No abstract available

[en] Travel time is probably the most important indicator of the level of service of a highway, and it is also the most appreciated information for its users. Administrations and private companies make increasing efforts to improve its real time estimation. The appearance of new technologies makes the precise measurement of travel times easier than never before. However, direct measurements of travel time are, by nature, outdated in real time, and lack of the desired forecasting capabilities. This paper introduces a new methodology to improve the real time estimation of travel times by using the equipment usually present in most highways, i.e., loop detectors, in combination with Automatic Vehicle Identification or Tracking Technologies. One of the most important features of the method is the usage of cumulative counts at detectors as an input, avoiding the drawbacks of common spot-speed methodologies. Cumulative count curves have great potential for freeway travel time information systems, as they provide spatial measurements and thus allow the calculation of instantaneous travel times. In addition, they exhibit predictive capabilities. Nevertheless, they have not been used extensively mainly because of the error introduced by the accumulation of the detector drift. The proposed methodology solves this problem by correcting the deviations using direct travel time measurements. The method results highly beneficial for its accuracy as well as for its low implementation cost. (Author)

No abstract available

[en] The European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) was created in 2004 with the aim of ensuring interoperability among the existing electronic toll collection (ETC) systems in Europe. However, the lack of cooperation between groups of stakeholders has not made possible to achieve this goal ten years later. The purpose of this research is to determine the better way to achieve interoperability among the different ETC systems in Europe. Our study develops a review of the six main ETC systems available worldwide: Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Satellite systems (GNSS), Tachograph, and Mobile communications tolling systems. The research also provides some insight on different emerging technologies. By focusing on different operational and strategic aspects offered by each technology, we identify their main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and makes different recommendations to improve the current framework. The research concludes that given the diversity of advantages and inconveniences offered by each system, the selection of a certain ETC technology should also take into account its potential to overcome the weaknesses in the current ETC framework. In this line, different policy recommendations are proposed to improve the present ETC strategy at the EU. (Author)

[en] This Act amends Decision No. 610 of 1978 of the Ministry of Communications on the Transport of Dangerous Substances by Road, which also covers radioactive substances; the amendments in their respect set out in the Annexes are of a technical nature. The Act entered into force on 1 April 1987. (NEA)

[en] The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is returning leased cesium capsules from IOTECH, Incorporated (IOTECH), Northglenn, Colorado, and the Applied Radiant Energy Company (ARECO), Lynchburg, Virginia, to the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF) on the Hanford Site, to ensure safe management and storage, pending final capsule disposition. Preparations included testing and modifying the Beneficial Uses Shipping System (BUSS) cask, preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA), development of a comprehensive Transportation Plan, coordination with the Western Governors' Association (WGA) and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), and interface with the public and media. Additional activities include contracting for a General Electric (GE) 2000 cask to expedite IOTECH capsule returns, and coordination with Eastern and Midwestern States to revise the transportation plan in support of ARECO capsule returns

No abstract available

[en] This Decree provides that Annexes A and B of the ADR shall be published in the Official Gazette of the French Republic. These are accordingly published as an Annex to the Official Gazette of the same date

[en] This Ministerial Order fixes the conditions for obtaining the ADR training certificate for driving transport vehicles which contain radioactive materials in cisterns and vessels. This is the fourth in the series of Orders made under the 1982 Royal Order. (NEA)

[en] Rice husk ash (RHA) is a by-product of rice milling. Its use as soil stabilizer is a way to replace the final disposal with environmental benefit. However, RHA is not cementitious itself but when mixed with lime forms cements which improve the soil properties. A research of performance of a silty sandy soil modified with RHA and lime as wearing course layer of low-volume roads was conducted through two full-scale test sections with different pavements built in Artigas, northern Uruguay. The alkaline reactivity of RHA is low because the husk burning is not controlled. The soil-RHA-lime mix design was conducted according to the Thompson’s Method. The pavement test sections were monitored through deflection measures by Benkelman beam and observations of surface condition. The deflections decreased over time in both test sections due to the development of cementation of the study materials. After one year, the dust emission was reduced, the wet skid resistance of pavement surfaces improved and there was not rutting. The researched pavements have had a good performance under the existing traffic and environmental conditions, demonstrating that wearing course layer of silty sand modified with RHA and lime is an alternative to improve the condition of low-volume roads and to replace the final disposal of RHA, with environmental, social and economic benefits. (Author)