CREATION FEATURES OF TOLL ROADS IN RUSSIA

В статье рассмотрено развитие платных автомобильных дорог в России. Целью статьи является освещение особенностей, возникающих при создании платных автомобильных дорог. Особое внимание уделяется рискам реализации автодорожных инвестиционных проектов, в том числе строительным, экологическим рискам и рискам финансирования. Научная новизна состоит в оценке целесообразности строительства платных автомобильных дорог в Российской Федерации. В качестве объекта исследования рассматривается планируемое строительство новой крупной автомобильной дороги М-12 «Москва - Нижний Новгород - Казань». The article considers the development of toll roads in Russia. The purpose of the article is to highlight the features that arise when creating toll roads. Special attention is paid to the risks of implementing road investment projects, including construction, environmental risks and financing risks. The scientific novelty consists in the analysis of the feasibility of the construction of toll roads in the Russian Federation. The planned construction of a new major highway M-12 «Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan» is considered as an object of research.

Source Apportionment, Ecological And Human Health Risks of Toxic Metals In Road Dust of Densely Populated Capital And Connected Major Highway of Bangladesh

This study investigates pollution levels, source apportionment, ecological and human health risks associated with toxic metals (Pb, As, Hg, Cr, and Cd) in road dust from the most populated Dhaka city and a connected major highway in Bangladesh. The mean concentration of Pb, Hg, and Cd were 1.3, 29.3, and 13.2 times higher than their corresponding background values with spatially uneven distribution all over the study area. Metal pollution indices, the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), NIPI, PI, indicated extreme contamination at many sites depending on local environmental factors. The potential ecological risk (\({\text{E}}_{\text{r}}^{\text{i}})\) revealed that 84% and 54% of samples showed the extreme ecological risk for Hg and Cd pollution, respectively. On the other hand, the potential ecological risk index (PERI) and nemerow integrated risk index (NIRI) showed that most sampling sites suffered high to extreme ecological risk. Source apportionment using positive matrix factorization (PMF) identified coal combustion and gasoline (50.14%), traffic exhaust (35.26%), and industrial and agriculture activity (14.60%) were the main source of toxic metals of the study area. Non-carcinogenic health risk indicated that adults are more vulnerable than children, and hazard index (HI) of Hg for both age groups and Cd for adults were significantly higher than the safe level. The carcinogenic risk (CR) levels of toxic metals were acceptable (10− 6 to 10− 4), although the maximum limit of Cr for children and As for adults was close to the unacceptable limit (10− 4). Continual exposure to toxic metals through road dust might develop lifetime cancer risk in local inhabitants.

How do King Cobras move across a major highway? Unintentional wildlife crossing structures may facilitate movement.

Global road networks continue to expand, and the wildlife responses to these landscape-level changes need to be understood to advise long-term management decisions. Roads have high mortality risk to snakes because snakes typically move slowly and can be intentionally targeted by drivers. We investigated how radio-tracked King Cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) traverse a major highway in northeast Thailand, and if reproductive cycles were associated with road hazards. We surveyed a 15.3km stretch of Highway 304 to determine if there were any locations where snakes, and other wildlife, could safely move across the road (e.g., culverts, bridges). We used recurse analysis to detect possible road-crossing events, and used subsets of King Cobra movement data to create dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models (dBBMM) in an attempt to show movement pathways association with possible unintentional crossing structures. We further used Integrated Step Selection Functions (ISSF) to assess seasonal differences in avoidance of major roads for adult King Cobras in relation to reproductive state. We discovered 32 unintentional wildlife crossing locations capable of facilitating King Cobra movement across the highway. Our dBBMMs failed to show if underpasses were being used by telemetered individuals; however, the tracking locations pre- and post-crossing provided strong evidence of underpass use. Our ISSF suggested a lower avoidance of roads during the breeding season, though the results were inconclusive. With the high volume of traffic, large size of King Cobras and a 98.8% success rate of crossing the road in our study, we strongly suspect that individuals are using the unintentional crossing structures to safely traverse the road. Further research is needed to determine the extent of wildlife underpass use at our study site and globally, alongside using previously proven fencing to facilitate their use. We propose that more consistent integration of drainage culverts and bridges could help mitigate the impacts of roads on some terrestrial wildlife, particularly in areas where roads fragment forests and wildlife corridors.

Montenegro

The economy has grown strongly since 2015, bolstered by large investments and tourism. While the construction of the first phase of a major highway project has boosted growth, it has also raised government debt. To preserve fiscal sustainability, the authorities embarked on a medium-term adjustment strategy in 2017. The financial sector has been stable and two non-systemic banks were placed into bankruptcy this year.

Ensuring Successful Landslide Investigation During an Emergency Response

ABSTRACT When a destructive landslide happens, geologists may be recruited to be part of the team carrying out the emergency response. An emergency response situation requires geologists to quickly acquire needed geologic information during an intense and stressful assignment. There are five significant operational approaches that are essential to ensure success in this situation. First, the geologists should fully understand and remain focused on the objectives of the response mission. Second, the landslide area must be accessed safely when collecting needed data. From a team standpoint, an injury negatively affects available data and time. Third, the landslide information that is developed must be reliable within the context of the mission and be obtainable within a limited time. Fourth, given the constraints on data collection imposed by an emergency response situation, the degree of uncertainty associated with the findings will need to be explained to ensure subsequent decision-making is done on a sound basis. Fifth, the information needs to be communicated to different audiences, who will range from individual team members to groups of people affected by the landslide. Whether providing documentation or making a presentation, the geologist will need to engage them by explaining the landslide information so it speaks to their needs. Experience gained serving on teams for a huge landslide damming a river in Dominica, West Indies, in 1997 and a large rock slide that buried a major highway in California in 2006 illustrate these important aspects for ensuring success when investigating landslides during an emergency response.