Investigating the Potential for Standardization of Glass Reinforced Polymer (GRP) Shutter Molds Designs in Bridge Projects in the UAE

This paper addresses the potential for design standardization of bridge construction moulds as a means to minimize waste and cost. Specifically, the paper looks at the potential for standardizing the design of bridge Glass Reinforced Polymer (GRP) shutter moulds that typically vary in size and design based on project-specific requirements. Environmental and economic sustainability aspects are addressed using a two-tiered approach views of construction experts were solicited, and production-to-demolition and disposing costs of a sample of completed projects estimated. There appears to be a consensus that there are significant benefits from standardizing the design of the modes including material waste reduction, cost savings, shorter procurement processes and possibly the reuse of shutter moulds. Given the size of the construction sector and its contribution to material and energy consumption and harmful emissions, and non-hazardous waste, the potential savings are significant

Development of Dynamic Traffic Signal Control Procedures for Oversaturated Arterials and Genetic Algorithms Solutions

245 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999.Micro-GAs were used as optimizers for DSCA. They were shown to converge to near-optimal solutions quickly such that their implementation for on-line traffic control is possible. Population size was shown to play a significant role in determining quality of terminal solutions. Based on experiments with DSCA, and with sufficient computational resources, micro-GAs performed best when the population is sized around the square root of the string length.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Development of Dynamic Traffic Signal Control Procedures for Oversaturated Arterials and Genetic Algorithms Solutions

245 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999.Micro-GAs were used as optimizers for DSCA. They were shown to converge to near-optimal solutions quickly such that their implementation for on-line traffic control is possible. Population size was shown to play a significant role in determining quality of terminal solutions. Based on experiments with DSCA, and with sufficient computational resources, micro-GAs performed best when the population is sized around the square root of the string length.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

The State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates

This chapter discusses the principles of road traffic signal control in the State of Qatar and the United Arab Emirate (UAE). In the first section, traffic control standards used in both countries are presented with a focus on the regional differences, the implementation process used, as well as an overview of the currently implemented signal control methods. Section 14.2 discusses the criteria for selection of traffic control strategies used in the two countries and then compares it to the actual implemented strategies. Section 14.3 focuses on the process used to determine the signal timings. Section 14.4 presents the different phasing strategies used, including the typical phasing design used in both countries, the use of transit priority, as well as bicycle and pedestrian treatment. Section 14.5 explains the values and ranges of the parameters used in the timing/phasing design. Section 14.6 discusses special considerations found in the State of Qatar and the UAE. Finally, Section 14.7 presents two examples of traffic signals on intersections in the State of Qatar

Improving signalised intersections performance for better built environment

Traffic delays are still a significant part of the daily commutes in most urban areas despite significant investments in infrastructure. Policy, design and operational measures are usually taken to reduce emissions from mobile sources by reducing congestion, promoting modal diversity, or using advanced technologies. Although reduced emissions and improved fuel efficiency have resulted from proper traffic control, municipalities and public agencies often overlook the need for better traffic control through revised control schemes. Simple changes to traffic control schemes and/or incremental geometric designs improvements is all that is needed to improve traffic system performance without the need for expensive and highly advanced technologies. In this paper, the issue of using proper signal timing plans at signalised intersections and its effect on traffic operations and environment is highlighted. A real-life example is studied. Careful considerations to signal timings parameters resulted in lower traffic delay, reduced emissions, and better fuel consumption efficiency. Copyright 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.Scopu

Real-Time Dynamic Transit Signal Priority Optimization for Coordinated Traffic Networks Using Genetic Algorithms and Artificial Neural Networks

Transit signal priority (TSP) has gained popularity in providing public transportation buses with preferential treatment at signalized intersections. Many studies have addressed its implementation in prompting enhanced public transportation service, such as reducing person delay and reducing transit travel time. However, most TSP implementations are done at the intersection level. Only a few studies have addressed the problem of integrating signal priority in coordinated real-time traffic signal control systems. A particular problem in this case is the uncertainty of predicting transit movements when considering the variability of dwell times at service stops. This study presents the development of a real-time traffic signal control integrating traffic signal timing optimization and TSP control using genetic algorithms (GA) and artificial neural networks (ANN) modeling. The GA is used to find near-optimal signal timings. Six different signal control systems were evaluated: fixed-time control with and without standard TSP, actuated signal control with and without standard TSP, real-time GA-based control without TSP, and real-time GA-based with advanced TSP logic. The standard TSP is implemented at the intersection level, by providing either early green (red truncation) or green extension strategies whenever a bus exists. A traffic signal control system that incorporates GA to optimize the fitness function and ANN for transit travel time prediction is developed. A microscopic simulation environment using VISSIM 4.3 simulation environment is used to test the previously mentioned six traffic control systems. The simulation results show that the proposed control system can reduce transit vehicle delay and improve schedule adherence. The reductions in delay and schedule adherence are statistically significant