Hazardous Materials are potentially harmful to people and environment due to their toxic ingredients. Although a significant portion of dangerous goods transportation is via railroads, prevailing studies on dangerous goods transport focus on highway shipments. We present an analytical framework that incorporates the differentiating features of trains in the assessment of risk. Each railcar is a potential source of release, and hence risk assessment of trains requires representation of multiple release sources in the model. We report on the use of the proposed approach for the risk assessment of the Ultra-train that passes through the city of Montreal everyday. The risk assessment methodology is then used to model the operations of freight trains in a network, wherein freight involves both hazardous and regular cargo. We present an optimization model distinct from the conventional ones, a Memetic Algorithm based solution technique, and a number of scenarios intended to gain numerical and managerial insights into the problem. In an effort to combine the economies of trains and efficiencies of trucks, we deal with rail-truck intermodalism for hazardous and non-hazardous cargo. Two special cases and a general case of rail-truck intermodal transportation models, driven by the element of ' time', are presented.

No description available.

Hazardous materials data from business and industrial chemical information and incident databases were analyzed to study the types of chemicals located in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties, Oregon. Federal and Oregon Department of Transportation data were analyzed to study traffic patterns and truck and railroad traffic levels. Results indicate more than 2,000 chemical products are reported by businesses and industries in the three counties, with about 1,000 hazardous ingredients. The primary hazard Classes for these chemicals are flammable fuels, corrosives, and poisonous materials. Diesel, heating fuel, gasoline, and related fuels comprised more than 50% of the materials transported in the study area. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to input industrial and business locations of hazardous materials, historic hazardous materials incidents, traffic densities, population centers, and traffic network intersections. These metrics were modeled as risk factors for potential hazardous materials transportation risks. For Benton County, these factors were combined with population density and critical facilities themes to provide the basis for overlay and proximity analysis for the purpose of facilitating emergency planning and to foster public awareness. Located on the Interstate 5 corridor, Linn County uses and transports a greater variety of hazardous materials than Benton or Lincoln Counties. For example, fifty-one of fifty-five extremely hazardous substances found in the three county area were reported in Linn County, with 24 reported in Benton County, and 6 reported in Lincoln County. Data from Oregon Department of Transportation were extracted to assess accident and traffic patterns and integrate these risk factors with hazardous materials information. One federal and one state database reporting hazardous materials incidents were analyzed. Although traffic increased on study area roads more than 25% in the last decade, two hazardous materials incidents databases did not indicate an increasing number of emergency spill responses. The Oregon State Fire Marshall's incident database indicated an average of 34 per year between 1988-1997. Linn County averaged 18 per year during this time period, Benton County averaged 13, and Lincoln County averaged 3. Fuels were the primary chemical type responded to. The federal Hazardous Materials Information Reporting System database reported 40 incidents in the highway category and 11 railway incidents. Both types of incidents were dominated by corrosive materials in this database, which does not include fuels as defined hazardous materials. Traffic data on the roads used for hazardous materials transport show much higher traffic densities near intersections with other major roadways and in urban areas. Incident reports followed this pattern, primarily occurring in the major cities and towns of the three counties. Estimated daily numbers of trucks carrying hazardous materials ranged from 6 per day on the coastal portion of Oregon 34, to almost 700 on the section of I-5/99E between Albany and the Linn-Marion County border. Rail data studied indicate the highest quantities of materials designated hazardous were also transported on the main north-south corridor of Linn County, implicating this central area in the three counties has the highest density of the risk factors studied. / Graduation date: 2000

Industry both consumes and creates an abundance of dangerous goods, which must be transported from producers to end-users. This creates opportunities for incidents, including traffic accidents, which could release poisonous, corrosive, flammable or carcinogenic substances into the environment. Releases of dangerous goods at a location may pose a significant threat to the health of the neighbouring population. The Durban South Basin, with its hazardous mix of heavy industrial, employment and residential areas, was chosen as the case study for research into the risks associated with the transportation of dangerous goods. High levels of traffic flow occur in this region and significant volumes of dangerous goods are transported on the roads within the basin. The objectives of this investigation were to: develop a methodology that may be applied to estimate the likelihood and consequences of releases of dangerous goods due to road accidents; and to evaluate the usefulness of this methodology by applying it to estimate the risks posed to the people residing in, working in and travelling through the Durban South Basin. The literature pertaining to risk assessment of dangerous goods transport was examined. A review was undertaken of the current state of the art and the theory and methodology used by previous researchers. As intersections provide greater opportunities for vehicles to be involved in accidents, traffic surveys were conducted at selected intersections within the Durban South Basin in order to obtain an indication of the flow of dangerous goods vehicles and the types of dangerous goods being transported through these locations. Two approaches were utilised to estimate the likelihood of dangerous goods accidents and releases at intersections: a deterministic model and an innovative method based on Monte Carlo simulation. Dispersion modelling and geographic information systems were integrated to estimate the impacts of accidental releases of dangerous goods at intersections. Queuing analysis was combined with dispersion modelling to estimate the risks posed to road users from dangerous goods releases. The investigation verified that dangerous goods transportation risk assessment could be performed even when there are substantial data uncertainties. Furthermore, in comparison to the deterministic approach typically used in transportation studies, Monte Carlo simulation facilitates a deeper understanding of the nature and distribution of dangerous goods accident risk. The results suggest that although dangerous goods accidents and releases are infrequent, the potential exists for very serious incidents involving large numbers of injuries. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

A real-life application in optimal route planning for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Hong Kong was performed to implement the proposed framework. A set of criteria fitting the context of Hong Kong were defined, and various optimal routing solutions with diverse compromise in different objectives were generated. The implementation of the proposed methodologies enables the avoidance of the pitfalls of preference-based techniques and the burden of generating a complete set of possible solutions, and provides decision-makers with an overview of the solution space and the possible trade-offs among the conflicting objectives. The application study demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed methodologies. In light of the study results and limitations, some recommendations are provided for future research. / Effective and rational routing of DGs is one of the powerful means to mitigate the DG transportation risk. DG transportation involves multiple stakeholders playing different roles and having different objectives that are generally conflicting. The solution of such problem is to search for one or a set of "compromise" solutions rendering the best possible trade-offs for conflict resolution among different objectives. Given the multi-objective nature of the DG routing problem, multi-objective optimization (MOP) becomes a sound framework for analysis and decision-making. / The transportation of dangerous goods (DGs) can significantly affect human life and the environment if accidents occur during the transportation process. Such accidents can result in traffic disruption, fatalities, property and environmental damages. Therefore, safe DG transportation is of paramount importance, especially in high-density-living environments where population and socioeconomic activities are densely distributed over the transportation network. / This research establishes a general framework for optimal route planning for DG transportation in a high-density-living environment. Within the framework, multi-criteria risk assessment and multi-objective route planning can be efficiently solved by novel compromise programming models and high performance algorithms. Non-linearity and non-convexity often exist in the optimal DG routing problem which cannot be solved appropriately by conventional models such as the weighed sum approach. This research has proposed three novel methods to facilitate the generation of a set of optimal solutions on the Pareto front representing various trade-offs among the conflicting objectives. The proposed methodologies give full consideration to decision-makers' inclination and capability in determining the weights for different criteria. The compromise programming procedure allows decision-makers to exercise their preference structures in pursuing desired solutions rendering good compromises among different objectives. The adaptive weighting method approximates the Pareto front with a few suitable solutions to help decision-makers select the most satisfactory route without generating all of them. The genetic-algorithm-based approach uses a set of specifically designed genetic operators to efficiently capture a wide range of Pareto-optimal and near-optimal solutions, from which a decision-maker can choose the most preferred or best compromise one to implement. The diversity of methodologies provides decision-makers with more flexibility in choosing appropriate MOP methods to route DG shipments. / Li, Rongrong. / Adviser: Yee Leung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-01, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-203). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

The number of hazardous materials transported by truck mode and also the quantities shipped continues to grow every year. In recognition of the potential disasters associated with the occurrence of the release of hazardous materials, several studies have been conducted on various aspects of the problem - assessment of risk, container safety, emergency response, disaster assistance, regulations, routing etc. The development of mitigation measures is a relatively new area in hazardous materials research in the sense that it has not been studied comprehensively. The objective of this study is to determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of different steps to be taken to reduce either the likelihood of hazardous materials accidents/incidents or the damage which would ensue from a release for different hazardous materials. This work attempts to identify, or flag, potentially high-risk locations due to spills of hazardous materials, and to evaluate the alternatives to be designed and implemented in order to reduce risk. The appropriate type of roadway improvements for the safe transportation of hazardous material trucks and protective systems that might be incorporated into new or reconstructed highway segments in order to mitigate consequences are presented for various generalized scenarios. The output of mitigation is the reduced risk value. This work forms a part of a comprehensive decision making framework integrating the risk identification, calculation, and mitigation that can apply to both urban and rural areas. / Master of Science

The comprehensive planning of transportation systems resource allocations and operating regulations so as to minimize the danger to localities from hazardous materials shipments is a growing concern among transportation planners. Standing in their way are a number of difficulties inherent in the data collection and modeling practices currently in use. Additionally, such current practices do not afford practical means for comparing large numbers of jurisdictions which is necessary for equity among jurisdictions and cost effectiveness. In response to these difficulties, this research is intended to develop a microcomputer based model to quantitatively compare the susceptibility of different streets and jurisdictions to the resulting effects of different types of hazardous materials accidents. Implied in the development of this model are such worthwhile considerations as: ease of use, maximum ability for user customizing, ability to work with existing and future data and data types, and clarity as well as variety of output formats. An evaluation of the appropriateness of this model for 1984 through 1987 Pennsylvania data is then undertaken. In addition, a brief assessment of the applicability of this macro level model in the total risk reduction environment is incorporated. / Master of Science

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries / Department: Regional and Community Planning.

A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. Johannesburg, 1992. / The formulation of effective safety measures to counteract the potential for disaster presented by the transportation of hazardous materials requires that reliable data is available as to the nature and extent of such traffic. Such data is currently unavailable and a roadside interview survey was conducted in the PWV area in order to ascertain the quantities and type of material being transported locally. the routes used, the types of vehicles and containers involved, and compliance with existing regulations. It was found that of the 1068 Vehicles surveyed carrying hazardous material, only 22% fully complied with existing legislation. A risk assessment model for use by both operators and authorities is then developed, in which the survey data is input to determine the least risk route between Johannesburg and Sasolburg. / AC2017

O consumo e a degradação dos recursos naturais no ritmo em que está sendo realizado pode comprometer seriamente a sobrevivência das gerações futuras. Neste contexto, uma das atividades onde a boa prática operacional poderia fazer diferença no que diz respeito aos impactos ao meio ambiente é o transporte, setor que merece destaque, pois tem grande participação nas práticas impactantes para o meio ambiente, dada a quantidade de produtos que são movimentados. A indústria química utiliza em larga escala os serviços logísticos oferecidos por terceiros para armazenar, manusear e transportar matérias-primas, intermediários e produtos químicos industrializados. Com objetivo de reduzir riscos envolvidos nos serviços logísticos de produtos químicos, foi criada uma ferramenta denominada Sistema de Avaliação de Saúde, Segurança, Meio Ambiente e Qualidade - SASSMAQ, utilizada como ferramenta de avaliação compulsória para os serviços logísticos prestados a esse setor. Das questões abordadas pelo SASSMAQ 16% estão relacionadas aos cuidados ambientais, sendo 14% classificadas como mandatórias. A questão a ser analisada por esta pesquisa é de tentar identificar, por meio de um estudo de caso voltado ao transporte de produtos perigosos, se não poderiam ter mais elementos que indicariam a possibilidade de inserir indicadores ambientais no SASSMAQ. Para tanto, foi realizado um estudo de caso utilizando trinta e quatro caminhões durante o processo de carga-transporte-descarga visando identificar, por meio de dados gerados durante quatro anos, quais as possíveis ações a serem realizadas tendo como foco a prevenção da poluição e minimização da utilização de recursos não renováveis. Os dados coletados foram gerados desde a aquisição dos caminhões até o final de vida produtiva e sua baixa no sistema, sendo considerados o abastecimento, revisões, manutenções corretivas e preventivas, trocas de pneus, testes de ruídos e opacidade, geração de resíduos sólidos e líquidos produzidos durante este período de análise. Como resultado pretende-se identificar oportunidades de inserção de parâmetros que possam auxiliar na formatação de indicadores de ecoeficiência e que também possam ser propostos no SASSMAQ. / The consumption and degradation of natural resources at the current rate being held may be seriously compromising the survival of future generations. In this context, one of the activities where good operating practice could make a difference with regard to the impacts on the environment is the transportation sector, which is noteworthy since a large role in impacting practices for the environment, given the amount of products are moved. The chemical industry uses large-scale logistics services offered by third parties for storing, handling and transporting raw materials, intermediates and industrial chemicals. SASSMAQ used as a compulsory assessment tool for logistics services to this sector - aiming to reduce risks involved in logistics services for chemicals, a tool called Assessment System Health, Safety, Environment and Quality was created. The subjects addressed by SASSMAQ 16% are related to environmental care, 14% are classified as mandatory. The question to be addressed by this research is trying to identify, through a case study focused on the transportation of dangerous goods, it could not have more elements that indicate the possibility of including environmental indicators SASSMAQ. Thus, a case study using thirty-four trucks during the load-haul-dump was performed to identify, through data generated during four years what possible actions to be undertaken with a focus on pollution prevention and minimizing the use of nonrenewable resources. Data were generated from the acquisition of trucks by the end of their productive life and low in the system, being considered supplies, reviews, corrective and preventive maintenance, tire changes, noise and opacity tests, generation of solid and liquid waste produced during this analysis. As a result we intend to identify opportunities for insertion of parameters that can assist in formatting eco-efficiency indicators and can also be offered on SASSMAQ.