bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Public–private partnerships in central and eastern Europe
Authors: Butcher Trevor , Gentchev Vess
Published: November 2009

Countries in central and eastern Europe are increasingly appreciating the potential of public–private partnerships (PPPs) for the rebuilding of their crumbling infrastructure. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland have already implemented PPPs for some years, mostly in the transport sector, whereas states like Bulgaria, Romania and Russia have been slower in adopting them. While the need to modernise these countries’ public infrastructure should lead to an increase in the use of this alternative method of public procurement, a number of obstacles remain which need to be overcome by putting in place certain political and legislative measures.
Confidentiality in arbitration: a myth or an achievable goal?
Authors: Beaumont B.
Published: November 2009

This paper examines the extent to which the requirement for confidentiality or secrecy within the arbitral process can be maintained from the commencement of the arbitration to the finalisation of an appeal through the court process in England and Wales. The paper starts from the premise that confidentiality, being allegedly a key factor in arbitration, can, and should, be maintained throughout. It will focus on two leading cases, only one of which is given at the level of the Court of Appeal. The other case was issued by the Privy Council albeit the House of Lords in another name. The paper will touch upon whether parties are properly focusing their minds on preparation of an all-encompassing arbitration agreement, which contains an effective confidentiality clause. Further, it will examine whether the judiciary, while correctly emphasising the need for public interest to be satisfied at all times wherever faults are to be found in the arbitration process yet made by way of somewhat obscure indications to the parties as to how fundamental and continuous confidentiality can be achieved.
Conflict-resolution competencies for the construction professional
Authors: Tobin A. G. V.
Published: November 2009

Conflicts form part of the everyday work environments of construction professionals. There are few construction projects that are conflict-free zones. Considerable financial resources, not to mention legal costs, are committed when conflicts spiral beyond the control of those on site. This paper proposes that conflict-resolution competencies should form part of the repertoire of the responses that have been learned and mastered by the construction professional. The paper describes the range and nature of those competencies in relation to their application in the various formal arenas where conflict resolution is practised. Partnering is discussed as a pre-emptive approach to conflict avoidance in a cooperative forum.
The nature of claims – managing the risks
Authors: Lane P. M. M.
Published: November 2009

A claim is commonly regarded as a four-letter word which draws the line in the sand between the contactor and the employer. This paper examines the nature of claims and the essential function they play in the construction industry in maintaining or restoring the balance of the risks assumed by the parties contractually. It looks at and compares various provisions of Fidic contracts and examines the importance of the choice of contract and how risks are apportioned between the parties and managed. It concludes that if employers and contractors have a proper appreciation of the nature of claims and the importance of the management thereof, the climate for the proper administration of the contract will have been established.
Rhyd-y-car link footbridge, Merthyr Tydfil
Authors: House D.
Published: November 2009

The locality of Merthyr Tydfil has recently been transformed by the construction of a new bypass with associated roadway links to the town, and further land developments are being carried out. As part of the revitalization of this historic town, the Rhyd-y-car link footbridge has been constructed. The footbridge is a landmark steel structure incorporating a tall A-frame support which forms an impressive and dramatic gateway to the town. This paper describes the initial concept, planning and design of the scheme and its subsequent construction, including the innovative night-time illuminations.
Delivering ‘best value’ in a new unitary authority
Authors: Costello J. , Gillingwater D.
Published: November 2009

‘Best value’ is the latest in a long line of legislative attempts by central government to change the way in which local government functions. This paper explores the significance of this latest legislation from the perspective of its implementation in Swindon Borough Council—a newly established unitary authority. Conclusions from this examination suggest that, if local government is to meet the requirements of ‘best value’, there is a need for a new organizational environment—a new paradigm—to help local authorities function on a day-to-day basis. Such a new way of working is proposed, and the kinds of strategy required to achieve the core functions of a ‘best value’ authority are discussed. Particular attention is paid to human resource implications.
Benchmarking for best value
Authors: Burgess S. M.
Published: November 2009

Although the technique of benchmarking has been used as a business tool by the private sector since the late 1970s, the technique has not hitherto found favour with local authorities. The Government is keen to change this perception and has brought attention to the technique, through its best value initiative, as a means of local authorities comparing their performance with that of others. Benchmarking is a structured approach to finding ways to improve an organization's performance. It is a technique used by organizations to target key areas for improvement in order to increase productivity, quality, customer satisfaction and, in the private sector, competitiveness. It involves comparing financial and operational performances with those of others, either internally between departments or sections, or externally with other organizations. There is little experience of the use of benchmarking within local government, but it has been used with considerable success by the private sector to achieve continual improvement and more recently with similar success by other parts of the public sector. This paper reviews the origins of benchmarking and the background to its introduction into local government technical departments.
Energy from waste and integrating the options
Authors: Gerstrom P.
Published: November 2009

The past decade has seen a raised environmental awareness with regard to waste management. Key to this approach is the recognition that waste is not necessarily an end-of-line product but is a potential value-creating resource. The first step in this direction was the now widely acknowledged waste management hierarchy which saw disposal as the final step in a cascade of other actions, specifically reduction, reuse and recovery. Recovery encompasses the concept of processing the resource through recycling, composting and energy extraction. This paper looks specifically at sustaining an integrated waste management policy and how this will influence infrastructure needs, emission targets and the marketplace.
Landfill: a prospective view
Authors: Potter A.
Published: November 2009

With the prospect of the EU Landfill Directive coming into UK law in 2001, it is clear that landfill practices will have to change. How radical that change will be is still not apparent but this paper explores the potential impact of the Directive, with particular emphasis on the effect of the diversion targets for inputs of municipal solid waste to landfill.
Holistic, integrated and sustainable regeneration in a diverse and peripheral county
Authors: Wann A. R.
Published: November 2009

This paper outlines the experience of the Northumberland Strategic Partnership in leading a holistic and integrated approach to sustainable economic, social and environmental regeneration in a large and diverse county. A county with a long coastline which has boundaries with the densely populated Tyneside conurbation to the south, the sparsely populated Scottish border to the north with the north Pennines to the west. The paper emphasizes the importance of harnessing the skills of all members of the Partnership, encouraging multi-agency and multi-disciplinary working to secure key cross cutting outcomes. The importance of gearing partners and government mainstream programmes to regeneration and the need to access numerous other funding regimes is emphasized. The paper illustrates some of the difficulties faced and promotes the development of a more mature relationship between government, the regions, local partnerships and communities.
Encouraging schools and employers to adopt travel plans
Authors: Bradshaw R.
Published: November 2009

A travel plan is a package of measures aimed at reducing the impacts of travel to a particular site. Such packages are also sometimes known as green transport plans, green commuter plans or mobility management plans. The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has recently started to use the term ‘travel plan’, preferring to drop the ‘green’ label in order to ensure that these plans are seen as addressing other issues as well as environmental issues. The ‘commuter’ label has also been changed to reflect the fact that this approach could be used to address many different types of travel, not just the journey to work. To date, however, the development of travel plans has concentrated primarily on work journeys and school journeys and there is an increasing amount of information aimed at encouraging the wider take-up of travel plans by employers and schools. This paper starts by explaining why these types of journey are being targeted and then goes on to provide a brief history of initiatives for reducing car use on the journey to school and the journey to work. It finishes with a summary of recent policy developments in this area.
Planning for the bicycle: current issues and future challenges
Authors: McClintock H.
Published: November 2009

This article assesses current policies for the promotion of bicycling, especially in urban areas and with particular reference to implementation of the latest advice from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) in its publication Guidance on Full Local Transport Plans.
Walking and cycling and the Local Transport Plan
Authors: Cleary J.
Published: November 2009

This paper looks at the opportunities for promoting walking and cycling through five-year Local Transport Plans (LTPs), which have recently replaced the annual Transport Policies and Programme (TPP) scheme as the means for securing funding approval for investment in local transport. The paper examines the key differences between LTPs and TPPs in terms of the greater scope LTPs offer for facilitating more sustainable travel patterns, which include permitting expenditure on ‘soft’ measures such as travel awareness campaigns, in addition to the traditional ‘hard’—infrastructure—measures. There is a summary of the variety of engineering, educational and enforcement measures local authorities are being encouraged to employ to encourage walking and cycling, such as dedicated facilities, vehicle-restricted areas, home zones, speed management, clear zones. The opportunities for targeting different types of travel are looked at: commuting, school journeys, recreation and leisure trips. The relevance of travel patterns, and thus LTPs, to wider policy objectives—health, urban renaissance, social inclusion, air quality, children's social development—is acknowledged, as is the importance of integrating transport and land-use planning to facilitate non-motorised travel patterns. The paper includes a list of criteria used by the DETR in assessing the quality of LTPs with respect to the national objectives of encouraging walking and cycling for local transport.
Physical planning in Ireland: lessons from the Masonite decision
Authors: Grist B. , Rogers M.
Published: November 2009

Physical planning in Ireland was originally envisaged as a rational decision-making process involving the definition of objectives for the development of the locally governed area in question, the evaluation of alternative methods of furthering growth, choice and monitoring of results. This paper examines the extent to which the process as it has evolved now displays these characteristics. While the process of making local authority development plans is seen to conform to this model of decision-making, the subsequent development control process, where an individual proposal at a given location is evaluated, gives cause for concern. The authors note the absence of a rational process where a comparative evaluation of a number of sites is undertaken in order to show that the location under consideration is the best available one for the proposal. The inability of the planning authority or appeals board to assess the project on a full set of environmental criteria is also highlighted, together with the lack of connectivity between the stages in the development control process and the uneven access of relevant actors to these stages. The Masonite Corporation's application to Leitrim County Council for permission to construct a timber manufacturing plant at Drumsna is used as a case study to highlight the lack of rationality in decision-making within the physical planning process.
Sidelining politicians and communities in siting landfill facilities
Authors: Rogers M. , Grist B.
Published: November 2009

Within the Irish system, there is a developing body of opinion that the solution to finding suitable landfill sites around the country lies in bringing the responsibility for siting waste management installations back to central government. This paper proposes a restructuring of the local government system, with each authority having at a senior position an elected full-time salaried chairman with executive powers, to ensure a balanced input from all involved decision groupings, be they politicians, technical experts or members of the local community.
Involving the community in devising a waste strategy
Authors: Seldon J. , Wilkinson J.
Published: November 2009

In almost every part of the UK, local authorities are facing the difficult task of finding solutions to the problem of waste disposal, particularly now in the context of the European Landfill Directive and Waste Strategy 2000. Waste volumes are growing every year, placing increasing pressure on the limited landfill space. This situation is echoed in West Sussex, and with this in mind the county council recognised the importance of producing an integrated wastes management strategy. It was seen as imperative that the residents of the county were given the opportunity to shape the strategy through community involvement during the development process. In particular, there was a need to ensure that as far as practicable any suggested local solutions would be consistent with local choice. The final wastes management strategy for West Sussex was the result of a structured and consistent approach over a two-year period involving many stakeholders from across the community. This approach has produced a robust document with wide community support that will focus efforts for the next 20 years, safeguarding the environment and benefiting quality of life.
Is local road maintenance meeting the community's needs?
Authors: Martin T. C.
Published: November 2009

This paper presents the methodology and preliminary outcomes of an Austroads (Association of Australian Federal and State Road Agencies) National Strategic Research Programme (NSRP) project and the results of two consulting projects that assessed the community's expectations of levels of service on local roads. All of these projects made an estimated and objective assessment of the community's expectations of levels of service on various local road samples. In addition, the NSRP project estimated what the community expectations mean in terms of the annual maintenance and rehabilitation expenditure needed to achieve the lowest pavement life-cycle cost. This estimate was compared with samples of the actual current annual maintenance and rehabilitation on local roads. The latter comparison was made on a plot of maintenance expenditure against level of service for the local roads sampled and provided a preliminary assessment of whether maintenance funding is adequate, in life-cycle cost terms, in meeting the community's expectations of levels of service.
Overcoming challenges facing the completion of the Avon Ring Road
Authors: Bickerstaffe J. , Kearns C. F.
Published: November 2009

There have been proposals for a new road around the eastern fringe of Bristol and Kingswood since the 1930s. The completed scheme has long been seen as an essential means of providing improved transportation links to Kingswood and a route for the movement of heavy goods vehicles. The last section, stage II, is finally under construction following a delay of about three years as a result of several legal actions in the High Court by two objectors to the scheme. The paper refers briefly to the whole scheme and then describes the implementation of stage II with particular reference to the statutory procedures, the challenges in the High Court and lessons to be learnt from the management of these processes. The paper also refers to other aspects of the project management including scheme procurement in relation to environmental issues, threats of direct protest action and partnership arrangements in respect of the main works contract. The project acts as an interesting case study to illustrate the challenges faced in implementing traditional road schemes in the context of an increased awareness of the means of objecting to highway construction schemes.
Getting around: Listening to childrens' views
Authors: Davis Adrian
Published: November 2009

Children and young people are major users of their local environments yet they are largely excluded from discussions about transport, planning and environmental health, and may be seen only as ‘problems or victims’. However, if childrens' own accounts are studied it is clear that they are active risk assessors and problem solvers who develop strategies to survive hostile environments. This study involved children from four schools in broadly working class areas of Birmingham. A semi-structured questionnaire was completed by a total of 492 9–11 year old and 13–14 year old pupils, and focus group discussions were held with one group from each class taking part in the questionnaire. This paper reports on the focus groups, during which participants identified considerable environmental constraints on their activities. Many were not allowed out to play, use local parks or cycle to school—or they did not feel comfortable doing so. Girls especially were restricted in how late they were allowed out. In the childrens' and young peoples' views, traffic danger, ‘stranger danger’ and social and cultural factors interact to create barriers to keeping healthy and active. An understanding of childrens' and young peoples' perceptions of risk and an incorporation of their ideas for change are central to the success of any strategies seeking to promote environmentally sustainable travel habits, and active living.
Partnership—a marriage made in Kent
Authors: Stephens M. , Thomas D.
Published: November 2009

Kent spreads over an area of 354 000 ha with a population of 1·3 million. Kent County Council (KCC) looks after over 8000 km of roads of which 70% are narrow lanes or residential streets but some of the rest are the busiest and biggest roads in the UK. Traffic is growing at over 3% per year, which is significantly more than the average in the UK. The county is home to five ports, the Channel Tunnel and the high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Kent is a region of contrasts, being recognised by many romantically as the Garden of England, but is under great development pressure, with Thanet having one of the highest unemployment rates of the entire country. In 1992 KCC directly employed 750 people on Highways and Transportation services. Today it directly employs no more than 150, yet more work is done with less money. This paper gives a brief account of the process of change, what drove it and why partnering is the core principle of the new organisation. It also explores the challenges faced by the complex arrangements and considers what might lie ahead in the future.
Parking services—driving best value into your business
Authors: Davies G. A.
Published: November 2009

Best value is a journey of continuous improvement. In 1999 Luton Borough Council became a parking authority with responsibility for the management and operation of decriminalised parking enforcement in the Borough. This paper outlines the journey undertaken by Luton to build the principles of best value into its new parking service and how the authority benchmarked other parking operators to both identify and adopt good practice. Since Luton has gone ‘live’, the authority has continued its journey of continuous improvement by using management tools such as the business excellence model and the charter mark to develop a culture of performance management to drive best value into its parking service.
Funding and procurement. Proving the link—from potholes to poverty
Authors: Pigg D. R.
Published: November 2009

Proving the improvement that highway investment can make in the quality of life in our most deprived neighbourhoods, from potholes to poverty, is the new neighbourhood agenda. It is about doing the ordinary things extraordinarily well. Prior to the general election the UK Government had decided that the way forward was to tackle objectively measured social, economic and environmental deprivation through formulae funding and differentiated service provision. Formulae funding is based upon statistically proven need, assigned mathematically, and monitored through best value. This paper develops the formulae funding theme, looks at performance measured by outcome and finally at the role of partnerships. This is the Government agenda, the key to future funding.
Briefing: NEC and local government procurement
Authors: Salway J.
Published: November 2009

The NEC Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) provides a sound basis from which to develop a suitable contract by which local government can procure works and services. The underlying principles of the ECC, as stated in the first condition, seek to promote mutual trust and co-operation for the benefit of the parties and the project. These principles fit well with the increasingly onerous procurement obligations being placed on local government by statute.
Sustainable innovation—Baglan Bay leads for Wales
Authors: Marquis G.
Published: November 2009

As a part of the M4i Local Government Task Force Group, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council became the first Welsh local authority to achieve ‘Demonstration Project’ status with Baglan Energy Park Phase 2. This scheme substantially demonstrates innovative best practice for its project implementation, product development and ecological sustainability, and provides a commitment to improving the quality of life for future tenants, employees and the local Neath Port Talbot community.
The use of IT in scaling up urban slum improvement efforts
Authors: Goethert R.
Published: November 2009

Urban slum areas are rapidly expanding throughout the developing world. Many cities are increasing their efforts on upgrading of these areas with strong encouragement and support from developing agencies. Upgrading in the first instance entails the provision of vital water supply, sanitation services, drainage and roads, coupled with a form of secure tenure. Increasingly, programmes include creation of job opportunities and widespread social services. Successes are noted at the project scale, but meeting the scale of the demand has been elusive. Scaling up efforts in order to have an appreciable impact on the ever-growing problem has become the watchword among development agencies. The Cities Alliance—a global programme initiated by the World Bank and UN-Habitat—has made upgrading one of its main target areas. The World Bank itself has upgrading investments as a central thrust of the new urban strategy. Other development agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and many cities also focus increased resources on upgrading. Many conceptualise that information technology (IT) may offer a tool to radically change the face of development. Perhaps upgrading might also benefit from IT, which could provide the impetus for rethinking and restructuring large-scale programmes. How this may be done and what this would entail is currently being explored and new approaches and best practices are gradually emerging. This paper gathers issues that came out of an international conference on large-scale upgrading as a starting point for thinking about IT use. A map explores the various combinations of linking individuals/communities/cities to each other and the internet, and a ‘metaphorical model’ is suggested as the interface at the community level. The paper concludes by considering the practical issues that IT centres would need to address for long-term viability.
Infrastructure asset management under Australian Accounting Standard 27 (AAS27)
Authors: Howard R. J.
Published: November 2009

Australian local governments are responsible for providing basic infrastructure services to their communities. These services include roads, drainage, recreation facilities and public buildings and in some states water supply and sewerage. Social services are mainly the responsibility of the state governments together with education, police, fire and public housing. The services may be different to those in the UK but the problems are the same: the community is demanding more and better quality services at a lower cost. In 1993, Australian Accounting Standard 27 (AAS27) was applied to local governments. The standard, issued by the Australian Accounting Research Foundation, specifies the nature and form of local governments' general purpose financial reports. The major impact for engineers was that local governments were required to report on the current value and rate of consumption of their infrastructure assets. The value of investment by Australian local governments in infrastructure is approximately $135 billion. These infrastructure assets provide services essential for the community; the assets are being consumed at a rate of $2·6 billion per year ($300 000 per hour). AAS27 gave engineers the tools to report annually on asset condition and consumption to councillors, management and the community. Local government is a highly capital-intensive industry requiring management effort to ensure that the community receives maximum value for its investment in infrastructure and that services can be provided at the lowest life-cycle cost. This paper describes a systems approach to strategic asset management. Examples are given using data from Devonport City Council, Tasmania, and Cairns City Council. The systems include reporting the value and condition of infrastructure assets in annual reports, strategic asset management, capital project analysis and life-cycle costing.
Transport user needs and marketing public transport
Authors: Stradling S. G.
Published: November 2009

A better understanding of how public transport can be rendered more attractive to motorists is needed. This paper presents findings from recent studies of the psychological dimensions underlying respondent ratings of car and public transport use. Automobile users obtain autonomy as well as mobility from driving. There are two aspects to this autonomy—a sense of personal identity and a sense of independence—with feelings of control, confidence and safety a core component of both. Analysis of ratings of ten features of bus and rail services showed, for both modes, two underlying dimensions of judgement, service availability and service attractiveness. Analysis of 16 aspects of interchanging bus and rail journeys found separate factors representing psychological needs (saving effort), journey needs (saving time) and cost considerations (saving money). All journeys require expenditure of physical, cognitive and emotional effort. Current car commuters see a public transport alternative involving interchange as requiring unwelcome additional expenditure of physical and emotional resource. Analysis of bus and train traveller ratings of 16 journey demands found separate factors for in-trip anxieties, personal vulnerability concerns, in-trip and pre-trip information load. Focusing on these sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction should assist those marketing public transport alternatives to car use.
Road vehicles: future growth in developed and developing countries
Authors: Dargay J.
Published: November 2009

This paper examines the trends in the growth of the stock of road vehicles over the past decades and presents projections of its development over the next 25 years for 82 countries at different levels of economic development, from the lowest (China, India and Pakistan) to the highest (the USA, Japan and Europe). The countries included account for 85% of the world population and 93% of the total vehicle stock. The projections employ results from a previous study, which are based on estimates of a dynamic time-series model and an S-shaped function to relate the vehicle stock to income, or gross domestic product (GDP). The estimates are used, in conjunction with assumptions concerning income and population growth, to produce projections of the growth in the vehicle stock on a year-by-year basis to 2025. The projections are made for each country separately and aggregated on a regional level for developed and developing countries. The implications of the forecast growth for traffic, traffic density and CO2 emissions are illustrated.
Promoting new public transport systems
Authors: Ahern A. A.
Published: November 2009

Concerns about the impact of the car on the environment, on quality of life and on congestion levels have led to increased recognition among transport engineers that alternatives to the car must be promoted. This means that public transport has to form a core part of any sustainable transport system. One form of public transport that is seen as an alternative to the car in towns and cities is light rail. However, there are problems involved with promoting these systems and in anticipating their impacts on travel behaviour. In the past, forecasts of the patronage figures on these systems have been much higher than the actual patronage figures achieved. Transport experts must find a way to make these systems more successful by discovering what the public want from the systems. This paper describes a series of interviews carried out with potential users of Croydon Tramlink. It outlines their attitudes and the concerns they held about using Tramlink. In particular, the surveys examine the impact that publicity from the relevant authorities had on people's modal choices. The paper shows that people were very unimpressed by the publicity and in some cases it had a negative impact on their decisions. The conclusions of the paper have some interesting implications for transport policy and public transport promotion. Suggestions are made on how the lessons learned about people's decision-making processes regarding new light-rail systems could be used to more effectively promote future systems.
Factors affecting the adoption of natural gas vehicles by UK road freight operators
Authors: Castillo N. H. , Pitfield D. E.
Published: November 2009

Policy-makers and planners concerned with sustainable transport systems have continuously advocated the use of alternative fuel vehicles as a means of reducing road vehicle emissions. The environmental benefits of one such type of alternatively fuelled vehicle, natural gas vehicles (NGVs), are well-documented. Despite the much-proclaimed environmental benefits of NGVs however, there has been little take-up of these vehicles in the UK. A review of current policies towards these vehicles and the ways in which they are promoted may therefore be necessary to encourage their market penetration. A stated preference survey was conducted among freight transport operators throughout the UK, which revealed that economic factors, namely vehicle capital costs and (fuel) operating costs, and fuel availability were of most importance to operators when considering the purchase of a new vehicle. Consequently, policies that not only make NGVs financially competitive but in fact also give them a financial advantage over conventional vehicles, complemented by measures to increase the supply of fuel, may prove most effective in encouraging the adoption of these vehicles among UK road freight operators. Obviously, the operators must be aware of these improvements and, as such, these policies must also be supported by a vigorous promotional and awareness campaign.
Climate change and a sustainable transport policy
Authors: Hillman M.
Published: November 2009

Public policy decisions taken over the last few decades give a strong impression that politicians, perhaps understandably, have been loath to adopt measures which run counter to what they believe people want. That is so even where this preference can be seen to be largely or totally inspired by the public's limited appreciation of the longer-term consequences of the decisions. This is particularly evident in the transport sector where the social, environmental and ecological damage can be considerable. This paper attempts to highlight a disturbing instance of this, where the incompatibility of policies catering for growth in this sector and those intended to deliver a sufficiently adequate response to the prospect of climate change from excessive use of fossil fuels is obvious.
DB32 and the design of good urban streets
Authors: Taylor D. , Filmer-Sankey W.
Published: November 2009

Good streets play a vital role in making cities work well: they provide networks for circulation, spaces for human interaction, conduits for services and (less tangibly) they define urban character. However, street design has become dominated by the requirements of the motor car and statutory services, enforced by legislation and standards. The other functions, equally important, have been pushed aside, leading to a decline in street quality and the urban environment. The problems caused by the unimaginative following of DB32 were addressed by the DETR in 1998 in its publication Places, Streets and Movement which showed how streets could be designed for the full range of functions, in particular promoting walking and cycling. This approach to street design reflects the Government's wider sustainability agenda, but it is often incompatible with the car-dominated standards of DB32. Most streets still give priority to the motor car, mainly because it is easier and safer, both for developers and local authorities, simply to follow the Standards than to take an imaginative approach to streets. DB32 needs to be revised to end the contradictions and to bring it into line with the more recent guidance, allowing local distinctiveness and good design, and recognising the full range of a street's functions.
Difficulties in providing access to brownfield sites and urban extensions
Authors: Hollyoak K.
Published: November 2009

While the Government's instructions are clear—residential developers should be building the majority of their houses on brownfield sites and at urban extensions—the guidelines for providing access lack such clarity. This paper discusses the lack of standardisation across the various standards and guidelines, which often gives rise to a blurring between safety and capacity issues, frequently denying brownfield development on debatable criteria, and leaving engineers and planners to work within a challenging and constraining system.
The UK pilot home zone programme: emerging thoughts and lessons
Authors: Biddulph M.
Published: November 2009

This paper reviews the key lessons emerging from the process of implementing 14 pilot home zone schemes in the UK. It discusses the origin of the concept and reviews the recent interest in home zones in the UK. It briefly reviews the Government's commitment to providing an appropriate legislative and policy context and also funding for the implementation of the concept. It then introduces the pilot schemes and reviews the lessons and debates emerging from the process of both planning and designing the pilot projects. Finally, the article reviews what is now being done to promote the concept to a wider audience and encourage its wider implementation.
Good quality design in Devon—the highway engineer's contribution
Authors: Chorlton E.
Published: November 2009

Following his election as the current President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Mark Whitby focused on the role of engineers in today's society and in particular the contributions which engineers are making towards improving the quality of life in urban areas. He claimed that today's engineers can play a part in this process, the significance of which will be comparable with the achievements of their Victorian counterparts. This paper examines the contribution of Devon County Council's engineers and their colleagues in the related environmental professions to the process of improving the quality of life for their communities. It explains the background to the county council's roles and strategic objectives, its role as County Highway Authority for Devon, and the ways in which the authority's professionals are developing the principles and practices of good urban design to help secure this aim. The final section features a number of recent schemes which illustrate the points made in the main body of the text.
Making properties more resistant to floods
Authors: Bowker P.
Published: November 2009

The floods of October and November 2000 invoked a sense of desperation and helplessness in affected communities. Failure to find a solution to minimise the damage to property could mean loss of home and community. Since the autumn 2000 floods there have been sustained efforts by government and local authorities, insurance and financial institutions, local communities and commercial businesses to provide the flood victim and property developers with guidance and practical measures to improve the flood resistance of existing and new properties. This paper describes the guidance drawn together and developed by government agencies and partner organisations to improve the resistance of property to flood-waters and to promote the use of local protection systems and techniques. Innovative techniques to improve the resistance of buildings to floodwaters are described and lessons learned from current standards and practices in the USA are discussed.
Sustainable coastal defences—the use of timber and other materials
Authors: Crossman M. , Simm J.
Published: November 2009

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly significant consideration for all engineers, particularly those operating on our fragile and beautiful coastline. Considerable progress has been made towards developing more sympathetic solutions to coastal flooding and erosion problems, which integrate environmental and social considerations into engineering solutions. However, one area in which there is still much more to do is the sustainable use of materials. The use of tropical hardwoods in coastal defences brings attention to this issue in the context of public concern over the international depletion of rain forests. This paper addresses the use of timber, as well as discussing other initiatives and research which are now under way on behalf of the Government and the engineering profession. It shows that significant advances have been made over the past five years in delivering practical guidance to empower engineers to adopt more sustainable solutions, but that that there is still a long way to go, particularly in the use of waste materials.
Emergency planning in local authorities
Authors: Abbott L.
Published: November 2009

The image that emergency planning generates is that of ‘Dad's Army’—elderly ex-military gentlemen handing out blankets and tins of food. With the development of a number of degree and postgraduate courses, such as International Disaster Engineering and Management at Coventry University, a significant change in the emergency planning profession has occurred. Add to this recent incidents such as the severe flooding in the UK and central Europe, the foot-and-mouth crisis, the Yarls Wood Immigration Centre fire, the fuel crisis and the terrorist attacks on the United States and the picture of the dynamic and ever-changing environment in which emergency planning officers now work becomes clear. Emergency planning has developed into a diverse,modern profession that in light of these incidents has become the responsibility of us all. This short paper looks at and explains the legislation that relates to emergency plan-ning, the role of emergency planning departments in local government, the emergency planning process and what the role of local government should be in response to an incident.
Better flood management: the insurance perspective
Authors: Milne J.
Published: November 2009

The severe flood events of recent years have wreaked havoc across many parts of the UK, involving many agencies and causing misery to thousands of householders and businesses. This paper questions whether we are doing enough to minimise flood risk and if we need to re-examine our whole approach to flood management, with particular emphasis on the insurance perspective.
The role of flood forecasting and warning in sustainability of flood defence
Authors: Khatibi R. , Haywood J.
Published: November 2009

Flood defence measures do not provide a total solution to flood management but can significantly mitigate flood risks. They are often implemented as a combination of a whole range of measures, including flood forecasting and warning services. Historically, these services have often been provided as a last resort without identifying their relative contribution to overall flood protection. This paper offers one possible solution for integrating these services into the body of other flood management measures through quantifying the relative contribution of the individual measures. The need for the realisation of the solution depends on stems from two major projects: (a) a research and development project on real-time modelling commissioned by the National Flood Warning Centre of the Environment Agency (the Agency); and (b) the project of Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMPs) run by the Agency and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The paper outlines the context of both projects and shows that flood forecasting and warning, as the management of flooding incidents, is integrated qualitatively to CFMPs. It also presents a tentative solution for integrating the relative contribution of individual flood management measures to mitigating flood risks.
Use of alternative fuels in the UK road haulage industry
Authors: Beresford A. K. C. , Smith G. D. , Pettit S. J. , Nieuwenhuis P.
Published: November 2009

The market share of alternative fuels in UK road freight transport is less than 1%, despite several promotional initiatives. However, the use of fuels other than diesel in heavy goods vehicles is potentially one of the key methods of improving the environmental performance of transport and therefore making it more sustainable. This paper investigates a number of factors that affect the actual and potential adoption of alternative fuel technologies within the UK road haulage industry. The study focuses on the political and commercial environment surrounding the uptake of alternative fuels and suggests how the distribution network structure may determine the level of penetration of alternative fuels into the road-based freight transport sector. UK policy initiatives such as Powershift are important in this context.
A review of the UK cycle network
Authors: Blackwell R. J.
Published: November 2009

There are hundreds of thousands of new bikes sold in the UK every year but until recently the number of people cycling has fallen every year for the last 20 years. This paper explores some of the reasons for this decline in use and reviews the role the National Cycle Network in trying to reverse the trend. The provision of funding and the maintenance requirements of cycle routes are also explored.
Why restore inland waterways?
Authors: Harrison A. J. M. , Sutton R. D.
Published: November 2009

Most of the inland waterways of England and Wales were constructed in the late eighteenth century for the carriage of freight; they are now mainly used for amenity and recreational purposes. This paper describes the campaign of the Inland Waterways Association to retain the waterways threatened with closure and to promote the restoration of those that were derelict. Although the income generated from waterways covers only about half the operational and maintenance costs, substantial economic benefits to the adjacent communities justify their restoration. The paper discusses the restoration process and the changing sources of funding. With the advent of The Waterways Trust and British Waterways' new freedom to engage in restoration work, the pace of waterway restoration has quickened. Whether that pace will be maintained now depends largely on the availability of funding.
Green municipal engineering for sustainable communities
Authors: Condon P. M. , Isaac K.
Published: November 2009

The East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan, initiated in January 1999, had the vision of planning a community where sustainability policies were applied to the design of a site in the form of tangible practices. This paper details the design and function of the East Clayton green infrastructure plan, focusing on stormwater management, pedestrian and bicycle movement and lowered infrastructure costs, and illustrates the vital and expanding role of the engineer in the move towards liveable, affordable and ecologically sound communities.
Conservation of historic railway infrastructure
Authors: Cornell J. S.
Published: November 2009

Conserving the nation's built heritage has gathered strength and commitment during the past 20 years. It is increasingly recognised that excellent opportunities exist to find alternative uses for buildings no longer required for their original purpose, thus delivering conservation through regeneration. Historic railway buildings and structures are important examples of our built heritage. This paper describes the initiatives adopted by the railway industry with the aid of the Railway Heritage Trust in usefully protecting the works of some of our greatest engineers and architects.
Risks and potential hazards in utility tunnels for urban areas
Authors: Canto-Perello J. , Curiel-Esparza J.
Published: November 2009

This paper is concerned with the risk assessment of person-entry utility tunnels as a fundamental design and operational parameter, analysing the potential hazards for each of the utilities. Accessibility and maintainability of distribution systems are key factors in selecting underground tunnels over other methods of utility distribution. However, underground tunnels present synergistic aspects, becoming highly complex and difficult to manage. Utility tunnels must be designed to minimise the potential for personal injury and illness. Nevertheless, for urban areas utility tunnels are potentially one of the most sustainable urban underground facilities. They must therefore be considered as an option in urban planning, even though their design and operational risks might seem discouraging.