Dicot leaves are composed of a heterogeneous mosaic of jigsaw puzzle piece-shaped pavement cells that vary greatly in size and the complexity of their shape. Given the importance of the epidermis and this particular cell type for leaf expansion, there is a strong need to understand how pavement cells morph from a simple polyhedral shape into highly lobed and interdigitated cells. At present, it...

The paper focuses on the monitoring of an experimental stretch of road over a five year period in order to measure the effects of steel reinforcement on Asphalt Concrete (AC) pavement performance. The experimental stretch of road was constructed in 2001 alternating sections with and without steel reinforcement. This paper presents the results regarding the effects of steel reinforcement that we...

Crack evaluation is essential for effective classification of pavement cracks. Digital images of pavement cracks have been analyzed using techniques such as fuzzy set theory and neural networks. Bidimensional empirical mode decomposition (BEMD), a new image analysis method recently developed, can potentially be used for pavement crack evaluation. BEMD is an extension of the empirical mode decom...

A novel approach to life-cycle sustainability (impact) assessment and interpretation procedure on the basis of multiple criteria is developed in this paper for the comparison and evaluation of alternative road pavement designs. A case study reported in the literature, which compared pavement structures with virgin materials as well as industrial by-products such as coal ash, crushed concrete wa...

The permafrost degradation is the fundamental cause generating embankment diseases and pavement diseases in permafrost region while the permafrost degradation is related with temperature. Based on the field monitoring results of ground temperature along G214 Highway in high temperature permafrost regions, both the ground temperatures in superficial layer and the annual average temperatures unde...

Image processing technology plays an important part in the analysis and evaluation of pavement surface cracking. The pattern recognition method for crack geometry proposed in this paper makes it possible to extract data necessary for evaluating the extent and severity of cracking quantitatively. In this newly developed method, low-resolution images are used first to extract crack regions, and t...

Network Geographic Information System is a GIS based on Web technical standards and communication protocol of network , a product of Web technology and GIS technology, it is based on Internet / Intranet to provide users with information distributed in space, data sharing, exchange and cooperation. WebGIS make full use of network resources, a large scale to reduce costs and complexity of dealing...

This study integrates ground spectrometry, imaging spectrometry, and in-situ pavement condition surveys for asphalt road assessment. There is strong spectral evidence for asphalt aging and deterioration processes, hence field spectra showed that asphalt aging and deterioration produce measurable changes in spectra as these surfaces undergo a transition from hydrocarbon dominated new roads to mi...

Rubblization is an in-place rehabilitation technique that involves breaking the concrete pavement into pieces. This process results in a structurally sound, rut resistant base layer which prevents reflective cracking (by obliterating the existing concrete pavement distresses and joints) that can then be overlaid with Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA). The design of the structural overlay thickness for rubb...

Jackhammer manufacturers have recently developed lightweight (45-60 lbs) jackhammers intended to reduce the required lifting and pushing forces during operation. However, the vibration characteristics of the lightweight jackhammers and their effect on muscle activity are currently unknown. The objective of this study was to compare the measured vibration and muscle activity between: (i) convent...