Assessing the influence of highway and high-speed railway construction on local climate using Landsat images in karst areas

Large-scale transportation infrastructure construction in ecologically vulnerable areas such as the karst region of Southwest China requires estimation method for better project design.This research was carried out on a four-lane highway(the Guilin-Guiyang highway,G76)and a two-lane highspeed railway(the Guilin-Guiyang high-speed railway,GGHSR)in karst areas in Guizhou and Guangxi provinces.The highway and high-speed railway were constructed in the 2010 s and covered by Landsat images whose multispectral information could be used for research purposes.In this study,the severity of the impact and the CO2 emissions from the G76 and GGHSR construction were evaluated.Landsat images and field meteorological measurements were applied to calculate the surface functional parameters(surface temperature and surface wetness)and heat fluxes(latent,sensible and ground heat flux)before and during the highway and high-speed railway construction;the amount of CO2 emissions during the G76 and GGHSR construction were determined by using budget sheets,which record the detail consumptions of materials and energy.The results showed that the decrease of water evaporation from the highway and high-speed railway construction can reach up to 26.4 m3 and 20.1 m3 per kilometer,which corresponds to an average decrease in the vegetation cooling effect of 18.0 MWh per day per highway kilometer and 13.7 MWh per day per high-speed railway kilometer,respectively.At the meantime,the average CO2 emission densities from the G76 and GGHSR construction can reach up to 24813.7 and 36921.1 t/km,respectively.This study implied that extensive line constructions have a significant impact on the local climate and the energy balance,and it is evident that selecting and planting appropriate plant species can compensate for the adverse effects of line constructions in karst mountain regions.

SPEEDING UP THE CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH-SPEED RAILWAYS IN CHINA

High-speed railways have the merits of high speed, high transport capacity, low consumption of energy, less pollution, less occupation of land, and greater safety. The development of high-speed railways is suitable for the national conditions in China.The authors suggest that, with the Hu-Ning (Shanghai-Nanjing) section of the Jing-Hu (Beijing-Shanghai) Railway as the starting point, a high-speed dedicated passenger railway line be built to realize the separate transportation of passengers and goods, thus easing the strain on transport in East China, accumulating experience for the future development of high-speed railways, and bringing along the development of high and new technology industries.

The Innovation and Practice in Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway Construction

As a flagship project of Sino-Indonesia cooperation within the framework of“the Belt and Road”Initiative(BRI),Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway(Jakarta-Bandung HSR)is the first overseas high speed railway entirely implementing China's high speed railway technology with all systems,elements and industrial chain.It marks the success of extensive consultation,joint contribution and shared benefits between China and region states to achieve modernization.By studying the Jakarta-Bandung HSR project,this paper concludes the innovations and successful practices in“going global”of China's railway industry in terms of project organization,engineering construction,railway equipment,operation management,risk prevention and control,etc.Meanwhile,focusing on one of the eight major steps to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation proposed by President Xi Jinping—building a multidimensional“the Belt and Road”connectivity network,this paper puts forward the specific outlook for China's high speed railway to“go global”and jointly build“the Belt and Road”Initiative from two perspectives of international railway engineering and international scientific and technological cooperation.

Research on the railway construction process quality model based on the state space method

In the ISO9000"input-output"process model,the concept of process quality is difficult to get the correct interpretation. From the"white box"theory of process,this paper puts forward the scientific meaning of the concept of process quality and the process quality model by taking the basic operating unit of 6M1E in the railway construction project for example. The basic operating unit system consists of technological natural process,operation process and management process;the process quality of the basic operating unit system depends on the interrelation and interaction among those three sub-processes,and also subjects to the impact of the external disturbance input factors. Finally,the cast-in-situ prestressed concrete continuous box girder construction process is utilized to elaborate the specific application of this theory in the quality management of the railway construction project.

New-concept Design Innovation of Passenger Station Construction for Qinghe Railway Station of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR

Qinghe Railway Station is the largest passenger station along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR and will serve as the originating station of this line during the A 2022 Winter Olympics.It is also one of the eight major passenger stations in.Beijing.During the construction of this station,all units involved in the construction have made their effors to learn and understand the new concept of building up a“well-connected,filly-integrated,environment-friendly,passenger-oriented,economically-efficient,culturally-rich,inelligent and convenient”passenger station in the new era.Qinghe Railway Station of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR was completed and opened to traffic by the end of 2019 through exploration of new-concept design innovation for passenger station construction in the new era,which was widely praised by the general public.The paper summarizes how the new design concept of passenger station construction is innovated and implemented during the construction of Qinghe Railway Station,thus providing a reference for the future construction of passenger stations.

An evaluation of the economic,social,and ecological risks of China-Mongolia-Russia high-speed railway construction and policy suggestions

The construction of China-Mongolia-Russia high-speed railways is a strategic move to promote transportation infrastructure inter-connectivity between these countries, which will accelerate the implementation of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor. However, well-planned China-Mongolia-Russia high-speed railways demand accurately identifying construction risks, scientifically evaluating risk levels, and mapping the spatial distribution of these risks. Therefore, this study established the integrated risk evaluation model(IREM) to scientifically evaluate the economic, social, and ecological risks of China-Mongolia-Russia high-speed railway construction and determine their magnitude and spatial distribution pattern. Based on this analysis, we propose designs for the east and west China-Mongolia-Russia high-speed railways and policy suggestions to mitigate construction risks. Suggestions include developing innovative cooperation of the "high-speed railway for resources and market", strengthening communication and technology dissemination, and applying innovative engineering techniques and setting buffers; establishing collaborative prevention and control systems to mitigate the three major ecological risks in the China, Mongolia, and Russia trans-border areas; and promoting economic integration by improving strategic coordination. In summary, this study provides scientific support for designing the China-Mongolia-Russia high-speed railways minimizing construction risks.

Template-based knowledge reuse method for generating high-speed railway virtual construction scenes

Virtual construction has become an important approach to the high-quality development of high-speed railways,but existing methods have problems such as low efficiency in generating virtual construction scenes and the inability to reuse construction knowledge.To support the rapid visual representation of multiple types of construction processes and construction methods,a template-based knowledge reuse method is proposed.The method includes using a component-based modeling mode to build body structure models of a high-speed railway project and generate a 3D scene;decomposing the construction process and building a construction process knowledge base;establishing joint linkage models of construction machinery and forming a construction method knowledge template;and fusing multiple types of information according to a time sequence to visualize the construction process.Based on the template-based knowledge reuse method,a prototype system was developed,and virtual construction experiments were carried out.The results show that this method achieves the reuse of construction knowledge at different levels including construction machinery level,construction method level,and work site level.Compared with animation software for virtual construction,this method improves the production efficiency by 87%.Moreover,this method can provide a multilevel knowledge reuse scheme for diversified virtual construction.

Construction management and technical innovation of the Beijing–Shanghai High Speed Railway

1 Project overview The Beijing–Shanghai High Speed Railway(HSR)represents a major national strategic transportation project in China that is characterized by the largest-scale one-time investment in the country.At the time,it was the longest HSR constructed in a single phase,with the highest technical standards in the world.Acting as an HSR artery between the Northern and Eastern regions of China,the Beijing–Shanghai HSR is the busiest HSR with the highest ridership in the country and the world at large.Additionally,it is the only commercial HSR consistently operates at a speed of 350 km/h globally.

For the Greater Good?—A Critical Reflection on Assessing Indirect Economic Effects Caused by Large Transport Projects

Investing in large transport projects affects the (potential) economic development of metropolitan areas. Yet, very little critical research has been performed to understand how to assess these effects. The relationship between infrastructure investments and regional economic development is complex and indirect, and many theoretical and methodological difficulties remain. On the one hand, the assumption that investing in infrastructure is important to sustain economic growth is sometimes doubted. On the other hand, it is argued that investments in infrastructure enhance the accessibility of urban regions and that in the slipstream of such investments, social problems in urban regions can be tackled as well. Despite these contrasting views, there is at least a consensus that transport infrastructure development depends on economic development and vice versa. Yet, in many cases, the method of assessing economic impacts highly affects the results. Therefore, this paper focuses on a critical reflection of methods for estimating economic effects of infrastructure investments. A critical evaluation is made based on Indonesian and Japanese cases. After conducting in-depth desk research on both cases, we found that the broader effects on affected group of people tend to be overlooked due to the problems of time and space dimensions, the chain reaction of effects, and inappropriate data practices. The assessment on the appraisal processes tends to overlook the broader economic implication due to narrow focus and the concept of efficiency of economic theory.

Why High-Speed Railway Stations Continue China's Leapfrog Urbanization:Institutional Parameters of Urban Development

An ambitious program of High-Speed Railway (HSR) is under construction in China and already soon the network will overtake its counterparts in Europe. Reflecting on experiences in Europe, the authors explore the conditions for place making qualities of six new HSR station areas in China. The superb inter-city connectivity of the new infrastructure nodes raises a lot of expectations about the economic and social potential of the station areas, but the experiences in Europe thus far are very differentiated. With regards to the attraction of economic activities usually the existing differences between different economic regions are reproduced rather than shaping completely new conditions. Also the expectations of developing completely new integrated urban centers around stations in the urban periphery are rather ambitious. The paper questions the planning responses to HSR development in Chinese cities and investigates the institutional conditions that frame these responses. The authors explore how the plans for Chinese HSR station development account for their objectives and reflect on the potential of the station area planning by investigating the institutional parameters of urban development.