Characteristics and changes of permafrost along the engineering corridor of National Highway 214 in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Due to a series of linear projects built along National Highway 214,the second"Permafrost Engineering Corridor"on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has formed.In this paper,by overcoming the problems of data decentralization and standard inconsistency,permafrost characteristics and changes along the engineering corridor are systematically summarized based on the survey and monitoring data.The results show that:1)Being controlled by elevation,the permafrost is distributed in flake discontinuity with mountains as the center along the line.The total length of the road section in permafrost regions is 365 km,of which the total length of the permafrost section of National Highway 214 is 216.7 km,and the total length of the permafrost section of Gong-Yu Expressway is 197.3 km.The mean annual ground temperature(MAGT)is higher than−1.5℃,and permafrost with MAGT lower than−1.5℃ is only distributed in the sections at Bayan Har Mountain and E'la Mountain.There are obvious differences in the distribution of ground ice in the different sections along the engineering corridor.The sections with high ice content are mainly located in Zuimatan,Duogerong Plain and the top of north and south slope of Bayan Har Mountain.The permafrost thickness is controlled by the ground temperature,and permafrost thickness increases with the decrease of the ground temperature,with the change rate of about 37 m/℃.2)Local factors(topography,landform,vegetation and lithology)affect the degradation process of permafrost,and then affect the distribution,ground temperature,thickness and ice content of permafrost.Asphalt pavement has greatly changed the heat exchange balance of the original ground,resulting in serious degradation of the permafrost.Due to the influence of roadbed direction trend,the phenomenon of shady-sunny slope is very significant in most sections along the line.The warming range of permafrost under the roadbed is gradually smaller with the increase of depth,so the thawing settlement of the shallow section with high ice-content permafrost is more significant.

Spatial-temporal Patterns of Land-use Change in Typical Transect Area Along China National Highway 106 During 1996-2008

Based on land-use database updated with the survey of 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008, this paper analyzed the land-use changes in the typical transect area along National Highway 106 with the aid of GIS technology and quantitative models. The results showed that arable land had been continuously decreased from 1996 to 2008, with a loss of 65.85× 10^3 hm2 and an average decrement of 5.49×10^3 hm^2 per year, and the loss in northern areas was larger; garden land and woodland were gradually centralized to the predominance area with an increment of 25.73×10^3 hm2 and 22.37×10^3 hm2, respectively; residential and industrial land increased year after year, and the transportation land showed the equalized developing spatial pattern; the increment of construction land and encroachment on arable land in the area were deeply influenced by the national macroscopic land-use policies, the rapid advance of urbanization and the development level of the regional economy. Through this case study, it is suggested that differential land- use policies should be adopted to create good environmental conditions to guarantee food security and to promote the economic development.

Comparison of Traffic Growth Factors in Three Major Highways of Bangladesh： A Case Study

The unanticipated increase in vehicle population and heavy axle loads has brought the road network of Bangladesh to a crumbling stage. The network is grossly short of its structural capacity, highly distressed and has started showing signs of premature failure. The RHD （Roads and Highways Department） of Bangladesh uses 8%-10% growth rate of traffic for structural design of these highways that need to be upgraded due to present high traffic volume demand. An attempt has been made through this case study, by using traffic flow data from different computerized toll plaza established in recent times, to predict traffic growth pattern of different highways of Bangladesh. The toll collectors of different computerized toll plaza have been recording and preserving round-the-year continuous flow data in a systematic manner. The study has taken this prospect of utilizing several years of flow data along Dhaka-Chittagong Highway （N-1）, Dhaka-Sylhet Highway （N-2）, Dhaka-North Bengal Highway （N-5） and found the traffic growth factor of 21.03%, 23.79% and 11.31%, respectively, which is much higher than that transport authority of Bangladesh is currently using. By the use of accurate traffic engineering parameters such as traffic growth factors, it is possible to resist frequent distress of pavement and sustainable pavement management can be implemented by RHD.