Rural roads contribute significantly to the socio-economic and cultural development of rural habitations/villages. Improved road infrastructure facilitates rural population to look for work beyond ...their respective communities. They fuel the development of non-farm markets and create possible livelihood diversification opportunities for rural people, thereby decreasing their liability to economic distresses. The developing countries like India have been introducing various schemes to improve the status of their citizens. In 2000, Government of India launched Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) with a broad objective of improving the mobility of the rural population to achieve sustainable development in a phased manner. This article proposes a comprehensive approach to investigate the impact of the development of rural road infrastructure on livelihood diversification of the target population at the habitation level by employing fuzzy framework. It also accounts econometric modeling to assess the influence of diversification and control variables on household income. The effectiveness of the proposed model is illustrated by taking a case study of the construction of PMGSY roads in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan state, India. The findings reveal that newly constructed roads have been used prominently for agricultural activities. However, there is minimal growth in other occupations leading to low diversification of livelihood due to unawareness and lack of resources. It is, therefore, necessary that the policy makers should focus to implement reliable schemes to maximize livelihood diversification in a sustainable way. Thus, rural population can be served in an effective manner by promoting both farm and non-farm activities.
The mobility of the rural population has become an important issue to address, which ensures proper connectivity for the rural population from their villages to market centers, urban towns, schools, ...and health facilities. The better connectivities can bring substantial economic and social changes among the masses that can be achieved through sustainable mobility planning. However, the sustainability of the mobility systems can only be expressed if the key indicators are identified appropriately to reflect its multiple aspects. This study proposes a novel mixed-method approach to exploring and ascertaining the socioeconomic indicators that the construction of rural roads has impacted. Rural road infrastructure often instigates direct or indirect socioeconomic impacts (SEIs) on the target population. Assessing and ascertaining SEIs pose a wide range of challenges considering their high number and qualitative and quantitative nature. Thus, a set of indicators have been identified in five different dimensions to deal with the sustainability in the mobility system for the rural population using a unique and novel way of geographical information system (GIS) and principal component analysis (PCA)-based multidimensional development framework. It proposes a mixed-method approach to identify the most significant criteria and subcriteria of the SEIs. The five dimensions of the rural development process considered in this study are transport, income, health, education, and neighborhood, which are analyzed and validated using geo-regression modeling. The applicability of this method has been demonstrated by employing a case study of rural roads. The findings of the study ascertain the status of impacted indicators to achieve sustainability. The study found relative impact/influence indicators, i.e., multidimensional development index (MDI) for various habitats of rural blocks of Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. The eastern region of the Buhana block and region of the northern Khetri block are found to have very low and very high MDI value, respectively. The study found a strong and positive spatial correlation between rural block's proximity and the rural road network with its MDI value.
Abstract
One of the key elements for rural development is the connectivity using proper roads, which enhances the passage for economic and social utilities with overall socio-economic development. ...Socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) forms one of the significant measures to evaluate the outcome received through infrastructure development in rural areas. SEIA modeling under computational intelligence coupled with fuzzy framework provides significant ground to deal with both qualitative and quantitative data. This study proposes a novel methodology by using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) with Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) to evaluate socio-economic impacts. The effectiveness of the methodology is presented through a case study for 27 habitations connected with all-weather rural roads constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) scheme in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan State, India. 33 key-parameters under five different criteria are considered for SEIA. For a comprehensive view of the impacts, the results are depicted using ArcGIS tool.
Thepresent study proposes a novel mixed-method approach to ascertain and explorethe socio-economic indicators, which help in assessing the impacts of theconstruction of rural roads. Rural road ...infrastructure often has direct orindirect socio-economic impacts (SEIs) on the target population. Assessment ofSEIs poses a wide range of challenges due to their multi-dimensional nature ofvarious factors and their qualitative and quantitative evaluation process.Thus, the present study suggests a unique mixed-method approach to integratemultivariate techniques under a multi-criteria fuzzy framework. The applicabilityof this approach is demonstrated by employing a case study of roads constructedunder the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the Jhunjhunu district ofRajasthan, India. The findings of the study analysed a total of 33 sub-criteriaassociated with five main indicators, impacted by the construction of PMGSYroads. Sub-criteria contributing to education facility and quality ofneighbourhood have been found as the most significant effects. The results ofthe analysis presented in this study would benefit the respective StateGovernments to achieve sustainable rural development.
Rural roads contribute significantly to the living conditions of rural populations. However, they also lead to detrimental impacts on physical and social environments. In this context, the present ...study proposes a novel fuzzy multicriteria approach that amalgamates fuzzy TOPSIS and an improved fuzzy weighted average method to assess the negative impacts on physical and social environments, due to rural road construction. The approach offers a structured comprehension and incorporates detailed criteria that reflect the adverse effects. The attributes identified and assessed in this study are air quality, vegetation cover status, noise pollution, transmissible disease, habits/behaviour, safety and security, and road accidents. The approach includes both qualitative and quantitative data from focus group discussions. The results presented here are essential to identify corrective actions, promote effective distribution of funds, and facilitate effective decisionmaking for sustainable rural development.
The slow degradation rate is one of the major global concerns. Only, 60 % produced is being recycled. Among these waste materials, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles contribute around 10 % to ...the total plastic waste produced. The recycling process of PET bottles considering existing capacity in environmentally responsible ways is limited. It is estimated that 60 % of PET bottles produced are being disposed of in landfills. To overcome this, past studies have suggested novel approaches for using it as substitute for conventional geocell as soil reinforcement and stability. However, past studies mostly focused on application of PET bottles as flaked, shreds and sliced form. The present study attempts on application of PET bottles under fly ash (FA) backfills without mechanical alterations. Full-scale experiments were conducted on FA backfill system, for both unreinforced and reinforced conditions. A comparative study was performed between high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geocell and PET bottle mattress to assess the bearing strength of the FA backfill. Experiments were performed in a 1 m3 tank with a loading plate width of 200 mm. Vertical loading was applied onto the backfill footing (for all the trial series), till the footing settlement of 40 mm is achieved. An aspect ratio of 2 was considered for HDPE geocell and PET bottles. Rock quarry dust (RQD) was considered as cell infill and overlay material on FA backfill. The test results showed that settlement accumulation rate was low under reinforced scenario compared to the unreinforced condition, with higher resilient (elastic) settlement. RQD over the PET-reinforced zone was also seen to have enhanced the load distribution aspect, thereby reducing deformation in PET reinforcement. This usage of waste material will contribute towards sustainable development. This work demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of PET reinforcement to be used as replacement for HDPE geocell, which eventually can agument the design methodology of structural backfills.
•Incorporating cellular reinforcement enhances the efficacy of fly ash as structural backfill material.•PET bottles exhibit significant alternative to HDPE geocells.•Utilizing rock quarry dust as an overlay on fly ash backfill proves to be a highly effective ground improvement method.•Relationships were established between the overlay thickness of rock quarry dust and footing width.•An optimal arrangement for reinforcement placement was determined.
Globally, disposal of waste materials like fly ash (FA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles has reached threatening levels, considering their dumping and natural degradation rate. ...Considering the PET bottle's cellular shape, they can be used as unique alternative to reinforce and improve the behavior of foundation beds under applied load conditions. Existing research have established that contributing elements such as infill material, properties of the interface, and surface loading geometries all have a direct impact on the behavior of the subgrade. In the current study, the behavior of a square plate footing loaded on rock quarry dust (RQD) overlaying FA subgrade as FA + RQD system for associated boundary conditions of test model has been investigated (bearing pressure was applied till footing penetration depth of 40 mm). Moreover, the system has been assessed for three different conditions, i.e., with, without, and varying cellular reinforcement. The numerical study using finite element analysis (Plaxis 3D) were validated using laboratory model results. FA was modelled as a linear elastic–plastic material with Mohr–Coulomb failure criteria, and PET bottles as cellular reinforcement which have been characterized as an elastoplastic material. Additionally, the validated models have been used to evaluate the performance of conventional high-density polyethylene geocell. The results showed a significant reduction in the settlement accumulation rate and greater resilient settlement for reinforced conditions in comparison to the unreinforced.
Globally, over the years, fly ash (FA) has been successfully used in structural fills as a substitute for conventional infill material. As per the global industry trends and forecast report, the ...utilization rate of FA in 2021 was 74% in China, 65% in India, and 70% in the United States (US). Despite substantial research being done on the usage of FA as a substitute all over the world, only up to 15% by mass of total produce has been utilized as a replacement for infill soils. This indicates that there is a lot of potential for increased usage. From the view point of increasing the utilization rate, the present study focuses on summarizing the geotechnical properties of FA by taking strength characteristics into account as compared to conventional infill material. Moreover, this review underlines the chemical composition, index, and engineering properties. Firstly, it reviews the current state of the application of FA in structural fills by considering 141 articles that have been published since 2004 to till date. Secondly, it emphasizes the limited literature available on structural fill applications of FA. It also recommends the classification of FA besides the existing ASTM codes. Moreover, considering future research, this review also highlights the gaps in the previous studies, such as the need for amendments in existing standard codes for FA utilization as structural fill.
Graphical Abstract
Regressive coal mining to meet rising electricity demand has resulted in increased dumps of colliery spoil (CS) and fly ash (FA). These dumps must be adequately managed to avoid environmental ...hazards. Considering their loose deposition, they fail to attain geotechnical and geometrical stability. The present review article attempts to investigate the stability behaviour of FA-CS blend dumps in terms of geotechnical parameters. It also emphasizes studies that focus on determining the optimum percentage of FA to be used along with CS as a blend. Moreover, it also highlights resource management, implementation, and improvement of the FA-CS blend thereby enhancing geotechnical parameters, viz., compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), calfornia bearing ratio (CBR), and shear strength. These studies have shown that the usage of around 20 % of FA by weight in blend with CS, has improved geotechnical properties by 2.5 times their original value. Based on the review performed it is inferred that the blend of FA and CS can be laid effectively in exhausted mining sites and can be used in the construction of roads to these mining sites.
•Presented recent state-of-the-art on colliery spoil.•Reviewed past studies related to unstable colliery spoil dump.•A blend of fly ash and spoil proved to be an effective ground improvement approach.•Documented studies related to the geotechnical performance of fly ash- spoil blend.•Safe and environmentally sustainable disposal.•Discussed the future potential of the fly ash-spoil blend in geotechnical engineering.
Timetabling and vehicle scheduling is the basis of security and efficiency for various bus enterprises. It is necessary to take into account the passenger travel demand to meet both the social and ...economic benefits for these bus enterprises. A Demand- and Travel time Responsive (DTR) model has been applied to actualize a timetable for each bus stop on the basis of optimal bus frequency. This paper presents a model to optimize the bus scheduling by taking into consideration of both bus stop and route segments of the city in an integrated manner. In this study different real time data event parameters, such as bus stop departures and arrivals for buses operating on a line-based time-table and bus traffic costs have been applied to optimize the bus scheduling process. A bus headway time-table is also being developed.
The proposed model has been verified by taking a case study of Jaipur city. The relevant data have been collected from Jaipur City Transport Services Limited (JCTSL). The sensitivity analysis for various parameters and assumption used in proposed model has been applied to assess the reliability of the optimal solution.The DTR model for an optimal bus scheduling developed herein is based on a holistic, integrated, systems-oriented approach, which clearly demonstrates the overall usage of the model. The concept of DTR model is to determine the optimal cost at which total cumulative cost and total cumulative profit become equal on the basis of optimal service frequency. The optimal total traffic cost line demarcates the boundary representing the stops with excessive investment and stops with profits. It will essentially enable decision makers and policy makers to evaluate appropriate strategies for best practices to be adopted for serving passengers so that efficient and optimum transportation facilities can be implemented.
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