Study of Iowa’s Current Road Use Tax Funds (RUTF) and Future Road Maintenance and Construction Needs, 2006

The 81st General Assembly of the Iowa legislature, in Section 85 of House File 868, required the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) to conduct a study of current Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) revenues, and projected roadway construction and maintenance needs. With input from Iowa’s cities, counties and other interested groups, the Iowa DOT completed this report for submittal to the legislature.

Study of Iowa’s Current Road Use Tax Funds (RUTF) and Future Road Maintenance and Construction Needs, 2006

The 81st General Assembly of the Iowa legislature, in Section 85 of House File 868, required the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) to conduct a study of current Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) revenues, and projected roadway construction and maintenance needs.

Design and construction of precision heat fluxmeters

InAlAs/InGaAs/InP based high electron mobility transistor devices have been structurally and electrically characterized, using transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy and measuring Hall mobilities. The InGaAs lattice matched channels, with an In molar fraction of 53%, grown at temperatures lower than 530¿°C exhibit alloy decomposition driving an anisotropic InGaAs surface roughness oriented along [1math0]. Conversely, lattice mismatched channels with an In molar fraction of 75% do not present this lateral decomposition but a strain induced roughness, with higher strength as the channel growth temperature increases beyond 490¿°C. In both cases the presence of the roughness implies low and anisotropic Hall mobilities of the two dimensional electron gas.

Low Water Stream Crossing: Design and Construction Recommendations, December 2001

Most counties have bridges that are no longer adequate, and are faced with large capital expenditure for replacement structures of the same size. In this regard, low water stream crossings (LWSCs) can provide an acceptable, low cost alternative to bridges and culverts on low volume and reduced maintenance level roads. In addition to providing a low cost option for stream crossings, LWSCs have been designed to have the additional benefit of stream bed stabilization. Considerable information on the current status of LWSCs in Iowa, along with insight of needs for design assistance, was gained from a survey of county engineers that was conducted as part of this research (Appendix A). Copies of responses and analysis are included in Appendix B. This document provides guidelines for the design of LWSCs. There are three common types of LWSCs: unvented ford, vented ford with pipes, and low water bridges. Selection among these depends on stream geometry, discharge, importance of road, and budget availability. To minimize exposure to tort liability, local agencies using low water stream crossings should consider adopting reasonable selection and design criteria and certainly provide adequate warning of these structures to road users. The design recommendations included in this report for LWSCs provide guidelines and suggestions for local agency reference. Several design examples of design calculations are included in Appendix E.

Design and construction of precision heat fluxmeters

The possibility of local elastic instabilities is considered in a first¿order structural phase transition, typically a thermoelastic martensitic transformation, with associated interfacial and volumic strain energy. They appear, for instance, as the result of shape change accommodation by simultaneous growth of different crystallographic variants. The treatment is phenomenological and deals with growth in both thermoelastic equilibrium and in nonequilibrium conditions produced by the elastic instability. Scaling of the transformed fraction curves against temperature is predicted only in the case of purely thermoelastic growth. The role of the transformation latent heat on the relaxation kinetics is also considered, and it is shown that it tends to increase the characteristic relaxation times as adiabatic conditions are approached, by keeping the system closer to a constant temperature. The analysis also reveals that the energy dissipated in the relaxation process has a double origin: release of elastic energy Wi and entropy production Si. The latter is shown to depend on both temperature rate and thermal conduction in the system.

Low Water Stream Crossing: Design and Construction Recommendations, Decemeber 2001

Most counties have bridges that are no longer adequate, and are faced with large capital expenditure for replacement structures of the same size. In this regard, low water stream crossings (LWSCs) can provide an acceptable, low cost alternative to bridges and culverts on low volume and reduced maintenance level roads. In addition to providing a low cost option for stream crossings, LWSCs have been designed to have the additional benefit of streambed stabilization. Considerable information on the current status of LWSCs in Iowa, along with insight of needs for design assistance, was gained from a survey of county engineers that was conducted as part of this research (Appendix A). Copies of responses and analysis are included in Appendix B. This document provides guidelines for the design of LWSCs. There are three common types of LWSCs: unvented ford, vented ford with pipes, and low water bridges. Selection among these depends on stream geometry, discharge, importance of road, and budget availability. To minimize exposure to tort liability, local agencies using low water stream crossings should consider adopting reasonable selection and design criteria and certainly provide adequate warning of these structures to road users. The design recommendations included in this report for LWSCs provide guidelines and suggestions for local agency reference. Several design examples of design calculations are included in Appendix E.

Low Water Stream Crossing: Design and Construction Recommendations; A Selection and Design Guide, February 2003

Most Iowa counties maintain low volume roads with at least one bridge or culvert that is structurally deficient or obsolete. In some counties the percentage of deficient drainage structures may be as high as 62%. Replacement with structures of similar size would require large capital expenditures that many counties cannot afford. Low water stream crossings (LWSCs) may be an acceptable lowcost alternative in some cases.

Design and Construction in Fair Housing: Enforcement, Timeless and Practical Suggestion, Spring 2010

In addition to the Fair Housing Act of 1968, other legislation has expanded protection from discrimination for individuals with disabilities, including the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Notably, the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1988, expanded equal housing protection to individuals with disabilities. The legislative history behind the 1988 Amendments notes that one aim of the law was to address both purposeful discrimination as well as what is sometimes unintentional discrimination caused by the design and construction of inaccessible housing.

State Plan for Library Program under Library Services and Construction Act, as amended, 1966

This document includes the general provisions and regulations of the Iowa Sate Traveling Library under the Library Services and Construction Act. It also includes information of appropriations of funds available for expenditure, authority of local agencies to administer and state agency to supervise local administration and certification.

Regulation of mucoidy in the biological control agent Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 and construction of an exopolysaccharide-overproducing variant

Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0, an effective biological control agent of soilborne plant diseases, is naturally non-mucoid. We have isolated a highly mucoid Tn5 insertion mutant of strain CHA0. The mucoid phenotype was found to be due to the overproduction of exopolysaccharide (EPS), as a result of a mutation in the mucA gene. The wild-type mucA gene was cloned by a two-step, Tn5-dependent cloning procedure previously described and the deduced amino acid sequence showed 71% identity with MucA of P. aeruginosa, a negative regulator of the alternative sigma factor AlgU (=s22, sE). As in P. aeruginosa, mucA is preceded by the algU gene encoding s22 (91% identity at the amino acid sequence level). A mucA in-frame deletion mutant of CHA0 overproduced EPS and formed mucoid colonies, whereas an algU in-frame deletion mutant showed a non-mucoid phenotype. Pyoluteorin, an antibiotic produced by P. fluorescens, was found to be entrapped in EPS of a mucoid mutant. In natural soil, mucoidy negatively affected survival of the bacteria, suggesting that under these conditions the potential to produce abundant EPS does not confer a selective advantage on the bacteria.

Fly Ash Soil Stabilization for Non-Uniform Subgrade Soils, Volume I: Engineering Properties and Construction Guidelines, TR-461, 2005

Soil treated with self-cementing fly ash is increasingly being used in Iowa to stabilize fine-grained pavement subgrades, but without a complete understanding of the short- and long-term behavior. To develop a broader understanding of fly ash engineering properties, mixtures of five different soil types, ranging from ML to CH, and several different fly ash sources (including hydrated and conditioned fly ashes) were evaluated. Results show that soil compaction characteristics, compressive strength, wet/dry durability, freeze/thaw durability, hydration characteristics, rate of strength gain, and plasticity characteristics are all affected by the addition of fly ash. Specifically, Iowa selfcementing fly ashes are effective at stabilizing fine-grained Iowa soils for earthwork and paving operations; fly ash increases compacted dry density and reduces the optimum moisture content; strength gain in soil-fly ash mixtures depends on cure time and temperature, compaction energy, and compaction delay; sulfur contents can form expansive minerals in soil–fly ash mixtures, which severely reduces the long-term strength and durability; fly ash increases the California bearing ratio of fine-grained soil–fly ash effectively dries wet soils and provides an initial rapid strength gain; fly ash decreases swell potential of expansive soils; soil-fly ash mixtures cured below freezing temperatures and then soaked in water are highly susceptible to slaking and strength loss; soil stabilized with fly ash exhibits increased freeze-thaw durability; soil strength can be increased with the addition of hydrated fly ash and conditioned fly ash, but at higher rates and not as effectively as self-cementing fly ash. Based on the results of this study, three proposed specifications were developed for the use of self-cementing fly ash, hydrated fly ash, and conditioned fly ash. The specifications describe laboratory evaluation, field placement, moisture conditioning, compaction, quality control testing procedures, and basis of payment.

Maintenance and construction outsourcing in a public-owned electricity network company

Euroopan sähkösektori on ollut viimeisen vuosikymmenen suurten mullistusten kourissa. Sähkömarkkinoiden avautumisen jälkeen monopoliliiketoimintaa harjoittavien sähköyhtiöiden on ollut pakko parantaa tuottavuuttaan. Ratkaisuksi tähän on etsitty apua huolto- ja rakennustoimintojen ulkoistamisella. Ulkoistaminen on kuitenkin uusi menetelmä tällä sektorilla. Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää syyt, jotka tanskalaisella sähköverkkoyhtiöllä oli huolto- ja rakennustoimintojen ulkoistamiseen, sekä löytää siitä saatavat hyödyt ja siihen sisältyvät riskit. Tutkimus suoritetaan käyttäen apuna kirjallisuutta, saatavilla olevia due diligence-, sekä muita raportteja ja analyysejä, sekä tapausta koskettavien tahojen haastatteluja.Lisäksi sähköverkkoalan asiantuntijoiden kanssa käytyjä konsultointia käytetäänselvitykseen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että perimmäiset ajurit huolto- ja rakennustoimintojen ulkoistamiseen tulivat lainmuutosten ja vapautuneiden sähkömarkkinoiden asettamista paineista. Kunnallisessa organisaatiossa parantaa tehokkuutta ulkoistamalla jotain toimintoja yksityisomisteiselle palvelun tuottajalle. Muut ulkoistamisesta odotetut hyödyt olivat alentuneet kustannukset, virtaviivaisempi organisaation ja sähköverkkoyhtiön tehottomista osista eroon pääseminen ennen sen myymistä.

Civil society organisations participating in ISO TC 228 and ISO TC 229: the INTERNORM project and its future

This paper presents the first results of the INTERNORM pilot project funded by the University of Lausanne (2010 - 2014) to support the involvement of civil society organisations (CSO) in two ISO technical committees (TC), the ISO TC 228 on "tourism and related services" and the ISO TC 229 on "nanotechnologies". It analyses how a distinct participatory mechanism can influence the institutional environment of technical diplomacy in which standards are shaped. The project is an attempt to respond to the democratic deficit attested in the field of international standardisation, formally open to civil society participation, but still largely dominated by expert knowledge and market players. Many international standards have direct implications on society as a whole, but CSOs (consumers and environmental associations, trade unions) are largely under-represented in negotiation arenas. The paper draws upon international relations literature on new institutional forms in global governance and studies of participation in science and technology to address three questions: to which extent do CSOs identify participation in standardisation as worth of their mobilisation? How is the pluralisation of knowledge and expertise supporting CSO position during the deliberation? To which extent can CSO access and influence standardisation beyond their consultative role? It argues that there are significant limitations to the rise of civil society participation in such global governance mechanisms. Despite high entry costs into technical diplomacy, participation is not so much a matter of upstream engagement, or of procedure and resources only, than of opportunistic CSOs mobilization, of distinct thematic incentives and concrete outcomes to be expected in standardisation arenas or in the broader use of international standards.

Project and customer profitability analysis: an empirical case study

The objective of this case study is to provide a Finnish solution provider company an objective, in-depth analysis of their project based business and especially of project estimation accuracy. A project and customer profitability analysis is conducted as a complementary addition to describe profitability of the Case Company’s core division. The theoretical framework is constructed on project profitability and customer profitability analysis. Project profitability is approached starting from managing projects, continuing to project pricing process and concluding to project success. The empirical part of this study describes the Case Company’s project portfolio, and by means of quantitative analysis, the study describes how the characteristics of a project impact the project’s profitability. The findings indicate that it really makes a difference in project portfolio’s estimated and actual profitability when methods of installation and technical specifications are scrutinized. Implications on profitability are gathered into a risk assessment tool proposal.