The Roman Aqueduct of Aquincum in Technological and Cultural Contexts

This article explores the technological and cultural history of the Roman aqueduct of Aquincum in Budapest. The only one in the Roman province of Pannonia that was elevated to a continuous line of arches, this aqueduct conveyed water from its source in what is now Budapest’s third district to its final destination over three miles to the south, where a Roman military town was located. Apart from the aqueduct’s technological and archaeological aspects, this article also examines several cultural practices that it engendered including the ritualistic significance of the springs that fed it, its appearance as a ruin in various medieval documents, the transformation of its last, above-ground pier into a Christian shrine in the nineteenth century, as well as the relocation of two of its piers to give way to the construction of a road junction.

A Double-Level Model Checking Approach for an Agent-Based Autonomous Vehicle and Road Junction Regulations

Usually, the design of an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) does not take into account traffic rules and so the adoption of these rules can bring some challenges, e.g., how to come up with a Digital Highway Code which captures the proper behaviour of an AV against the traffic rules and at the same time minimises changes to the existing Highway Code? Here, we formally model and implement three Road Junction rules (from the UK Highway Code). We use timed automata to model the system and the MCAPL (Model Checking Agent Programming Language) framework to implement an agent and its environment. We also assess the behaviour of our agent according to the Road Junction rules using a double-level Model Checking technique, i.e., UPPAAL at the design level and AJPF (Agent Java PathFinder) at the development level. We have formally verified 30 properties (18 with UPPAAL and 12 with AJPF), where these properties describe the agent’s behaviour against the three Road Junction rules using a simulated traffic scenario, including artefacts like traffic signs and road users. In addition, our approach aims to extract the best from the double-level verification, i.e., using time constraints in UPPAAL timed automata to determine thresholds for the AVs actions and tracing the agent’s behaviour by using MCAPL, in a way that one can tell when and how a given Road Junction rule was selected by the agent. This work provides a proof-of-concept for the formal verification of AV behaviour with respect to traffic rules.

Appreciation of Soundscape Design of Traffic Streams at Road Junctions – A Case Study of Ring road Junction, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India

Urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon. Globally, there is a constant increase in urbanization across various cities. Cities' urban spaces, in terms of open, built-up, and green space, are changing as a result of this rapid development. Creating or redefining an urban environment necessitates careful planning and guidelines, as well as a user-friendly approach to design. The visual aesthetics of a space are prioritized over all other dynamics and considerations required to complete a proper urban setting. Roads and built-up spaces are key components of an urban setting. The sound propagation in between these spaces decides the livability of people. In most of the urban cities across the world, the increasing noise level in the communities put forth a major issue for its people and their livability. Redesigning the spaces with alternate strategy to create a better acoustical urban environment is important. One such strategy is soundscape and it uses environmental sound to redefine an urban space. A soundscape approach to the design will bring out a positive and stress free surrounding. This paper aims to study and understand urban sound and the implementations of soundscape design in urban environment through case studies. Also intends to examine the existing case of the Ring Road Junction in Vijayawada and propose a soundscape strategy that can be implemented to create a less noisy junction. The paper concludes by proposing a strategy for designing an urban soundscape.

Planning Bus Transit Unit in Sprawling Townships; Khurdha Road Junction, Odisha; India

The customized buses (CBs) is a novel approach of community transportations at present and have become popular mode of expanded municipal conveyance, modernized, gorgeous and traffic services. The CB is planned by combining long term demand and passenger’s comforts and necessities. Based on analysis of the passengers travel data from inland and abroad at a focused point, the development of the CB is to be planned and proposed in a small town like Khurdha Road Junction (Jatni) in Odisha.. Present study points out the glitches linked with the operation and maintenance, expansion of CBs depending upon increase in numbers of travelers and other factors like stop assortment, line plan, schedules, and the impact of the proposed new public bus transit system. Traffic excellence factors, like average speed, delays, traffic jamming, travel time, and cost were considered while planning for the new transit bus terminal. The small towns around the smart city Bhubaneswar is gazing at a grave commuting conundrum. The planning and construction of the bus transit at Khurdha Road junction (Jatni) is developed to cope with the sprawling township and save the roads from severe traffic jam. Economic analysis with environmental Impact assessment of the project is done.