Optimizing Airport Runway Performance by Managing Pavement Infrastructure

The research described herein is composed of four major areas of practice. It examines the overall performance of runways and provides tools designed to improve current runway operations and management with particular emphasis on contaminated surfaces. Presented in this thesis is an overview of how to design airport pavements in order to achieve optimal friction by specifically focusing on material selection and construction techniques for rigid and flexible pavements. Rubber buildup and the impact rubber accumulation has on decreasing runway friction, particularly in a range of climatic conditions, is discussed. Four commonly used rubber removal techniques are presented and evaluated. Through this research, an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) decision making protocol was developed for incorporation into airport pavement management systems (APMS). Runway surface condition reporting practices used at the Region of Waterloo International Airport are evaluated and recommendations for improving current practices are identified. Runway surface condition reporting can be improved by removing subjectivity, reporting conditions to pilots in real time, standardizing terminology and measurement techniques, and including runway pictures or sketches to identify contaminant locations where possible. Reports should be incorporated and stored in the APMS. Aircraft braking systems and their effects on landing distances under contaminated conditions are discussed. This thesis presents a proposed solution for monitoring and measuring contaminated runway surfaces and identifying the risks associated with aircraft landing through using the Braking Availability Tester (BAT). Also proposed in this thesis is a testing framework for validating the Braking Availability Tester. The proposed BAT measures interaction between aircraft antiskid braking systems and runway contaminants to determine landing distances more accurately. Finally, this thesis includes a discussion explaining how pavement design, contaminant removal, results from friction tests, and results from the BAT can be incorporated into airport pavement management systems. APMS data can be analyzed to economically optimize and prioritize scheduling of pavement maintenance, preservation and rehabilitation treatments to maintain a high level of service, thereby contributing to runway safety and optimization

Toward a Bio-Inspired System Architecting Framework: Simulation of the Integration of Autonomous Bus Fleets & Alternative Fuel Infrastructures in Closed Sociotechnical Environments

Cities are set to become highly interconnected and coordinated environments composed of emerging technologies meant to alleviate or resolve some of the daunting issues of the 21st century such as rapid urbanization, resource scarcity, and excessive population demand in urban centers. These cybernetically-enabled built environments are expected to solve these complex problems through the use of technologies that incorporate sensors and other data collection means to fuse and understand large sums of data/information generated from other technologies and its human population. Many of these technologies will be pivotal assets in supporting and managing capabilities in various city sectors ranging from energy to healthcare. However, among these sectors, a significant amount of attention within the recent decade has been in the transportation sector due to the flood of new technological growth and cultivation, which is currently seeing extensive research, development, and even implementation of emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles (AVs), the Internet of Things (IoT), alternative xxxvi fueling sources, clean propulsion technologies, cloud/edge computing, and many other technologies. Within the current body of knowledge, it is fairly well known how many of these emerging technologies will perform in isolation as stand-alone entities, but little is known about their performance when integrated into a transportation system with other emerging technologies and humans within the system organization. This merging of new age technologies and humans can make analyzing next generation transportation systems extremely complex to understand. Additionally, with new and alternative forms of technologies expected to come in the near-future, one can say that the quantity of technologies, especially in the smart city context, will consist of a continuously expanding array of technologies whose capabilities will increase with technological advancements, which can change the performance of a given system architecture. Therefore, the objective of this research is to understand the system architecture implications of integrating different alternative fueling infrastructures with autonomous bus (AB) fleets in the transportation system within a closed sociotechnical environment. By being able to understand the system architecture implications of alternative fueling infrastructures and AB fleets, this could provide performance-based input into a more sophisticated approach or framework which is proposed as a future work of this research

Maine’s Winter Roads: Salt, Safety, Environment and Cost

This report summarizes key findings from a yearlong study of the issues and practices in winter maintenance of Maine’s roads

Conditions Effecting Rural Fire Department Preparedness for Chemical Disasters in Northeast Oklahoma: A Case Study

Throughout history, humankind has struggled with vulnerability and the effects of disasters on the ill prepared. The community and field of disaster research acknowledges fire departments as key stakeholders in preparedness. These agencies commonly conduct pre-fire planning, purchase specialized equipment, and train for a variety of responses. Fire departments operate with certain types of capital, including funding, available personnel, community values and beliefs, political atmospheres, and natural and built environments; which limit or allow preparedness planning. Research has shown that, compared to their urban counterparts, rural communities have fewer trained and prepared personnel, less equipment, and a lack of financial capital with which to prepare for disaster events involving chemicals. Chemical use continues to increase in industry, and recent U.S. legislation has caused shipments through rural communities to escalate, resulting in an increased risk of chemical releases. Fire chiefs understand how the community creates and changes capital used by the fire department. This study examined the impact of community capitals on chemical disaster preparedness in rural Northeast Oklahoma fire departments from the fire chief perspective. The 27 survey participants, and 21 interviewees, revealed that the social capital within the study region was robust. Strong community linkages created support for their local fire department. Although this support did not necessarily result in volunteers, it did result in reduced resistance to preparedness activities. Emergent themes revealed vulnerability in the meager number of capable and available personnel, lack of response equipment and materials, low perceived chemical risk, inadequate time, and inadequate consistent funding to prepare for chemical hazards. While community capitals in rural communities appear lacking, fire departments have found means of coping, allowing them to conduct some preparedness activities; but not for chemical disasters events.Environmental Scienc

Town of Londonderry, New Hampshire 2019 annual report.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire

Aeronautical Engineering: A special bibliography with indexes, supplement 69

This bibliography lists 305 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in March 1976

e-Sanctuary: open multi-physics framework for modelling wildfire urban evacuation

The number of evacuees worldwide during wildfire keep rising, year after year. Fire evacuations at the wildland-urban interfaces (WUI) pose a serious challenge to fire and emergency services and are a global issue affecting thousands of communities around the world. But to date, there is a lack of comprehensive tools able to inform, train or aid the evacuation response and the decision making in case of wildfire. The present work describes a novel framework for modelling wildfire urban evacuations. The framework is based on multi-physics simulations that can quantify the evacuation performance. The work argues that an integrated approached requires considering and integrating all three important components of WUI evacuation, namely: fire spread, pedestrian movement, and traffic movement. The report includes a systematic review of each model component, and the key features needed for the integration into a comprehensive toolkit

Greening Your Non-Profit from the Inside Out: A NeighborWorks Guide for Community Development Organizations

Read this guide to learn how community development organizations can"go green" through NeighborWorks Green Course curriculum. The guide includes information on education and skills training in healthy homes and green construction,and launching a Green Certificate program to train practitioners in successful strategies for green building and sustainable design

Federal Register

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii

Town of Londonderry, New Hampshire, 2007 annual report.

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire