Loading...
11 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 11
- Enhancing Civil Engineering teaching through 3D Computer Aided DesignPublication . Gonçalves, Jorge H.G.; Santos, Bertha3D interpretation of 2D drawing is not easy for most of the Civil Engineering first-year students. Some do it naturally but most need to be trained to master this skill. In this paper, the implemented teaching methodologies aiming to facilitate the acquisition of three-dimensional project visualization skills are presented. These methodologies were developed during the last two years targeting first-year Civil Engineering students at the University of Beira Interior (Portugal). After a first contact with 2D project representation through manual drawing, students progressively elaborate computer-aided design (CAD) project starting with simple 2D drawings and culminating with a 3D project of a pre-existing building. Students are also motivated to improve their 3D graphic representation skills through a classroom contest where the winning project is printed in 3D. The training in 2D and 3D graphic representation is complemented during the second year with several in situ surveys and computer-aided drawing of topographic data. This approach proved to be very interesting for competence acquisition, qualifying students for a better 3D representation and interpretation. Students also found this methodology to be motivating.
- EU and Portuguese cycling strategy for sustainable urban mobilityPublication . Matias, Isabel; Santos, Bertha; Gonçalves, Jorge; Kempa, Jan; Chmielewski, JacekSustainable mobility has become a central topic for reflection and debate when defining active urban policies. In opposition to traditional mobility focused on private cars, sustainable urban mobility aims to respond to society's travel needs of comfort, safety, and time with healthy, environmental-friendly, and economical solutions. Soft mobility modes, especially cycling, are an alternative capable of reversing the trend on private car use in urban areas. Cycling has been playing an important role in urban sustainable development in the last decade, being one of the main strategies of urban mobility plans. The present study presents a review of the main European Union (EU) and Portuguese cycling strategies. The methodological approach includes the collection and analysis of the main EU and Portuguese documents discussing the challenges and options for urban mobility, especially those focused on cycling. These strategies aim to promote the use of bicycles on commuting trips and the reduction of greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions, thus contributing to a more sustainable urban environment and healthier communities, the main objectives of the EU’s cycling strategies. Conclusions point out that it was mainly in the last 10 years that specific plans for the promotion of the use of bicycles and other soft modes emerged in Portugal, but only in the last 5 years, financing conditions were created to support municipalities in this task.
- Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis for Road Segment Cycling Suitability AssessmentPublication . Santos, Bertha; Passos, Sílvia Valentina González de; Gonçalves, Jorge H.G.; Matias, IsabelThe shift to low-emission mobility, embedded in a growing need for sustainable development, makes soft modes a highly promoted transport alternative in national and international mobility policies. Soft mobility modes, especially cycling, is an alternative capable of reversing the trend of private car use in urban areas, being one of the main strategies of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP). Several factors can influence travel mode choice, between them, demographic, economic, land use, travel distance and time, and climatic and physical factors are the most reported in the literature. This study presents a framework of the main European cycling strategies and focuses on the development of a methodological approach to assess the cycling suitability of existing road networks. The approach is based on a spatial multi-criteria analysis that combines population density, trip generation points service areas and road characteristics (hierarchy and slope). Consideration of the topography was particularly relevant in the cycling suitability model definition. The model was tested in the hillside city of Covilhã (Portugal) and compared with the recently planned and implemented city cycling network. The main conclusions point to the adequacy, flexibility, and applicability of the proposed model by municipalities, contributing to a more sustainable urban environment and healthier communities. Results obtained in the Covilhã case study also denote the possibility of implementing cycling mobility in hillside cities, especially using e-bikes. For future works, an expansion of the approach is proposed to include a detailed and sustained cycling network definition model and a process to assess cycling routes hierarchy/solutions.
- GIS-based inventory for safeguarding and promoting Portuguese glazed tiles cultural heritagePublication . Santos, Bertha; Gonçalves, Jorge H. G.; Almeida, Pedro G.; Martins-Nepomuceno, Ana M. T.Innovative, non-invasive, digital, and cost-effective instruments for systematic inventory, monitoring and promotion are a valuable resource for managing tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Due to its powerful and effective inventory and analysis potential, which allows supporting central and local entities responsible for cultural heritage management, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have proven to be an appropriate information technology for developing these kinds of instruments. Given the above, this work aims to introduce a GIS-based instrument to support inventorying, safeguarding, tourism, and cultural promotion of the traditional Portuguese glazed tile (‘azulejo’, in Portuguese) to raise general awareness of the importance of this unique Portuguese heritage. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no other instrument available with inventory and safeguarding management functions that is accessible and affordable, developed to be used at a municipal level and that contributes to the enrichment of the cultural and tourist information. Information from 70 tile works located in the Portuguese city of Covilhã was used to test the proposed GIS tool, resulting in a georeferenced alphanumeric, graphical, image and drawing inventory and in three pedestrian routes for touristic and cultural heritage promotion. The results were validated by both the research team and the municipality of Covilhã, foreseeing its expansion and daily use in the management of the heritage of the traditional Portuguese glazed tile. The proposed instrument can be replicated in other locations and easily implemented and managed by municipalities or institutions dealing with the protection of cultural heritage.
- Research of the impact of bumps on vehicle speedsPublication . Kempa, Jan; Chmielewski, Jacek; Prandol, Dominika; Santos, Bertha; Gonçalves, JorgeThe paper presents the results of research on the impact of selected types of speed bumps, located in the streets of the city road network, on the instantaneous speed of passenger cars in free flow traffic conditions. The research considered different speed bumps. All types of speed bumps occurred to be very effective in a traffic calming. The applied parametric tests of a statistical significance showed that, for the sake of mathematical statistics, the differences in the instantaneous speed of vehicles at the speed bumps are significant in relation to the instantaneous speed of vehicles on the inter-junction sections. The instantaneous speeds of passenger cars at speed bumps were over 60% lower in relation to the speeds achieved by drivers of those cars in the inter-junction sections.
- Prioritization of railway proximity interventions: The case of the Portuguese railway networkPublication . Gonçalves, Jorge H.G.; Santos, Bertha; Oliveira, AlexandraThe mission of a national railway administration is to provide conditions for the efficiency, competitiveness, and sustainability of rail transport. In this context, this study aims to fill a gap in rail infrastructure management through the adoption of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and quadrant analysis to obtain a priority evaluation matrix for railway proximity interventions (small-scale, medium/short-term interventions close to the customer). In order to achieve the network manager’s general goals, an extensive collection of railway activities and an iterative procedure, which combines the strategic vision of different operational units, were adopted. Moreover, a multi-criteria and hierarchy process based on quadrant analysis to select the interventions with greater potential to achieve a set of objectives over five years, was defined. The proposed methodology was applied in a real case within the Infrastructures of Portugal, SA competencies and needs (Portuguese railway network manager). The identification of a set of fundamental interventions from a technical and non-technical point of view was performed and allowed a more efficient resource allocation. This allowed listing the most relevant interventions in both technical and non-technical perspectives (19–25% of total interventions) and also from an essentially technical point of view (27–31% of total interventions). These correspond to the interventions located in the two most relevant quadrants (Q1 – develop and Q2 – validate) and to more than 70% of the total investment. The presented approach and results constitute the first three iterations to be monitored and evaluated in the revision of future plans in order to increase reliability levels, safety conditions and service quality. The methodology has the potential to be adapted to different scenarios (in particular budgetary) and future proximity intervention plans, thus being an essential decision support tool for an efficient allocation of the company’s resources.
- Learning from the historic city: architectural heritage rehabilitation and GIS, the URS-Viseu novo (Portugal) legacyPublication . Martins, Ana Maria Tavares; Gonçalves, Jorge; Santos, Bertha; Marques, SusanaAll cities share a similar challenge: "How to rehabilitate the historic centre without denigrating its identity and at the same time encourage private investment in built cultural heritage in order to avoid its degradation?" The historic centres are the oldest and most central areas of the cities, defining their identity, but have fallen into economic, social and residential decay, in part by the abandonment and aging of their most outstanding buildings. The presented paper intends to study the projects promoted by the Portuguese Municipality of Viseu, namely through the Urban Rehabilitation Society Viseu Novo, in short URS Viseu Novo. This revitalization strategy of the Historic Centre of Viseu aims to identify the buildings’ most relevant problems, the rehabilitation’s proposed objectives and the feasible solutions to renovate them promoting youth housing, cultural events and others. A contextualization analysis of the URS's work in the historic area of Viseu is presented through the inventory of its interventions using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS spatial analyses, syntheses and conclusions can be used for the presentation of rehabilitation solutions duly framed in the goals and environment intended for these noble areas. As a result of this work, and starting from this principle, another research is being developed and serves as theme for the Integrated Master in Architecture Dissertations, highlighting the relevance and pertinence of this theme.
- Fatores relevantes para a escolha modal em áreas urbanasPublication . Gonçalves, Jorge Humberto Gaspar; Seco, Álvaro Jorge da Maia; Mathias, Michael Heinrich JosefOs problemas de mobilidade urbana verificados na maioria das cidades de média e grande dimensão a nível mundial intensificaram-se nas últimas décadas devido ao desenvolvimento económico verificado na maioria dos países. Este desenvolvimento potenciou alterações nos hábitos de mobilidade, que resultaram, na grande maioria dos casos, num uso excessivo do automóvel particular, modo extraordinariamente apelativo não apenas pelo conforto e liberdade que oferece, como pelo status que lhe está associado, e a um decréscimo acentuado e progressivo de modos de transportes alternativos mais sustentáveis. É consensualmente assumido internacionalmente que apenas uma conjugação coerente de políticas que coordenem, mas também condicionem e complementem o uso do automóvel particular com as alternativas mais sustentáveis, poderá inverter este panorama, e mitigar os problemas verificados sem, no entanto, reduzir ou prejudicar a mobilidade e a qualidade de vida dos cidadãos, essenciais para a continuação do desenvolvimento económico e social das cidades. Esta lógica passa por políticas que além de melhorarem a atratividade dos modos alternativos reduzam a facilidade e conveniência de uso do automóvel particular. Apesar da grande quantidade de estudos internacionais sobre a relevância de parte deste tipo de fatores no processo de tomada de decisão na escolha do modo de transporte, tal não acontece relativamente ao desenvolvimento de modelos objetivos e analíticos, capazes de, de forma completamente integrada e detalhada, determinar o impacto sobre os padrões de escolha modal da conjugação das condições socioeconómicas dos cidadãos e das políticas gerais de ordenamento do território e mobilidade nesse processo. A possibilidade de quantificar este tipo de impactos apresenta-se como um fator que poderá tornar as decisões políticas sobre investimentos nos sistemas de transportes de uma cidade mais eficientes. O presente estudo pretende contribuir para esse mesmo conhecimento, utilizando como caso de estudo a Área Metropolitana do Porto, com dados socioeconómicos da população e sobre a estrutura urbana e da mobilidade no ano 2000. Assim, através da especificação de modelações de escolha discreta utilizando formulações Logit Multinomiais, realizaram-se extensas análises exploratórias para identificação dos atributos mais relevantes para a escolha dos modos de transportes mais sustentáveis, assim como dos fatores que manifestamente influenciam a atratividade do automóvel particular. Atenção foi também dedicada à definição das melhores modelações das inter-relações entre variáveis explicativas e a variável dependente, repartição modal, com especial atenção ao estudo de potenciais fenómenos de interação e interdependência de efeitos provocados por diferentes variáveis socioeconómicas caracterizadoras do universo de utilizadores do sistema. Adicionalmente foram realizadas algumas análises exploratórias para testar a estabilidade das tendências atuais de evolução dos padrões de escolha modal e do potencial revelado pelas medidas de política de ordenamento do território e de mobilidade sustentável mais relevantes, particularmente se aplicadas de forma integrada e coordenada. O estudo pretende, assim, contribuir para um conhecimento, cientificamente comprovado, dos processos de escolha modal, nomeadamente mas não especificamente, para a realidade nacional.
- Multicultural education in civil engineering: planning and transportation approachPublication . Santos, Bertha; Virtudes, Ana L.; Gonçalves, Jorge; Amin, ShohelThis article aims to present a comparative analysis of the practices of the University of Beira Interior in Covilhã (Portugal) and the Coventry University in the United Kingdom in terms of learning and teaching methodologies in a multicultural environment (including teachers’ international experiences and students’ backgrounds). The research is focused on the spatial planning and transportation engineering approaches, on the behalf of the Master Degree in Civil Engineering. A pivotal attention will be put at the use of information and communication technologies aiming to improve the students’ digital literacy and their required level of internationalization. Regarding the experience of the University of Beira Interior the conclusions show that its multicultural environment is essential a result of the presence of students from the Portuguese speaking countries (African countries, Brazil or East Timor). However, they are the basis of one of the main challenges in terms of teaching methodologies related to their lack of skills in English language. Coventry University has been experiencing the similar multicultural diversity enrolling postgraduate students at its MSc in Highways and Transportation Engineering course. Unalike to University of Beira Interior, Coventry University admitting students from Africa, Asia, Middle East and Europe with multilingual students. Among the common aspects in between both universities there are the organization of talks and seminars inviting experts in Civil Engineering domains and the public dissemination of research findings by students. These teaching methodologies allow the students to contact with other scientific, technical and cultural realities, preparing them for an international context.
- Pedestrian Environment Quality Assessment in Portuguese Medium-Sized CitiesPublication . Sousa, Adriana; Santos, Bertha; Gonçalves, JorgeThe features of pedestrian spaces contribute to sustainable urban mobility and consequently to improve the quality of the built environment. A pedestrian space free of obstacles, with slight slopes, continuous, agreeable, attractive and safe, is definitely a space that invites to enjoyment and socialization. With the aim of improving the pedestrian circulation conditions, the present paper describes a set of approaches for assessing the quality of pedestrian environment and presents an adapted approach that can be used in medium-sized cities. Land use, pedestrian facilities and road/traffic attributes are the most common topics addressed in the pedestrian environment evaluation. These attributes can be expressed in scores and their spatial distribution can be represented using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), supporting the decision making process of pedestrian system improvement. For Portuguese medium-sized cities, the Pedestrian Environmental Quality Index (PEQI) was adapted and tested through a case study in Covilhã city. The main steps of the methodology include the definition of relevant data, preparation of survey forms, training of data collection teams, data collection, database organization, PEQI calculation and GIS data visualization, management and maps production. The case study focused on the areas that have a significant pedestrian flow, either because of commercial, services and recreation activities, or because they are important links of the public transport system. As main findings, it was possible to conclude that the selected approach allows a great flexibility in the incorporation of new attributes and weights according to specific technical goals and scenarios (calibration).