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5.2
2.7
Journals
Infrastructures
Special Issues
Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities
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Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities

A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 13905

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hosin “David” Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa Technology Institute, 330 South Madison Street, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52240, USA
Interests: sustainability in transportation; asphalt pavement recycling; infrastructure management system; innovative construction materials; automated pavement condition evaluation system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue will be produced in conjunction with the second international conference on constructed infrastructure facilities (maireinfra2) in Honolulu, August 16-19, 2023 and click maireinfra2023.org for more information. In the challenging context of climate change, there is a critical need to incorporate resiliency and sustainability in constructing and rehabilitating buildings and infrastructures. Civil infrastructures should be designed with a focus on resilient building materials while emphasizing sustainability aspects of an automated construction, evaluation, and maintenance operations. Resilient and sustainable infrastructures will mitigate the impacts of climate changes on infrastructure performance. It is also essential to preserve the existing infrastructures by developing innovative asset management systems with artificial intelligence and big data analysis techniques.

This Special Issue aims to publish high-quality research papers as well as state-of-the-art review articles that focus on resiliency and sustainability aspects in designing, building, and managing infrastructures. The papers in this Special Issue should be focused on various advances that have taken place worldwide in constructing and rehabilitating resilient and sustainable infrastructures.

I would like to invite you to contribute to the MDPI Infrastructures journal’s Special Issue on constructed infrastructure facilities. This special issue is very timely and would encompass but not be limited to the following emerging topics:

  • Maintenance of asphalt, concrete, and block pavements;
  • Rehabilitation of railroad tracks;
  • Innovative pavement materials and design;
  • Pavement management system (PMS);
  • Automated pavement condition evaluations;
  • Recycling of asphalt and concrete materials;
  • Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC);
  • Digital construction project delivery;
  • Modular and accelerated construction;
  • AI/drones/robotics for construction management;
  • Bridge management system (BMS);
  • Building information management (BIM);
  • Traffic safety and intelligent transportation system (ITS);
  • Safety in construction and remodeling;
  • Disaster preparation and response;
  • Life-cycle analysis and asset management systems;
  • Sustainable pavements, bridges, and buildings;
  • Sustainability in governments and industries.

The deadline for receiving your contributions will be August 31, 2023.

Sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Hosin “David” Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infrastructures is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • constructed infrastructure facilities
  • infrastructure management systems
  • sustainable infrastructure materials
  • recycled asphalt and concrete materials
  • plastics in pavements
  • automated infrastructure evaluation
  • construction 3D printer
  • resilient building and infrastructures
  • disaster management system
  • economic and environment lifecycle assessment

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  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2633 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Ability of Road Specifications to Discriminate the Rutting Behavior of Rubberized Asphalt Mixtures in Italy
by Usman Ghani, Silvia Milazzo, Gaspare Giancontieri, Gabriella Buttitta, Fan Gu and Davide Lo Presti
Infrastructures 2024, 9(7), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9070113 - 18 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1305
Abstract
Despite its worldwide adoption in many countries, rubberized asphalt mixtures are not fully incorporated as an alternative paving material in current Italian road specifications. This reluctance stems from a lack of experience, resistance to change in established work practices, and, sometimes, insufficient evidence [...] Read more.
Despite its worldwide adoption in many countries, rubberized asphalt mixtures are not fully incorporated as an alternative paving material in current Italian road specifications. This reluctance stems from a lack of experience, resistance to change in established work practices, and, sometimes, insufficient evidence demonstrating tangible benefits with local specifications. Furthermore, conventional characterization methods such as void checks and indirect tensile strength testing by means of IDT may not accurately capture the true benefits of using alternative paving materials. This study introduces performance-driven characterization approaches with the final aim of evaluating whether more advanced procedures may provide additional information compared to current practices and, in turn, promote the use of alternative paving materials. Hence, an investigation has been conducted to compare the rutting behavior of conventional asphalt mixtures with those modified with engineered crumb rubber (ECR). This comparison utilized performance-driven characterization approaches, including a basic IDT-based methodology at higher temperatures (HT-IDT), as well as two more sophisticated approaches, the Stress Sweep Rutting (SSR) and Flow Number (FN) tests, using the asphalt mixture performance tester (AMPT). Finally, the results were compared with those obtained using the IDT, a conventional method as specified by the major Italian road authority. As a result, the addition of ECR proves beneficial in enhancing the qualities of dense mixtures tailored for use on urban and secondary roads; however, only performance-driven characterization, with both basic and advanced methodologies, can clearly describe the pivotal role of ECR in achieving discernible enhancements in the rutting behavior of asphalt mixtures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities)
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12 pages, 3121 KiB  
Article
Rheological and Aging Characteristics of Polymer-Modified Asphalt with the Addition of Sulfur
by Ana Luiza Rodrigues, Caio Falcão and R. Christopher Williams
Infrastructures 2023, 8(11), 160; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8110160 - 9 Nov 2023
Viewed by 2565
Abstract
Crosslinking agents, notably sulfur, are used in asphalt binder modification to facilitate chemical bonding between polymer chains and the asphalt binder. Despite some prior research indicating the benefits of sulfur crosslinking in enhancing polymer-modified asphalt’s (PMA) stability, there is a lack of comprehensive [...] Read more.
Crosslinking agents, notably sulfur, are used in asphalt binder modification to facilitate chemical bonding between polymer chains and the asphalt binder. Despite some prior research indicating the benefits of sulfur crosslinking in enhancing polymer-modified asphalt’s (PMA) stability, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding its impact on rheological properties and its anti-aging potential. This study addresses these gaps by thoroughly investigating the effects of varying the sulfur content (ranging from 0.03% to 0.5% by total weight of binder) on PMA’s rheological properties. The research assesses the effectiveness of sulfur in enhancing PMA’s resistance to aging using various methods, including the Glover-Rowe parameter, FTIR analysis, and the examination of the dynamic modulus and phase angle master curves. The results indicated that the addition of sulfur, particularly up to 0.3%, bumps the high-temperature performance grade by one level, and significantly improves elasticity, allowing the PMA to support heavier traffic without experiencing rutting, all while maintaining resistance to low-temperature cracking. Furthermore, PMA with sulfur demonstrated an increase in resistance to aging, reducing the aging potential by approximately 15% with the best sulfur formulation. This enhanced durability can reduce the frequency of maintenance activities, leading to cost savings, reduced roadwork emissions, and prolonged pavement life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities)
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15 pages, 4574 KiB  
Article
Multi-Parametric Delineation Approach for Homogeneous Sectioning of Asphalt Pavements
by Naga Siva Pavani Peraka, Krishna Prapoorna Biligiri and Satyanarayana N. Kalidindi
Infrastructures 2023, 8(10), 153; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8100153 - 21 Oct 2023
Viewed by 2191
Abstract
The demand for preserving existing roadway infrastructure has been increasing to regulate expensive reconstruction activities. The maintenance of homogeneous road sections is one of the approaches to economize the overall management of pavement systems. The existing homogeneous delineation methods consider one or two [...] Read more.
The demand for preserving existing roadway infrastructure has been increasing to regulate expensive reconstruction activities. The maintenance of homogeneous road sections is one of the approaches to economize the overall management of pavement systems. The existing homogeneous delineation methods consider one or two parameters for segmenting the pavements based on similar characteristics, which are found to be a repetitive process. Also, there is a need to consider multiple parameters that represent the functional, structural, and traffic characteristics in segmentation process. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a multi-parameter-based delineation approach (MPDA) to segment the pavements into subsections with similar features considering functional, structural, and traffic characteristics. Deflection bowl parameters, unified pavement health index (functional performance metric), surface layer modulus, and traffic reported in terms of AADT were employed for developing a multi-parametric delineation index (MPDI). A total of 1781 datapoints covering 26 road sections in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India, were used. The C-charts method-based segmentation for MPDI was applied to obtain the homogeneous sections. The devised approach was found to be efficient in segmenting the pavements as well as robust in selecting suitable maintenance strategies for each group of the homogeneous sections. Further, the segmentation processes were automated for easier implementation by the agencies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities)
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13 pages, 915 KiB  
Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Environmentally Friendly Solutions for the Construction of Unpaved Rural Roads
by Mattia Di Sessa, Pier Paolo Riviera, Lucia Tsantilis, Leonardo Urbano, Orazio Baglieri and Ezio Santagata
Infrastructures 2023, 8(10), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8100144 - 11 Oct 2023
Viewed by 2237
Abstract
In recent decades, the international community has recognized the detrimental impact of the construction industry on the environment. In recent years, the use of recycled aggregates has attracted increasing interest as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the construction and maintenance of road [...] Read more.
In recent decades, the international community has recognized the detrimental impact of the construction industry on the environment. In recent years, the use of recycled aggregates has attracted increasing interest as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for the construction and maintenance of road pavements. The life cycle assessment (LCA) represents a valuable methodology for evaluating the environmental sustainability of technologies involving the use of such materials. This study deals with the LCA of alternative solutions for the construction and maintenance of unpaved rural roads. Different scenarios using recycled materials, such as reclaimed asphalt and mineral sludge, are analyzed and compared to a reference solution that employs only virgin aggregates. The environmental sustainability of the proposed alternatives is assessed by considering the global warming potential (GWP), energy requirements, and water consumption. The LCA analysis is performed using SimaPro software (version 9.1.1.7). The obtained results demonstrate that solutions involving the use of recycled materials represent a more sustainable and environmentally friendly option. In particular, a significant reduction in water depletion was found for the alternative scenarios, with savings between 56% and 99%. For GWP and energy, the total savings ranged from approximately 20% to 40%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities)
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13 pages, 435 KiB  
Article
Transportation Asset Management Decision Support Tools: Computational Complexity, Transparency, and Realism
by Babatunde Atolagbe and Sue McNeil
Infrastructures 2023, 8(10), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8100143 - 11 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1992
Abstract
Asset management decision support tools determine which action (maintenance, rehabilitation, or reconstruction) is applied to each facility in a transportation network and when. Sophisticated tools recognize uncertainties and consider emerging priorities. However, these tools are often computationally complex and lack transparency, the models [...] Read more.
Asset management decision support tools determine which action (maintenance, rehabilitation, or reconstruction) is applied to each facility in a transportation network and when. Sophisticated tools recognize uncertainties and consider emerging priorities. However, these tools are often computationally complex and lack transparency, the models are difficult to evaluate, and the outputs are challenging to validate. This paper explores computational complexity, transparency, and realism in transportation asset management decision support tools to better understand how to select the right tools for a particular context. Descriptions of how state departments of transportation in the United States make use of optimization in their mandated transportation asset management plans to make decisions are used to understand the needs of states. This qualitative analysis serves as a review of the goals and practices of state agencies. An existing asset management tool is then used to demonstrate the tradeoffs involved in accurately capturing the decision-making process and complexity. The results provide examples of strategies that agencies can use when selecting decision support tools and for researchers and tool developers working toward developing the right tool for an application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities)
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22 pages, 7279 KiB  
Article
Quantification and Reduction of Uncertainty in Seismic Resilience Assessment for a Roadway Network
by Vishnupriya Jonnalagadda, Ji Yun Lee, Jie Zhao and Seyed Hooman Ghasemi
Infrastructures 2023, 8(9), 128; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures8090128 - 25 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1697
Abstract
The nation’s transportation systems are complex and are some of the highest valued and largest public assets in the United States. As a result of repeated natural hazards and their significant impact on transportation functionality and the socioeconomic health of communities, transportation resilience [...] Read more.
The nation’s transportation systems are complex and are some of the highest valued and largest public assets in the United States. As a result of repeated natural hazards and their significant impact on transportation functionality and the socioeconomic health of communities, transportation resilience has gained increasing attention in recent years. Previous studies on transportation resilience have heavily emphasized network functionality during and/or following a scenario hazard event by implicitly assuming that sufficient knowledge of structural capacity and environmental/service conditions is available at the time of an extreme event. However, such assumptions often fail to consider uncertainties that arise when an extreme hazard event occurs in the future. Thus, it is essential to quantify and reduce uncertainties to better prepare for extreme events and accurately assess transportation resilience. To this end, this paper proposes a dynamic Bayesian network-based resilience assessment model for a large-scale roadway network that can explicitly quantify uncertainties in all phases of the assessment and investigate the role of inspection and monitoring programs in uncertainty reduction. Specifically, the significance of data reliability is investigated through a sensitivity analysis, where various sets of data having different reliabilities are used in updating system resilience. To evaluate the effectiveness of the model, a benchmark problem involving a highway network in South Carolina, USA is utilized, showcasing the systematic quantification and reduction of uncertainties in the proposed model. The benchmark problem result shows that incorporating monitoring and inspection data on important variables could improve the accuracy of predicting the seismic resilience of the network. It also suggests the need to consider equipment reliability when designing monitoring and inspection programs. With the recent development of a wide range of monitoring and inspection techniques, including nondestructive testing, health monitoring equipment, satellite imagery, LiDAR, etc., these findings can be useful in assisting transportation managers in identifying necessary equipment reliability levels and prioritizing inspection and monitoring efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Constructed Infrastructure Facilities)
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