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Infrastructures, Volume 10, Issue 4

2025 April - 32 articles

Cover Story: A novel laser system is used to determine the state of lubrication on a railway flange, a task that has eluded railroads for many decades. The system uses the fluorescent properties of flange grease to detect its presence, a critical issue for determining if the rail has sufficient grease to reduce rolling resistance between the wheel and rail on curves. Proper lubrication can save millions annually through energy savings and reduced wheel and rail wear. Developed by Virginia Tech’s Railway Technologies Laboratory, the system integrates machine learning to enhance measurement accuracy and data processing. The one-click system uses advanced data analytics to produce tri-color lubricity charts: green (sufficient), yellow (light), and red (insufficient). Extensive laboratory and field testing indicate a system accuracy of more than 90%. View this paper
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Articles (32)

  • Review
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,719 Views
32 Pages

Repair and Treatment of Alkali–Silica Reaction (ASR)-Affected Transportation Infrastructures: Review and Interview

  • Amir Behravan,
  • Gabriel Arce,
  • H. Celik Ozyildirim,
  • Emily Spradley and
  • Cooper Davenport

Alkali–silica reaction (ASR) can create significant cracking, compromising the durability and structural integrity of concrete elements. Currently, there is no known way to halt or reverse ASR damage, and the expansion will continue until it im...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,845 Views
35 Pages

A Multi-Objective Approach for Optimizing Aisle Widths in Underground Parking

  • Igor Kabashkin,
  • Alua Kulmurzina,
  • Assel Zhandarbekova,
  • Zura Sansyzbayeva and
  • Timur Sultanov

This study presents a multi-objective optimization approach for determining optimal aisle widths in underground parking facilities, balancing vehicle maneuverability against parking capacity. The research methodology integrates geometric modeling, co...

  • Review
  • Open Access
16 Citations
4,223 Views
22 Pages

The growing number of reinforced concrete (RC) structures nearing the end of their service life demands innovative strategies for preservation and retrofitting. Environmental degradation, aging infrastructure, and increased loading demands highlight...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,716 Views
18 Pages

Masonry-lined tunnels form a vital part of the world’s operational railway networks. However, in many cases their structural condition is deteriorating, so it is vital to undertake regular condition assessments to ensure their safety. In order...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,958 Views
24 Pages

Modeling Riding and Stopping Behaviors at Motorcycle Box Intersections: A Case Study in Chiang Mai City, Thailand

  • Wachira Wichitphongsa,
  • Nopadon Kronprasert,
  • Moe Sandi Zaw,
  • Pongthep Pisetsit and
  • Thaned Satiennam

A motorcycle box intersection is a signalized intersection with advanced stop lines or stopping spaces intended for motorcycles, creating a waiting area in front of other vehicles. This study introduces the External Driver Model (EDM) with microscopi...

  • Review
  • Open Access
5 Citations
8,181 Views
36 Pages

Digitalization as an Enabler in Railway Maintenance: A Review from “The International Union of Railways Asset Management Framework” Perspective

  • Mauricio Rodríguez-Hernández,
  • Adolfo Crespo-Márquez,
  • Antonio Sánchez-Herguedas and
  • Vicente González-Prida

This paper conducts a comprehensive review of the role of digitalization in railway maintenance management, particularly through the lens of the International Union of Railways (UIC) asset management framework. The study aims to assess how digital te...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,724 Views
13 Pages

Impact of Pumice Substitution on Mortar Properties: A Case Study on Mechanical Performance and XRD Analysis

  • Pablo Julián López-Gonzalez,
  • Rodrigo Vivar-Ocampo,
  • Humberto Raymundo González-Moreno,
  • Oscar Moreno-Vazquez,
  • Efrén Meza-Ruíz,
  • Sergio Aurelio Zamora-Castro,
  • David Reyes-González and
  • Joaquin Sangabriel-Lomeli

The incorporation of sustainable construction is essential for minimizing the environmental footprint of cementitious composites. This research examines the mechanical behavior and microstructural features of alternative mortars in which pumice acts...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,616 Views
25 Pages

Effect of Road Markings on Speed Through Curves on Rural Roads: A Driving Simulator Study in Spain

  • Santiago Martin-Castresana,
  • Diego Alvarez,
  • Fabian Andrade-Cataño and
  • Maria Castro

Traffic accidents remain a leading cause of mortality worldwide. In Spain, a total of 9666 accidents occurred on curves in 2023, highlighting the need for effective speed management strategies. This study analyses, using a driving simulator, the effe...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
4,369 Views
43 Pages

Conventional seismic design regulations, even when rigorously adapted to local conditions, often fail to ensure the resilience of reinforced concrete buildings. Code-based prescriptive methods rely on simplified assumptions that do not fully capture...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,114 Views
26 Pages

Fatigue is one of the main sources of mechanical failure in steel bridges. However, a few studies have investigated the relationship between the longitudinal shape of bridge girders and long-term fatigue effects. This paper shows how different girder...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2,517 Views
16 Pages

Spatial Adaptation of Railway Stations: Arrival of High-Speed Rail Network

  • Juan Bautista Font Torres,
  • Jorge Luis García Valldecabres and
  • Luís Cortés Meseguer

In the years since the emergence of the railway, the main objective has been focused on trains arriving and stopping at stations, with stations being considered a secondary or even residual objective for bringing people or goods on or off. The arriva...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,827 Views
24 Pages

This study conducts a comparative analysis of the Bikeability Index (BI) and CycleRAP in assessing urban cycling infrastructure. The BI, developed in previous research, evaluates cycling conditions through a user-centric framework incorporating safet...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,328 Views
34 Pages

Novel Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Framework for Maritime Infrastructure Maintenance

  • Ehidiame Ibazebo,
  • Vimal Savsani,
  • Arti Siddhpura,
  • Milind Siddhpura and
  • Poonam Savsani

The maintenance of critical maritime infrastructure is essential for ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operations of marine seaports. This paper proposes a novel fuzzy multi-criteria decision framework for evaluating the maintenance practice...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,189 Views
20 Pages

Highway exit ramps play a crucial role in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of road networks. As automated vehicles progressively integrate into highways, it is essential to investigate whether these exit ramps can accommodate the safe and ef...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
931 Views
18 Pages

The objective of this study is to analyze bridge deck condition deterioration and evaluate the impact of concrete sealer and salt usage on deck condition and life-cycle cost. To achieve this goal, machine learning models were built to predict the evo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
926 Views
21 Pages

This work aims to study the compressive buckling and consequent blowup of jointed concrete pavements due to thermal rise. For this purpose, a simple and effective mixed FEM, originally introduced for performing static and buckling analyses of beams o...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
3,254 Views
21 Pages

For effective transportation planning, land use, travel behavior, and infrastructure capacity should be optimized to support sustainable urban growth and reduce congestion. Every new site development generates traffic volume, which can affect the qua...

  • Review
  • Open Access
4 Citations
3,964 Views
32 Pages

Effects of Crumb Rubber-Modified Asphalt as a Pavement Layer in Railways: A Scoping Review

  • Milad Kazemian,
  • Ebrahim Hadizadeh Raeisi,
  • Ahmad Davari Ghezelhesar,
  • Amir Hajimirzajan and
  • Szabolcs Fischer

Railway track performance and durability face growing challenges from higher speeds, heavier axle loads, and changing environmental conditions. Crumb rubber-modified asphalt (CRMA) offers a sustainable solution by repurposing waste tires into a durab...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,249 Views
21 Pages

In construction, closely spaced footings cause stress interactions that impact bearing capacity, settlement, and stability. This study experimentally evaluates the role of sheet pile walls (SPWs) in improving the performance of two adjacent strip foo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,554 Views
17 Pages

Structural damage detection is essential for civil infrastructure safety. The challenges in noise sensitivity, multi-scale feature extraction, and handling bidirectional temporal dependencies are often encountered by traditional methods such as vibra...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,212 Views
22 Pages

Reinforced Concrete (RC) barriers are used for different purposes in the highway inventory. An important purpose is the use of concrete barriers to act as railing that protects bridge piers against vehicular collision force (VCF). Therefore, these ba...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,194 Views
22 Pages

Evaluation of Flange Grease on Revenue Service Tracks Using Laser-Based Systems and Machine Learning

  • Aditya Rahalkar,
  • S. Morteza Mirzaei,
  • Yang Chen,
  • Carvel Holton and
  • Mehdi Ahmadian

This study presents a machine learning approach for estimating the presence and extent of flange-face lubrication on a rail. It offers an alternative to the current empirical and subjective methods for lubrication assessment, in which track engineers...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,926 Views
22 Pages

The influence of sidewalk paving materials on pedestrian safety and comfort remains an underexplored topic within the walkability literature. This pilot study aims to address this gap by evaluating the role of five surface-related attributes—ro...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,110 Views
21 Pages

Rice Husk Ash and Waste Marble Powder as Alternative Materials for Cement

  • Mezgebu Debas Yeshiwas,
  • Mitiku Damtie Yehualaw,
  • Betelhem Tilahun Habtegebreal,
  • Wallelign Mulugeta Nebiyu and
  • Woubishet Zewdu Taffese

Concrete, a cornerstone of modern construction, owes its widespread adoption to global industrialization and urbanization, with mortar being an essential component. However, the cement production process is energy-intensive and generates significant...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,135 Views
23 Pages

Enhancing Walkability for Older Adults: The Role of Government Policies and Urban Design

  • Akshatha Rao,
  • Rama Devi Nandineni,
  • Roshan S. Shetty,
  • Kailas Mallaiah and
  • Giridhar B. Kamath

This research examines the impact of government policy initiatives, community engagement programs, and age-friendly urban design policies on the built environment, with a specific focus on the walkability of older adults. The walkability of older adu...

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
2,536 Views
27 Pages

Geopolymer mortar is an eco-friendly type of mortar that is mainly made of fly ash, slag, and sand as common precursors. Recently, the availability of these materials has become limited due to the huge increase in geopolymer constructions. This is al...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,346 Views
25 Pages

Dynamic Behaviour and Seismic Response of Scoured Bridge Piers

  • Christos Antonopoulos,
  • Enrico Tubaldi,
  • Sandro Carbonari,
  • Fabrizio Gara and
  • Francesca Dezi

This study explores the transverse response of bridge piers in riverbeds under a multi-hazard scenario, involving seismic actions and scoured foundations. The combined impact of scour on foundations’ stability and on the dynamic stiffness of so...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
913 Views
20 Pages

This paper examines short-span bridge (SSB) integrity against floods. They represent the majority of road infrastructures and are often affected by hydraulic erosion and overlap during rainfalls. A method to classify and identify a set of SSBs in an...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,254 Views
24 Pages

The prediction of the ultimate bending capacity of the rectangular concrete-filled steel tube (RCFST) beams strengthened with U-shaped carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets is limited to using the existing empirical models. Thus, this study a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
1,602 Views
18 Pages

To address the challenges posed by the vast scale of highway maintenance in China and the high costs associated with traditional inspection vehicles. This study focuses on a routine maintenance project for national and provincial roads in Shanxi Prov...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,272 Views
18 Pages

This study investigates the epistemological potentials of parametric analysis for digitally modeling ordinary, existing buildings, addressing a gap in architectural research. While traditional digital modeling prioritizes geometric accuracy, it often...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2,640 Views
17 Pages

Point Transformer Network-Based Surrogate Model for Spatial Prediction in Bridges

  • Javier Grandío,
  • Brais Barros,
  • Manuel Cabaleiro and
  • Belén Riveiro

Bridges are essential assets of inland transportation infrastructure; however, they are among the most vulnerable elements of these networks due to deterioration caused by aging and the increasing loads to which they are subjected over time. Conseque...

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Infrastructures - ISSN 2412-3811