Mobile assessment of on-road air pollution and its sources along the East-West Highway in Bhutan

Human exposures in transportation microenvironments are poorly represented by ambient stationary monitoring. A number of on-road studies using vehicle-based mobile monitoring have been conducted to address this. Most previous studies were conducted on urban roads in developed countries where the primary emission source was vehicles. Few studies have examined on-road pollution in developing countries in urban settings. Currently, no study has been conducted for roadways in rural environments where a substantial proportion of the population live. This study aimed to characterize on-road air quality on the East-West Highway (EWH) in Bhutan and identify its principal sources. We conducted six mobile measurements of PM10, particle number (PN) count and CO along the entire 570 km length of the EWH. We divided the EWH into five segments, R1-R5, taking the road length between two district towns as a single road segment. The pollutant concentrations varied widely along the different road segments, with the highest concentrations for R5 compared with other road segments (PM10 = 149 µg/m3, PN = 5.74 × 104 particles/cm-3, CO = 0.19 ppm), which is the final segment of the road to the capital. Apart from vehicle emissions, the dominant sources were road works, unpaved roads and roadside combustion activities. Overall, the highest contributions above the background levels were made by unpaved roads for PM10 (6 times background), and vehicle emissions for PN and CO (5 and 15 times background, respectively). Notwithstanding the differences in instrumentation used and particle size range measured, the current study showed lower PN concentrations compared with similar on-road studies. However, concentrations were still high enough that commuters, road maintenance workers and residents living along the EWH, were potentially exposed to elevated pollutant concentrations from combustion and non-combustion sources. Future studies should focus on assessing the dispersion patterns of roadway pollutants and defining the short- and long-term health impacts of exposure in Bhutan, as well as in other developing countries with similar characteristics.

Research-informed design, management and maintenance of infrastructure slopes: development of a multi-scalar approach

The UK’s transport infrastructure is one of the most heavily used in the world. The performance of these networks is critically dependent on the performance of cutting and embankment slopes which make up £20B of the £60B asset value of major highway infrastructure alone. The rail network in particular is also one of the oldest in the world: many of these slopes are suffering high incidents of instability (increasing with time). This paper describes the development of a fundamental understanding of earthwork material and system behaviour, through the systematic integration of research across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Spatially these range from microscopic studies of soil fabric, through elemental materials behaviour to whole slope modelling and monitoring and scaling up to transport networks. Temporally, historical and current weather event sequences are being used to understand and model soil deterioration processes, and climate change scenarios to examine their potential effects on slope performance in futures up to and including the 2080s. The outputs of this research are being mapped onto the different spatial and temporal scales of infrastructure slope asset management to inform the design of new slopes through to changing the way in which investment is made into aging assets. The aim ultimately is to help create a more reliable, cost effective, safer and more resilient transport system.

Evaluation of traffic control devices for rural high-speed maintenance work zones.

Texas Department of Transportation, Research and Technology Transfer Office, Austin

Effectiveness of flashing arrow boards during moving maintenance operations. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Evaluation of fleet maintenance data as a data source for repairability ratings. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Instrumentation for measuring pavement-vehicle interaction. Volume I: system description, operation, calibration and maintenance manual. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Structures and Applied Mechanics Division, Washington, D.C.

Instrumentation for measuring pavement-vehicle interaction. Volume II: Digalog Systems operation and maintenance manual, data acquisition system, model DLI 203. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Structures and Applied Mechanics Division, Washington, D.C.

Instrumentation for measuring pavement-vehicle interaction. Volume III: Kennedy Co. operation and maintenance manual, formatter and digital tape transport. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Structures and Applied Mechanics Division, Washington, D.C.

Traffic controls for construction and maintenance worksites: a research reference report. Volume I - project report. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Data base development of automobile and light truck maintenance. Volume I - text and appendixes A-D. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Data base development of automobile and light truck maintenance. Volume II - appendix E. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Data base development of automobile and light truck maintenance. Volume III - appendix F. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Characteristics of vehicle repair and maintenance problems for current vehicle-in-use. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Automobile inspection, maintenance and repair conference. Proceedings.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Maintenance of CRASH2 program. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.