scholarly journals A case study of combined winter road snow plowing and de-icer spreading

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 1005-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Quirion-Blais ◽  
André Langevin ◽  
Martin Trépanier
Keyword(s):  
Neighborhood Search ◽  
Problem Analysis ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
The Road ◽  
Snow Plowing ◽  
Winter Road ◽  
Turn Restrictions ◽  
Maintenance Problem

In this article, we address a winter maintenance problem where the streets need to be plowed and gritted in a sequence that depends on the class of the road. The maintenance fleet includes vehicles equipped for plowing, some for spreading, and some for both at once. The objective is to complete the operations as rapidly as possible while considering street hierarchy, turn restrictions, heterogeneous speeds, and street–vehicle compatibility. An adaptive large neighborhood search framework is developed to solve the problem. Analysis of the results obtained can provide both a good basis for vehicle routing and help managers plan long-term policies and investments.

scholarly journals Monitoring of The Impact of Road Salting On Spruce Forest Ecosystem In The Vicinity of The Highway D1 In The Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, Czech Republic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitka Hegrová ◽  
Lubomír Prokeš ◽  
Petr Anděl ◽  
Martina Bucková ◽  
Vilma Jandová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
The Road ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Winter Road ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Winter Road Maintenance

Abstract Monitoring of pollution in the vicinity of roads connected to winter road maintenance is one of the important tools for optimising winter maintenance technology and reducing its environmental impact. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between winter road maintenance and the increased concentration of sodium ion to characterize the harm caused by the de-icing agents on selected types of individual components grown in the Norway Spruce ecosystem. The model area is located in the immediate vicinity of the D1 motorway connecting Prague and Brno (Czech Republic), at 103rd kilometer. The area is thus exposed to long-term contamination from automobile transport and the monitoring was carried out for three consecutive years. A clear effect of the de-icing agents on conifers near the road has been demonstrated by the symptoms of salt damage visually observed in close proximity to the road (at a sampling distance of 5 m). The needles of these spruce trees also showed increased sodium concentrations, regardless of the age of the needles. The study also confirms that sodium accumulates in all selected components of the analysed ecosystem (moos, humus, soil). The sodium concentration has been found to decrease with increasing distance from the road for all of the components.

scholarly journals A Geostatistical Investigation into the Effective Spatiotemporal Coverage of Road Weather Information Systems in Alberta, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Xu Wang ◽  
Lian Gu ◽  
Tae J. Kwon ◽  
Tony Z. Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
The Road ◽  
Weather Information ◽  
Geostatistical Approach ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
Winter Road ◽  
Winter Road Maintenance

Inclement weather acutely affects road surface and driving conditions and can negatively impact traffic mobility and safety. Highway authorities have long been using road weather information systems (RWISs) to mitigate the risk of adverse weather on traffic. The data gathered, processed, and disseminated by such systems can improve both the safety of the traveling public as well as the effectiveness of winter road maintenance operations. As the road authorities continue to invest in expanding their existing RWIS networks, there is a growing need to determine the optimal deployment strategies for RWISs. To meet such demand, this study presents an innovative geostatistical approach to quantitatively analyze the spatiotemporal variations of the road weather and surface conditions. With help of constructed semivariograms, this study quantifies and examines both the spatial and temporal coverage of RWIS data. A case study of Alberta, which is one of the leaders in Canada in the use of RWISs, was conducted to indicate the reliability and applicability of the method proposed herein. The findings of this research offer insight for constructing a detailed spatiotemporal RWIS database to manage and deploy different types of RWISs, optimize winter road maintenance resources, and provide timely information on inclement road weather conditions for the traveling public.

Optimization of snow plowing cost and time in an urban environment: A case study for the City of Edmonton

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 667-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Liu ◽  
Yongfeng Ge ◽  
Tony Z. Qiu ◽  
Hamid R. Soleymani
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Optimization ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Routing Problem ◽  
Roadway Safety ◽  
Snow Plowing ◽  
Winter Road ◽  
Operational Constraints ◽  
The City

Each winter, Canadian municipalities deploy significant capital for snow plowing. Any improvements to snowplow operations not only results in significant capital savings for municipalities and road agencies, but also improves roadway safety and user mobility. In the existing research, routing snowplow operations is generally considered a network optimization problem; however, the formulations and solutions can be very diverse, as each urban area has unique environmental conditions and operational constraints. For a specific district and depot, the problem is determining a set of routes that ensure that all road links are serviced, all operational constraints are satisfied, and total operational costs are minimized. This study used a mathematical optimization model based on the capacitated arc routing problem (CARP) to minimize the total travel distance for snowplow operations in the City of Edmonton. Depot location and route number are critical input parameters to the operation cost control. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to not only derive snowplow routing strategies using the CARP methodology, but also draw useful conclusions for winter road maintenance planners.

scholarly journals Map support of winter road maintenance

Geografie ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-229
Author(s):  
David Konečný
Keyword(s):  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
The Road ◽  
Weather Information ◽  
Maintenance System ◽  
Road Condition ◽  
System Operator ◽  
Winter Road ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Maintenance Activities

The aim of this paper is to present road weather information system and map sources which can be used by winter maintenance system operator to clarify his perception of road meteorological situation in order to be able to take well-founded decision while managing maintenance activities. Presently the so-called status map showing current warnings from road weather stations is the principal map in winter maintenance. In its new version displaying the map of any feature measured by outstations as well as layer handling and zooming will be available. Map outputs of the model forecasting the road condition and temperature are described in the last chapter.

scholarly journals Passive Road Safety Systems - Case Study Of Road Section Banja Luka - Prnjavor (M16, M16.1)

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ognjen Sančanin ◽  
Danislav Drašković ◽  
Demeter Prislan
Keyword(s):  
Road Safety ◽  
Traffic Accident ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Section ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Banja Luka ◽  
Safety Systems

In this paper, the authors will show the influence of roadside objects on road safety on the Banja Luka - Prnjavor section. Roadside objects have a major impact on the weight of a traffic accident because they represent direct obstacles to the wandering vehicle, which in most cases will be stopped by a collision in one of them in the immediate vicinity of the road. Roadside objects can be of different types and constructions, concrete poles, public lighting poles, trees, inadequately installed rebound fences and unprotected petrol stations are only some of them. Therefore, the essence of this paper is to spot possible roadside objects on the observed road section, categorize them, and make suggestions for short, medium and long term improvements.

Winter Road Surface Conditions Classification using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN): Visible Light and Thermal Images Fusion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ce Zhang ◽  
Ehsan Nateghinia ◽  
Luis Miranda-Moreno ◽  
Lijun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Visible Light ◽  
Convolutional Neural Network ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Road Surface ◽  
Thermal Images ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
Surface Conditions ◽  
Snow Plowing ◽  
Winter Road

In winter, road conditions play a crucial role in traffic flow efficiency and road safety. Icy, snowy, slushy, or wet road conditions reduce tire friction and affect vehicle stability which could lead to dangerous crashes. To keep traffic operations safe, cities spend a significant budget on winter maintenance operations such as snow plowing and spreading salt/sand. This paper proposes a methodology for automated winter road surface conditions classification using Convolutional Neural Network and the combination of thermal and visible light cameras. As part of this research, 4,244 pairs of visible light and thermal images are captured from pavement surfaces and classified into snowy, icy, wet, and slushy surface conditions. Two single-stream CNN models (visible light and thermal streams), and one dual-stream CNN model are developed. The average F1-Score of dual-stream model is 0.866, 0.935, 0.985, and 0.888 on snowy, icy, wet, and slushy, respectively. The weighted average F1-Score is 0.94.

Vehicle Routing Models and Algorithms for Winter Road Spreading Operations

2011 ◽  
pp. 15-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Perrier ◽  
James F. Campbell ◽  
Michel Gendreau ◽  
André Langevin
Keyword(s):  
Vehicle Routing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
Solution Strategies ◽  
Snow Plowing ◽  
Dynamic Operating ◽  
Winter Road ◽  
Operating Constraints ◽  
Routing Models

Winter road maintenance operations involve challenging vehicle routing problems that can be addressed using operations research (OR) techniques. Three key problems involve routing trucks and specialized vehicles for spreading chemicals and abrasives on roadways, snow plowing, and snow disposal, all of which are undertaken in a very difficult and dynamic operating environment with stringent level of service constraints. This chapter provides a survey of recent optimization models and solution methodologies for the routing of vehicles for spreading operations. The authors also present a detailed classification scheme for spreader routing models developed over the past 40 years. Key trends in recent model developments include the inclusion of more details of the practical operating constraints, the use of more sophisticated hybrid solution strategies and consideration of more comprehensive models that integrate vehicle routing with models for other related strategic winter maintenance problems. They highlight some factors that may be limiting the application of OR models in practice and discuss promising future research trends.

Industrial internet applications for efficient road winter maintenance

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Odelius ◽  
Stephen Mayowa Famurewa ◽  
Lars Forslöf ◽  
Johan Casselgren ◽  
Heikki Konttaniemi
Keyword(s):  
Time Series Data ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Winter Maintenance ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Roughness ◽  
Industrial Internet ◽  
Road Condition ◽  
Internet Application

Purpose For the expected increase in the capacity of existing transportation systems and efficient energy utilisation, smart maintenance solutions that are supported by online and integrated condition monitoring systems are required. Industrial internet is one of the smart maintenance solutions which enables real-time acquisition and analysis of asset condition by linking intelligent devices with different stakeholders’ applications and databases. The purpose of this paper is to present some aspects of industrial internet application as required for integrating weather information and floating road condition data from vehicle mounted sensors to enhance effective and efficient winter maintenance. Design/methodology/approach The concept of real-time road condition assessment using in-vehicle sensors is demonstrated in a case study of a 3.5 km road section located in Northern Sweden. The main floating data sources were acceleration and position sensors from a smartphone positioned on the dash board of a truck. Features extracted from the acceleration signal were two road roughness estimations. To extract targeted information and knowledge, the floating data were further processed to produce time series data of the road condition using Kalman filtering. The time series data were thereafter combined with weather data to assess the condition of the road. Findings In the case study, examples of visualisation and analytics to support winter maintenance planning, execution and resource allocation were presented. Reasonable correlation was shown between estimated road roughness and annual road survey data to validate and prove the presented results wider applicability. Originality/value The paper describes a concept of floating data for an industrial internet application for efficient road maintenance. The resulting improvement in winter maintenance will promote dependable, safe and sustainable transportation of goods and people, especially in Northern Nordic region with harsh and sometimes unpredictable weather conditions.

The Road Back to Serfdom: Solidarity Economies on the Periphery of Fortaleza, Brazil, 1970–2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 190-205
Author(s):  
Luminiţa-Anda Mandache
Keyword(s):  
Community Organization ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Grassroots Organizing ◽  
Solidarity Economy ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Past ◽  
Local Practices ◽  
America Latina

A case study of the Palmas Bank project, on the periphery of Fortaleza, Brazil, explores the contradictions inherent in the country’s solidarity economy project. The solidarity economy, rooted in the local practices of the liberation theology movement, can hardly be seen as a human or alternative economy because its proximity to party politics through funding and the institutionalization of the movement has affected not only its long-term social sustainability but also its capacity for a political voice. The study sheds light on the challenges of grassroots organizing under progressive regimes at a moment when the end of the Pink Tide in Latin America has obliged activists seeking more sustainable forms of community organization to learn from the past. Un estudio de caso del proyecto del Banco Palmas, en la periferia de Fortaleza, Brasil, explora las contradicciones inherentes al proyecto de economía solidaria del país. La economía solidaria, arraigada en las prácticas locales del movimiento de la teología de la liberación, difícilmente puede verse como una economía humana o alternativa porque su proximidad a la política de partidos a través del financiamiento y la institucionalización del movimiento ha afectado no solo su sostenibilidad social a largo plazo sino también su capacidad para una voz política. El estudio arroja luz sobre los desafíos de la organización de base bajo regímenes progresistas en un momento en que el final de la Marea Rosa en América Latina ha obligado a los activistas que buscan formas más sostenibles de organización comunitaria a aprender del pasado.

Caregivers' Perceptions of Speech-Language Pathologist Talk About Child Language and Literacy Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 2049-2067
Author(s):  
Karmen L. Porter ◽  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Loretta Pecchioni
Keyword(s):  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Collective Case Study ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Therapy Goals ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Types Of Information

Purpose This study examined caregiver perceptions of their child's language and literacy disorder as influenced by communications with their speech-language pathologist. Method The participants were 12 caregivers of 10 school-aged children with language and literacy disorders. Employing qualitative methods, a collective case study approach was utilized in which the caregiver(s) of each child represented one case. The data came from semistructured interviews, codes emerged directly from the caregivers' responses during the interviews, and multiple coding passes using ATLAS.ti software were made until themes were evident. These themes were then further validated by conducting clinical file reviews and follow-up interviews with the caregivers. Results Caregivers' comments focused on the types of information received or not received, as well as the clarity of the information. This included information regarding their child's diagnosis, the long-term consequences of their child's disorder, and the connection between language and reading. Although caregivers were adept at describing their child's difficulties and therapy goals/objectives, their comments indicated that they struggled to understand their child's disorder in a way that was meaningful to them and their child. Conclusions The findings showed the value caregivers place on receiving clear and timely diagnostic information, as well as the complexity associated with caregivers' understanding of language and literacy disorders. The findings are discussed in terms of changes that could be made in clinical practice to better support children with language and literacy disorders and their families.

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