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This research study was focused on the effect of bamboo charcoal powder on the tensile strength of wood plastic composite reinforced with rice husk ash (silica). This study used 3 different proportions of composite that is 10% bamboo charcoal powder-90% polypropylene, 20% bamboo charcoal powder-80% polypropylene and 30% bamboo charcoal powder-70% polypropylene with added rice husk ash of 0%, 5% and 10%. The size of the particle for the bamboo charcoal powder is 60μm. The method used to produce this wood plastic composite is by mixing and injection molding method. The test performed on the sample is tensile test and surface morphological test. It is observed that the tensile strength of the composite increased when the percentage of rice husk ash added increased. The highest tensile strength of the composite is at 10% rice husk ash reinforced with 10% bamboo charcoal powder and 90% polypropylene with value of 23.15 MPa. Overall, the proportion of 10% rice husk ash reinforced with 10% bamboo charcoal powder and 90% polypropylene showed the best result to enhance the wood plastic composite.

Innovations were conducted continuously to create sustainable asphalt modifier. In this research it is focused on the investigation work of the asphalt binder modified properties with different percentages of one different micro material. This material is Parit Nipah Peat. The investigation is about the physical properties of asphalt binders modified with Parit Nipah Peat PNpt.M.A. PNpt leads to make a lot of changes in internal and external of the samples that checked via penetration test, ductility test, and Scanning Electron Microscopic. The Parit Nipah Peat was added to the original binder with a high shear blender then used at 1500 rpm to mix the PNpt with the binder. Three (3) different percentages were mixed by weight of binder to modify the asphalt binder with the binder at 0, 3%, 5% and 7%. This material has a high ability to distribution with asphalt, appears to be plain and homogeneous and different structure after blended with bitumen. The physical property of modified binders enhanced the binder properties, as the results of penetration test, ductility test and distribution inside the binder showed that. Adding a different concentration of PNpt to base binder had significant effects of high resistant changing volume and increased hardness.

Direct hot extrusion is a sustainable technique for recycling aluminium chips into aluminium matrix composite. Reinforcement particles are used to improve the mechanical properties. In this paper, the reinforcing medium of alumina layer that forms on the chip surface were enriched in situ via thermal treatment. Three types of chips were prepared namely; non-treated, treatment of 300 °C for 60 minutes and treatment of 500 °C for 10 minutes. The chips were compacted into chip-based feedstock having a density of 75 %, 85 % and 95 %. The chip-based feedstocks were preheated at 500 °C for 3 hours before extrude. Tensile test performed on the extrudate found that variation in the types of chip and feedstock relative density has affected the ultimate tensile strength. The highest ultimate tensile strength of 256 MPa is obtained from the condition of chip treated at 300 °C for 60 minutes and a feedstock density of 85 %. Elemental analysis on the extrudates reveals that the oxygen content is increased when the extrudates made from heat treated chip. Apart from heat treatment, the oxygen content also affected by the feedstock density.

Produced Profiles by direct recycling of aluminum chips in hot extrusion process were achieved by temperature related parameters using preheating temperature 450 °C, 500 °C, and 550 °C for duration 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3 hours preheating time. By using Design of Experiments (DOE) procedure with full factorial design and three center points analysis, the results showed that the preheating temperature factor is more important to be controlled rather than the preheating duration and increase of temperature conducted to the high tensile strength. The profiles extruded at 550 °C and 3 hours’ duration had obtained the optimum condition to get the maximum tensile strength. The influence of parameters of hot extrusion process on fracture surfaces of the recycled samples was also investigated and discussed.

Road condition in term of road surface condition depends on the subgrade soil strength. Therefore, a weak subgrade condition requires improvements in stabilization. Soil stabilization is the alteration of one or more geotechnical properties to create an improved soil material possessing the desired engineering properties. The main purpose of the soil stabilization is to increase the shear strength of an existing ground condition to enhance its load-bearing capacity, achieve a desired improved permeability and enhance the durability of the soil to resistance to the process of weathering, and traffic usage among others. Three method in soil stabilization considered in this study are chemical admixture, mechanical and geosynthetics methods. The difference in soil stabilization methods depends on the different road surface conditions. Road condition with weakness subgrade is more appropriate and economical in used stabilization chemical method. In this paper, discussing the road condition requires the ground improvement through soil stabilization

Malaysia is a developing country with rapid urbanisation, unceasing development and growing expansion of road network, connecting all the major cities in the country. However, in the downfall, traffic congestions, road accidents and fatalities are still at an alarming level, so to control the traffic impacts generated, the government uses Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) as planning tool to assess the feasibility and rationality of a development. In Malaysia, TIA has been applied since early 90’, with the first draft TIA guidelines proposed in 2005 and was revised in 2011 by Road Engineering Association of Malaysia (REAM) to the guidelines for TIA used today. TIA is about assessing the adverse impacts generated by a proposed development and mitigating the impacts with the appropriate measurements. Since TIA is adopted, developing countries are still facing various issues which happens also in Malaysia. This study will discuss about those issues and provide a method to assess the performance of TIA in Malaysia by determining what constitute to the best practice from an international standard and where Malaysia stand in the standard. The findings from the study will provide the necessary information for the future amendments in the practice of TIA

Driving speed at school zone is an important concern on road safety. In Malaysia, the speed limit of 30km/hr is mandatory at school zone. Thus, this study aims to investigate the compliance of road users towards the speed limit and the signage at school zone and determine the factors of noncompliance. The research was conducted along the Federal Road of Batu Pahat and Ayer Hitam Johor FT050 (KM0-KM23) where 7 schools were situated. Methods used are spot speed and site visit as well as obtaining the road accident statistics from the Royal Malaysian Police. The data collected was analysed, those above 85th percentile speed and below 15th percentile speed did not comply with the speed limit imposed 30km/hr signs. The results show most of the road users failed to obey the 30kn/hr speed limit at all the study locations and the factor affecting this are aggressive driving and signage not meeting the required standards. As consequences, there in an increasing trend of road accidents along FT050.

This document describes well the data analysis and document review results in order to guarantee that the structures comply with the building regulations. In addition, measurement and photography observations were done to determine the availability and accessibility of people with disabilities (PWDs) using facilities in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM). Besides introducing the process and function of the study, it also stating clearly the first research objective to be analysing. Furthermore, this paper presents the research framework highlight on research objective 1 that is to determine the physical facilities provision that support availability and accessibility for PWDs at UTHM

Solid state recycling aluminium AA6061 chips by cold compaction is a technique that used lower energy consumption and operating cost compared to the conventional recycling technique by casting. This research is to investigate physical characteristics of the milled recycling aluminium AA6061 according to the change of the time (heat treatment) using the high speed milling process and followed by a cold press forging process. Physical property of the recycled aluminium chip of AA6061 were studied. On the other hand, the results were showing that the porosity and density, and compression is correlated. At 8 hours on variable of quenching have a best value porosity (1.95%), density (2.55 g/cm3) and compression strength (315.19 MPa). While for the variable of aging, the best value of density (2.54 g/cm3) and compression strength (280.76 MPa) is at 10 hours. On porosity the best value is at 8 hours (2.79 %). It must be considered to the density and compression strength. For that, 10 hours were chosen for the best aging time. It can be concluded; the best quenching time is 8 hours and aging time is 10 hours.

Fatigue cracks and rutting deformation are the key distresses affecting flexible pavement. The characteristics of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber were studied for the improvement of asphalt concrete performance against these distresses. Water absorption of recycled PET was found to be 0.18% which is very low. Tensile strength of recycled PET fiber was 218 MPa which is enough to improve the performance of asphalt mixture. The reinforcement of asphalt mixes was conducted by adding 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7%, and 1.0% of recycled PET fiber content by total weight of mixture. Static creep test was conducted on neat and PET fiber–reinforced asphalt mixtures. The result indicated improvement in resistance to permanent deformation and accumulated at 0.5% PET fiber–reinforced mixtures. To investigate the response of neat and recycled PET fiber–reinforced mixtures, resilient modulus test was conducted. The result shows a considerable improvement of resilient modulus at both 25oC and 40°C of recycled PET fiber–reinforced mixtures compared to neat mixture. This is also an indication of improved fatigue and rutting resistance. Generally, mixtures containing 0.5% recycled PET fibers performed better. Thus, it can be concluded that 0.5% recycled PET fiber is the optimum percentage for improvement of fatigue and rutting resistance of asphalt mixture.

One of the effects of water in bituminous pavement is the stripping of aggregates from the mixture causing severe distresses such as potholes. In this study, fiber was produced using recycle plastics and it was used as reinforcement in bituminous mixture against moisture damage. The reinforcements were 0.3%, 0.5% 0.7% and 1.0% of the total weight of bituminous mixture with a view to determine the effective fiber dosage. The stripping potential of control and fiber reinforced mixtures were determined using moisture susceptibility test. From the test results, highest tensile strength ratio (TSR) was obtained in mixtures containing 0.5% recycle plastic fiber. The result also indicated higher indirect tensile strength for both dry and saturated at 0.5% plastic fiber reinforcement. For 0.7% and 1.0% recycle plastic fiber reinforced bituminous mixture, both tensile strength and tensile strength ratio were low compared to that of control mixture. From this study, reinforcing bituminous mixture using 0.5% recycle plastic proved to be effective in improving stripping resistance.

The study aim is to determine the suitability of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber in fatigue life improvement of asphalt concrete mix. Fatigue crack is among the principal distresses that shortens the life span of flexible pavements. The aim was achieved through laboratory experiments (indirect tensile stiffness modulus and fatigue tests) to determine the fatigue characteristics of reinforced and neat asphalt mixtures. The reinforced mixtures were prepared using recycled PET fiber at 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0% by total weight of mixture. The result was analyzed through regression analysis and fatigue life-prediction models were developed. The stiffness modulus of reinforced mixtures was improved by 19% at 0.3%, 34% at 0.5%, 4% at 0.7% and decreased by 34% at 1.0% recycled PET fiber reinforcement compared to neat mixture. The developed fatigue life-prediction models are statistically significant with p-values < 0.05. The fatigue life of recycled PET fiber reinforced mixtures at higher strains was highly improved at 0.3% reinforcement, while 0.5% reinforcement exhibited higher fatigue life at lower strain levels compared to neat mixtures. Therefore from the result and analysis conducted, recycled PET fiber has proved to be effective in fatigue life improvement of asphalt concrete.

Malaysia is a fast developing country which thrives on the growth of its population and economy. Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia with an area of 243 km2 has a population of 1.4 million [1]. From the statistics, the number of passengers using intercity train services in Malaysia in was 187,345,149 in the year 2012 [2]. Comfortability of a service is a major factor that influences the public. The research will be conducted at the City of Kuala Lumpur, PUTRA LRT (Kelana Jaya Line) and MONOREL Line is selected as the main focus of the research. The data collection will be conducted in the train coaches with two parameters. The noise and vibrations in the train coaches will be taken using the Sound Level Meter (NOR118) and Vibration Meter (Movipack 01dB-Steel) respectively. The noise data were obtained from the interior of the train coaches during operation, while the vibrations were obtained from the wall surface of the coach interior. The vibration aspect for this research is more focused on three parameters which are displacement (μm), vibration velocity (mm/s) and vibration frequency (Hz)[7]. Questionnaires were given out to the train passengers in order to obtain public opinions and satisfaction feedbacks relating their experiences on the train coaches. In this paper it also discusses on the outcomes of the field research work conducted and it was found that PUTRA LRT has a lower vibration value when compared to the MONOREL. The public opinion has also showed unanimous agreement to the field observations conducted by the researchers. However, MONOREL records lower noise levels compared to PUTRA LRT which means quieter journey experience to the commuters. It is hoped that this study will enable the operators to enhance their service weaknesses with the public playing a part in improving the urban rail transit in the City of Kuala Lumpur. Keywords:Comfortability,Noise,Vibration,LRT,MONOREL

Current sustainable building, design and construction practices in Malaysia are primarily aimed at minimizing environmental and resource impacts and improving the safety, health, and productivity of a building's final occupants. The primary objective of this study is to construct a valid and reliable instrument to quantitative measure the level of conformance by construction practitioners towards building safety and health performance of low-cost housing in Malaysia. The proposed research model was tested empirically using through a survey of 268 construction practitioners using partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modeling (SEM) tool. Statistical results confirm that architecture, building services, external environment, management approaches and maintenance management positively influences safety and health performance of low-cost housing in Malaysia. The results, besides indicating the suitability of the PLS in statistical analysis, has also contributed to a better understanding of safety and health performance of low-cost housing in Malaysia. Findings are useful for organisations, market participants and practitioners to enhance Malaysian sustainable construction.

Biochar (a by-product of biomass pyrolysis) is developed as a renewable, low-cost, and promising carbon-based electrode for electrochemical remediation of Cr, Mn and Fe in polluted river water. The biochar - electrode were prepared with two types of tailored sieved size medium (2.0 mm) and fine (150 µm). The effect of the different sieved size on the electrochemical reactor was set at 60V of voltage supply, 6 cm inter-electrode distance within 105 minutes electrolysis operational time. The results indicated that the highest removal efficiency for Cr was achieved at 95% after 105 minutes followed by Mn at 99.9% in 65 minutes and Fe at 92.76% in 105 minutes. Interestingly, the electrode with larger sieved size showed the highest removal efficiency for all three elements. These results emphasize the importance of tailoring the porous structure of the biochar electrode material as a function of the specific size of adsorbate ions to improve the electrochemical water treatment performance for polluted river water.

Road failures may be caused by many factors. In Batu Pahat district, open channel system is adopted and built on Batu Pahat Soft Soil and may be a crucial factor to probable damage of the rural roads structure. This study is focused on the drainage system for rural roads in Parit Raja, Batu Pahat. The type of damages is observed and the causes are identified. Recommendations on the best method are made to improve the effectiveness of current drainage system. Both site and laboratory geotechnical testing are carried out to analyze the causes of failure to the drainage system. Laboratory testing such as sieve analysis, moisture content, Atterberg limit, specific gravity and shear strength are conducted. While Mackintosh probes testing and vane shear test are conducted for site testing. From the analysis, four categories of drainage failure such as soil movement, edge drop, cracking and erosion due to the characteristics of soft clay that have low shear strength and high compatibility, have been determined. The propose methods to increase the effectiveness of the drainage system are to stabilize the soil using geotextiless, combination geotextiless and geocontainers, soil anchor and lime.

Systematic railway scheduling is important to encourage the public to choose rail transit system as their preferred transportation mode. However, the punctuality of trains still becomes the main problem in railway operation service in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to determine the punctuality and arrival time of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad's (KTMB) intercity trains at Kluang Railway Station. The study was conducted at Kluang Railway Station by using observation and survey methods. The observation study was focused on several types of intercity trains where the arrival times of the trains were recorded and compared with the train schedule. Next, the survey was aimed to obtain passengers' perspective towards the punctuality of the trains. As a result from the observation, the average arrival time delay for all observed trains was around 10 min. In addition, most of the passengers responded that the punctuality of the intercity trains was poor and this punctuality issue has to be improved. The results obtained from this study are useful to enhance the train services.

Today natural fiber polymer composites are being extensively used as alternatives in producing furniture to fulfill society demand instead of saving cost and environmentally friendly. The objective of this search is to investigate the untreated fine and rough kenaf fiber (KF) as well as treated KF reinforced with polypropylene (PP) on the flexural strength. Flexural strengths of pure PP, 10%, and 20% of untreated fine and rough KF by weight to PP have been recorded. In addition, flexural strengths of treated KF soaked with 5% and 10% of Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) have also been recorded. KF reinforced PP (PP/KF) untreated and treated composites were melt blended and then injection molded to observe their flexural strengths by measuring their threshold. Three point bending test was apply to determine the flexural stress of the composites. The result show treated fine KF produce better flexural performance at 20% PP/KF. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is used to observe the morphological surface PP/KF. Overall 5% NaOH with 20% PP/KF (Fine KF) show good interfacial bonding PP/KF and best result with flexural stress value 30.25MPa.Today natural fiber polymer composites are being extensively used as alternatives in producing furniture to fulfill society demand instead of saving cost and environmentally friendly. The objective of this search is to investigate the untreated fine and rough kenaf fiber (KF) as well as treated KF reinforced with polypropylene (PP) on the flexural strength. Flexural strengths of pure PP, 10%, and 20% of untreated fine and rough KF by weight to PP have been recorded. In addition, flexural strengths of treated KF soaked with 5% and 10% of Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) have also been recorded. KF reinforced PP (PP/KF) untreated and treated composites were melt blended and then injection molded to observe their flexural strengths by measuring their threshold. Three point bending test was apply to determine the flexural stress of the composites. The result show treated fine KF produce better flexural performance at 20% PP/KF. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is used to observe the morphological surface PP/KF. Over...

Objectives: To determine the reinforcing effect of a cheap Recycle Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) fibre on asphalt concrete strength. The aim of this study was achieved by performing Resilient Modulus (MR) test in the laboratory on both unreinforced (i.e. neat asphalt mixture) and recycle PET fibre reinforced asphalt concrete mixtures. Methods: The percentage additions of recycle PET fibres are 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.7% and 1% of the total weight of the mixture. The result was analyzed by means of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using Design Expert 7.0 software and validated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings: The results indicated that recycle PET fibres have significantly increased the mixtures’ resilient modulus in lower temperature hence improved fatigue resistance, and moderately increased mixtures, resilient modulus at higher temperature hence improved rutting resistance. Novelty/Improvement: This research has introduced a sustainable means of producing Recycle fibres for the reinforcement of asphalt concrete mixtures. Recycle PET fibre have proved to be effective in strength improvement at 0.7% of total weight of asphalt concrete mixture.

Water quality degradation in the Selangor River will still be present in the years to come since pollutant loads from poultry farms, municipal wastewaters, and industrial wastewaters are not envisaged to be handled effectively. This will be facing the problems of water quality status to use for multiple purposes and to provide its aquatic environment continuously. The water quality evaluation system is used to assess the water quality condition in the river. This system distinguishes two categories of water condition i.e., the water quality index and water quality aptitude. The assessment of water quality for the Selangor River from nine stations along the main stream, which concludes that water has been highly polluted (index 5) immediately downstream of station 02 Selangor River before confluence with Kubu River due to high concentration of microorganisms and immediately downstream of station 06 Selangor River before confluence with Batang Kali River due to high concentrations of microorganisms and suspended particles, was verified. Mineral micropollutants were found to gradually pollute the stream water, ranging from the unpolluted water (index 1) in the upstream to the bad quality (index 4) in the downstream area.

This study aimed to evaluate the permanent deformation and aging conditions of BatuPahat soft clay–modified asphalt mixture, also called BatuPahat soft clay (BPSC) particles; these particles are used in powder form as an additive to hot-mix asphalt mixture. In this experiment, five percentage compositions of BPSC (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%) by weight of bitumen were used. A novel design was established to modify the hot-mix asphalt by using the Superpave method for each additive ratio. Several laboratory tests evaluating different properties, such as indirect tensile strength, resilient stiffness modulus, and dynamic creep, was conducted to assess the performance of the samples mixed through the Superpave method. In the resilient modulus test, fatigue and rutting resistance were reduced by the BPSC particles. The added BPSC particles increased the indirect tensile strength. Among the mixtures, 4% BPSC particles yielded the highest performance. In the dynamic creep test, 4% BPSC particles added to the unaged and short-term aged specimens also showed the highest performance. Based on these results, our conclusion is that the BPSC particles can alleviate the permanent deformation (rutting) of roads.

Building construction on soft soils including on peat has many challenges and difficulties. The failed and deteriorated buildings have a big impact on the community. The IConCEES International Workshop 2015 which was conducted on October 2015 convened as a joint venture between Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) and the University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS). The aim was to invite regional experts from academia and the industry to formally present and discuss the various construction problems encountered when working with peat. The discussions were divided into two divisions; infrastructure and building construction. This paper discusses the outcomes of the workshop and focuses on the factors and relevant challenges when constructing buildings on peat. The experts have discussed regulatory and construction issues including: drainage issues, site investigation practices, monitoring and construction guidelines. A few suggestions were outlined as a remedy to these problems and to better assist the peat practitioner at work.

Public transport is one of the facilities available in Malaysia. Overwhelming demand from the community has demanded public transport as an alternative for some people to do their daily activities. The increasing of Malaysian population brought many problems to the environment especially traffic congestion problem. The Government spends a lot of money to overcome this problem [10]. Public transport has been upgraded to ensure user comfort. Most people in the city are more interested in using railway transport as traffic congestion and travel time accuracy is better than other public transport [1, 5]. To influence public demand, the facilities available at the train station should be complete [3, 5]. The choice of location for the study are Batu Gajah station (station 1) and Kluang station (station 2) for rural services while Bandar Tasik Selatan station (station 3) and KL Central station (station 4) for urban services. The results of this study showed that, based on data and information obtained from field survey work and the feedback questionnaires from users, basic facilities at railway stations surveyed for urban and rural services can be identified and listed. An analysis of the status of the facilities at railway stations can be established through the safety of passengers and observations in the field. The facilities available at the urban service station are more complete than in rural service station. Facilities at railway station should be improved to attract people using the facilities.

Road Infrastructures contribute towards many severe accidents and it needs supervision as to improve road safety levels. The numbers of fatalities have increased annually and road authority should seriously consider conducting programs or activities to periodically monitor, restore of improve road infrastructure. Implementation of road safety audits may reduce fatalities among road users and maintain road safety at acceptable standards. This paper is aimed to discuss the aspects of road infrastructure in Malaysia. The research signifies the impact of road hazards during the observations and the impact of road infrastructure types on road accidents. The F050 (Jalan Kluang-Batu Pahat) road case study showed that infrastructure risk is closely related with number of accident. As the infrastructure risk increase, the number of road accidents also increase. It was also found that different road zones along Jalan Kluang- Batu Pahat showed different level of intersection volume due to number of road intersection. Thus, it is hoped that by implementing continuous assessment on road infrastructures, it might be able to reduce road accidents and fatalities among drives and the community.

The heavy metal removal enhancement from polluted river water was investigated using two types of electrodes consist of integrated carbon-aluminium and a conventional aluminium plate electrode at laboratory-scale experiments. In the integrated electrode systems, the aluminium electrode surface was coated with carbon using mixed slurry containing carbon black, polyvinyl acetate and methanol. The electrochemical treatment was conducted on the parameter condition of 90V applied voltage, 3cm of electrode distance and 60 minutes of electrolysis operational time. Surface of both electrodes was investigated for pre and post electrolysis treatment by using SEM-EDX analytical technique. Comparison between both of the electrode configuration exhibits that more metals were accumulated on carbon integrated electrode surfaces for both anode and cathode, and more heavy metals were detected on the cathode. The atomic percentage of metals distributed on the cathode conventional electrode surface consist of Al (94.62%), Zn (1.19%), Mn (0.73%), Fe (2.81%) and Cu (0.64%), while on the anode contained O (12.08%), Al (87.63%) and Zn (0.29%). Meanwhile, cathode surface of integrated electrode was accumulated with more metals; O (75.40%), Al (21.06%), Zn (0.45%), Mn (0.22), Fe (0.29%), Cu (0.84%), Pb (0.47%), Na (0.94%), Cr (0.08%), Ni (0.02%) and Ag (0.22%), while on anode contain Al (3.48%), Fe (0.49 %), C (95.77%), and Pb (0.26%). According to this experiment, it was found that integrated carbon-aluminium electrodes have a great potential to accumulate more heavy metal species from polluted water compare to the conventional aluminium electrode. Here, heavy metal accumulation process obviously very significant on the cathode surface.

In any context, operation and management of transportation systems are key issues which may affect both life quality and economic development. In large urban agglomerations, an efficient public transportation system may help abate the negative externalities of private car use such as congestion, air and noise pollution, accident and fuel consumption, without excessively penalizing user travel times or zone accessibility. Thus, this study is conducted to appraise the Malaysian rural rail transit operation and management system, which are considered important as there are many issues and solution in integration of the services that need to be tackled more conscientiously. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the most important issues on integration of services and rail transit system in Malaysian and how to solve or reduce these problems and conflicts. In this paper, it consists of the historical development of rail transit construction in Malaysia. This paper also attempts to identify the important issues related to rail transit services and integration in Malaysian rural rail operation and management system. Comparison is also conducted with other countries such as UK, France, and Japan. Finally, a critical analysis is presented in this paper by looking at the possible application for future Malaysian rail transit operation system and management, especially focusing on enhancing the quality of Malaysian rural rail transit. In conclusion, this paper is expected to successfully review and appraise the existing Malaysian rural rail transit operation and management system pertaining to issues & solution in integration. It is also hoped that reformation or transformation of present service delivery quality of the rail transit operation and management will enable Malaysia to succeed in transforming Malaysian transportation system to greater heights.

Construction of infrastructures on peat land is a very challenging task due to its properties of low shear strength, high compressibility and high water content. This paper summarizes various solutions which could be adopted for the construction of infrastructure on peat, as reviewed by the experts and panels during IConCEES International Workshop 2015. Engineers could (a) avoid peat, such as to transfer the load to the hard layers through end bearing piles or to replace the peat with the other soils, or (b) construct on peat with special precautions, such as by reducing the weight of the construction materials and dewatering the peat to improve the engineering properties. This paper serves to generate new ideas and give insights of the problems commonly encountered by the industry. Some of the proposed solutions might never be tested on peat. This would rely on the researchers to take up the challenge to further investigate and address the technical issues outlined in this paper.

In recent years, more studies had been conducted about train dwell time as it is a key parameter of rail system performance and reliability. This paper draws an overview of train dwell time models for rail passenger service from various continents, namely Asia, North America, Europe and Australia. The factors affecting train dwell time are identified and analysed across some rail network operators. The dwell time models developed by various researches are also discussed and reviewed. Finally, the contributions from the outcomes of these models are briefly addressed. In conclusion, this paper suggests that there is a need to further study the factors with strong influence upon dwell time to improve the quality of the train services.

Traffic accidents are considered as an unplanned and unfortunate event which is a serious concern to the community as well as the authority. An accident-counter measure can reduce the rate of road accidents by initially identifying critical locations. The total of road accidents along FT 024 between 2009 and 2012 is 907 cases. Road accidents during the same period range between 24 % and 26 % each year. These accidents killed 34 people and injuring another 101 people. This research aims to identify factors that may contribute to the cause of accidents and to study the effects of speed, volume and road geometry on road accidents. In this study, the locations labelled as km 1, km 2, km 4, km 8, km 5 and km 14 of Federal Route FT 024 Yong Peng - Parit Sulong were selected as the study-case sections based on Accident Point Weightage of ranking, in which each location has different road characteristics. Speed study was carried out at selected road sections to evaluate the influence of speed upon road accidents; and traffic volume count was conducted at the same selected road sections to determine the existing condition of the route. Besides, road geometry observations and measurements were also conducted at selected sections, they were also studied to evaluate influence of road designs upon road accidents. The extracted data were analyzed by using regression analysis on different variables to evaluate the relationship between accident Weightage point and other dependent variables that were considered to have considerable effects upon road accidents such as mean speed, volume, shoulder width, lane width and access point. P value below 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. After conducting data analysis, this study showed that the number of road accidents increases with the increment of speed and access point. On the other hand, volume has no strong relationship to road accidents which means that it may not have an effect on accidents. Moreover, based on the assumptions made by the researchers and project supervisors, road safety index development is important for the selected road sections along FT 024 to improve the road conditions in terms of safety and also to propose improvements at the selected locations in order to reduce accident rate. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2016 Language: en

Sustainable development is fast emerging as one of the main priorities of construction industry in Malaysia. Malaysians of all income levels, particularly the low-income group, would have accessibility to adequate, affordable and quality shelter. As a result, safety and health performance in the low-cost housing has become a rising concern. This study attempts to explore the influence of architecture, building services, external environment, operation and maintenance and management approaches on the building safety and health performance among the construction practitioners in Malaysia and their subsequent personal responsibility. The study used the Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) tool to test the hypotheses generated. Findings from the Partial Least Squares analysis revealed that architecture, building services, external environment, operation and maintenance and management approaches are vital determinants contributing to safety and health performance of low-cost housing in the Malaysian context. In turn, this determinant that is formed will largely determine whether the construction practitioners engage in influencing personal responsibility towards building safety and health performance. Implications, limitations as well as suggestions for future research are accordingly discussed in this study.