Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics. Bridges form an important part of our physical infrastructure system and in Queensland alone there are nearly 3000 bridges with an annual maintenance cost in excess of 20 million dollars and a replacement value in excess of 2 billion dollars. It is necessary to ensure that these bridges function safely and efficiently at all times. Bridge failure will cause disruption to normal lives and expensive repa ....Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics. Bridges form an important part of our physical infrastructure system and in Queensland alone there are nearly 3000 bridges with an annual maintenance cost in excess of 20 million dollars and a replacement value in excess of 2 billion dollars. It is necessary to ensure that these bridges function safely and efficiently at all times. Bridge failure will cause disruption to normal lives and expensive repairs. Towards this end, this project will develop an innovative structural health monitoring system to monitor and maintain the structural health of our bridges. The project outcomes will have immediate applications in Australia and overseas with economic and social benefits to the community.Read moreRead less
Optimisation of Rail Network Infrastructure Capacity under Dynamic Train Planning. Recent changes in railway operating environments have caused significant operational and management problems in Australia. This research will lead to improvements of railway's key managerial functions, namely: network capacity planning; rollingstock planning; train scheduling; and maintenance planning. The major outcome of the research will be to develop an optimisation model to significantly improve the operati ....Optimisation of Rail Network Infrastructure Capacity under Dynamic Train Planning. Recent changes in railway operating environments have caused significant operational and management problems in Australia. This research will lead to improvements of railway's key managerial functions, namely: network capacity planning; rollingstock planning; train scheduling; and maintenance planning. The major outcome of the research will be to develop an optimisation model to significantly improve the operating efficiency and assets productivity of Australia's rail system. The novelty of the research is that it will be undertaken using innovations based on modern job shop scheduling and sequencing optimisation techniques as the complexity of the problem makes it impossible to solve by classic optimisation techniques.Read moreRead less
Wave Climate in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sea surface roughness has a major influence on global climate modelling. This project will provide a better understanding of the variability of sea waves in coastal waters. New technology of HF ocean radar can map wave fields over coastal waters and thus fill a gap between the open ocean satellite measurements and the point measurements from wave buoys. In this project we will improve the analysis of the radar echoes to produce sea wave spectra, a ....Wave Climate in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Sea surface roughness has a major influence on global climate modelling. This project will provide a better understanding of the variability of sea waves in coastal waters. New technology of HF ocean radar can map wave fields over coastal waters and thus fill a gap between the open ocean satellite measurements and the point measurements from wave buoys. In this project we will improve the analysis of the radar echoes to produce sea wave spectra, and evaluate focussing of waves by complex currents on the continental shelf to help improve wave forecasting in coastal waters. The HF radar will be used to experimentally test current theories of wind wave spreading.Read moreRead less
Assessing the full impacts of high efficiency heavy vehicles in urban traffic networks using new analytical tools. Significant economic benefits result from new innovative heavy vehicles, which are able to carry up to twice the payload of standard semi-trailers. In addition, those vehicles have the potential to reduce overall accidents and evironmental degradation. Those benefits need to be traded-off against the impacts on other road users. This research will improve the operation of such ve ....Assessing the full impacts of high efficiency heavy vehicles in urban traffic networks using new analytical tools. Significant economic benefits result from new innovative heavy vehicles, which are able to carry up to twice the payload of standard semi-trailers. In addition, those vehicles have the potential to reduce overall accidents and evironmental degradation. Those benefits need to be traded-off against the impacts on other road users. This research will improve the operation of such vehicles in regional centres by producing: (1) an assessment methodology to deal with options for network efficiency gains which will capture the full impacts; and (2) a computer modelling tool based on fundamental research to quantify those impacts, in terms of delays and accident rates.Read moreRead less
Funding on the line: public transport financing and property value capture. This project aims to develop property value capture schemes that would provide alternative funding for public transport infrastructure. It plans to model the timing and spatial patterns of property value uplift from recent investments in rail, busways and ferries in Queensland and New South Wales. It then intends to conduct a survey of Australian stakeholders and discrete choice modelling to determine willingness-to-pay. ....Funding on the line: public transport financing and property value capture. This project aims to develop property value capture schemes that would provide alternative funding for public transport infrastructure. It plans to model the timing and spatial patterns of property value uplift from recent investments in rail, busways and ferries in Queensland and New South Wales. It then intends to conduct a survey of Australian stakeholders and discrete choice modelling to determine willingness-to-pay. This data is then expected to be used to develop an institutionally, legally and politically feasible scheme for implementation in Australia, focused on cases including extension to the Gold Coast light rail network.Read moreRead less
Assessing the determinants and consequences of safety climate in the maritime industry. This project will examine the predictors and outcomes of safety climate in the Australian maritime industry. Findings from this project will be used to improve safety policies, regulations and practices that aim to minimise the number of accidents and incidents in Australian waters.
A novel integrated motorway management system for less congested, more reliable and safer motorways. Motorway traffic congestion poses major economic, social and safety problems, which this project seeks to address through intelligent traffic management solutions as an alternative to massive infrastructure expansion. The project’s innovative traffic analysis and control system will reduce periods of congestion and increase driver safety.
Minimization of emissions from dimethyl ether (DME) combustion in a diesel engine. The project works on the utilization of dimethyl ether, an innovative clean fuel produced from coal or natural gas, as a diesel substitute. The utilization of DME in diesel engines can potentially reduce the emissions by 90%, making it possible to meet the strictest engine standard. In the meantime the engine efficiency can be improved. The outcomes of the project will help accelarate the maturity of the DME mark ....Minimization of emissions from dimethyl ether (DME) combustion in a diesel engine. The project works on the utilization of dimethyl ether, an innovative clean fuel produced from coal or natural gas, as a diesel substitute. The utilization of DME in diesel engines can potentially reduce the emissions by 90%, making it possible to meet the strictest engine standard. In the meantime the engine efficiency can be improved. The outcomes of the project will help accelarate the maturity of the DME market in Australia. Read moreRead less
Predictive Analytics and Real-time Traffic Control for Urban Corridors. This project aims to develop predictive data analytics and real-time traffic control and safety models for multimodal management of urban corridors, serving two salient objectives: (1) optimising person-throughput of multimodal traffic; while (2) minimising safety risks for all modes. The outcome will be an automated, sensor-based platform to monitor traffic flows from all modes and make proactive and coordinated control dec ....Predictive Analytics and Real-time Traffic Control for Urban Corridors. This project aims to develop predictive data analytics and real-time traffic control and safety models for multimodal management of urban corridors, serving two salient objectives: (1) optimising person-throughput of multimodal traffic; while (2) minimising safety risks for all modes. The outcome will be an automated, sensor-based platform to monitor traffic flows from all modes and make proactive and coordinated control decisions in real-time. The expected benefits are profound; the developed algorithms and platform will significantly reduce traffic congestion, travel delays and safety risks for all modes of transport, especially for vulnerable road users (e.g. pedestrians and cyclists).Read moreRead less
Traffic Incidents: Reducing the Impacts. Road congestion due to traffic incidents in major urban areas adversely affects traveller safety and travel reliability, and is a significant cost burden to industry and the community in social, environmental and economic terms. This project will investigate the impact of traffic incidents, with the aim being to produce outcomes that contribute to more efficient traffic management, and specifically to reducing the incident duration. Outcomes will include ....Traffic Incidents: Reducing the Impacts. Road congestion due to traffic incidents in major urban areas adversely affects traveller safety and travel reliability, and is a significant cost burden to industry and the community in social, environmental and economic terms. This project will investigate the impact of traffic incidents, with the aim being to produce outcomes that contribute to more efficient traffic management, and specifically to reducing the incident duration. Outcomes will include the development of decision support tools to aid in policy and operational responses, as well as the development of faster and more comprehensive accident reconstruction based on spatial information technology. Read moreRead less