Urban Sustainability: Safety and Maintenance in Future Transportation Infrastructure

Dear Colleagues,

Transport infrastructures such as roads, and railways, commonly referred to as distributed linear assets, are critical to the survival and normal functioning of modern society. The majority of these infrastructures were conceptualized, designed and built by public sectors or government agencies without any in-depth analysis of the future needs of society and subsequent maintenance requirements, triggered by aging or accelerated aging by increased use or demand on services. The situation is further aggravated by climate change, bringing additional pressures on these infrastructures, associated with resource and budgetary constraints for maintenance.

Here in this Special Issue (SI), we aim to deliver methodologies, technologies, and tools for effective and efficient just-in-time decisions for the safety and maintenance of infrastructure. This SI is also aiming to investigate these capabilities through a set of real-world on-site demonstrators, assessing the condition of the infrastructure using advanced data acquisition methods using multiple data sources. Big Data analytics and advanced forecasting methodologies and the information and knowledge of transport infrastructure health integrated into financial and business models to provide intelligent decisions considering the operational, organizational context are another interest of the SI. In addition, papers on critical issues and challenges arising due to climate change and necessitating action, e.g., climate adaptation and mitigation activities, are welcome.