Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability

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Publications

Pavement Inspection in Transport Infrastructures Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Publication . Feitosa, Ianca; Santos, Bertha; Almeida, Pedro Gabriel de

The growing demand for the transportation of goods and people has led to an increasing reliance on transportation infrastructure, which, in turn, subjects the pavements to high traffic volumes. In order to maintain adequate service and safety standards for users, it is essential to establish effective maintenance strategies that ensure the preservation of pavement conditions. As a result, emerging innovations in pavement surface inspection methods, surpassing traditional techniques in terms of inspection and data processing speed and accuracy, have garnered significant attention. One such groundbreaking innovation in inspection systems that has been tested and used in recent years to assess infrastructure condition is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This study aims to present a critical open-access literature review on the use of UAVs in the inspection of transportation infrastructure pavement in order to assess the type of equipment used, the technology involved, applicability conditions, data processing, and future evolution. The analysis of relevant literature suggests that the integration of intelligent technologies substantially enhances the accuracy of data collection and the detection of pavement distress. Furthermore, it is evident that most applications and research efforts are oriented towards exploring image processing techniques for the creation of 3D pavement models and distress detection and classification.

2024-03Journal article

Open access

GIS-based approach for optimizing biowaste collection services in rural small sized municipalities

Publication . Santos, Bertha; Mendes, Cláudia

Directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishes the obligation for Member States to ensure, by 31 December 2023, that biowaste is separated and recycled at source or collected selectively. As this is a responsibility of the municipalities, studies to evaluate the best solutions and to ensure the rationality of the investments to be made to fulfill these objectives is of particular importance. Bearing in mind the new municipality’s responsibility, this article aims to demonstrate the applicability of GIS in supporting planning and decision of a new service provided to the population. The solutions found must be economically sustainable and feasible for small size municipalities, especially for those with no formal biowaste management system implemented and with reduced resources. It is therefore proposed an approach to analyze vehicle route optimization for the selective collection and transportation of biowaste in markedly rural municipalities with a strong forestry component, equating solutions that allow their recovery, as well as the promotion of the management of forest spaces. The Network Analyst extension of the ArcGIS® software was used to answer questions related to travel time route optimization, optimal location selection and definition of service areas. The analysis performed allowed to identify and evaluate the main factors that minimize the costs associated with the undifferentiated and selective collection and transportation of biowaste in the study area (Oleiros-Amieira parish, Portugal). It was determined the need to distribute the service through 3 different routes, as well as optimizing the location of a biomass plant fed by forest remnants deposited in community containers spread across the study area. Developing simpler and cost-effective instruments for reducing waste transport costs for small forest owners and municipalities, such as the proposed one, is essential to ensure a successful implementation of Directive (EU) 2018/851.

2024Journal article

Open access

Modelling Road Work Zone Crashes’ Nature and Type of Person Involved Using Multinomial Logistic Regression

Publication . Vieira, Adriana; Santos, Bertha; Picado-Santos, Luis

The sustainable development goals “Good health and well-being” and “Sustainable cities and communities” of the United Nations and World Health Organization, alert governments and researchers and raise awareness about road safety problems and the need to mitigate them. In Portugal, after the economic crisis of 2008–2013, a significant amount of road assets demand investment in maintenance and rehabilitation. The areas where these actions take place are called work zones. Considering the particularities of these areas, the proposed work aims to identify the main factors that impact the occurrence of work zones crashes. It uses the statistical technique of multinomial logistic regression, applied to official data on road crashes occurred in mainland Portugal, during the period of 2010–2015. Usually, multinomial logistic regression models are developed for crash and injury severity. In this work, the feasibility of developing predictive models for crash nature (collision, run off road and running over pedestrians) and for type of person involved in the crash (driver, passenger and pedestrian), considering only one covariate (the number of persons involved in the crash), was studied. For the two predictive models obtained, the variables road environment (urban/rural), horizontal geometric design (straight/curve), pavement grip conditions (good/bad), heavy vehicle involvement, and injury severity (fatalities, serious and slightly injuries), were identified as the preponderant factors in a universe of 230 investigated variables. Results point to an increase of work zone crash probability due to driver actions such as running straight and excessive speed for the prevailing conditions.

2023-02-02Journal article

Open access

GIS-based inventory for safeguarding and promoting Portuguese glazed tiles cultural heritage

Publication . 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.

2023-06-20Journal article

Open access