytic hierarchy process to evaluate and rank traffic parameters and geometric elements of urban single-lane roundabouts. The model was built based on comprehensive review of the research literature and existing roundabout simulation software, a field survey of 61 civil and traffic expert engineers in Croatia, and field studies of roundabouts in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. We started from the basis of Kimber’s capacity model, HCM2010 serviceability model, and Maycock and Hall's accident prediction model, which we extended by adding sensitivity analysis and powerful MOO procedures of the bounded objective function method and interactive optimization. Preliminary validation of the model was achieved by identifying the optimal and most robust of three geometric alternatives (V.1-V.3) for an unsignalized single-lane roundabout in Zagreb, Croatia. The geometric parameters in variant V.1 had significantly higher values than in the existing design V.0, while approaches 1 and 3 in variant V.2 were enlarged as much as possible within allowed spatial limits and Croatian guidelines, reflecting their higher traffic demand. Sensitivity analysis indicated that variant V.2 showed the overall highest TE and TS across the entire range of traffic flow demand and pedestrian crossing flow demand at approaches. At the same time, the number of predicted traffic accidents was similar for all three variants, although it was lowest overall for V.2. The similarity in predicted accident frequency for the three variants suggests that V.2 provides the greatest safety within the predefined constraints and parameter ranges explored in our study. These preliminary results suggest that the proposed model can optimize geometry, TE and TS of urban single-lane roundabouts.     

A traffic-condition-based route guidance strategy for a single destination road network

Most of existing route guidance strategies achieves user optimal equilibrium by comparing travel time. Measuring travel time, however, might be uneasy on an urban road network. To contend with the issue, the paper mainly considers easily obtained inflow and outflow of a link and road capacity as input, and proposes a route guidance strategy for a single destination road network based on the determination of free-flow or congested conditions on alternative routes. An extended strategy for a complex network and a feedback approximation for avoiding forecast are further explored. Weaknesses of the strategy are also explicitly analyzed. To test the strategy, simulation investigations are conducted on two networks with multiple parallel routes. The results indicate that the strategy is able to provide stable splitting rates and to approximate user optimal equilibrium in different conditions, in particular when traffic demand is high. This strategy has potential to be applied in an urban road network due to its simplicity and easily obtained input data. The strategy is also applicable for single destination if some alternatives and similar routes are available.     

上海市道路隧道结构设计标准综述

通过调研和总结上海已建15座盾构隧道的设计资料,对现有隧道存在的病害进行了归类分析,提出了隧道病害的预防与治理措施;对明挖段的围护设计选型、结构工程规模和盾构隧道几何设计参数进行了统计分析,提出了明挖接线段围护结构选型及插入比的建议,明确了明挖结构的计算模型和计算参数;对已建盾构隧道的埋深、最小曲线半径、最小线间距、最大坡度等几何参数进行了详细分析,总结出了工作井平面尺寸的确定方法和盾构进出洞的关键技术。     

“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。     

水泥粉煤灰碎石基层材料路用性能的研究

对水泥粉煤灰碎石基层材料的各项路用性能进行了试验研究.研究表明,水泥粉煤灰稳定碎石兼具水泥和二灰稳定材料的优点,将其作为路面基层材料是可行的.     

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.