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Transitioning urban drainage systems to serve water-smart societies requires the involvement of different disciplines and stakeholders. However, stakeholders have different visions and needs from the transitioning process (e.g in terms of financing, policy adaptation and system management) these also vary between regions and countries. Identifying such different needs for stakeholders is necessary to propose practical adaptation strategies. Therefore, evidence of needs as reflected in policy papers and legislation in seven European countries was collected. Knowledgeable individuals in the urban drainage community were asked about their visions. Results show that whilst there is consensus on the challenges, visions on how to transition are diverse, indicating that more interaction between the different stakeholder groups is required to develop consensus. Additionally, organisational and legislative structures often slow down the necessary change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban surface runoff drags diffuse pollution from entire watersheds in most of the cities with a Mediterranean climate (high rainfall peaks plus lack of rainwater). Pollutants coming from air pollution, road traffic, waste materials, street cleaning, and the contaminants already in place in the sewer network are the main sources. Given a specific rainfall event, understanding, measuring, and predicting pollution is of vital importance when it comes to managing combined sewer overflows into the environment. An exhaustive study of urban runoff pollution for a combined sewer system (CSS) was carried out to promote integrated management of Madrid watershed based on quantity and quality of wastewater that flows along with the CSS and is discharged into the river. Results show that urban runoff pollution peaks are higher than wastewater pollution peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the distance visible to a driver on a highway is important for traffic safety, especially in manoeuvres such as emergency stops, when passing another vehicle, or when vehicles cross at intersections. Software that calculates highway distances visible to a driver has been developed. This software is supported by a geographic information system (GIS) and can use a trajectory defined by points obtained with a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver instead of relying on project information. The software includes specific tools for studying shortcomings in three-dimensional (3D) alignment; mainly, this pertains to divings. In this article, the software and its application to a case study are presented. The results are compared with those obtained using an existing validated procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]