Engineering Commons^™

Analyzing Benefits Of Connected Vehicle Technologies During Incidents On Freeways And Diversion Strategies Implementation: A Microsimulation-Based Case Study Of Florida's Turnpike, Francisca P. Kasubi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The full utilization of connected vehicles (CVs) is highly anticipated to become a reality soon. As CVs become increasingly prevalent in our roadway network, connected technologies have enormous potential to improve safety. This study conducted a microscopic simulation to quantify the benefits of CVs in improving freeway safety along a 7.8-mile section on Florida’s Turnpike (SR-91) system. The simulation incorporated driver compliance behavior in a CV environment. The simulation was implemented via an existing VISSIM network model partially developed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). In addition, the study analyzed how CVs would assist in detour operations as a …

Exploring The Use Of Drones For Conducting Traffic Mobility And Safety Studies, Abdallah N. Kinero

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Advanced traffic data collection methods, including the application of aerial sensors (drones) as traffic data collectors, can provide real-time traffic information more efficiently, effectively, and safely than traditional methods. Traffic trajectory data like vehicles’ coordinates and point timestamps are challenging to obtain at intersections using traditional field survey methods. The coordinates and timestamps crucial in calculating trajectories can be obtained using drones and their particular integrated software. Thus, this study explores the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), particularly tethered drones, to obtain traffic parameters for traffic mobility and safety studies at an unsignalized intersection in Tallahassee, Florida. Tethered …

A Microscopic Simulation Approach For Developing Ramp Metering Activation Guidelines For Weekends, Sarah T. Kasomi

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traffic congestion is one of the major concerns in urban motorways. Agencies are implementing various Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSM&O) strategies to reduce traffic congestion on roadway networks. Ramp metering is a TSM&O strategy that utilizes signals installed at freeways’ on-ramps to dynamically manage traffic entering the freeway. RMSs have been effective at alleviating recurring congestion. Recurring congestion, however, constitutes less than half of all congestion. More than half of all congestion is due to non-recurring events such as incidents, work zones, adverse weather conditions, special events, etc., that adversely affect the performance of a highway. Non-recurring congestion on …

An Overview Of Converting Kabul’S Traffic Circles And Rotaries To Modern Roundabouts, Mohammad Anas Taeb

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Circular intersections, in the form of traffic circles and rotaries, were built around the world in the first half of the twentieth century. However, with the rise in traffic flow, regular traffic congestion and accidents forced authorities to look for alternative solutions and, in many cases, signalized intersections became the preferred alternative. In the 1960s, the UK introduced concept of modern roundabouts and a new set of priority rules for the circulating traffic. Since the inception of modern roundabouts, they have enhanced both operational and safety aspects at these locations, even when used to replace large traffic circles/rotaries, proving that …

An Empirical Analysis To Control Product Counterfeiting In The Automotive Industry's Supply Chains In Pakistan, Saad Akhter Jaffery

Doctoral

The counterfeits pose significant health and safety threat to consumers. The quality image of firms is vulnerable to the damage caused by the expanding flow of counterfeit products in today’s global supply chains. The counterfeiting markets are swelling due to globalization and customers’ willingness to buy counterfeits, fueling illicit activities to explode further. Buyers look for the original parts are deceived by the false (deceptive) signals’ communication. The counterfeiting market has become a multi-billion industry but lacks detailed insights into the supply side of counterfeiting (deceptive side). The study aims to investigate and assess the relationship between the anti-counterfeiting strategies …

Smart Parking Systems: Reviewing The Literature, Architecture And Ways Forward, Can Biyik, Zaheer Allam, Gabriele Pieri, Davide Moroni, Muftah O' Fraifer, Eoin O' Connell, Stephan Olariu, Muhammad Khalid

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The Internet of Things (IoT) has come of age, and complex solutions can now be implemented seamlessly within urban governance and management frameworks and processes. For cities, growing rates of car ownership are rendering parking availability a challenge and lowering the quality of life through increased carbon emissions. The development of smart parking solutions is thus necessary to reduce the time spent looking for parking and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The principal role of this research paper is to analyze smart parking solutions from a technical perspective, underlining the systems and sensors that are available, as documented in the …

See-Trend: Secure Traffic-Related Event Detection In Smart Communities, Stephan Olariu, Dimitrie C. Popescu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

It has been widely recognized that one of the critical services provided by Smart Cities and Smart Communities is Smart Mobility. This paper lays the theoretical foundations of SEE-TREND, a system for Secure Early Traffic-Related EveNt Detection in Smart Cities and Smart Communities. SEE-TREND promotes Smart Mobility by implementing an anonymous, probabilistic collection of traffic-related data from passing vehicles. The collected data are then aggregated and used by its inference engine to build beliefs about the state of the traffic, to detect traffic trends, and to disseminate relevant traffic-related information along the roadway to help the driving public make informed …

Evaluation Of Unconventional Signalized Intersections On Arterial Roads And A Proposition For A Novel Intersection Design, Ma'en Al-Omari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Several unconventional intersection designs were proposed and implemented to enhance traffic safety and operation at intersections. The efficiency of these intersection designs was not sufficiently evaluated in the previous research because of the limited implementation of such designs. However, with the growing interest in the implementation of unconventional intersections by municipalities and transport agencies, it has become a need for a comprehensive evaluation of their safety and operational benefits. Therefore, this dissertation aims to evaluate the safety and operational aspects of unconventional intersection designs by employing different research approaches: crash analysis, microscopic simulation, and driving simulation. Firstly, this dissertation evaluated …

Calibration Of Iri-Based Psi Equation Using Updated Quarter-Car Parameters, Shirin Bahaaeldin Hassan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The international roughness index (IRI) was established in the 1980s and later used in generating the present serviceability index (PSI), which was developed to predict present serviceability rating (PSR). PSR is a measure of ride quality ratings made by a panel of highway users. The ratings range from 0 to 5, where “0” for very poor and “5” for very good. Various studies had formulated the relationship between IRI and PSI for different types of pavements, such as flexible, rigid, and composite pavements. The current IRI-based PSI equation being used among many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) was proposed by …

Evaluating Factors Influencing Transportation-Related Energy Consumption, Amrit Williams

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis contributes to the literature assessing the relationships between travel patterns, transportation-related energy consumption, and urban form. Although the literature has explored several area-related and other factors, the focus has mainly been on urban areas. This research aims to (1) quantify the relationship of transportation-related energy consumption with urban form, (2) explore how individual attitudes might affect consumption, and (3) explore differences in consumption among different socioeconomic and demographic population groups.

Data collected from an online survey targeting adults in the contiguous U.S. supplemented with secondary spatial data were used to address the research goals. The collected sample was …

Modeling Operational Performance Of Urban Roads With Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions, Swapneel R. Kodupuganti, Sonu Mathew, Srinivas S. Pulugurtha

Mineta Transportation Institute

The rapid growth in population and related demand for travel during the past few decades has had a catalytic effect on traffic congestion, air quality, and safety in many urban areas. Transportation managers and planners have planned for new facilities to cater to the needs of users of alternative modes of transportation (e.g., public transportation, walking, and bicycling) over the next decade. However, there are no widely accepted methods, nor there is enough evidence to justify whether such plans are instrumental in improving mobility of the transportation system. Therefore, this project researches the operational performance of urban roads with heterogeneous …

Developing Guidelines For Assessing The Effectiveness Of Intelligent Compaction Technology, Mehran Mazari, Siavash F. Aval, Siddharth M. Satani, David Corona, Joshua Garrido

Mineta Transportation Institute

Many factors affect pavement compaction quality, which can vary. Such variability may result in an additional number of passes required, extended working hours, higher energy consumption, and negative environmental impacts. The use of Intelligent Compaction (IC) technology during construction can improve the quality and longevity of pavement structures while reducing risk for contractors and project owners alike. This study develops guidelines for the implementation of IC in the compaction of pavement layers as well as performing a preliminary life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of IC technology compared to the conventional compaction approach. The environmental impacts of the improved construction process were …

A Deep Machine Learning Approach For Predicting Freeway Work Zone Delay Using Big Data, Abdullah Shabarek

Dissertations

The introduction of deep learning and big data analytics may significantly elevate the performance of traffic speed prediction. Work zones become one of the most critical factors causing congestion impact, which reduces the mobility as well as traffic safety. A comprehensive literature review on existing work zone delay prediction models (i.e., parametric, simulation and non-parametric models) is conducted in this research. The research shows the limitations of each model. Moreover, most previous modeling approaches did not consider user delay for connected freeways when predicting traffic speed under work zone conditions. This research proposes Deep Artificial Neural Network (Deep ANN) and …

High-Speed Rail Safety Analysis Based On Dual-Weighted Complex Network, Liu Lv

Dissertations

This study uses a complex network model to analyze the causes of accidents in high-speed railway operations. By identifying the key factors that led to high-speed railway accidents, hidden safety hazards were discovered. This will help improve the operational safety of the U.S. high-speed rail line under construction.

The analysis uses the regional high-speed railway network in Guangzhou, China as a case study, including the railway (including high-speed railway) accidents that occurred in the company's jurisdiction from 2013 to 2017. With comparative analysis between general railways and high-speed railways, the changes of high-speed railway safety factors are explored. Data analysis …

Research On Weather Conditions And Their Relationship To Crashes, Mark R. Anderson, Aemal Khattak, Muhammad Umer Farooq, John Cecava, Curtis L. Walker

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The objectives of the research were to conduct a seasonal investigation of when winter weather conditions are a factor in crashes reported in Nebraska, to perform statistical analyses on Nebraska crash and meteorological data and identify weather conditions causing the significant safety concerns, and to investigate whether knowing the snowfall amount and/or storm intensity/severity could be a precursor to the number and severity of crashes.

Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) crash data were combined with meteorological data on winter weather season basis, reported road surface condition at crash time, and reported weather conditions at crash time. Overall, the key finding …

Nebraska Rail Crossing Safety Research, Aemal Khattak, Yashu Kang, Huiyuan Liu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The research objectives of this project were to update Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) 1999 Nebraska Accident Prediction Model for Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (HRGCs) and to develop guidelines using Lancaster County Nebraska HRGCs for improving safety at urban gated HRGCs that are not designated quiet zones but are in the vicinity of quiet zone crossings.

FRA crash and HRGC inventory data were utilized for estimation of the new model after inventory information on 742 HRGCs was updated. HRGC crashes for 2008-2018 period were used for model estimation while 2019 HRGC crashes were used for model prediction validation. After consideration of …

To Automate Detecting, Quantifying And Mapping Of Delamination Via Arial Thermography, Ziqi Shen, Chongsheng Cheng, Ri Na, Zhexiong Shang

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The goal of this project is to develop a UAV-based Arial thermographic method to detect and map the delamination on concrete bridge decks. Several image processing methods such as level-set and machine-learning were developed in this project. The developed method is high-efficient and low-cost and requires no-traffic-closure during the surveying process. The coring outcomes from four different concrete bride decks validated the performance of this developed method. The coring results suggested that this method outperformed several existing methods in detecting delamination in concrete bridge decks in terms of efficiency, accuracy, cost, and safety.

High-Mast Tower Foundation, Chungwook Sim, Chung R. Song, Brandon Kreiling, Jay Puckett

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

High-Mast Tower (HMT) foundations have been traditionally designed and constructed using cast-in-place foundation with anchor bolts that are used to secure the tower to the foundation. This type of design requires a base plate that is welded to the tower shaft. The Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) has recently experienced issues with stresses that this type of design presents at the anchor bolt/foundation or base plate/tower shaft interface. This issue in worst cases may lead to a premature failure due to high-cycle fatigue as one of the towers at Milford, Nebraska that fell down during a winter snow storm event …

A Review Of Different Aspects Of Applying Asphalt And Bituminous Mixes Under A Railway Track, Kazem Jadidi, Morteza Esmaeili, Mehdi Kalantari, Mehdi Khalili

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Asphalt is a common material that is used extensively for roadways. Furthermore, bituminous mixes have been used in railways, both as asphalt and as mortar. Different agencies and research institutes have investigated and suggested various applications. These studies indicate the benefits of bituminous material under railways, such as improving a substructure’s stiffness and bearing capacity; enhancing its dynamic characteristics and response, especially under high-speed train loads; waterproofing the subgrade; protecting the top layers against fine contamination. These potential applications can improve the overall track structure performance and lead to minimizing settlement under heavy loads. They can also guarantee an appropriate …

Direct Predictive Speed Control Of Salient Pmsm Drives In Constant Torque And Constant Power Regimes For Electric Vehicles Applications, Francis Mwasilu

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

A direct speed control of salient permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives in constant torque and constant power regimes for electric vehicles applications is presented. The proposed speed control scheme is derived from model predictive control approach where both rotor speed and stator current are formulated in a single objective function that is periodically computed to attain the PMSM drive optimum switching states. The dynamic model of the PMSM intrinsically encompasses the unknown disturbance, which should be rejected for high-performance speed control especially in transient conditions. Consequently, the extended modified augmented state Kalman filter (ASKF) is incorporated in the proposed …

Incident Duration Time Prediction Using A Supervised Topic Modeling Method, Jihyun Park

Theses

Precisely predicting the duration time of an incident is one of the most prominent components to implement proactive management strategies for traffic congestions caused by an incident. This thesis presents a novel method to predict incident duration time in a timely manner by using an emerging supervised topic modeling method. Based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, this thesis performs semantic text analyses with text-based incident dataset to train the model. The model is trained with actual 1,466 incident records collected by Korea Expressway Corporation from 2016-2019 by applying a Labeled Latent Dirichlet Allocation(L-LDA) approach. For the training, this thesis …

Problems And Ways Of Solution In Transit Of Automobile Transport Of The Republic Of Uzbekistan, Aziz S. Khalmukhamedov

Acta of Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent

Maintaining the transit potential of a country is an integral part of the transport program of any country and vital for the economy. Unsatisfactory transit potential negatively affects the economy. Therefore, it is necessary to survey and establish indicators of the country’s transit potential. The determining factor of the country’s transit potential is the level and condition of the country’s highways. Thus, the indicator of the quality of the road - the flatness of the road - can become the main indicator that can be used for a generalized and quick assessment of the characteristics of the country’s transit potential. …

Data Analysis Of Nebraska Pavements Containing Rap, Abdullah Azzam, Yong-Rak Kim, Mohammad Rahmani, Jiong Hu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Nebraska has used reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) materials (in a range of 20-50%) over more than 10 years in pavement construction. Despite the immediate economic and environmental benefits it has been reported that incorporating RAP may reduce pavement durability and crack resistance. This study used NDOT’s database to investigate the effect of RAP amount on the overall behavior of pavement performance. Toward that end, we collected data of pavement performance, mixture design, traffic, and environment of a total 254 pavement projects constructed between 2009 and 2012. Using the data, several analyses (such as descriptive, inferential, and life cycle cost) were …

Laboratory Testing And Mechanistic Analysis Of Treated Subgrade Soils, Hari Kumar Reddy Yarrapureddi

Civil Engineering Theses

Calcium-based stabilizing agents such as cement and lime have been extensively used to improve the engineering properties of base and subgrade layers of pavement systems. Recently, polymers and chemical stabilizers have become popular due to cost efficiency, ease of application, and fast curing times. In this study, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) values of polymer and chemical treated soils were compared with the CBR values of soils treated with conventional stabilizers. Parametric sensitivity analyses was carried out on key parameters including the type of subgrade soil, stabilizing agent, stabilizing agent treatment levels, and moisture conditioning. Additionally, numerical analyses was performed to …

Expanding The Concept Of Comprehensive Area Ratio Parameter To The South-Central States Towards Simplifying The Structural Evaluation Of Flexible Pavements At The Network Level, Nitish R. Bastola

Civil Engineering Theses

The surface deflection bowl data collected through Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has been widely utilized by various Department of Transportation (DOTs) in the South-Central States and other places. The primary purpose of using deflection-based NDTs in network-level assessment is to identify a weak pavement section that requires further analysis at the project level. The falling weight deflectometer (FWD) test is one of the common NDT based tests utilized by highway agencies in assessing the performance of the flexible pavement. However, a robust method to evaluate pavement sections utilizing FWD data from all the sensors are seldom developed. There is always a …

Challenges And Suggestions Of Diesel Oil Cleaning System In Unmanned Surface Vessels, Liwei Zhang

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Research On Risk Identification, Evaluation And Countermeasures Of Liquid Dangerous Cargo Ships In Yangpu Waters, Xiaofeng Han

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Bio-Binder—Innovative Asphalt Technology, Amir Tabakovic

Articles

The global road network spans 16.3 million km [1], of which 5 million km is in the EU. These road networks fulfil major economic and social goals by facilitating the movement of goods and people throughout the EU, and are therefore of the utmost importance to the economic and social life of the EU [2]. National governments invest heavily in their road networks, e.g., in 2014, EUR 53.33 billion was invested in the development and maintenance of the EU road network [3]. Each year, the world produces 1.6 trillion tonnes of asphalt [4], of which 218 million tonnes is produced …

Cement Stabilized Crushed Stone Base Course Strength And Stiffness Analysis, Andrew Deschenes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 70 – 80% of state departments of transportations (DOTs) utilize the 1993 AASTHO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures (1993 AASHTO) [1] for structural design of pavements. A growing portion of DOT’s are beginning to implement the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), referred to as AASHTOWare Pavement ME [2]. The 1993 AASHTO flexible guide applies empirically derived unitless strength values referred to as structural layer coefficients and structural numbers (SN) to pavement thickness and pavement types. The 1993 AASHTO rigid flexible guide utilizes the depth and strength of the concrete pavement, with the composite spring constant (kc), which is …

An Investigation Into The Effects Of Fly Ash On Freeze-Thaw Durability Prediction, Yancy Schrader

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Air is purposefully entrained into concrete primarily to improve resistance to freeze-thaw deterioration while saturated with water. Air entraining admixtures (AEAs) are chemical admixtures designed to entrain air into the concrete to provide adequate resistance to the effects of freezing and thawing. One of the challenges associated with air entrainment in concrete is the interaction of an AEA with supplementary cementitious materials present in the concrete, particularly fly ash. Fly ash is a by-product of the coal fired electrical generation industry, and often contains residual unburned carbon and other components that can increase the AEA demand of a particular concrete …