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This article focuses on the risks associated with Hazardous Materials Transportation (HazMaT) events in the French chemical industry between 1981 and 2022. The study aims to analyze and assess the causes and consequences of past events using the ARIA database, which lists over 54,000 events that have taken place in France and abroad. The severity of events is classified into five categories, from near misses to catastrophic events. The study highlights the importance of risk analysis/assessment and lessons learned from past events in managing natural and technological risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main task of safety and health at work is to protect the most important thing we have, the health of each of us. Employers are able to anticipate and prevent risks by properly implemented occupational safety and health management systems. The basic task of the article is to describe the history of safety management systems to identify the state of implementation of the ISO 45001 system in the world. Subsequently, the article describes the ISO 45001 standard from the perspective of the PDCA cycle and describes the benefits and importance of implementing the ISO 45001 standard. The conclusion of the article deals with the development trend of the occupational health and safety management system according to STN ISO 45001:2019 in the context of occupational accidents in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Offshore Oil&Gas fluid production installations may be the target of intentional malicious acts (security attacks) carried out by adversaries of different nature and different motivations which may generate major events with severe consequences on workers, the environment and the property. The current study reviews the state of the art concerning the security of Offshore Oil&Gas operations, which is typically addressed according to best practices and qualitative or semi-quantitative methods. However, systematic approaches or guidelines in support of the analysis are still lacking. The current study investigates the possibility of using Adversary Sequence Diagrams (ASDs) as Security Vulnerability/Risk Assessment (SVA/SRA) supporting tools. A case study addressing a fixed Offshore Oil&Gas fluid production platform proved the ability of ASDs to provide credible attack modes within the Physical Protection System (PPS) that the adversaries have to perform in order to accomplish their objectives, as well as the security barriers that can potentially be effective in delaying and detecting the attacks, which are information required by SVA/SRA studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation represents, since decades, one of the main issues in the accidental risk assessment and management on road network, above all, in urban areas. This kind of transport counts a small share in respect to the overall freight transport by road in EU-28, but it continues to arouse interest due to the catastrophic consequences that its involvement may concern in case of accidents. This paper presents the development of an ICT based system to detect constantly the hazmat vehicles on the roads and to map, in real time, the potential impact area generated by the specific transported product in case of road accident. The proposed system has been realized in the framework of the European Project "LOSE+", (Logistic and Safety of freight transport) financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FESR) in the framework of the Interreg Italy-France Maritime Programme 2014-2020. The LOSE+ system consists of two main components: firstly, a network of cameras has been installed on the main arterial roads in the city of Genoa, regional capital of Liguria Region (Italy), along the coastal area near the port gates; secondly, a web-GIS platform, which in real time, provides the users with georeferenced maps related to the potential impact area of a possible accident, which involved the identified hazmat vehicles. Furthermore, the map images may be overlapped to other significant layers related to the land use and to sensible and vulnerable targets on the territory, such as hospitals or schools, modelled by the (Short-Cut Method, 2005) for the computation of the consequences analysis. The proposed LOSE+LAB system aims at providing to Public Authorities a smart tool to monitor and control hazmat circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the major accidents that can occur in process plants and in the transportation of hazardous materials, those involving fire are the most frequent ones. And one type of fire which has been the origin of severe accidents are the jet fires, which originated by the ignition of a flammable gas/vapour or spray, released through a hole, a broken pipe, a flange, etc. Jet fires often occur in rather compact processes or storage plants, and the probability of flame impingement on other equipment is rather high. In such a case, very high heat fluxes can exist, with quick and severe effects on that equipment implying a probable domino effect. The present study aims to contribute to the knowledge and prediction of the main features of jet fires, focusing on the distance over which flames impingement can occur. New expressions are proposed to predict this distance for the case of horizontal subsonic and sonic hydrocarbon jet fires, from both experimental data and the mathematical and computational modelling of the main geometrical (size, reach, elevation) features of the flame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the legal framework for hazardous substances applied in Greece, in combination with European and international legislation through the years, by addressing the core regulations enacted. These refer to the classification of hazardous substances, their transportation, the accidents' prevention and the environmental impact of such accidents. The REACH and CLP framework is presented, alongside with the adoption of its requirements by each Member State. The SEVESO III directive is analyzed, indicating the necessity of its application to more complicated cases. The significance of transportation of hazardous substances is highlighted, based on the ADR/RID/AND regulations, governing international carriage of such substances. The incorporation of Directive 2004/35/EC (ELD) regarding the environmental impact of accidents caused by hazardous substances is addressed. This analysis explicitly defines the terms this directive and its progress can establish a way of jurisdiction regarding environmental law, indicates the significance of the enforcement of the provisions regarding hazardous substances and ensures that all existing regulations conduct a more safe and environmentally friendly operation. It is essential to identify the difficulties of the establishment of a generic framework for different countries within European countries and how this frame should be updated to comprehend new members' features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet the filtration separation of hazardous materials on hazardous materials collection truck, the most popular separation devices, such as the cyclone separator and the filter cartridge, are combined to form a new filtration device in this study. The advantages of the two devices are utilized to achieve effective separation of solid particles and prevent secondary pollution. Among the various structural influence factors of filtration equipment, four structural parameters that affect the separation performance significantly are selected as optimization variables. The response surface methodology was used to design the simulation experiment. Using fluid mechanics analysis software, multiple sets of parameters were simulated. Then, the simulation data was used to establish a mathematical model of separation efficiency, and structural optimization analysis was performed based on the mathematical model. Finally, the results show that the inner exhaust pipe diameter and the cone height have more influence on the efficiency of the cyclone separation structure. The interaction between the diameter and insertion depth of the inner exhaust pipe is also obvious. Among the four optimization variables, there is an optimum value for the inner exhaust pipe insertion depth, and the effect of the other three factors on the separation efficiency is monotonic. In the case of a total separation efficiency of 99.9% and after optimizing the combined model within a reasonable interval, 81.25% of the 1-μm particles can be removed by the cyclone separation part, and only 18.75% are removed by the filter cartridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 40 years the intermodal transportation has dramatically increased and this trend will continue much faster in the 21st century. Nowadays, the intermodal transportation presents the backbone of world trade. The efficiency of distribution processes is improved by integrating different modes and services of transport. Shippers, who generate the demand for transportations, carriers who supply the transportation services for the demand and also intermodal network determine the performance of the system. Transportation of dangerous goods also reaches upward trend. However, the dangerous transportations have negative effects on the environment and, if an accident occurs, can cause injuries or death. This threat presents very important reason for focusing on improving the security and efficiency for dangerous transports and avoiding of potential accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of hazardous materials (Hazmat) demand and transportation, frequent Hazmat road transportation accidents had arisen the widespread concern in the community. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the risk factors’ implications, which would make the safety of Hazmat transportation evolve from “passive type” to “active type”. In order to explore the influence of risk factors resulting in accidents and predict the occurrence of accidents under the combination of risk factors, 839 accidents that have occurred for the period 2015–2016 were collected and examined. The Bayesian network structure was established by experts’ knowledge using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. Parameter learning was conducted by the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in Genie 2.0. The two main results could be likely to obtain the following. (1) The Bayesian network model can explore the most probable factor or combination leading to the accident, which calculated the posterior probability of each risk factor. For example, the importance of three or more vehicles in an accident leading to the severe accident is higher than less vehicles, and in the absence of other evidences, the most probable reasons for “explosion accident” are vehicles carrying flammable liquids, larger quantity Hazmat, vehicle failure, and transporting in autumn. (2) The model can predict the occurrence of accident by setting the influence degrees of specific factor. Such that the probability of rear-end accidents caused by “speeding” is 0.42, and the probability could reach up to 0.97 when the driver is speeding at the low-class roads. Moreover, the complex logical relationship in Hazmat road transportation accidents could be obtained, and the uncertain relation among various risk factors could be expressed. These findings could provide theoretical support for transportation corporations and government department on taking effective measures to reduce the risk of Hazmat road transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Route optimization of hazardous materials transportation is one of the basic steps in ensuring the safety of hazardous materials transportation. The optimization scheme may be a security risk if road screening is not completed before the distribution route is optimized. For road screening issues of hazardous materials transportation, a road screening algorithm of hazardous materials transportation is built based on genetic algorithm and Levenberg–Marquardt neural network (GA-LM-NN) by analyzing 15 attributes data of each road network section. A multi-objective robust optimization model with adjustable robustness is constructed for the hazardous materials transportation problem of single distribution center to minimize transportation risk and time. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is designed to solve the problem according to the characteristics of the model. The algorithm uses an improved strategy to complete the selection operation, applies partial matching cross shift and single ortho swap methods to complete the crossover and mutation operation, and employs an exclusive method to construct Pareto optimal solutions. Studies show that the sets of hazardous materials transportation road can be found quickly through the proposed road screening algorithm based on GA-LM-NN, whereas the distribution route Pareto solutions with different levels of robustness can be found rapidly through the proposed multi-objective robust optimization model and algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of Hazardous Materials on different kind of human aspects motivate scholars to increase their attention for decreasing negative impacts of them to human life. In this concern, this paper addresses a decision structure to transfer the hazardous materials to the safe location in the industries logistic system. To reach this goal, we present a new mathematical modelling problem in which location routing problem of hazardous material is addressed. To cope imprecise risk in a practical way, we define it to three kinds in the fuzzy environment including accident risk, population risk, and the bio-environmental risk. To obtain optimal results, three well-known multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) including Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm II (SPEA-II) and Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Decomposition (MOEA/D) are presented for solving ten test problems. In this case, this novelty of the model is discussed, firstly, and then proposed algorithms are compared with respect to obtained results. The results of this paper show that Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) has superior performance in terms of metrics, and Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm II (SPEA-II) beats other multi-objective evolutionary algorithms in terms of obtained number of individuals in final Pareto solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the hazardous-materials (hazmat) network design problem to account for the time-dependent road closure as a policy tool to reduce hazmat transport risk by altering carriers' departure times and route choices.We formulate the time-dependent network design problem using an alternative-based model with each alternative representing a combined path and departure-time choice.We also present an extended model that can not only account for consecutive time-based road closure policies but also allow stopping at the intermediate nodes of the network in the routing/scheduling decisions of the carriers. Heuristic algorithms based on column generation and label setting are presented. To illustrate the advantages that can be gained through the use of our methodology, we present results from numerical experiments based on a transportation network from Buffalo, New York. To investigate the impact of the extensions, we consider three versions of the problem by gradually refining the model. We show that under consideration of extensions, the design policies are more applicable and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic peroxides are materials that belong to one of the 13 classes of dangerous goods, i.e., class 5.2. They are characterized by specific hazards and, due to that fact, require strictly determined conditions of storage and transport. Regulations that govern the issue of the road transport of dangerous goods and the storage of organic peroxides are separately contained in various legal acts. Storage conditions of organic peroxides are determined in the legal regulations in the form of general guidelines, which need to be described in detail, based on expert knowledge from the entities engaged in this process. This article attempts to provide details regarding the conditions of the road transport and storage of C-type organic peroxides using the example of benzoyl peroxide (concentration 75%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For transportation of dangerous goods rail transport uses tank wagons. Structural changes can contribute to reduction in the maximum stresses, and as a result, to improvement in technical and economic characteristics of a tank wagon. In order to investigate the stress-strain state of a tank wagon the finite element model was built, its adequacy having been checked by results of analytical calculations and experiments. It has been applied for numerous researches to find the most effective bracket support structure by comparing it to the existing structure. The laws of stiffness change in radial direction and the laws of contact pressure change have been demonstrated. The improved structure has been checked by a load spectrum according to normative documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, railway operation procedures include the transportation of large amount of hazardous substances. Our research has been motivated by the desire to find concrete and urgent solutions to the safety issues of handling waste generated manly in case of accidents and disaster situations during the transportation of hazardous substances In order to ensure safety in the transportation of dangerous goods, and to facilitate the fast and efficient waste handling of hazardous substances released into the environment during unexpected events, we have elaborated a new method, in which we suggest the radiofrequency identification of dangerous consignments in case of disaster situations by the use of drones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the hazardous goods transportation equipment state real-time monitoring and control system with TMS320F2812 of TI company as the core, through the shaping of the sensor into the alcohol gas signal, filtering, amplification, a / D conversion, A / D conversion using F2812 comes with 12 bit A / D converter, continuous sampling signal monitoring gas concentration change and through the acquisition of temperature and humidity signal, the gas concentration data were temperature and humidity compensation, accurate measurement, calibration gas data can be secondary sound and light alarm, and the MAX232 and PC data transfer, at any time to check and call history. Good monitoring and control to make the system more stable. System mainly includes sensor for gas detection, temperature detection pass, humidity sensor, signal conversion and processing unit, A / D conversion circuit, sound and light alarm unit, RS232 communication module, the battery monitoring unit, a gas pump control unit. DSP main program using modular programming, completed the DSP initialization of the main program module, real-time communication with the PC module and system function module test program design. Laboratory research on gas monitoring and control system scheme is designed in this paper for tankers physical model. and on this basis, focusing on the completion of the core part of the control system in the control card design and implementation. This system can realize the monitoring of the whole process of leakage of hazardous goods transport equipment, once dangerous goods transport vehicles of hazardous chemicals spill occurred, the system can real-time detection to the leakage and alarm, the modern crisis of goods logistics provides a security solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates a dynamic model of conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) measure for risk assessment and mitigation of hazardous material transportation in supply chain networks. The well-established market risk measure, CVaR, which is commonly used by financial institutions for portfolio optimizations, is investigated. In contrast to previous works, we consider CVaR as the main objective in the optimization of hazardous material (hazmat) transportation network. In addition to CVaR minimization and route planning of a supply chain network, the time scheduling of hazmat shipments is imposed and considered in the present study. Pertaining to the general dynamic risk model, we analyzed several scenarios involving a variety of hazmats and time schedules with respect to optimal route selection and CVaR minimization. A solution algorithm is then proposed for solving the model, with verifications made using numerical examples and sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant advances in risk management, the routing of hazardous materials (hazmat) has relied on relatively simplistic methods. In this paper, we apply an advanced risk measure, called conditional value-at-risk (CVaR), for routing hazmat trucks. CVaR offers a flexible, risk-averse, and computationally tractable routing method that is appropriate for hazmat accident mitigation strategies. The two important data types in hazmat transportation are accident probabilities and accident consequences, both of which are subject to many ambiguous factors. In addition, historical data are usually insufficient to construct a probability distribution of accident probabilities and consequences. This motivates our development of a new robust optimization approach for considering the worst-case CVaR (WCVaR) under data uncertainty. We study important axioms to ensure that both the CVaR and WCVaR risk measures are coherent and appropriate in the context of hazmat transportation. We also devise a computational method for WCVaR and demonstrate the proposed WCVaR concept with a case study in a realistic road network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study robust network design problems for hazardous materials transportation considering risk uncertainty. Risk uncertainty is considered in two ways: (1) uncertainty on each link for each shipment, and (2) uncertainty on each link across all shipments. We extend an existing heuristic framework to solve these two robust network design problems and propose a Lagrangian relaxation heuristic to solve subproblems within the framework. We present our computational experiences and illustrate general insights based on real networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a novel toll setting policy to regulate hazardous material (hazmat) transportation, where the regulator (e.g., a government authority) aims at minimizing not only the network total risk but also at spreading the risk in an equitable way over a given road network. The idea is to use a toll setting policy to discourage carriers transporting hazmat from overloading portions of the network with the consequent increase of the risk exposure of the population involved. Specifically, we assume that the toll paid by a carrier on a network link depends on the usage of that link by all carriers. Therefore the route choices of each carrier depend on the other carrier's choices, and the tolls deter the carriers from using links with a high total risk. The resulting model is a mathematical programming with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) problem, where the inner problem is a Nash equilibrium problem (game) having as players the carriers, each one wishing to minimize his or her travel cost (including tolls); the outer problem is addressed by the government authority, whose aim is finding the link tolls that induce the carriers to choose route plans that minimize both the network total risk and the maximum link total risk among the network links (to address risk equity). To guarantee the stability of the solution, we study conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium, and propose a local search heuristic for the MPEC problem. Computational results are carried out on a real road network, comparing the performance of our toll setting policy with the toll setting approach proposed in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation has a great role in logistics. Many researchers have studied on transportation and vehicle routing problems. Transportation of hazardous materials (hazmat) is a special subject for logistics. Causalities due to the accidents caused by trucks carrying hazardous materials will be intolerable. Many researchers have studied on risk assessment of hazmat transportation to find ways for reducing hazardous material transportation risks. Some researchers have studied routing of hazmat trucks. The emergency response models and network design problems for hazmat transportation were also studied by some researchers. The transportation of hazmats can also be classified according to the mode of transport. Mainly roads are used for hazmat transportation but some shipments are intermodal. There has been a great amount of effort spent to find convenient ways for hazmat transportation. In this study, a literature survey for the articles about hazmat transportation is prepared. After pointing out the importance of hazmat transportation by the example of US hazmat transportation data, the studies on hazmat transportation since 2005 have been examined. Totally 88 articles are classified as risk, routing, routing and scheduling, emergency response, network design and accident analysis. What can be studied in future researches is pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Air pollution is a suspected developmental neurotoxicant. Many schools are located in close proximity to busy roads, and traffic air pollution peaks when children are at school. We aimed to assess whether exposure of children in primary school to traffic-related air pollutants is associated with impaired cognitive development. Methods and Findings: We conducted a prospective study of children (n = 2,715, aged 7 to 10 y) from 39 schools in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) exposed to high and low traffic-related air pollution, paired by school socioeconomic index; children were tested four times (i.e., to assess the 12-mo developmental trajectories) via computerized tests (n = 10,112). Chronic traffic air pollution (elemental carbon [EC], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and ultrafine particle number [UFP; 10–700 nm]) was measured twice during 1-wk campaigns both in the courtyard (outdoor) and inside the classroom (indoor) simultaneously in each school pair. Cognitive development was assessed with the n-back and the attentional network tests, in particular, working memory (two-back detectability), superior working memory (three-back detectability), and inattentiveness (hit reaction time standard error). Linear mixed effects models were adjusted for age, sex, maternal education, socioeconomic status, and air pollution exposure at home. Children from highly polluted schools had a smaller growth in cognitive development than children from the paired lowly polluted schools, both in crude and adjusted models (e.g., 7.4% [95% CI 5.6%–8.8%] versus 11.5% [95% CI 8.9%–12.5%] improvement in working memory, p = 0.0024). Cogently, children attending schools with higher levels of EC, NO2, and UFP both indoors and outdoors experienced substantially smaller growth in all the cognitive measurements; for example, a change from the first to the fourth quartile in indoor EC reduced the gain in working memory by 13.0% (95% CI 4.2%–23.1%). Residual confounding for social class could not be discarded completely; however, the associations remained in stratified analyses (e.g., for type of school or high-/low-polluted area) and after additional adjustments (e.g., for commuting, educational quality, or smoking at home), contradicting a potential residual confounding explanation. Conclusions: Children attending schools with higher traffic-related air pollution had a smaller improvement in cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management and control of vehicles transporting hazardous materials (hazmat) on congested highways has attracted growing attention from researchers in recent years. This paper proposes a decision support system (DSS) for monitoring hazmat vehicles, aimed at assessing two problems: evaluating the social risk induced by hazmat vehicles traveling in highways and selecting restoration procedures after an accident involving heavy vehicles. The proposed DSS can estimate in real time and offline the risk of hazmat transportation, by taking into account the type of transported hazmat, the traffic, and the density of populations living close to the highway. Two main modules of the DSS are specified: the risk assessment module and the simulation module (SM) that allows forecasting risk in different contexts and scenarios. In particular, the SM is realized by modeling the highway network in a colored Petri net (CPN) framework. In order to show the effectiveness and the applicability of the DSS, a prototype is described and applied to a highway in the North-east of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The methods of conflict situations assessment were analyzed, and it was established that the main shortcoming is the disregard of the probability of occurrence of the RTA involving an individual road user. Based on the factor analysis conducted, the non-linear model of the probability of the RTA occurrence in the transport network segments was developed. Also, the model of the probability of the RTA occurrence in transport junctions was improved. It will enable, if using respective optimization algorithms, working out the optimal routes for dangerous goods transportation by the minimum of the RTA occurrence probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Serbian Armed Forces, oil and petroleum products are transported primarily for military units and institutions. The route for the movement of vehicles is selected during the transportation planning process. This paper describes a methodology for the selection of a route for the transport of dangerous goods and its application on one particular case in the Serbian Armed Forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The transportation of dangerous goods is a complex issue involving various potential consequences for a wide range of high-stake elements. Most particularly, hydrocarbon transportation requires the carrying out of a global study in order to assess the risks involved. The aim of this study is to develop a prediction code for analyzing different possible hydrocarbon supply routes in order to determine whether modifying the flow of hydrocarbon transportation significantly increases the risk (for people, infrastructure and the environment). On the one hand, this paper details the methodology proposed for assessing risk levels using hazard scenarios and the vulnerability of high-stake elements. On the other hand, it presents the modeling tool developed (CARTENJEUX), based on an existing geographical information system (MapInfo), through a case study (Paris, France). Several maps (severity of accident, vulnerability and risk levels) generated using CARTENJEUX are presented in order to illustrate how stakeholders can determine preferential routes at regional scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Introduction: In this paper, a literature study on risk analysis systems for the transport of hazardous materials was conducted. Results: The insights that resulted from this literature review have led to the development of a refined approach to map the risk of hazmat transport in Flanders based on historical accident data. The proposed framework allows setting up an overall risk map for hazmat transport by different transport modes. Additionally, a methodology to calculate a local accident risk, which takes local infrastructure parameters and accident data into account, is being introduced. In the presented framework one of the general principles is that the risk of a catastrophic hazmat incident can be divided into two parts, which can both be validated on the basis of accident data: (a) the calculation of the general probability of the occurrence of an accident based on international accident data of transport of hazardous materials – this is the basis for the global risk map, and (b) the calculation of the local probability of the occurrence of an accident based on accident data and infrastructure parameters of the complete available freight transport in Flanders – this is the basis for the local risk map. The ratio between these two results in a locality parameter, which represents the local specific circumstances that can lead to an accident. Conclusions: This evaluation framework makes it possible to estimate the risks of hazmat transport along a specific route for transport by road, rail, inland navigation and even pipelines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Transport of dangerous goods are regulated activities, they take place under the direction and control of the authorities and specialized bodies in an institutional framework determined by national and international law. Of economic, transport infrastructure is the crucial element without which both production and trade would become meaningless, it is an essential element of a civilization, is also a necessary accessory of other economic activities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological development inevitably increases the number of hazardous cargo in the European Union. The essential problem of the haulage of hazardous consignment deals with insufficient safety. The topic seems to be relevant due to importance to ensure the safety of carrying hazardous cargo, since while transporting such materials, a certain possibility of a negative impact on nature, people's health and safety occurs. This article assesses the current situation of the haulage of hazardous cargo in Lithuania and investigates activities of developing the possibilities of the haulage of hazardous cargo in the countries of the European Union (EU). The conduced research on transport organizations in the EU countries helped with evaluating safety remedies and with ensuring the safe haulage of hazardous cargo used by particular organizations as well as suggested the kinds of transport used for transporting hazardous cargo. The study also indicated the most frequently crossed countries and the kinds of information technologies an organization applies in practice so that to guarantee the safety of the haulage of hazardous cargo. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Performance evaluation is important in managing freight transport. The transport of certain products, especially those that are hazardous, can have significant financial and socio-environmental impacts. This article presents an application of the modal choice method (MCM) to establish an order of priority among the alternatives considered to carry a determined hazardous product. After a research of the literature on the concepts and development of the proposed method, we consulted experts about their experiences and knowledge, to determine a set of relevant attributes for the evaluation process. We then applied this method to the specific case of the Brazilian bio-ethanol industry, to demonstrate the potential of using the MCM as a tool to support make decisions. We can conclude that highway transport, though the most often used, is not the best compared to trains or pipelines (or combinations of any of the three) from a socio-environmental standpoint. Alternatives with longer pipeline segments are the most suitable to replace the current practice in environmental terms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses foreign military sales, procedures for shipping hazardous materials, and the requirements of related government and international agencies such as the U.S. Military Surface Deployment Distribution Command and the International Maritime Organization. Nine hazard categories including explosives, the U.S. Department of Defense regulations concerning shipments, and competent authority approvals for foreign military sales are mentioned.

"Hazardous materials" refer to those substances that seriously endanger human lives and/or the environment. The transportation of these materials will be inevitable in the increasingly industrialized economy of Iran. Nonetheless, numerous deadly accidents caused by the movement of these materials necessitate the design and implementation of preventive plans on several levels. This article looks into the present condition of transportation of hazardous materials in Iran and the resulting accidents. Optimal condition for the general transportation system of hazardous materials is delineated with due focus on transportation risk as the main parameter. Strategies for reaching the optimal condition are laid out and the impacts of these strategies on the reduction of accidents are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work examines conditions to ensure safe transportation of dangerous freight, to manage and minimize the risk of carriage of such freight along the whole route. This article presents the probabilities in transport of dangerous freight, probability of possible damage and that of a possible accident, when transporting dangerous freight and a method of calculating costs of damage to the environment and that of calculating accident probability. The article points out the ways of reducing the risk of possible damage and probability of accident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The people living and working around the roads used for hazardous material (hazmat) shipments face the risk of suffering undesirable consequences of an accident. The main responsibility to mitigate the hazmat transport risk at a population zone belongs to the government agency with jurisdiction over that region. One of the common policy tools is to close certain road links to vehicles carrying hazmats. In effect, the road network available to dangerous goods carriers can be determined by the regulator. The transport risk in the region, however, is determined by the carriers' routing decisions over the available road network. Thus, the regulator needs to make the road closure decisions so that the total risk resulting from the carriers' route choices is minimized. We provide a path-based formulation for this network design problem. Alternative solutions can be generated by varying the routing options included in the model for each shipment. Each solution corresponds to a certain compromise between the two parties in terms of transport risk and economic viability. The proposed framework can be used for identifying mutually agreeable hazmat transport policies. We present two applications of the methodology to illustrate the insights that can be gained through its use: The first application focuses on hazmat shipments through the highway network of Western Ontario, Canada, whereas the second application studies the problem in a much larger geographical region that covers the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the possible limits to the right of innocent passage through the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) and territorial sea of third party states of commercial ships carrying ultra-hazardous cargoes. It discusses the relevant rules of international law and the arguments invoked by doctrine and states in favor of a right to deny passage to such ships. It also addresses the right of coastal states to require prior notification of passage.

Dangerous-goods shipments remain regulated despite the widespread deregulation of the transportation industry. This is mainly due to the societal and environmental risks associated with these shipments. One of the common tools used by governments in mitigating transport risk is to close certain roads to vehicles carrying hazardous materials. In effect, the road network available to dangerous goods carriers can be determined by the government. The associated transport risk, however, is determined by the carriers' route choices. We provide a bilevel programming formulation for this network design problem. Our approach is unique in terms of its focus on the nature of the relationship between the regulator and carriers. We present an application of our methodology in Western Ontario, Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engineering concepts necessary for fully describing contaminant transport processes in soil and groundwater have been largely neglected by traditional civil engineering curricula in the United States. New lecture and laboratory modules have been developed and integrated into the undergraduate soil mechanics course for civil engineering students at the Colorado School of Mines. The lecture module includes theoretical development of the advection-dispersion equation and a set of practical example problems designed to clarify the relative importance of advection, dispersion, and molecular diffusion in realistic contaminant transport scenarios. The laboratory experiment is developed using relatively inexpensive soil permeability testing equipment common to most academic and industrial geotechnical engineering laboratories. Unlike conventional chemical transport testing, which requires relatively complicated, time consuming, and expensive analytical instrumentation, the new laboratory exercise relies on the use of simple colored dye for simulating the movement of a contaminant through a one-dimensional soil column. The key soil parameters governing the transport of the dye, including the diffusion coefficient, hydraulic conductivity, dispersion coefficient, and retardation coefficient, are quantified by observing the location and color intensity of the dye as it moves through the column. Emphasis is placed on maximizing the simplicity and visual impact of the experimental exercise. The effectiveness of the lecture and laboratory modules is assessed through a student survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vital transportation of hazardous and noxious substances (HNSs) by sea occasionally suffers spill incidents causing perilous mutilations to off-shore and on-shore ecology. Consequently, it is essential to monitor the spilled HNSs rapidly and mitigate the damages in time. Focusing on on-site and early processing, this paper explores the potential of deep learning and single-spectrum ultraviolet imaging (UV) for detecting HNSs spills. Images of three floating HNSs, including benzene, xylene, and palm oil, captured in different natural and artificial aquatic sites were collected. The image dataset involved UV (at 365 nm) and RGB images for training and comparative analysis of the detection system. The You Only Look Once (YOLOv3) deep learning model is modified to balance the higher accuracy and swift detection. With the MobileNetv2 backbone architecture and generalized intersection over union (GIoU) loss function, the model achieved mean IoU values of 86.57% for UV and 82.43% for RGB images. The model yielded a mean average precision (mAP) of 86.89% and 72.40% for UV and RGB images, respectively. The average speed of 57 frames per second (fps) and average detection time of 0.0119 s per image validated the swift performance of the proposed model. The modified deep learning model combined with UV imaging is considered computationally cost-effective resulting in precise detection accuracy and significantly faster detection speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the strategic level routing problem of hazardous materials in marine waters over a multicommodity network with multiple origins-destinations. The problem is motivated by the fact that selecting optimal routes by each origin-destination pair or by each type of material is myopic and may result in overloading certain links of the transportation network and, consequently, in poor overall system performance. We employ a network flow model, instead of the traditional shortest path formulation, to capture the multicommodity, multiple origin-destination nature of the problem. An efficient two-phase solution approach is proposed. The proposed solution methodology is illustrated through a single hazmat problem followed by a large scale case study of the marine transportation system of oil products in the Gulf of Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper derives six objectives for routing hazardous material by viewing shipments as a sequence of independent Bernoulli trials. An example that compares these objectives is presented. Suitable approximations toward the use of these objectives in an optimization framework are provided. The paper also discusses the objectives from the viewpoint of their use to make actual hazardous material routing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining a path that maximizes a multi-attribute, non-order-preserving value function. The motivating application is the determination of a most preferred path for transporting hazardous materials based on transportation cost and risk to population. A sub-path of an optimal path may not be optimal for a non-order-preserving value function, implying that a traditional application of dynamic programming may intentionally or unintentionally produce sub-optimal paths. We consider two approximation procedures for two general cases, the q = 0 case and the q > 0 case, where q is the number of required intermediate stops between origin and destination. The first approximation procedure involves applying dynamic programming as if a sub-path of an optimal path were always optimal. The second approximation procedure involves determining a linear order-preserving criterion that approximates the non-order-preserving value function and then applying dynamic programming. We use the best-first search algorithm BU* to determine optimal routes for both the q = 0 and q > 0 cases. We examine the frequency and magnitude of the resulting sub-optimalities for a multi-attribute value model based on a six-county road network that includes Cleveland, Ohio. Numerical results show that if one of the two approximations is used, significant sub-optimalities can occur over a wide range of decision maker preferences. Both approximations can produce sub-optimality error magnitudes of over 50%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the development and analysis of a mathematical model for determining a route that attempts to reduce the risk of low probability-high consequence accidents related with the transportation of hazardous materials. The approach adopted considers trade-offs between the conditional expectation of a catastrophic outcome given that an accident has occurred, and more traditional measures of risk dealing with the expected value of the consequence and the accident probability on a selected path. More specifically, the problem we address involves finding a path that minimizes the conditional expectation objective value, subject to the expected value of the consequence being lesser than or equal to a specified value v, and the probability of an accident on the path being also constrained to be no more than some value η. The values v and η are user-prescribed and could be prompted by the solution to the shortest path problems that minimize the respective corresponding linear risk functions. The proposed model is a discrete, fractional programming problem that is solved using a specialized branch-and-bound approach. A numerical example is provided for the sake of illustration, and some computational experience on randomly generated test cases is provided to study the effort required to solve this problem in different instances. The model is also tested using realistic data associated with a case concerned with routing hazardous materials through the roadways of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Data acquisition as well as algorithmic computational issues are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic loss associated with the involvement of a hazardous materials truck in an accident can be very high. Although the immediate costs are usually borne by an insurer, the carrier would incur an increase in its future insurance costs as a result. Thus, a hazardous materials carrier can benefit from considering its long-term insurance costs in routing the required shipments. In this paper, we introduce the hazardous materials routing problem under insurance costs. We present a solution methodology that facilitates evaluation of alternative routing policies. The proposed methodology involves solution of a manageable number of shortest path problems in determining the most appropriate route(s). We argue that, for each shipment, the route to be taken by the truck should be determined on the basis of the expected increase in insurance costs due to a possible accident as well as the cost of transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers integrated location and routing models for minimizing the expected number of hazardous material transport accidents. Two different routing policies are considered: (1) most reliable route planning and (2) multiple routing with random selection. Path reliability measurements are used to derive the expected number of accidents over a given planning horizon, where reliability refers to the probability of completing a journey without accident. Corresponding to the two routing policies, two location models are introduced: the reliable 1-median and a location framework for considering multiple routes. Based on realistic assumptions for assigning accident probabilities to segments created when an edge location is considered, vertex optimality results for both problems are obtained. An example to illustrate reliable routing and location in Massachusetts is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition of time-varying patterns of accident rates and exposure parameters can be used to improve routing and scheduling decisions for hazardous materials shipments. An integrated routing/scheduling approach can be used to reduce overall risk, and find preferred solutions in a multiobjective context. We describe a method for performing an integrated routing/scheduling analysis, and illustrate its use in a case study. We also construct estimates of the "value of information" for incorporation of this time-dependent data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the variance-constrained shortest path problem. This problem can be used to model any application in which the travel costs on a link are not deterministic, but follow a distribution that has possible correlation with travel cost on other links. Exact solution methods are proposed, and results are reported from computational experiments on data sets derived from a real-life routine scenario involving the transportation of liquefied-gas hazardous materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]