Resilience of Social-Infrastructural Systems: Functional Interdependencies Analysis

Critical infrastructures serve human activities and play an essential role in societies. Infrastructural systems are not isolated but are interdependent with regard to social systems, including those of public health and economic and sustainable development. In recent years, both social and infrastructural systems have frequently been in dysfunction due to increasing natural or human-made disasters and due to the internal and external dependencies between system components. The interconnectedness between social-infrastructural systems (socio-economic systems and technical-infrastructural systems), implies that the damage to one single system can extend beyond its scope. For that reason, cascading dysfunction can occur and increase system vulnerability. This article aims to study the functional interdependencies between social-infrastructural systems and to propose a methodology to analyse and improve the resilience of these systems. Combining Actor Network Theory and the Functional Models approach, the social-infrastructural Interdependence Resilience (SIIR) framework was proposed. To assess the applicability of the approach, the framework was applied to study the interdependence of a social-infrastructural system in the Nantes Metropolis. The studied system was composed of the local Highway Infrastructure (an infrastructural system) and the Emergency Medical Service (a social system). The results (1) show the feasibility of SIIR for investigating the interdependencies of two urban systems, and (2) provide a guideline for decision-makers to improve the functional interdependencies of urban systems.

SCULPTING INFRASTRUCTURE - A TEMPLE TO NATURE

<p>Off the coast of Paraparaumu lies one of New Zealand’s most iconic tourist attractions, the Kapiti Island nature reserve. Home to many native plant and wildlife species, this island sanctuary offers a unique nature experience that is under appreciated. The now flourishing nature deserves to be honoured a respected by locals and tourists of the Kapiti region. To date there is no designated building where ticket purchases and bio-security checks can be undertaken for island visitors. No obvious link exists from the local shops to the beach front where the visitors depart. This presents an opportunity for a gateway building to create a slice of the Island’s nature on the mainland. In doing so this would honour and celebrate the sanctuaries nature, installing a level of reverence for the island as visitors pass through. This thesis looks to explore the possible synergies between nature, highway infrastructure and religious architecture types. In order to develop a critical understanding of each architecture type and the possible synergies, explorations involving mass, volume and symmetry were conducted. These specific qualities put the project into a tradition of monumentality. As an understanding of this tradition developed Louis Kahn became an important precedent for me. Just as the late Louis Kahn achieved presence in his buildings, I argue that monumentality could be used in developing a successful synergy between infrastructure and religious architecture types. In the same way monuments and temples typically evoke respect I believe a monumental building on the Paraparaumu beach front will install a reverent homage towards nature as visitors to the island pass through. Throughout this thesis the series of design experiments involving traditional monumental qualities explore the synergies between nature, highway infrastructure and religious architecture types. The exploration utilizes the gateway building as a project to test the possible synergies in context . Operating within a design-led research methodology, varied approaches using multiple mediums explored formal language, spatial experience, composition and proportion of monumentality. The final design, situated on an existing roundabout, is a cylindrical concrete temple connecting the shop and beach front. The form is a subtracted mass obtained through an exploration of subtraction and composition. This temple evokes the desired homage towards nature as its visitors pass through to the island. Although grand in size, I argue, because the temple is situated on a traffic island, the over bearing power of monumentality is played down, respecting its surrounding context. As the design process unfolded a shift occurred in the preferred method for experiments. In the early stages a reliance on a digital experimentation method existed, however a shift towards an analogue experimentation method occurred as an understanding of monumentality and possible synergies between nature, highway infrastructure and religious architecture types were realised. This shift in methodology, required more precision and rigor for each experiment, invoking a deeper understanding of each success and failure. Critically reflecting on this transition forms the discussion of my thesis, understanding the opportunities of Paraparaumu and how a modestly scaled building can be developed that still imposes its significance in the surrounding context.</p>

SCULPTING INFRASTRUCTURE - A TEMPLE TO NATURE

<p>Off the coast of Paraparaumu lies one of New Zealand’s most iconic tourist attractions, the Kapiti Island nature reserve. Home to many native plant and wildlife species, this island sanctuary offers a unique nature experience that is under appreciated. The now flourishing nature deserves to be honoured a respected by locals and tourists of the Kapiti region. To date there is no designated building where ticket purchases and bio-security checks can be undertaken for island visitors. No obvious link exists from the local shops to the beach front where the visitors depart. This presents an opportunity for a gateway building to create a slice of the Island’s nature on the mainland. In doing so this would honour and celebrate the sanctuaries nature, installing a level of reverence for the island as visitors pass through. This thesis looks to explore the possible synergies between nature, highway infrastructure and religious architecture types. In order to develop a critical understanding of each architecture type and the possible synergies, explorations involving mass, volume and symmetry were conducted. These specific qualities put the project into a tradition of monumentality. As an understanding of this tradition developed Louis Kahn became an important precedent for me. Just as the late Louis Kahn achieved presence in his buildings, I argue that monumentality could be used in developing a successful synergy between infrastructure and religious architecture types. In the same way monuments and temples typically evoke respect I believe a monumental building on the Paraparaumu beach front will install a reverent homage towards nature as visitors to the island pass through. Throughout this thesis the series of design experiments involving traditional monumental qualities explore the synergies between nature, highway infrastructure and religious architecture types. The exploration utilizes the gateway building as a project to test the possible synergies in context . Operating within a design-led research methodology, varied approaches using multiple mediums explored formal language, spatial experience, composition and proportion of monumentality. The final design, situated on an existing roundabout, is a cylindrical concrete temple connecting the shop and beach front. The form is a subtracted mass obtained through an exploration of subtraction and composition. This temple evokes the desired homage towards nature as its visitors pass through to the island. Although grand in size, I argue, because the temple is situated on a traffic island, the over bearing power of monumentality is played down, respecting its surrounding context. As the design process unfolded a shift occurred in the preferred method for experiments. In the early stages a reliance on a digital experimentation method existed, however a shift towards an analogue experimentation method occurred as an understanding of monumentality and possible synergies between nature, highway infrastructure and religious architecture types were realised. This shift in methodology, required more precision and rigor for each experiment, invoking a deeper understanding of each success and failure. Critically reflecting on this transition forms the discussion of my thesis, understanding the opportunities of Paraparaumu and how a modestly scaled building can be developed that still imposes its significance in the surrounding context.</p>

Solar-Powered Active Road Studs and Highway Infrastructure: Effect on Vehicle Speeds

Vehicle speeds have a direct relationship with the severity of road crashes and may influence their probability of occurrence. Solar-powered active road studs have been shown to have a positive effect on driver confidence, but their impact on vehicle speed in conjunction with other road features is little understood. This study aims to address this gap in knowledge through a case study of a 20 km section of a strategic major road featuring a variety of highway infrastructure features. Before-and-after surveys were undertaken at 21 locations along the route using manual radar speed measurement. Analysis of nearly 10,000 speed measurements showed no statistically significant change in mean speeds following the implementation of the road studs. Linear regression models are proposed for two different posted speed limits, associating road features with expected vehicle speed. The models suggest that vehicle speeds are chiefly influenced by merges, curves, gradients, and ambient light conditions. The findings of this study should provide confidence that active road studs may be implemented without a negative impact on speed-related safety. The work also provides further expansion of the evidence base describing the effect of highway infrastructure features on vehicle speeds.

The First Highway Infrastructure PPP Project In The Baltic States According To DBFM Model – Challenges And Opportunities

Kekava Bypass public-private partnership (PPP) project is the first highway infrastructure PPP project in the Baltic States to be implemented according to Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) model. Its objective is to solve the “bottleneck” of the TEN-T network road section entering Riga City with only one lane in each direction. The duration of the project is 23 years, including 3 years for design and construction of the infrastructure and 20 years for its maintenance. Kekava Bypass consists of the main road 17.22 km, auxiliary roads 20.66 km, 2 tunnels, 5 two-level road junctions, 1 bridge (all in all more than 100 lane km), 2 pedestrian bridges/tunnels etc. The Latvian government required that the assets of the Kekava Bypass project are classified off government balance sheet during the whole duration of the PPP contract. Thus, the Kekava Bypass PPP tender documentation was elaborated strictly observing this off-balance sheet treatment frame. Eurostat assessed the project documentation and issued its opinion that the project corresponds to the off-balance sheet criteria. Latvian State Roads on behalf of the Ministry of Transportation launched Kekava Bypass tender in December 2018. The tender was implemented in four sequent phases, namely, the qualification phase, the submission of initial offers, negotiations with the selected bidders about the initial offers, the submission of the best and final offers. On August 13, 2020, Latvian State Roads announced the winner and the financial due diligence phase to be performed by financial institutions started.

Understanding the dynamics of cost overrun triggers in highway infrastructure projects in Nigeria: a systems thinking modelling approach

Purpose Empirical evidence suggests that many triggers influence poor cost performance in highway projects, whereas previous studies about the cost overrun triggers stem from a positivist standpoint supported by conventional statistical techniques, thus disregarding the sophisticated interactions and overall dynamics of the triggers. This study contends for a paradigm shift in investigating and understanding cost overrun triggers by adopting a holistic perspective through the lens of system thinking. This study aims to contend for a paradigm shift in investigating and understanding cost overrun triggers by adopting a holistic perspective through the lens of system thinking. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders in Nigeria were conducted buttressed by textual data from literature sources and project documents. Data analysis based on a developed data compatible coding framework and causal relations from textual data sources was used to develop a causal loop diagram depicting the interactions of the triggers which were validated by experts. Findings The analysis of the causal loop diagrams (CLDs) allowed identification of action points used to suggest changes for improved cost-effective highway project delivery. Among the suggested interventions are ensuring the provision of adequate funding prior to contract award will result in timely delivery of projects and indeed delivering key projects at the contractual agreed budget. This can be achieved through ensuring strict adherence to the provisions of Section 4 (2) (b) of the Nigerian Public Procurement Act, 2007 which stipulates that no contract should be awarded if funds are not available from the onset. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to only highway infrastructure projects in Nigeria and as such caution must be taken before using the outcome of the study to other context within Nigeria and beyond. Practical implications From a practical point of view, the causal model demonstrates that this study is capable of being used to make pragmatic decisions regarding policy leverages about improving cost performance in highway projects provision in the Nigerian highway infrastructure sector of the construction industry. Moreover, it will aid a clear understanding of the key influencing triggers of cost overrun by the relevant stakeholders within the highway sector of the industry. Originality/value The hybrid-based approach applied in the development of CLDs in this study is expected to provide new insight into understanding the linkages, interactions, feedbacks and processes among the key cost overrun triggers and suggesting leverages for cost performance improvement within the philosophy of system thinking.

Key driving factors of cost overrun in highway infrastructure projects in Nigeria: a context-based perspective

Purpose Extensive research towards identifying the attributable cost overrun factors globally has been conducted predominantly from a survey-oriented perspective, which disregard the contextual basis on which these triggers manifest. This study aims to explore the driving factors of cost overrun in highway projects, specific to the Nigerian context. Design/methodology/approach The research used a context-based approach to seek project stakeholders’ perspectives on the key drivers of cost overrun in highway projects in Nigerian. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with client, contractor and consultant organisations involved in the provision of highway infrastructure projects in Nigeria. The collected data was analysed using a developed coding framework grounded on a case study approach, principles of inductive thematic analysis and saliency analysis to identify the key drivers. Findings Findings from the analysis identified triggers from macroeconomic, societal, leadership and project management perspectives with synergistic relationships with each other based on prevalence and significance. Among the key triggers is a delay in work progress, political instability, adverse weather, social issues, delay in progress payment to contractors and modification of project scope. In conclusion, the triggers of cost overrun in highway projects are contextually driven by the complex nature of the project management, societal, macroeconomic and leadership triggers specific to the Nigerian context. Research limitations/implications The research was limited to only highway infrastructure projects in Nigeria. Furthermore, the findings are based on a small sample size, and thus, caution must be taken before applying the outcome of this study in a generalised way to other contexts. Practical implications Practically, the stakeholders i.e. client, contractors and consultants should acknowledge the contextual circumstances in which each of the triggers takes place, which will aid in developing pragmatic measures and make the right decisions towards addressing these triggers during any highway construction project in Nigeria and enhance the chances of project success. Originality/value The context-based approach applied in this study is expected to provide a new insight in understanding the triggers of cost overruns, especially in highway projects in Nigeria and indeed other developing countries with similar governance characteristics

How often does the precipitation over 10 minutes exceed 50 mm somewhere on a given network of roads?

&lt;p&gt;For long-term planning of the highway infrastructure, engineers in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands are considering the trade-offs between the risk posed by extreme precipitation in a changing climate and the cost of measures to reduce this risk for the entire network of highways and its critical elements, such as tunnels.&amp;#160;This leads them to questions such as &quot;How often does the precipitation over 10 minutes exceed 50 mm somewhere on a given network of roads?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Naturally, this frequency is higher than the frequency of exceedance of the same depth at a site; it depends on the size and shape of the domain and on the spatial dependence of extreme precipitation.&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the present study, statistics describing the spatial dependence of extreme precipitation are estimated from 11 years of gauge-adjusted radar precipitation data collected over the Netherlands.&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160; &lt;/span&gt;At each radar pixel, annual maxima of precipitation depth are computed for durations ranging from 15 min to 12h. From these maxima, the values of the extremal coefficient function (ECF) for selected spatial domains are estimated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From these values, a simple model is derived for converting return values of precipitation depth at a single site to return values of the highest precipitation depth within an arbitrary spatial domain, for durations from 10 min to 12 h. The model describes the duration-dependent statistics of the parameterized footprints of heavy precipitation events.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Confidence intervals are predicted using bootstrapping. The model is checked for fitness for its application to the design and maintenance of the drainage of highways, and the scope for further improvement is discussed.&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;