Maintenance of Road infrastruture

This research study seeks to improve current understanding of the relationship between rural intersection safety and different illumination levels. It uses three parallel studies: a survey of rural intersection illumination practices among US state departments of transportation (DOTs), a safety analysis of rural intersection illumination, and a benefit-to-cost analysis of rural intersection illumination. These parallel studies indicate the following: (a) Most DOTs do not consider cost-effectiveness in rural intersection illumination projects. (b) There is little or no benefit to rural intersection illumination beyond a threshold of 12 lux. (c) Illuminance levels lower than the minimum recommended value or 8 lux could provide significant safety benefit. (d) Any rural intersection that does not require electrification would be cost-effective for illuminances not exceeding 12 lux. The cost-effectiveness of other intersections must be determined based on overall costs, AADT, crash rate,...

This research primarily aims to develop a method in which road distress can be identified at early stage so that it could be maintained and fixed early thus avoiding critical damage. The primary source of data for the project was obtained by field survey with the use of vehicle and a handheld GPS to obtain the coordinates of each distress and a digital camera was used to take the pictures of the distress. The secondary sources of data include the Google Earth Imagery and the Remote sensing data. The approach adopted in this work involves obtaining the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the photographs of each distress noticed on the road, and then attaching the photographs to the classified map. The study was conducted in Yewa South Local Government in Ogun State in Nigeria which cover an area of 656,54 sqkm with population of 168,850 at the 2006 census. The study area has a total road length of 893.017 km. Assessment of road infrastructure using remote sensing and ArcGIS Geodataba...

The method of delivering road maintenance has progressively evolved. Historically, road agencies have moved from using in-house force account to traditional method-based maintenance contracting. Many countries are now heading towards performance-based contracting (PBC), an approach that has been deployed rapidly in the road sector in the past decade. However, while PBC offers a number of benefits for road agencies and road users, it is a relatively new approach and there are several aspects that need careful consideration to ensure that the goals of PBCs are fully achieved. The purpose of this Note is to review the worldwide experience with the PBC approach, highlight the main advantages, the steps involved and the results generated. The document is intended to provide World Bank transport sector staff, Ministries of Transport and road agencies of developing and transition countries with a clear understanding of the benefits, and risks, of applying the PBC approach. A separate Resource Guide (to be released by the World Bank in 2006) will offer more detailed information and resources pertaining to performance-based contracting. The Note has been produced with the financial assistance of a grant from TRISP: a partnership between the United Kingdom Department for International Development and the World Bank for learning and sharing of knowledge in the fields of transport and rural infrastructure services.

Geosynthethic reinforcement application in roadworks is finding increased application. In many tropical countries. gravel borrow material of adequate quality which meets the technical specifications for pavement layer construction is problematic. In this study, the effect of geotextile strengthon California bearing ratio values when placed at predetermined location in anexperimental pavement layer was studied. Natural gravel soil was selected and tested without reinforcement. Then by placing a layer of a certain geogrid above the third layer within the sample height, the effect of geogrid reinforcement on California bearing ratio values were investigated. This was undertaken for two strengths of geogridin both soaked and unsoaked conditions. The results show that California bearing ratio values increases with increasing goegrid strength for soaked and unsoaked conditions. The California bearing ratio increased by 12% and 31% in the soaked condition for Tx160 and Tx170 geogrids respectively. The CBR also increased for unsoaked conditions. The use of geogrid reinforcement in road pavements layers can result in increased strength and environmental benefits.

The quality of roads as public goods should be maintained and improved time to time. In order to put the available funds on the right roads for the optimal results, roads should be prioritized. This paper discussed how prioritization on road maintenance. The materials and method used are based on literature review. Discussion starts with the definition of local roads, the role of local road maintenance, and the definition of local road maintenance. The second part discuss the definition of prioritization, the objective of prioritization, and the roles of prioritization in road maintenance. The third part examines the common prioritization procedures conducted in planning process reflecting prioritization methods used in road maintenance prioritization. The fouth part discuss ciriteria in ranking alternatives which are single and multi criteria. The fifth part discuss the definition of actors, the roles of actors involved, the actors' attributes, and the types of actors in road maintenance prioritization process. According to the literature, there are four groups of prioritization methods based on procedure they conducted, and there are eight types of actors involved in prioritization process determined by the attributes such as power, legitimacy, and urgency they possess. The choice of method depends on where the roads to be prioritized are located.

Poverty is largely found in the rural areas and rural employment is still mainly found in the agricultural sector. These facts should lend credence to the perception of rural transport infrastructure (RTI) as an important policy instrument for rural development. Thus, the objective of the thesis is to empirically establish the structural relationship between RTI development, pro-poor rural growth and agricultural trade.
Conceptually the thesis extracts insights gained from growth theories and the traditional cross-country literature on the relationships between infrastructure provision and growth, while recognizing that this macro approach is inadequate for evaluating the effects at the sub-national level.
Instead by relying on a micro-level approach our key findings are the following: At the district level improved accessibility led to changes in land allocation and in yields to Eastern Province of Zambia‘s most important cash crop – cotton. Although, the mean cotton sales share of household income more than doubled, the estimation results only show small gains to mean consumption. Through a qualitative analysis we find that improved access to external markets is a critical determinant of the households‘ ability to increase their income and break out of the poverty trap. Moreover, we find that it is primarily small private companies that are more likely to have relocated as a consequence of the Eastern Province Feeder Road Project (EPFRP). The entry by the large South African Clark Cotton Company in 1995 was, however, linked to Zambia‘s and South Africa‘s SADC membership.
The thesis contributes to the methodological framework used in rural projects evaluation by proposing that household and firm survey analysis has the potential of providing insights that go beyond what is revealed by aggregate cross-country regressions and traditional cost-benefit analysis. However, our impact evaluation approach is a-theoretical and reduced form and it should therefore be considered to be complementary to the more detailed structural approach used by other authors referred in the literature review.
Finally, the thesis recommends that future research should be devoted to further advancing appraisal techniques for rural road projects and to discuss how quantitative impact evaluations of rural development policy instruments such as feeder roads can best influence policy in order to help make progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

This research primarily aims to develop a method in which road distress can be identified at early stage so that it could be maintained and fixed early thus avoiding critical damage. The primary source of data for the project was obtained by field survey with the use of vehicle and a handheld GPS to obtain the coordinates of each distress and a digital camera was used to take the pictures of the distress. The secondary sources of data include the Google Earth Imagery and the Remote sensing data. The approach adopted in this work involves obtaining the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the photographs of each distress noticed on the road, and then attaching the photographs to the classified map. The study was conducted in Yewa South Local Government in Ogun State in Nigeria which cover an area of 656,54 sqkm with population of 168,850 at the 2006 census. The study area has a total road length of 893.017 km. Assessment of road infrastructure using remote sensing and ArcGIS Geodatabase methodology for monitoring the condition of paved and unpaved road is an efficient approach utilized in management, planning and subsequent development of the road network in the study area.

The paper presents some preliminary results of an on-going research aiming to assess expected impacts of climate change on road infrastructure planning, design and operation, as well as determining what measures could be considered and recommended to manage these potential impacts. Following an overview of the main parameters (temperatures and precipitation) characterizing expected climate change in the period of 2071-2100, the impacts on roads of high temperatures, freeze-thaw cycles, prolonged growing season, high intensity precipitation, wet conditions and flooding are studied. According to the author, the anticipated effects of climate change should be manageable with current, or slightly modified engineering practice and the materials available, possibly with adaptation. Recommendations are formulated concerning the adaptation process.

Geosynthethic reinforcement application in roadworks is finding increased application. In many tropical countries. gravel borrow material of adequate quality which meets the technical specifications for pavement layer construction is problematic. In this study, the effect of geotextile strengthon California bearing ratio values when placed at predetermined location in anexperimental pavement layer was studied. Natural gravel soil was selected and tested without reinforcement. Then by placing a layer of a certain geogrid above the third layer within the sample height, the effect of geogrid reinforcement on California bearing ratio values were investigated. This was undertaken for two strengths of geogridin both soaked and unsoaked conditions. The results show that California bearing ratio values increases with increasing goegrid strength for soaked and unsoaked conditions. The California bearing ratio increased by 12% and 31% in the soaked condition for Tx160 and Tx170 geogrids respectively. The CBR also increased for unsoaked conditions. The use of geogrid reinforcement in road pavements layers can result in increased strength and environmental benefits.

This research primarily aims to develop a method in which road distress can be identified at early stage so that it could be maintained and fixed early thus avoiding critical damage. The primary source of data for the project was obtained by field survey with the use of vehicle and a handheld GPS to obtain the coordinates of each distress and a digital camera was used to take the pictures of the distress. The secondary sources of data include the Google Earth Imagery and the Remote sensing data. The approach adopted in this work involves obtaining the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the photographs of each distress noticed on the road, and then attaching the photographs to the classified map. The study was conducted in Yewa South Local Government in Ogun State in Nigeria which cover an area of 656,54 sqkm with population of 168,850 at the 2006 census. The study area has a total road length of 893.017 km. Assessment of road infrastructure using remote sensing and ArcGIS Geodatabase methodology for monitoring the condition of paved and unpaved road is an efficient approach utilized in management, planning and subsequent development of the road network in the study area.

The maintenance of highways in Russia has been seriously neglected in recent years with widespread adverse effects on the general economy. Both the federal road network and the regional roads have deteriorated because of inadequate maintenance. As a result, there is a large backlog of road maintenance that should be undertaken as soon as possible to bring the roads up to good condition. Historically, funds for construction and maintenance of federal roads and about 15 percent of regional roads (formerly designated as republic roads) came from the federal budget and earmarked road user charges, including an enterprise tax. Funding for the remaining 353,000 km of roads came from regional budgets. In April 1992, road funds were established to fund both construction and maintenance of federal and regional roads, and in 1993 amendments to the Law on Road Funds earmarked specific taxes to each type of road fund. This study provides information on the Russian road network, describes the road funds at the federal and regional levels, and outlines possible changes in the road financing system, along with the weaknesses of these funds. The cost of overcoming this backlog during the period 1994-2000 is estimated at $4.8 billion (U.S.)/year, whereas the resources available to the federal and regional road funds are roughly $2 billion annually, thus a deficit of about $2.8 billion/year. Possible measures to overcome this deficit would include increasing collection of road user charges and raising financing by multilateral and bilateral agencies.

Accurate prediction of the remaining service life (RSL) of pavement is essential for the design and construction of roads, mobility planning, transportation modeling as well as road management systems. However, the expensive measurement equipment and interference with the traffic flow during the tests are reported as the challenges of the assessment of RSL of pavement. This paper presents a novel prediction model for RSL of road pavement using support vector regression (SVR) optimized by particle filter to overcome the challenges. In the proposed model, temperature of the asphalt
surface and the pavement thickness (including asphalt, base and sub-base layers) are considered as inputs. For validation of the model, results of heavy falling weight deflectometer (HWD) and groundpenetrating radar (GPR) tests in a 42-km section of the Semnan–Firuzkuh road including 147 data points were used. The results are compared with support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural network (ANN) and multi-layered perceptron (MLP) models. The results show the superiority of the proposed model with a correlation coefficient index equal to 95%.

The maintenance of highways in Russia has been seriously neglected in recent years with widespread adverse effects on the general economy. Both the federal road network and the regional roads have deteriorated because of inadequate maintenance. As a result, there is a large backlog of road maintenance that should be undertaken as soon as possible to bring the roads up to a good condition. Historically, funds for construction and maintenance of federal roads and about 15% of regional roads (formerly designated as republic roads) came from the federal budget and earmarked road user charges, including an enterprise tax. Funding for the remaining 353,000 km of roads came from regional budgets. In April 1992, road funds were established to fund both construction and maintenance of federal and regional roads and in 1993 amendments to the Law on Road Funds earmarked specific taxes to each type of road fund. This study provides information on the Russian road network, describes the road fun...

This technical manual on training in routine road maintenance with microenterprises. It is oriented to engineers and technicians of local and regional governments and institutions related to road management. It is a tool also for the training process of local contractors.

Geosynthethic reinforcement application in roadworks is finding increased application. In many tropical countries. gravel borrow material of adequate quality which meets the technical specifications for pavement layer construction is problematic. In this study, the effect of geotextile strengthon California bearing ratio values when placed at predetermined location in anexperimental pavement layer was studied. Natural gravel soil was selected and tested without reinforcement. Then by placing a layer of a certain geogrid above the third layer within the sample height, the effect of geogrid reinforcement on California bearing ratio values were investigated. This was undertaken for two strengths of geogridin both soaked and unsoaked conditions. The results show that California bearing ratio values increases with increasing goegrid strength for soaked and unsoaked conditions. The California bearing ratio increased by 12% and 31% in the soaked condition for Tx160 and Tx170 geogrids respectively. The CBR also increased for unsoaked conditions. The use of geogrid reinforcement in road pavements layers can result in increased strength and environmental benefits.