The link between infrastructure and green logistics performance in the services sector has been studied in this study. The mediating function of business performance and service quality are also ...discussed in this study as this is a deductive and cross-sectional study, the hypothesis was first formulated based on the literature gap and then tested. The unit of analysis is management personnel, entry-level economists, and financial analysts. The structural equation modeling-partial least-squares analysis (PLS-SEM) approach was employed in this investigation. The authors validated the reliability and validity of constructs and indicators used to measure constructs by assessing measurement models. The measurement methodology has then utilized to confirm the study hypothesis. The study results demonstrate that infrastructure and green logistics performance have a beneficial influence on services trade and environment; besides that, service quality and company performance are also important factors in improving services trade in China. Furthermore, firm performance and service quality have been identified as strong positive mediators between Green logistic performance, infrastructure, and services trade & environment. This study has a theoretical contribution by introducing, verifying, and proposing a new measurement for three variables: infrastructure, green logistic performance, and services trade & environment. This study has numerous relevant and helpful implications for government agencies and departments. It will provide a pathway for the upcoming industry practitioners in terms of green logistic performance and service trade & environment.
For next-generation smart cities, small UAVs (also known as drones) are vital to incorporate in airspace for advancing the transportation systems. This paper presents a review of recent developments ...in relation to the application of UAVs in three major domains of transportation, namely; road safety, traffic monitoring and highway infrastructure management. Advances in computer vision algorithms to extract key features from UAV acquired videos and images are discussed along with the discussion on improvements made in traffic flow analysis methods, risk assessment and assistance in accident investigation and damage assessments for bridges and pavements. Additionally, barriers associated with the wide-scale deployment of UAVs technology are identified and countermeasures to overcome these barriers are discussed, along with their implications.
Structural systems are under deterioration due to ageing, mechanical stressors, and harsh environment, among other threats. Corrosion and fatigue can cause gradual structural deterioration. Moreover, ...natural and man-made hazards may lead to a sudden drop in the structural performance. Inspection and maintenance actions are performed to monitor the structural safety and maintain the performance over certain thresholds. However, these actions must be effectively planned throughout the life-cycle of a system to ensure the optimum budget allocation and maximum possible service life without adverse effects on the structural system safety. Life-cycle engineering provides rational means to optimise life-cycle aspects, starting from the initial design and construction to dismantling and replacing the system at the end of its service life. This paper presents a brief overview of the recent research achievements in the field of life-cycle engineering for civil and marine structural systems and indicates future directions in this research field. Several aspects of life-cycle engineering are presented, including the performance prediction under uncertainty and optimisation of life-cycle cost and intervention activities, as well as the role of structural health monitoring and non-destructive testing techniques in supporting the life-cycle management decisions. Risk, resilience, sustainability, and their integration into the life-cycle management are also discussed.
Within the literature, concerns have been raised that centralised urban water systems are maladapted to challenges associated with climate change, population growth and other socio-economic and ...environmental strains. This paper provides a critical assessment of the discourse that surrounds emerging approaches to urban water management and infrastructure provision. As such, ‘sustainable urban water management’ (SUWM) concepts are scrutinized to highlight the limitations and strengths in the current lines of argument and point towards unaddressed complexities in the transformational agendas advocated by SUWM proponents. Taking an explicit infrastructure view, it is shown that the specific context of the urban water sector means that changes to infrastructure systems occur as an incremental hybridisation process. This process is driven by a range of factors including lock-in effects of legacy solutions, normative values and vested interests of agents, cost and performance certainty and perceptions of risk. Different views of these factors help explain why transformational agendas have not achieved the change SUWM proponents call for and point to the need for a critical reassessment of the system effects and economics of alternative service provision models.
•Urban water has to date developed under a predominantly centralised model.•The literature abounds with calls for sustainable urban water management (SUWM).•Impediments to change reflect lock-in effects of existing socio-technical systems.•However, there are also conceptual and practical weaknesses in arguments for SUWM.•A societal business case for a broader system transition still needs to be made.
Smarter Cities and Their Innovation Challenges Naphade, M; Banavar, G; Harrison, C ...
Computer (Long Beach, Calif.),
2011-June, 2011-06-00, 20110601, Letnik:
44, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The transformation to smarter cities will require innovation in planning, management, and operations. Several ongoing projects around the world illustrate the opportunities and challenges of this ...transformation. Cities must get smarter to address an array of emerging urbanization challenges, and as the projects highlighted in this article show, several distinct paths are available. The number of cities worldwide pursuing smarter transformation is growing rapidly. However, these efforts face many political, socioeconomic, and technical hurdles. Changing the status quo is always difficult for city administrators, and smarter city initiatives often require extensive coordination, sponsorship, and support across multiple functional silos. The need to visibly demonstrate a continuous return on investment also presents a challenge. The technical obstacles will center on achieving system interoperability, ensuring security and privacy, accommodating a proliferation of sensors and devices, and adopting a new closed-loop human-computer interaction paradigm.
Efficient management of temporary infrastructure is pivotal for the success and sustainability of periodic fairs and festivals. Coordination among stakeholders involved in procurement, supply, and ...timely delivery is essential. The involvement of multiple stakeholders results in varying cost engagements at different levels. This study proposes a centralised operational framework for infrastructure distribution, potentially reducing overall costs. Focusing on West Midnapore district, India, the research aims to introduce a sustainable and cost-effective strategy for temporary infrastructure management. Recognising the significance of transportation in managing temporary infrastructures, the study emphasises reducing travel distances and minimising site occupancy time to enhance cost efficiency. Using a linear regression model, the required infrastructural goods for fairs in the district are quantified. A delivery schedule is devised, employing vehicle route planning techniques to determine reduced truck travel distances. Comparing different distribution frameworks, the study finds that a centralised approach utilising three trucks is the most sustainable and cost-effective solution. Moreover, it examines and quantifies the social cost incurred when infrastructure items exceed the allowed fair duration in the current system. Implementing this proposed approach enables stakeholders to balance sustainability cost-effectiveness and build an efficient infrastructure supply chain management.
•A single sustainability performance indicator is proposed for highway bridges.•A robust sustainability-informed decision support framework is presented.•Optimal maintenance plans are found ...considering multi-attribute utility theory.•The risk attitude of the decision maker affects optimal intervention strategies.
Throughout their service life, highway bridges deteriorate due to increasing traffic loads and aggressive environmental conditions. Aging of materials can have significant effects on the structural performance of highway bridges. A comprehensive risk assessment procedure is crucial in evaluating and ultimately mitigating detrimental consequences of structural failure to the economy, society, and the environment. The proposed sustainability-based maintenance optimization decision-support framework provides decision makers with optimal life-cycle maintenance actions that balance conflicting objectives. Utility theory is employed herein in order to effectively capture the sustainability performance of highway bridges and impact of the decision maker’s risk attitude. The main objective of this framework is to reduce the extent of the consequences of structural failure to the economy, society, and the surrounding environment. The capabilities of the proposed approach are demonstrated on an existing highway bridge.
•Integrated management of water, wastewater, and transportation is studied.•Local context challenges implementing integrated infrastructure management approach.•Practitioners’ willingness to ...collaborate drives implementing integrative approach.•Customers also benefit from implementing integrative management approach.
Infrastructure systems are known to be interdependent systems; however, infrastructure systems are typically managed individually by agencies in charge of these systems. The existing literature has proposed the concept of an integrated infrastructure management approach, yet this literature has focused on managing infrastructure systems in short-term contexts (e.g., response to natural and human-made disasters). As such, limited understanding exists about implementing an integrated infrastructure management approach in the long-term (i.e., maintenance and rehabilitation). This study aims to explore the challenges, drivers, and benefits of implementing an integrated urban infrastructure management approach by agencies managing urban water, wastewater, stormwater, and transportation infrastructure systems in the long-term. This study qualitatively analyzed 15 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the management of infrastructure systems in Chile. It was found that the implementation of an integrated infrastructure management approach is challenged and driven by organizational instead of technical aspects. It was found that the local context where agencies operate represents a challenge for the successful implementation, the willingness to collaborate of infrastructure agencies’ workers represents a driver to implementation, and that benefits encompass agencies and users. Infrastructure agencies can use our findings to account for contextual conditions to successfully implement an integrated infrastructure management approach.
Transportation infrastructure in Texas, U.S., particularly its extensive bridge network, plays a vital role in supporting economic growth and ensuring safe and efficient mobility. With over 57,000 ...bridges, including more than 22,000 culverts, Texas faces the challenge of maintaining its infrastructure while dealing with limited funding resources. This paper presents the findings of a study conducted for the Texas Department of Transportation that focused on assessing the costs associated with bridge consumption by oversize and overweight (OS/OW) vehicles. The study aimed to calculate bridge consumption costs per mile for different OS/OW categories, considering factors such as axle load, spacing, bridge design life, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT). These consumption costs were calculated by analyzing traffic data and bridge inventory ratings. The results showed that, although OS/OW vehicles are responsible for the majority of the bridge consumption costs per mile, their lower VMT, relative to regular commercial vehicles, mitigates their influence on total bridge consumption costs to less than 15% of the total. The findings of this study can contribute to the ongoing efforts of transportation engineers and policymakers in addressing funding deficits and developing strategies to sustain the state’s bridge infrastructure.
The school committee is a partner of the principal who has a role as a giver of consideration, as a supporter, as a supervisor, and as a mediator. All of these roles cannot stand alone but have a ...relationship between one role and another. In this study, the authors used a qualitative approach. The purpose of the article is to find out activities related to the objectives of the research. The subjects in this study were school committees, principals, teachers, and students' guardians. The results of the article are that the condition of facilities and infrastructure at the Karang Jaya 1 public elementary school is generally adequate, although there is still a shortage of supporting media such as projectors, the teaching and learning process is still not available.
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