Author: pengcheng

To achieve better traffic conditions and reduce congestion on public roads, transportation designers and traffic planners adjust road designs, transportation constructions, signal operations, etc., after reviewing transportation study reports or traffic simulation models. Generally, the adjustments are applied to meet further traffic demands or solve chronic traffic problems, but what if people want to respond to traffic conditions in realtime?  Many tools, such as cameras, sensors and helicopters, are used for real-time traffic monitoring. In addition to these tools, more and more traffic departments are starting to think about using drones. The Ohio Department of Transportation’s DriveOhio Division is planning to use camera drones to monitor highway traffic. $6 million has been given to Ohio State University’s College of Engineering to study how drones can be effective traffic monitoring tools [1].…

Average temperatures over Canada increased by 1.5℃ between 1950 and 2010, with an increasing number of extreme warm days and decreasing number of cold nights [1]. Across Canada, springtime snow cover declined up to 34% from 1972 to 2010 [1]. Behind these phenomena is climate change which has been impacting engineering practice. During most engineering work, including civil, environmental, hydrotechnical etc., the impacts of climate change should be considered. Climate change is inevitable, so engineers have to change their techniques to adapt or mitigate it. Climate change can impact engineering project planning, design, maintenance, restoration and rehabilitation. The frequency of extreme weather events, such as floods and hurricanes, increases because of climate change, which should be considered when making engineering plans to achieve a long design life. The climate change risk in…