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The growing demand for the transportation of goods and people has led to an increasing reliance on transportation infrastructure, which, in turn, subjects the pavements to high traffic volumes. In order to maintain adequate service and safety standards for users, it is essential to establish effective maintenance strategies that ensure the preservation of pavement conditions. As a result, emerging innovations in pavement surface inspection methods, surpassing traditional techniques in terms of inspection and data processing speed and accuracy, have garnered significant attention. One such groundbreaking innovation in inspection systems that has been tested and used in recent years to assess infrastructure condition is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This study aims to present a critical open-access literature review on the use of UAVs in the inspection of transportation infrastructure pavement in order to assess the type of equipment used, the technology involved, applicability conditions, data processing, and future evolution. The analysis of relevant literature suggests that the integration of intelligent technologies substantially enhances the accuracy of data collection and the detection of pavement distress. Furthermore, it is evident that most applications and research efforts are oriented towards exploring image processing techniques for the creation of 3D pavement models and distress detection and classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift to low-emission mobility, embedded in a growing need for sustainable development, makes soft modes a highly promoted transport alternative in national and international mobility policies. Soft mobility modes, especially cycling, is an alternative capable of reversing the trend of private car use in urban areas, being one of the main strategies of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP). Several factors can influence travel mode choice, between them, demographic, economic, land use, travel distance and time, and climatic and physical factors are the most reported in the literature. This study presents a framework of the main European cycling strategies and focuses on the development of a methodological approach to assess the cycling suitability of existing road networks. The approach is based on a spatial multi-criteria analysis that combines population density, trip generation points service areas and road characteristics (hierarchy and slope). Consideration of the topography was particularly relevant in the cycling suitability model definition. The model was tested in the hillside city of Covilhã (Portugal) and compared with the recently planned and implemented city cycling network. The main conclusions point to the adequacy, flexibility, and applicability of the proposed model by municipalities, contributing to a more sustainable urban environment and healthier communities. Results obtained in the Covilhã case study also denote the possibility of implementing cycling mobility in hillside cities, especially using e-bikes. For future works, an expansion of the approach is proposed to include a detailed and sustained cycling network definition model and a process to assess cycling routes hierarchy/solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have shown that European police crash reports provide different detail degrees of work zone crash-related data. In this sense, the present study aims to verify the possibility of identifying significant risk factors involved in the occurrence of road work zone crashes with casualties, based on the official data usually available, through a descriptive, binary logistic, and probit regression statistical analysis. To accomplish the analysis, a total of 2597 police-reports related to 1767 Portuguese work zone crashes that occurred during the 2013-2015 period were considered and binary logistic and probit regression models were estimated by the main type of crash, contributing factor, and driver age group. Fifteen explanatory variables, selected based on the literature review and crash data provided in police crash reports, were considered in the analysis. The results obtained for the estimated coefficients and goodness-of-fit test values were found very similar for both link functions (logit and probit) and it was possible to identify risk factors. The modeling results pointed to excessive speed, disregard for vertical signs, luminosity, intersections, and motorcycle and heavy vehicle involvement as the most significant risk factors. Given the results, it is possible to conclude that binary logistic regression can be used in the statistical analysis of the available police official work zone crash data to identify and get some insight into the risk factors involved in work zone crashes. Data analysis also revealed the need to promote adequate and complete crash report filling by police officers. While police crash reports are not revised and standardized to incorporate more detailed work zone crash information, this approach can be used to support a more efficient road operation decision making and the review of some aspects related to work zone layout design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Portuguese universities (University of Beira Interior and University of Coimbra) researched and developed a simplified road-user costs model for inclusion in a pavement management system, as well as input data for Portuguese trunk road networks, between 2004 and 2007. The model can be used to calculate the average road-user costs in relation to vehicle operating, accident, time and toll costs. This paper describes the main activities that led to the model formulation and the input data, and presents a new development to simplify user costs estimation considering changes in pavement condition and the influence of road work zones. These scenarios can then be easily and reliably utilised within the process of road maintenance and rehabilitation, evaluating the needs and consequences of road intervention actions for consideration in the cost-benefit and life-cycle cost analysis. This paper also confirms the importance of these additional costs through a model application to a Portuguese road network under private concession, comparing average costs with those for specific work zones and pavement condition scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical Information Systems (GISs) in architecture were initially limited to regional and urban development applications. Over recent years its potential has been recognized and its use has evolved to address urban planning and architectural heritage management subjects. Nevertheless, evidence shows that its use in architecture teaching is scarce and uneven. Directive 2007/2/EC, establishing the infrastructure for spatial information in the European Community (EU), is, in this way, an opportunity to develop a greater knowledge and application of GIS in the framework of higher education. In architecture, this can be achieved by problem solving based on real case scenarios, which can benefit from GIS-based techniques and analysis capabilities. In this paper, the authors aim to present a review of the use of GIS in teaching and research in architecture to assess its level in different European programmes. Experiences from three European universities (University of Seville, Spain, University of Beira Interior, Portugal, and Technical University of Crete, Greece), which are among the few in their respective countries that promote the inclusion of GIS in architectural education, particularly in the fields of urban and regional planning and architectural heritage, are compared and framed within the European scenario. The paper concludes with a reflection on the three universities' practice compared to the leading European architecture programmes listed in the main international university rankings. Main trends of future evolution on the use of GIS in architecture teaching are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]