Transportation Infrastructure

Hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated collapsible soils can be drastically affected by saline infiltrations. Saline infiltrations into the underlain soil layers of the urban transportation and lifelines due to deicing or existence of traffic pollutants has been a common issue of concern for years in many countries. Additionally, many reports have been published so far, indicating the construction of roads and railways on unsaturated collapsible soils. In this research, hydro-mechanical characteristics of an unsaturated collapsible loessial soil diluted with saturated solutions of three different salts that are frequently involved in transportation infrastructure (namely NaCl, CaCl 2 and KCl) are investigated by conducting scanning electron microscopy (SEM), filter paper, uniaxial compression and oedometer tests. Obtained test results have been analyzed by simultaneous consideration of the matric and osmotic suctions in the soil texture and the applied stresses. Test results revealed that the soil texture and hydro-mechanical responses of the soil are considerably affected by the salt type, saline degree of saturation and applied loading paths. Results also imply that there is a critical saline degree of saturation (corresponded to each loading path and each mixing salt type), at which the magnitude and modality of the osmotic and matric suctions within the soil fabric are changed. In addition to experimental studies, empirical constitutive models are presented in this paper to predict the changes in strength, stiffness and yield stress of the tested collapsible soil subjected to different road salts. Comparisons show very good agreement between the laboratory test results and the model predictions. The achievements presented in this research can be directly implemented for better prediction of the behavior of unsaturated collapsible soils subjected to salinity. In addition, the result can be implemented in a suitable stabilization plan when the soil and salt involved in transportation infrastructures.

Özet
Bu çalışma ulaştırma altyapıları ve ağlarının ülkelerin refah seviyeleri üzerindeki etkilerini incelemektedir. Bilindiği gibi, ulaştırma ağları ülkelerin ekonomik stratejilerini şekillendiren önemli bir unsurdur. Ulaştırma sistemleri, mal ve hizmetler için yer ve zaman faydası yaratmaktadır. Böylece ulaştırma sistemleri piyasa dengesinin oluşumuna katkı sağlamaktadır.
Günümüzde ekonomik entegrasyonlar, ulaştırma sistemlerindeki teknolojik gelişmeler sayesinde sınırlarını daha fazla genişletebilme yetisi elde etmişlerdir. Bu gelişmeler, bireyler ve mal/hizmetlerin mobilitesini kolaylaştırmaktadır. Kısacası “Via est Vita”, yani “yol hayattır”.
Bu çalışma ile ulaştırma sistemleri ve ekonomik entegrasyonların sahip olduğu refah düzeyinin ilişkisi incelenmektedir. Buna ilave olarak, çalışmada ulaştırma sistemlerinin Türkiye ile Türk Cumhuriyetleri arasındaki ilişkiler açısından önemi de vurgulanmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Ulaştırma Altyapısı, Ulaştırma Ağları, Ekonomik Entegrasyonlar, Ekonomik Kalkınma, Türk Dünyası.

Abstract
This paper explores the impacts of transportation infrastructures and networks on welfare of countries. As it is known, the transportation systems are always important for economic strategies of countries. Transportation systems provides benefits in place and time for transport of goods and services. Thus transportation systems contributes the equilibrium on the market.
Nowadays economic integrations have abilities to achieve wide boundaries through technologic improvements on transportation systems. Also these improvements facilitates mobility for individuals and goods/services. “Via est Vita” in brief, namely “the way is life”.
In this paper, it is investigated that the relations between the transportation systems and welfare of economic integrations. In addition, it is emphasized that importance of transportation systems for Turkey’s and other Turkish Republics’s relations.

Key words: Transportation Infrastructure, Transportation Networks, Economic Integrations, Economic Development, Turkish World.

As the average cost of owning a car, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), has risen to nearly $9,000 per year (see Table 1)  in contrast the annual cost of public transit in the City and County of San Francisco is between about $1,200 and $850 (see Table 2), while the annual bike ownership cost is about $300.  Due to the high cost of car ownership many low-income individuals and families turn to less costly alternatives for their transportation needs.

Given the realities of the prohibitive cost of car ownership the City of San Francisco has been profoundly committed to increasing the infrastructure for less expensive transportation options.  The City has invested substantial time, money, and material resources on infrastructure projects that ensure that cycling is a safe and viable mode of transit for both visitors and residents and in doing so have become an international leader in bicycle ridership.  However, the good intentions of the City and bicycle advocates have lacked certain cultural, socio-economic, and racial competences to address the bike issues facing residents in District 11 and more specifically the Excelsior neighborhood.

The 4th edition of the World Pensions & Investments Forum – Paris, October 23 & 24 2014 - was held against the backdrop of severe economic slowdown in Mainland Europe, resurgent military tensions in Eastern Europe and the Arabian Gulf, declining oil and commodities prices affecting nations as diverse as Australia, Canada, South Africa and Mexico, and, more generally, a sense that the global economic landscape was still marred by menacing “legacies, clouds and uncertainties.”

Guido Schmidt-Traub, Executive Director, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network explained how institutional investors can help “fast-track sustainable investments
and foster quantifiable development goals”, while Robin Edme, Coordinator, Responsible Finance, French Ministry of Ecology, President, Group of Friends of Paragraph 47, the Inter-Governmental Sustainable Development Initiative, talked about the usefulness  of “sustainability reporting metrics”. Many institutional investors and regulators present concurred, expressing hope that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) held in Paris in December 2015 would lead to concrete headways.

M. Nicolas J. Firzli, WPC, announced that the 5th Annual World Pensions Forum would be held in Paris December 2 & 3 2015 in association with supranational organizations, regional think-tanks and pension and SWF investors present in Paris for the Climate Change Conference.