A study of spiral transition curves as related to the visual quality of highway alignment

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1969 H887Master of Scienc

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY IN THREE WESTERN UPPER PENINSULA COUNTIES: RESULTS OF A DIAGNOSTIC STUDY AND FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

This paper is a part of a series of reports of the activities conducted under a grant from the Fund for Rural America, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Funds for the three year grant entitled "Enhancing Rural Economies Through Comprehensive Extension, Research & Partnering Approaches Using Multi-County Clusters in Michigan With Application to National Rural Settings" were received by Michigan State University's Department of Agricultural Economics in March, 1998. The major goal of the grant is to increase economic development activity in four clusters of rural counties in Michigan through the utilization of the resources of the Michigan State University Extension Service, Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, and other resources of Michigan State University. Various local, state, and federal public partners as well as the private sector are to co-sponsor projects. This paper represents the first stages of a continuing project to explore the utilization of retirement community human resources in rural Michigan and to develop Extension programs to meet their needs. Future activities include focus groups, labor supply analysis, a conference, and perhaps a rural academy to be developed by Michigan State University and its partners.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Creating insurance markets for natural disaster risk in lower income countries: the potential role for securitization

This paper considers the potential for securitizing index-based insurance products that transfer weather and natural disaster risks from lower income countries. The paper begins with a brief overview of why markets for natural disaster risks are important in lower income countries and a review of some recent activities using index-based weather insurance. Next, the paper explains how natural disaster risks are handled in higher income countries. These examples along with the example of an innovative index-based livestock insurance pilot project in Mongolia illustrate how layers, or tranches, of natural disaster risk can be financed during the product development phase by creating structures similar to the Special Purpose Vehicles used in catastrophe bond, mortgage bond, and the emerging microfinance bond markets. We refer to these investment alternatives as micro-CAT bonds since the principal amounts would be small relative to the existing CAT bond market.Catastrophe risk, index insurance, weather risks, socially responsible investing, reinsurance, Risk and Uncertainty,

What will fuel transport systems of the future?

This paper seeks to decry the notion of a single solution or “silver bullet” to replace petroleum products with renewable transport fuel. At different times, different technological developments have been in vogue as the panacea for future transport needs: for quite some time hydrogen has been perceived as a transport fuel that would be all encompassing when the technology was mature. Liquid biofuels have gone from exalted to unsustainable in the last ten years. The present flavor of the month is the electric vehicle. This paper examines renewable transport fuels through a review of the literature and attempts to place an analytical perspective on a number of technologies

Eucalyptus Foliage Production

End of Project ReportThe main objective of this project was to determine, for the main species of Eucalyptus grown in the south west of Ireland (Kerry), the best means of pruning to optimise marketable juvenile foliage production and quality over the crops life cycle. The majority of the trials were carried out in Co. Kerry where a higher concentration of production is located. The favourable climate and light acid soils in this region promote satisfactory growth and enables harvesting to take place from autumn to March which is the premium period. Results of extensive trials over a four year trial period showed that new plantations should not be pruned until the end of the second growing season to allow the trees to become well established and help build up photosynthetic food reserves and prevent tree losses. However in some situations where very vigorous growth was achieved during the first growing season a very light pruning at 1.3 m high helped stabilise trees. After the second year's growth, pruning back to a height of 1.2 m consistently produced the highest marketable production of quality juvenile foliage of Eucalyptus species pulverulenta, perriniana, parvifolia, and 'Glaucescens' over the trial period. Pruning back to this level helped develop a single or multiple main stem framework (2-3 stems) for future production purposes, providing a nice manageable tree facilitating not only harvesting but other technical operations such as pruning and spraying. It was found that more severe pruning, especially back to 15-25 cm from the ground, reduced output and in some cases quality but was responsible for significant tree losses varying from 8-12% in the second growing year to over 30% losses with four year plantations, with further losses of 5-10% expected as well because of very weak plants. The main recommendations of this study are that no pruning be carried out for the first two growing seasons and thereafter a relatively light pruning of all main framework leaders back to 1.2 m high after the winter period. As the plantations grew older, stronger side branches could be shortened and later still could be removed to facilitate management of the crop. The light pruning treatments to 1.2 m high in contrast to the most severe pruning regimes produced no significant tree losses in the main production areas in Co. Kerry and would appear to be the most sustainable system of pruning management over the crops life cycle

Soil-nailed and the Tie-back Wall Construction Using Hollow Nails

Excavation support is commonly provided using soil-nailed walls or tie-hack walls. This paper describes two case histories where nails and anchors where installed using a hollow reinforcing bar and a disposable drill bit. A lean grout was pumped through the reinforcing bar as it was driven into the ground. This process created a reinforced grout column with a diameter of about 150 mm. This procedure reduced the time of installation and resulted in cost savings of about 25% in comparison with conventional procedures. The procedure was used successfully to install nails in sandy gravels and silty sands. It was also used successfully to install tic-back anchors and the measured horizontal and vertical movements behind the wall were well within acceptable limits. Pull-out tests indicated that the ultimate pull-out resistance of the nails/anchors was between 58.3 to 65.6 kN/m (4 to 4.5 kips/ft) in the gravelly sands and 49.6 kN/m to 56.8 kN/m (3.4 to 3.9 kips/ft) in the silly sand (30%) tines. The soil-nail approach was not found to be practical where thick sequences of clean sands were encountered due to surface raveling and caving