Transportation Infrastructure Systems

Intercontinental Embarrassment for Berlin: Grand Opening of BER Berlin-Brandenburg Airport Delayed (in Italian)

by Denis Bocquet

Published in: Il Giornale dell'Architettura, n.106, p.14, June 2012

A reaction to the announcement of the impossibility for the authorities in charge of the construction and management... more A reaction to the announcement of the impossibility for the authorities in charge of the construction and management of the new BER Berlin-Brandenburg airport to open on time.

Key words:
BBI, BER, Schönefeld, Tegel, Berlin, Germany, Germania, aeroporto, delay, fiasco, Willy Brandt, Rainer Schwarz, Klaus Wowereit, Matthias Platzeck, Bosch, Siemens, Hartmut Mehdorn, SPD, CDU, SXF, TXL, One World, Air Berlin, Lufthansa, Easyjet,

The road: An ethnography of the Albanian-Greek cross-border motorway. In American Ethnologist vol 37

by Dimitris Dalakoglou

This article is an ethnographic study of a 29-kilometer stretch of cross-border highway located in South Albania and... more This article is an ethnographic study of a 29-kilometer stretch of cross-border highway located in South Albania and linking the city of Gjirokaster with the main checkpoint on the Albanian–Greek border. The road, its politics, and its poetics
constitute an ideal point of entry for an anthropological analysis of contemporary South Albania. The physical and social construction, uses, and perceptions of this road uniquely encapsulate three phenomena that dominate social life in postsocialist South Albania: the transition to a market economy, new nationalisms, and massive emigration (mainly to Greece). Taking this cross-border road section as my main ethnographic
point of reference, I suggest the fruitfulness of further discussion of the relationship between roads, narratives, and anthropology.

[roads, globalization, transnationalism, development, postsocialism, materiality, Albania]

Carse A (2012) Nature as infrastructure: Making and managing the Panama Canal Watershed.” Social Studies of Science 32(4).

by Ashley Carse

In: Special Issue on Water and Science and Technology Studies, Samer Alatout & Jessica Barnes, eds. Comments by Karen Bakker & Wiebe Bijker.

The Panama Canal requires an enormous volume of fresh water to function. A staggering 52 million gallons are released... more The Panama Canal requires an enormous volume of fresh water to function. A staggering 52 million gallons are released into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with each of the 35–45 ships that transit the canal daily. The water that facilitates interoceanic transportation and global connection falls as rain across the watershed surrounding the canal and is managed by an extensive system of locks, dams, and hydrographic stations. These technologies – which correspond with the popular understanding of infrastructure as hardware – were largely constructed during the early 20th century. Since the late 1970s, however, administrators and other concerned actors have responded to actual and potential water scarcity within the canal system by developing a managerial approach that integrates engineered technologies and new techniques of land-use planning and environmental regulation across the watershed. Through this process, techno-politics and environmental politics have become increasingly inextricable in the transit zone. Whereas canal administrators previously emphasized the control of water in its liquid state, watershed management emerged as an attempt to manipulate water flows through the legal protection of forests and restriction of agriculture. As forested landscapes have been assigned new infrastructural functions (water storage and regulation), campesino farmers have been charged with a new responsibility (forest conservation) often at odds with their established agricultural practices. Consequently, I bring together scholarship on infrastructure in science and technology studies and political ecology in anthropology and geography to examine why, how, and to what effect landscapes around the canal have been transformed from agricultural frontier to managed watershed. I suggest that the concept of infrastructure is a useful theoretical tool and empirical topic for analyzing the politics of environmental service provision. By paying attention to the contingent history of engineering decisions and the politics embedded in the changing socio-technical system that delivers water to the canal, we can better understand the distributional politics of environmental service provision in Panama today.

Planned and Integrated Approach to Maintenance of Urban Infrastructure in Nigeria

by Chukwuma Nwuba

Co-authored with Babatunde M. Salawu. Published in Environ-Tech Vol. 1. No 1, November, 2010

Abstract

Infrastructure is a key element in the generation of economic growth and development and the main... more Abstract

Infrastructure is a key element in the generation of economic growth and development and the main driver of urban activities. It is the economic and social underpinnings of a society and the life wire of the urban system. Nigeria’s urban infrastructure is in deplorable and inefficient state due largely to lack of effective maintenance resulting from the current reactive, remedial, “task force” approach to maintenance and inefficient infrastructure management system. The situation has had strong negative impact on economic growth and development. A proactive approach involving planning and integration is proposed. It advocates a planned system of maintenance with proper balance between preventive and corrective measures, and the integration of the activities of the various urban infrastructure management agencies and the various aspects of infrastructure maintenance using GIS technology to enable the different agencies deal with
various aspects of infrastructure maintenance and management in an integrated environment. It is a long term solution and is intended to make maintenance efficient and cost effective. The proposal will face challenges but its prospects are high. It is believed that with its adoption by the various governments, the problem of poor state of urban infrastructure will be dealt with.

A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Wonder World Drive Overpass in San Marcos, Texas

by Texas State PA Applied Research Projects

Ascott, Elizabeth J., "A Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Wonder World Drive Overpass in San Marcos, Texas" (2006). Applied Research Projects, Texas State University-San Marcos. Paper 104.
http://ecommons.txstate.edu/arp/104

The purpose of this paper is to two fold. First is to hold a detailed discussion about benefit-cost analysis and how... more The purpose of this paper is to two fold. First is to hold a detailed discussion about benefit-cost analysis and how it is used. The second is to apply the theory of benefit-cost analysis to a real project: the Wonder World Drive overpass in San Marcos, Texas. The discussion about benefit-cost analysis looks at how to identify costs and benefits that are involved in a project and then how to measure these costs and benefits in dollar amounts. The importance of time and discount rate is discussed and an appropriate discount rate established. Finally the types of decision criterion are identified and correlated with the appropriate policy type.

The City of San Marcos has approved funding to build an overpass on Wonder World Drive in order to bypass the frequent trains that plague the City. This will be the first train overpass in the city. Because this is the first overpass, there were many benefits to be considered. The costs and benefits of the project are identified and utilized in a conceptual framework table. This conceptual framework table is then operationalized to measure the costs and benefits in dollar amounts.

The Wonder World Drive overpass is a single decision model, meaning that there are no competing policies decisions. The best decision criterion is to find the Net Present Value of the project. The Discount rate that has been used is the same that is mandated by the Office of Management and Budget. Private and social rates are used to show what the project is worth using varying rates.

The costs and benefits are considered over the life of the project (25 years) and discounted accordingly to find the present value. Once the present value of each cost and benefit is know, the net present value of the project is established.

The results show the Wonder World Drive overpass is not a viable project. The costs exceed the expected benefits at both the private and social discount rates. This does not necessary mean that this is a poor investment for the City of San Marcos. This overpass is an important step for the City to bring its transportation infrastructure up to speed with its rapidly growing population. This benefit-cost analysis can be used as a model for future proposed overpasses in the area to improve the decision making policy makers are faced with.

Evaluating Agility in Extended Enterprise Systems: A Transportation Network case

by Ali Mostashari

Agility of an enterprise system is considered as its ability to adapt successfully and efficiently to unexpected... more Agility of an enterprise system is considered as its ability to adapt successfully and efficiently to unexpected changes of the environment. Agility is key in effectiveness of enterprise systems and also it is crucial in gaining competitive advantage in global market. Approach: This is particularly true in the case of an Extended Enterprise System (EES), which represents a network of interconnected enterprises. Infrastructure systems such as transportation systems are generally considered examples of an EES. Results: The efficiency of an EES generally lies in its responsiveness to the change and the ability of all its constituents in working effectively in order to achieve a common objective. As a result, agility might prove to be a very important ingredient for an EES to thrive and sustain in today’s highly complex and interrelated environment. The purpose of this study is to introduce an assessment method and a subsequent agility index to evaluate agility in a generic EES and utilize it to a selected part of the New York City transportation network. The proposed method in this research is essential for understanding the nature and quality of interaction among constituent systems and provides stakeholders with the knowledge that is necessary for agility management in an EES. The contribution of this study to the domain of management and systems science are twofold. Firstly, the proposed method is expected to be a prominent part of the available literatures on evaluating the agility of an EES. Secondly, it is applied to a transportation network case, which as an infrastructure system is considered to be a classic example of an EES. Conclusion: Findings of such research will be useful in developing network agility strategies from the governance perspective.

Las infraestructuras madrileñas de transporte y la crisis económica: la necesidad de un cambio de prioridades

by Federico Pablo-Martí

Las infraestructuras madrileñas de transporte y la crisis económica: la necesidad de un cambio de prioridades

Tras dos décadas de fuertes inversiones en infraestructuras en la Comunidad de Madrid, los recortes financieros que la... more Tras dos décadas de fuertes inversiones en infraestructuras en la Comunidad de Madrid, los recortes financieros que la crisis económica está trayendo consigo hacen necesario plantearse a las administraciones públicas si las inversiones en este ámbito siguen siendo prioritarias; especialmente si se tiene en cuenta la decreciente eficiencia económica de algunas de las actuaciones más recientes, como es el caso de las nuevas autopistas radiales.
En el presente artículo se muestra como la posición de la Comunidad de Madrid en infraestructuras de transporte es en la actualidad razonablemente buena, tanto en términos nacionales como europeos, mientras otros determinantes de la competitividad regional de igual relevancia, pero probablemente con una menor aceptación social, muestran unas mayores deficiencias y requerirían, por lo tanto, una mayor atención.

The Seine-Europe Canal Project (in Italian)

by Denis Bocquet

published in Il Giornale dell'Architettura, n.96, July 2011, p.10

A presentation of the project by "voies navigables de France" and the French government of upgrading the... more A presentation of the project by "voies navigables de France" and the French government of upgrading the canal from the Seine river to Northern and Central Europe (Oise-Escaut) to a high capacity infrastructure.
A discussion of this project in the context of the Trans-European Networks -Transport (TEN-T) framework
A critical examination of the financing solution chosen: a PPP in which public subsidies might mostly serve to ease private profits.
Key Words: canal, Seine river, infrastructure, France, PPP (public private partnership), Bouygues, Vinci, Eiffage, Le Havre, Rouen, Dunkerque, Rotterdam, Anvers, hinterland

Incorporating Transportation Network Structure In Spatial Econometric Models of Commodity Flows

by Wolfgang Polasek