Characteristics of unpaved roads in the late 18th century – early 19th century, and the design of the first wooden trackway as a forerunner to the Bukovyna railways

In the history of Bukovinian social life in the 1840–1850s, an important role is played by the fierce struggle for the introduction of rail transport. This struggle took place in the deepening crisis of the feudal system and the development of capitalism in the Austrian Empire. Primitive medieval methods of transporting goods and passengers by waterways and unpaved roads, which for centuries met the needs of feudal Bukovyna, became a brake on the economic, social and political progress of the Bukovyna region. The beginning of the transport revolution in England had a huge public response in Austria-Hungary. The rapidly developing relationship between scientists and engineers from Austria, Western Europe and America in this period made a large contribution to the process, as the newest means of transportation were spreading in the early 19th century, first of all, in the industrialized regions of Europe. These regions had enough funds for the construction of roads because they could develop different methods of production. Today we are mostly interested in the projects of construction of typical means of transportation on agricultural lands with practically no industry. In the early 19th century, Bukovyna was one of them. The purpose of this article is to thoroughly analyze unpaved roads of the late 18th – early 19th century, as well as the project of the first wooden trackway as the forerunner of the Bukovyna railways. To achieve this purpose, the authors first reviewed how railways were constructed in the Austrian Empire during 1830s – 1850s. Then, in contrast with the first railway networks that emerged and developed in the Austrian Empire, the authors made an analysis of the condition and characteristics of unpaved roads in Bukovyna. The government's attention to Bukovyna's roads was explained by their military, economic and political significance for the Austrian Empire by the end of the 18th – early 19th century. There was a number of state trackways built on the territory of Bukovyna which crossed the region and ensured the military interconnection of two Austrian provinces named – Galicia and Transylvania, as well as approached the borders of the Russian Empire and the Danube principalities. At the same time, they helped to restore the suspended trade flow in Bukovyna. In addition, the authors considered the first attempt to create a wooden trackway as a prototype and predecessor of the Bukovyna railway. It is evident that such an idea played a significant role in shaping the development strategy of the region in the minds of Austrian and Bukovinian officials, and became a forerunner for main and regional railways in Bukovyna.

SCAMPER Monitoring Platform to Measure PM10 Emission Rates from Unpaved Roads in Real-Time

The SCAMPER method for measuring PM10 emission rates from roadways was used to evaluate mitigation methods for public unpaved roads and a treated mine haul road. The SCAMPER method uses a small trailer to measure PM10 concentrations behind a vehicle at a point that is representative of the mean PM10 concentration in the vehicle’s wake. This concentration multiplied by the frontal area has been shown to be a reasonable estimate of the emission rate in units of grams per meter traveled. On public roads it was towed by a 2006 Ford Expedition and on a mine haul road it was towed behind both the Expedition and an earth mover weighing over 150 tons fully loaded. Since the SCAMPER is capable of measuring emission rates on both paved and unpaved roadways, a direct comparison of the effectiveness of mitigation methods with respect to a similar paved road was possible.

Adapting the WEPP hillslope model to predict unpaved road soil erosion in southern China

Process-based erosion models are efficient tools that can be used to predict where and when erosion occurs. On unpaved roads that have been recognized as important sediment sources, soil loss along road segments should be precisely predicted. This study was performed using the hillslope version of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) to estimate soil loss from 20 typical road segments in the red soil region of South China. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)-measured soil losses were used to validate the model simulations. The results showed that the WEPP model could reasonably predict the total soil loss in relatively short (less than 100 m) and gentle (slope gradient lower than 10%) road segments. In contrast, the WEPP-simulated soil loss was underestimated for long or steep road segments. Detailed outputs along roads revealed that most of the peak soil loss rates could not be adequately calculated. The linear critical shear stress and the sediment equilibrium theory in the WEPP model for soil detachment simulation might be responsible for the underestimation. Additionally, the lack of upslope flow and the curved road tortuosity were found to be connected to the relatively low efficiency of the model outputs. Nevertheless, the WEPP simulation could accurately fit the trend of soil loss variation along road segments despite underestimation. Furthermore, the simulated results could provide a reliable prediction of the maximum soil loss positions. Therefore, the WEPP model could be adopted to evaluate the erosion risk of unpaved roads in the red soil region of South China.

THE ROLE OF UNPAVED ROADS IN THE SEDIMENT BUDGET OF A SEMI-ARID MESOSCALE CATCHMENT

High rates of erosion and runoff production on road infrastructure have been documented, indicating that unpaved roads might be significant sources of sediment in catchments. In this paper, the production of surface sediments from unpaved rural roads at different scales is assessed. The study took place in northeastern Brazil, in a semiarid area of the Caatinga biome, vulnerable to desertification. Sediment production data from road surface segments were monitored for two years (2013-2014) under conditions of natural precipitation. By using hydrosedimentological modeling and Geographic Information System (GIS), the sediment budget was calculated at the meso-scale basin (aprox. 930 km²), in order to identify the relative contribution of roads to the sediment balance. Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) associated with Maner’s sediment delivery ratio (SDR) equation, proved to be an adequate approach for predicting sediment yield on the road segment scale; the best results were obtained for the road without traffic, due to the non-interference in this segment of external factors, such as traffic and maintenance activities, not explicitly considered in the model formulation. The modeling procedure showed that the roads, which occupy only 0.7% of the catchment surface, were responsible for approximately 7% of soil loss in the area. Furthermore, sediment connectivity might be enhanced by roads, which cross the river network and, therefore, deliver more directly the sediment generated at hillslopes. This is particularly important in the studied environment, where sediment connectivity is low due to limited runoff and the existence of a dense network of surface water reservoir

Geogrid mechanical damage caused by recycled construction and demolition waste (RCDW) under in-field cyclic loading

Despite the advances observed over the last decade, Brazil still suffers from the scarce use of recycled construction and demolition waste (RCDW). On the other hand, most of the roads in the country are unpaved and present low loading support. In this context, the construction of geosynthetic reinforced unpaved roads with RCDW could stimulate the market of recycled materials and increase the performance of these roads. This study aims to evaluate the mechanical damage of two types of geogrids due to in-field cyclic loading of RCDW. The simulation of three scenarios of damage revealed specific reduction factors for each geogrid, which could be easily used in project design. This study reinforces the importance of carrying out investigation of geogrid damage using the specific conditions (material, construction method and loading) of each work. Based on these findings, sustainable development can be implemented using RCDW and provide roads to the society with better operational performance.